February 23, 2012
While the need to insure one's home is plain, homeowners insurance is anything but plain. Coverage includes the home itself but for personal property, other structures, liability, identity theft and many other risks that you may not even consider. With all of the options available, properly insuring one's home and belongings requires an experienced advisor to help navigate the many coverages and features available on modern homeowners policies.
It is easy to look at all homeowners policies as equal, but that is not the case. From budget conscious, stripped down policies to package policies that add many important coverage features, homeowners products are as numerous and varied as the companies that write them. All too often, however, the client does not understand the limitations or features of their policy. It is our job as the agent to explain the differences that exist and give the client the ability to make a well-informed decision. We take that job seriously.
Maybe the most overlooked homeonwers product, renters insurance may be the biggest bargain in all of insurance. In fact, when paired with an auto policy it can often be virtually free, yes free, because of multi-policy discounts. If a renters policy costs $100/year, but discounts the auto policy by 10%, many times it saves the client money to carry the renter's policy. But why would a renter need such a policy? The answer is to protect their personal property and to give them valuable liability coverages. do you really have the money to replace everything in your apartment? Do you have the money to pay for lawyers and a judgement should somebody get hurt in your home? Renters insurance provides these valuable protections and more.
On its face, a rental home would does not seem all that different from an owner occupied home. From an insurance standpoint, they are very different. Homeowner policies do not provide liability coverage to protect landlords against claims arising from the rental of the premises. In addition, property coverage may be severly limited or excluded if the home is being rented out. The good news is that the property can often be insured correctly for about the same price or even less than a full homeowners package policy.
Most California property owners understand that scientists are predicting that a major earthquake (8.0 or larger) in California is not only likely, it is all but certain. Despite this, the vast majority do not carry earthquake insurance, largely due to the misconception that earthquake insurance is expensive, which can be true in high risk areas or when insuring through the California Earthquake Authority (CEA), the only product that most agents and insurance companies offer. However, most Californians don't live in an area where earthquake premiums are high and they don't understand that there are much more affordable policies out there that provide much broader coverage than the basic policy offered by the CEA. At KPIA, we draw on 40-years of experience writing earthquake insurance and offer the variety of earthquake products, tailored to fit any insurance plan or budget. After all, it's not a question of if, but when, that earthquake will happen and when it does, you'll either be glad you had it or wish you did.
Did you realize that while your homeowners policy covers damage due to water, it does not cover the damage if the water flows in from the outside. When we think of flood, many people picture entire neighborhoods flooded in the midwest and it all seems so far away and so unlikely to happen here in California. However, when we have extensive rains as we did in 2011, many homes can flood. All it takes is an accumulation of water or a diversion of water running by a neighbors house and water could flood into your home. Fortunately, flood insurance is generally very affordable for most homes at a fraction of the cost of their homeowners policy..
While most condo owners are aware that the building they live in is covered by their home owners association (HOA), that does not include coverage for their personal property, additions or alterations they have done to their unit, liability for their home or, in many cases, even the interior walls. Condominium Owners Insurance takes care of that very affordably. Additionally, like other homeowners insurance products, package it together with your auto insurance and save on both making it even more affordable.
While often insured under a typical homeowners policy, often an experienced agent can save their clients money by using coverage from the primary home's policy for very little cost and then insuring the secondary home on a more limited policy. Situations like this help demonstrate the value of using an experienced, knowledgeable agent instead of some call center based insurer, enabling the consumer to get better coverage at a lower price.
Actually, umbrella liability policies are not property coverage like the policies described above, however they are most often sold in conjunction with a homeowners policy. Umbrella policies are called that because they act like an umbrella, providing an extra layer of liability above and beyond your other policies. They can be written to cover your cars, home, rental homes, recreational vehicles and even small businesses. Umbrella policies are the best, most cost effective way to protect your assets. With policy limits up to $10,000,000 or more, umbrella policies offer tremendous value considering the amount of protection they afford.
For more information about these and other coverages contact us.
For a quote, please visit our quote center.
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