When you shop online for home owner insurance it is important that you focus on getting the right amount of coverage for your needs.
While the price of the insurance policy is important, home insurance is something that you can't afford to be without.
If you have a mortgage on your home, you will have to show proof that you have insurance, even if it just a cheap homeowner insurance policy, to satisfy the terms of the mortgage.
Since such a policy is an annual one, you cannot just take out insurance to get the mortgage.
You do need to provide proof of insurance every year as long as you are repaying the money you borrow.
If your home was to be either partially or completely destroyed, would you be able to afford to replace it on your own? Ninety-nine percent of homeowners are unable to do this even if they built or purchased a home without a mortgage.
This is why it is important to have enough coverage in your home insurance policy to cover the cost of replacing your home and your possessions.
There are two types of coverage included in standard home insurance quotes.
You have coverage on your property, which includes your home, any outbuildings and your personal belongings.
If you incur loss due to theft, fire or a peril named in the policy, the insurance provider will pay out the amount of money specified in the policy either as a lump sum payment or as payment to the builder you hire to do the repairs or rebuilding.
Another type of coverage that you have in a standard insurance policy for your home is that of liability insurance.
This will help pay court costs and medical expenses if someone is injured on your property and sues you for damages.
In order to determine how much coverage you need, you should look at what it would cost you to replace your home and belongings at the current prices.
You cannot look at what it cost you when you purchased or built because the prices have risen since then, even if it was only a year ago.
This is the amount of money you will need to replace your home and is the minimum amount of coverage you should look for in home owner insurance.
As a rule, typical free home insurance quotes state that your personal belongings have coverage equal to half of the coverage on your home.
To get a handle on the amount of coverage you actually need, it would be helpful to take inventory of all your possessions.
This includes your clothing, appliances, furniture, electronics, jewelry, furs, artwork and anything else you have that you value.
The total amount could mean that you have to increase the amount of coverage on your home so that you do get what you need to replace these items.
A standard home owner insurance policy does cover certain events that can cause damage to your home, such as broken water pipes.
However, if you live in a region where floods occur on an annual basis, you may have to look at paying extra for specific coverage if you sustain damage as a result of such an occurrence.
Usually damage from wind, lightning and snow or ice is covered as a normal peril, but it is unlikely that you will be able to receive earthquake insurance.