Choosing More Coverage

Posted on: 19 April 2021

Home insurance is among the most basic ways people protect against the unknown when it comes to one of their biggest investments. When you set up a homeowners insurance policy, though, it may feel like there are too many options. Fortunately, you and your agent can craft a policy by using the following approach.

Itemize Your Home's Contents

It's worth taking a little time to itemize what you own that you'd also want to insure. This will help you to determine, for example, how high your deductible should be. If you have something that would blow right past your deductible and then some, it may be worth looking at a separate insurance policy for that item. However, lots of things like your appliances and furniture should fit within the policy's coverage for home contents.

Consider Local Risks

Generally, people don't insure against extremely low-probability events. These tend to be based on local conditions. Folks in California think about earthquake insurance, while those in New England usually are more worried about snowstorms and floods.

If you're not sure what policy terms you need, speak with neighbors who've lived in the region a long time. For example, tornadoes might be a once-every-30-years event in your part of the country. That's probably worth insuring against, particularly given that the relatively low risk may make the coverage cheap.

Specificity

Bear in mind that a policy needs to be very specific. Paying for storm damage coverage without looking at the terms covering flooding, for example, could leave a gap. These gaps can surprise you, such as if there's a major water leak in the house.

The Property

Much of liability exposure boils down to what the property is like. For example, someone whose property includes a public sidewalk probably has more risk exposure than a person whose property doesn't. It's wise to think about home insurance in terms of what the costs would be if something happened.

You can also mitigate some of the risks. If you have what the law calls an attractive nuisance on your property, such as a swimming pool, you might want to fence it in to limit the risk that a stranger could stumble into it.

Ability to Cover Deductibles

A deductible allows you to decide just how much you want to self-insure. Choosing a higher deductible usually means getting a lower premium. It also means being on the hook for a greater portion of any claim. Never choose a higher deductible than you can afford to immediately pay out of pocket.

For more information about home insurance, contact a local insurance provider, like Devette & Ford Insurance Agency Inc.