What is Home Insurance?
Required by most mortgage lenders, most standard home insurance policies will provide coverage for damage to your home (and many of the items in your home) caused by:

* Theft
* Fire and lightning
* Smoke
* Frozen pipes
* Ice and snow

Home insurance also covers injuries and property damage caused by you, your family (or pets) to other people. This liability coverage for will pay for medical payments to third parties, and legal costs if a lawsuit is brought against you. The insurance will also usually cover any living expenses you incur, if you’re unable to live in your house because of a fire or other covered incident.

What’s not covered?
Read your home insurance policy to find out exactly what is and is not covered. Typically, most insurers exclude damages caused by an act of war, nuclear accident, flood, earthquake, and terrorism, although you may be able to purchase special policies or endorsements that will cover these events. Also, any damage caused by wear-and-tear isn’t covered—this is considered maintenance, and is assumed to be the responsibility of the homeowners themselves.

How much is enough?
Mortgage lenders require that borrowers purchase a minimum amount of home insurance (typically equal to the appraised value or the purchase price of the home). But this is often not the amount of coverage you truly need. Instead, find out how much it would cost to rebuild your home, and consider insuring it for that amount. When you apply for a policy, your agent will help you establish the replacement cost by asking for detailed information about the construction and contents of your new home—and possibly by completing a home inspection.

The liability limits on a standard homeowners policy are typically $100,000, but this may not be enough to protect all of your assets. For an additional charge, you can increase this coverage to $500,000. You may also choose to buy an umbrella policy to add coverage in increments of $1 million. Generally, you would buy the umbrella policy from the same company that insures your cars.

You get what you pay for
Are you willing to pay more to have damaged personal property replaced? If so, consider purchasing replacement cost coverage with your home insurance. When it comes to valuing property, insurers generally use one of two methods. The first, actual cash value, pays you an amount equal to the replacement value of the property, minus depreciation for the years you owned the item. The second, replacement cost, is more expensive, but it pays you the full value of the item today, so that you can replace the old item with a new one.

Most home insurance policies limit coverage for certain high-priced or hard-to-replace items. Additional endorsements or floaters will be necessary to protect items like jewelry, furs, antiques, guns, and other valuables. You may need an appraisal for some items before the company will provide a rate.

How deep are your pockets?
To save money, consider choosing a deductible of $250, $500, or even $1,000. In the event of a loss (e.g., damage from a winter storm), you’ll be required to pay this amount out of your own pocket before your home insurance takes over, but in the meantime, this could reduce your homeowners premium.

Sound the alarm
Don’t forget to tell your insurer if you have a home security system (e.g., fire, burglar, emergency). Most insurers offer discounts for such safety features. You may also qualify for a lower insurance premium if you live near a fire department or hydrant, own a newer home, own a home built out of fire-resistant materials, or get your auto insurance from the same company.

Shop around
Get quotes from several insurance companies when shopping for home insurance. But remember, the lowest price does not always equal the best deal. Compare the coverage each policy offers, and check with your state’s department of insurance to make sure that each company you’re evaluating has a good reputation in the industry.

Have you ever thought that what will happen if your house gets into fire or some kind of a theft takes place in it? In such a scenario, you will not only take you through a emotional trauma but you will also have to pay a huge cost to get things done the way they were.

However, you can save the monetary loss that you will be going through can be dealt by some one else, if you get an insurance cover for your property at the right time. You will be paying a cost that will be almost negligible in front of the cost of your house but will help you save thousands of dollars if something happens to it.

The best way that one can protect his most precious possession is by taking up home insurance. Home insurance is basically a police that you take up by paying a certain amount to an insurance company, who in return will cover your home and its contents from any expected or unexpected calamities that may occur to your home.

Taking home insurance is a wise decision which will recover your costs in case of fire, theft, leakage and other fatal accidents that happen to occur.

The unfortunate part of any home insurance is that in case if your home has not suffered from any kind of damages, your money, which you have regularly paid to the insurance company, will not be given back. Hence, make sure that you have chosen a cheap home insurance deal. The best way to find such cheap and best home insurance companies is with the help of online search engines

HO-1 is one of the most important types. This basic policy protects the house against the damages caused by fire and lightening. Another feature of the policy is that it covers valuable items like jewelry.

HO-2 is a policy that offers broad coverage. The coverage offered by the policy includes damage from rain, smoke, wind, vandalism, hail, theft, removal of items and explosion.

HO-3 is a special form of policy that is called as ‘open peril’ or ‘all risk’ insurance. This policy covers the home against loss or damage. The exclusions that are listed in this policy must be read carefully so that you can be sure that the important items are not excluded.

HO-4 is known as a tenant’s insurance policy. This policy insures the personal items and contents against the situations mentioned in the HO-2 policy. Another attractive feature of the policy is that it covers the supplementary living expenses including the medical payments. It provides liability protection too.

HO-6 is a policy offering coverage for the condominium owner for covering the items that will not come under the coverage of condominium association policy.

HO-8 is normally referred as an ‘older home’ policy. If the house you own is an old one, most of the policies will not offer replacement coverage. This policy is to overcome that limitation.

Having a better understanding of these policies can help you in making the right decision regarding the home insurance policies.

Smart homeowners, maintain home insurance and those homeowners who have nothing to lose, do not.  I know that many think that home insurance is just an unnecessary additional expense and that what are the chances of anything happening to your home, but you have to cover all bases.  The truth is we cannot predict a fire, flood, or any other natural disaster, but for a few dollars more each month, you can guarantee yourself a piece of mind.  Most homeowners are not informed correctly, when purchasing home insurance, so they usually purchase whatever is the cheapest plan and unbelievably that plan does not cover very much.

There are many home insurance plans to choose from, you can select a plan; which covers simply the frame of the home and that means the wood, concrete, plaster and beams.  This type of plan; however, does not cover paint, carpet, tile, furniture, or any household items.  Therefore, in the end; with this plan you end up having to rebuild your house anyway.  The other plans available do cover household items; as well as personal items, it really depends on you and what you would consider the worst-case scenario.

If you are not sure which plan is the best option for you, seek advice from an insurance agent.  If you are worried about insurance agents; just trying to make a sell, instead of assist you honestly, then ask a friend or family member who has already been dealing with home insurance policies.  Information is also available through the internet and you have online agents who will answer any questions you may have.