If you’re a hopeful homebuyer, there’s something important you need to know: your estimated monthly payment might be way off.This is one of the most common—and costly&mdash
Home Insurance Made Simple
Dated: January 2 2022
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There are so many important parts of the homebuying process, and one of these parts is getting home insurance since doing so is required by your lender. Just like with any insurance process, you want to make sure that you do it right, which means fully understanding what you should be looking for and how to compare companies when you are searching.
In order to help you out with this, we met with Cindy Sheets, an Allstate Insurance representative to ask her advice on what insurance does and what buyers should look for when comparing between companies. We’ve included the information she provided below.
What does it do? Insurance protects you and your family in many kinds of situations involving your home and the things you own. It also protects the Mortgage Lender in the case of a total loss.
A Homeowner’s Policy typically will provide coverage in the following areas:
- Dwelling Protection – fancy word for your house.
- Other Structures Protection – (like a shed or a detached garage)
- Personal Property – (imagine turning your house upside down. The items that would fall out are your personal property.
- Liability Protection – Let’s say there’s a loose handrail in your house and it causes someone to fall. You may be found negligent and legally responsible for the injured persons medical bills and lost wages.
- Guest Medical – You have a party, and a friend is helping in the kitchen and cuts her finger. This is where this coverage comes in to play.
- Additional Living Expense – if your home is uninhabitable due to a covered claim, this pays for living arrangements, food, and other expenses.
- Additional coverage could be added to boost the protection for situations that may not normally be covered unless added to a policy. Some examples are sewer back up and expanded jewelry theft.
What is a deductible?
- The higher the deductible, the lower the premium and vice versa. This is your portion of responsibility, should you have a claim.
How do I pick an insurance company? (The 4 C’s)
- Claims – the ability of the company to pay the claims in the event of loss. This is based on the financial strength of the insurance company.
- Customer Service – Can you reach someone to make changes, answer questions or file a claim on your policy outside of standard business hours?
- Coverages – How well am I protected? Dwelling Protection is based on the cost of material and labor to rebuild your home. This amount may be different than the market price.
- Cost – Value is important. Be careful not to choose solely on the price. Insurance is something you must have and hope you never need it. But if you do, you want to be able to be made whole in the event of a total loss.
More information can be found at Insurance Information Institute: https://www.iii.org/
A special thanks to Cindy for helping put this article together! She can be reached at 770-316-7649 with any other questions you might have
If you have any more questions about what rest of the buying or selling process looks like or what your first steps might need to look like, reach out to us by using the messenger icon on your screen or by texting or calling our number at (678) 242-9981. We’ll be happy to help however we can.
Kate Valor
Kate founded Homes By Valor with the idea that every person deserves to find a house that feels like home. She believes strongly in searching until you find the exact right place to call home, and she....
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