Purchasing home owner's insurance can be daunting and confusing, and it can be a good idea to break everything down into simple, de-jargonized terms in order to get a complete grasp of just what you are dealing with before taking the leap of discussing your requirements with an insurance company or agent.
First, in very basic terms, there are certain terms that you will come across in the course of your research into insurance policies and prices.
"Policyholder" is one such word, and it refers to all persons in relation to an insurance policy.
The actual policyholder is the person (or persons) that are actually named on the policy.
They may also be referred to as the "named insured".
You will also commonly come across the term "insured", and this term refers to any dependent person or relative in your care-providing that they are residents in your home.
Remember also that, daunting as any terms or policies may seem, there are a multitude of different insurance companies out there, all of which are competing hard for your custom.
They are competing on price, service and overall quality, and will use a range of means to tout for your custom.
Whilst this may be annoying when you don't need their service, it can make it more easy when you are looking for coverage.
Use television adverts, the Internet and the telephone to investigate a range of deals and prices.
A lot of insurance companies also use the services of independent agents through whom they sell their products.
If you deal with an independent agent remember that you are, effectively, still dealing directly with the company the agent represents.
You may also choose to contact an insurance broker to represent you.
Whilst the broker cannot normally issue policies or hold an insurance company to issue a particular policy, they can locate a company willing to issue you an insurance policy, and any subsequent premium payments that you make to the broker will be considered to have been paid directly to the company themselves.