We here at Florida Best Quote Insurance believe that education is the only way that a homeowner can truly keep themselves, their loved ones, and their belongings truly safe. No one needs to be an insurance agent to be up to speed on what is in a standard home policy. To facilitate some quick understanding of a standard home policy, here are 5 of the most common components of home insurance utilized today by many Florida homeowners:
1. Main Dwelling Coverage The most important benefit of having homeowners insurance is its most basic type of coverage – main dwelling coverage. This core component of every policy protects your main building so it can be rebuilt or replaced in the event of accidental damage or total loss.
Coverage includes damage to your home’s interior or exterior. It covers damage caused by a variety of sources such as lightning, home fires, wind, hail, vandalism, and more. There are exclusions, however, especially for flood and earthquake damage. In many parts of Florida, it is wise to buy both a flood insurance and a home insurance policy.
2. Detached Structures Coverage The second coverage area commonly included in homeowner’s insurance is called detached structure coverage. Detached garages, garden sheds, poolside gazebos, fences, and other structures not part of your main building are covered here. The coverage limit is based on a percentage of the main dwelling cover – it may be set at 10%, for example. So, if your home is covered for $300,000, your detached structures would be covered for up to $30,000.
3. Limited Liability Cover Almost all home insurance policies come with a liability component. This is for harm done to people other than those who actually live in the covered dwelling place. It is for visitors or contractors or neighbors.
Did you know that homeowners can even be held liable for injuries sustained by trespassers? Any unsafe or dangerous conditions on your property that cause injury to others, even a slippery walkway, a ladder left out, or tools left out, can cause liability.
4. Personal Property Protection This pays to repair or replace valuables you keep inside your home, such as appliances, furnishings, clothing, electronics, kitchenware, sports equipment, works of art, and more.
Coverage is based on the main dwelling coverage. Usually, it is anywhere from 40% to 75% for the personal property kept in your home.
5. Loss of Use Coverage Loss of use coverage is a very helpful addition to the major parts of home insurance. In the event that extra expenses are forced upon you because of a covered incident that causes damage to your property, this coverage comes to the rescue.
Also called additional living expenses coverage, loss of use reimburses you for hotel rooms, meals out, transportation, lost rental insurance (if applicable), and some other expenses. In most cases, it applies when you are forced out of your home temporarily because it needs to be repaired or rebuilt.