Wondering if you need homeowners insurance? Not sure what home insurance covers?
If you’re a homeowner or will be one soon, you need to carefully consider whether you want to get homeowners insurance. While some homeowners avoid insuring their home, not getting homeowners insurance will leave you vulnerable and can lead to a lot of regrets later on down the road.
Are you asking yourself the following question: do I need homeowners insurance? If so, keep reading to find out about the top 7 benefits of getting homeowners insurance.
1. Get Compensated For Home Damage
One of the main reasons to get homeowners insurance is that it can help to provide compensation if your home experiences damage.
There are a lot of situations in which your home may suffer from damage and you’ll need coverage from your insurance policy. In the case of a natural disaster or fire, for example, you’ll be able to get compensation for the damage based on what value percentage your home is covered for. Typically a home will be covered by at least 80% of its value, but getting 100% coverage can be a great idea.
Whether your home experiences extensive damage due to hurricanes, tornados, fires, or even earthquake or flood damage, you’ll be able to get protection and won’t be at a total loss if a worst-case scenario happens.
2. Protect Against Break-Ins
In addition to protecting your home from natural causes of damage, insurance coverage is also one of many ways you can protect your home from burglaries and break-ins.
Depending on the coverage you have on your homeowners insurance policy, you’ll get compensated for the value of anything that was stolen from you during the break-in. However, if there was any home damage that was incurred as a result of the burglary you’ll also be able to get compensated for that as well. This will allow you to make the needed repairs and get your home back to normal as soon as possible.
3. Coverage For Other Structures
Another way that homeowners insurance can be beneficial is that it will help to protect any additional structures you have on your property as well. Storage buildings, sheds, garages, fencing, and other detached structures will all be covered up to a certain amount based on the specifics of your policy.
In the case that these structures do experience damage, your insurance policy may provide compensation or help with the replacement. Coverage for these structures is often set at around 10% the value of your home, but policies vary in how much they’ll cover.
4. Compensation For Valuables
In addition to covering external structures on your property and your home itself, any possessions and valuables in your home may also be covered through your homeowners insurance policy.
While we’ve already mentioned the possibility of theft, there are other situations where the items in your home may experience damage or need to be repaired or replaced as well. Storm damage, small fires and accidents, and other situations that damage your personal property may be covered.
When getting a homeowners insurance policy, be sure that you look at the details to make sure you know what to expect.
5. Get Liability Coverage
One of the most important parts of a home insurance policy is the inclusion of liability coverage. Liability coverage can help protect you in the case that a guest to your home experiences an injury or an accident while on your property.
In the case that someone is injured on your property, you may find yourself with a lawsuit on your hands and you may be required to pay the medical bills of the relevant party. Homeowners insurance can serve to protect you from cases such as these and will provide a certain amount of coverage for liability issues. This means that lawyer fees, medical expenses, and other associated costs may be covered as part of your policy.
6. Loss Of Use Protection
Another important benefit of homeowners insurance is that it can provide “loss of use” protection. This means that if there is a reason that you can’t use your home for a specified amount of time you’ll receive compensation for any costs you’ve incurred as a result. Whether this includes the costs of food, travel, or lodging, your policy can help with any setbacks.
Loss of use coverage could be helpful if your home is being repaired or renovated and you need to stay at a hotel for a certain amount of time. It could help if only a part of your home is unusable as well, such as if your kitchen is being renovated and and you have to spend more money on dining expenses as a result.
7. Meet Mortgage Requirements
One of the most common cases in which you’ll need homeowners insurance is if it is required based on the requirements of your mortgage.
When you take out a mortgage to buy a home, you’ll also need to meet any mortgage requirements that the lender has. This usually means that you’ll need to get homeowners insurance.
While homeowners insurance will help compensate you in the case of damage to your home, it will also protect it on behalf of lenders as well. This can help lenders ensure that your home stays in great condition in the case that you’re unable to keep up with your payments and they have to repossess your home.
Answering the Question: Do I Need Homeowners Insurance?
If you’re struggling to find the answer to the “do I need homeowners insurance?” question, be sure that you consider all of the advantages above. Homeowners insurance is well worth having and can help protect you from the many unforeseen events that could affect your home.
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