Home Insurance

You have to ask yourself…

What would happen if a disaster struck your home tomorrow? Are you confident you’re properly covered for damages and total loss? Would you be required to pay some or all the repairs out of pocket? Would you be able to recall everything in your home? 

Your home is the greatest asset you have; having home insurance is the best way to protect it.  

A home insurance policy provides protection against thefts, accidents for which you are liable, and against disasters, such as fire, in addition to providing coverage for your personal belongings and property.

There are six basic standard insurance coverages when it comes to protecting a home.

• Dwelling Coverage - Protects the structure of your house, any attached structures, and built-in appliances.  Your insurance agent will help you determine the replacement cost of your home through a series of questions.  Replacement cost is the total cost to rebuild or replace your home at current prices if it were completely destroyed by a covered peril.
• Other Structures – Protects replacement or repairs for detached structures, such as a shed or fence if they are damaged in a covered peril. While this coverage defaults based on the Dwelling amount, it can be increased.
• Personal Property – This coverage protects your stuff, your belongings inside your home, your shed, on your property that are stolen or damaged by a covered loss. Most commonly, Replacement cost is suggested versus Actual Cash Value.  While this coverage will default based on the Dwelling amount, it can be increased.  Consider all the items you have in each room of your home to get an idea of the value within your home. 
• Loss of Use or Additional Living Expense – If you are unable to stay in your home safely due to a covered peril, such as fire, this protection may help pay for temporary living costs until it is safe to return to your home.
• Medical Payment To Others – This protection comes into play when you have guests who accidently injure themselves at your home. This coverage helps pay for their medical bills. Typically the standard limit starts at $1000 and may be increased depending on the carrier.  
• Personal Liability – This protection is available at various coverage limits from ranging typically from $100,000 to $500,000. It provides you or a household member, if found negligent or legally responsible for an action that resulted in injury to another person or damage to another’s property, coverage toward paying for repair costs, medical bills and, even legal fees.

There are many things about insuring a home that most consumers aren’t aware of. We are here to make sure you avoid potential problem areas, including:

• Sewer and/or water back-up is not automatically included unless you purchase a special endorsement—and it’s not expensive.
• Certain dog breeds may not be covered if they bite someone or another animal. Have a conversation with your insurance agent about the type of pets you have.  (Our agency can insure all breeds.) 
• Consider adding a Pet Insurance policy to keep your pets (dogs, cats, and exotics, including birds and rabbits) healthy.  
• Flood insurance is not an included coverage.  A separate policy can be added, with a 30 day waiting period.  Waiting until the storm is named, will not allow enough time to get the policy active.  
• Add Identity Theft Protection to help restore your stolen identity, offer additional resources, and provide peace of mind of not going through the process alone. 
• Consider adding an inland marine endorsement, particularly if you have high dollar items such as watches or jewelry, and wear them away from your home.  
• Replacement Cost versus Actual Cash Value.  Many policies default to actual cash value, which means if you purchased a widescreen TV and home theater system for $1,000, it may now only be worth $450, so that's all you'll receive on the claim. Just like the dwelling limit mentioned above, replacement cost insurance pays out the total replacement value of your possessions, not their market value, in the event of a claim.
• Extra personal liability is available by adding a Personal Umbrella policy.  This coverage extends above your home insurance and auto insurance and helps protect against larger claims, such as dog bites, swimming pool or trampoline injuries, car accidents, etc. 
• IMPORTANT: You can bundle your Home and Auto policies (and others) for even more savings.

• Traditional built houses
• Homes with a mortgage
• CBS homes (Concrete Block Structure)
• Manufactured homes
• Mobile homes on acreage
• Condos
• Townhouses
• Secondary homes
• Homes you rent to others
• Seasonal resident homes
• Even residents that only rent should make sure they have the right kind of renters insurance in place.

You may think you want the cheapest insurance you can find, but realize you may not be getting everything you bargained for…

While most insurance products are similar in price and function, insurance providers are very different when it comes to structuring a policy that actually covers you.

There’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all insurance policy when it comes to your business.

We’re your neighbors. We protect businesses and people we know and care about, and that means we always look for ways to protect you better, including carefully choosing the insurance companies we represent to be both affordable and responsive.

Contact us and let the professionals at our company help you forge the strongest shield possible to help you protect the things you are working hard to build, using our consultative-insurance buying process.  It's easy!