While your home is the largest financial purchase you and your family will probably make, it is only recommended, not required, to maintain homeowner’s insurance on your property. There are no minimums required by law as there are with automobile insurance. Yet, there are certain coverages that are typical, versus others that are not typical in most homeowner’s policies. While coverage is not compulsory, many mortgage companies require you maintain a certain amount of coverage for their investment.  

 

The Basics

 

North Carolina insurance companies follow certain standards for most lines of homeowner’s insurance. The standard policy covers your property, both the home and your personal property, from theft, fires, and interior water damage due to a leak in your home. The standard for most of these issues would be that reasonable actions were taken to prevent this from happening and they are not the result of a natural disaster. Therefore, a basic policy will not cover your home from a flood or a fire in which the homeowner intentionally set.  The personal property must be disclosed in advance, and any extremely valuable pieces, such as jewelry or rare paintings are typically not covered by a standard policy.  

 

Added Coverages

 

Most people expect items like floods, mudslides, earthquakes, mudflows, and landslides to be covered by their standard policy. They also expect losses of what they consider standard jewelry, such as an engagement ring, to be covered. These expectations are incorrect. These types of items are not generally covered by standard insurance. Most times, your home must be in a zone that is considered zoned for the above-mentioned disasters to obtain specific insurance for those issues. Therefore, if you are inland and not in a flood zone, you may not be able to purchase flood insurance. That being said, if a flood occurs by some odd force of nature, your home would not have coverage for the damage. As for items like an engagement ring, you typically need specific insurance for more expensive pieces of jewelry, like an engagement ring.

 

To learn more about insurance options for your home, contact the agents at Protective Agency Insurance at 877.739.9367.