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Homeowners Insurance: What You Need to Know
When you’re buying a home, one expense that often gets forgotten until the very end is homeowners insurance. Homeowners insurance is required by most lending companies. But, even if you’re paying for your home in cash you should still get homeowners insurance. Let’s dive into what homeowners insurance is, what it covers, and what you need to know to make informed decisions.
What is Homeowners Insurance?
Homeowners insurance covers losses and damages to your house and assets in your home. It also provides liability coverage against accidents in the home or on the property.
What Does Homeowners Insurance Cover?
A standard homeowners insurance policy typically includes four essential types of coverage:
- Structure of the Home: This protects against damage to the house itself.
- Personal Belongings: This covers your furniture, clothes, and other personal items.
- Liability Protection: This covers you against lawsuits for bodily injury or property damage that you or your family members cause to other people.
- Additional Living Expenses: This pays for your living expenses if you can’t live in your home due to damage from an insured disaster.
Some common accidents that are covered under standard homeowners insurance are: fire, lightning, windstorms, vandalism, theft, water damage, and weight of ice, snow or sleet.
What’s Not Covered?
Though homeowners insurance covers a lot, most standard plans are not comprehensive. Depending on where you live you may need to customize your insurance and add on some things.
Standard policies typically don’t cover floods, earthquakes, mold, nuclear hazards, or acts of war.
For some of these, like flood or earthquake coverage, you can purchase separate policies or add-ons. So let’s say you live somewhere there are a lot of hurricanes, you may need to think about purchasing flood insurance. UCCU offers home insurance that can be customized to fit your needs and budget. For more information see:
When to Purchase:
You should have homeowners insurance in place before your closing date. Lenders typically require proof of insurance before they’ll finalize your mortgage. If you want to keep your insurance in the same place as your lending, UCCU has great insurance and mortgage options!
Your home is likely your most valuable asset and it’s important that you protect it from any damage that may occur. Safeguard your home with home insurance and enjoy the comfort of knowing that your home is protected.