More tips about home insurance
Your home insurance will depend on many factors, such as:
Loss of Use: If your home burns down or there is so much smoke damage from a smaller fire that you need to be put up somewhere, this coverage pays for a hotel room, condo, rental house…until you can get back into your home. It also gives some money for the extra cost of eating out. Most companies give you a specific dollar amount for coverage. Others say they will pay whatever that actual cost is. Often companies limit this coverage to one year, and that can be a problem. In many cases, the chances of you getting the old home taken down and a new one built all within a year are small. Be sure to stay on top of the claims and building process. If your company gives you two years of benefits under this coverage, you should be fine.
Medical payments: This is liability coverage designed to take care of people who get injured while at your home. Say a friend comes over and slips on the stairs, requiring stitches. Even if he has medical coverage, he might seek damages to cover the deductible. This coverage will pay for that. Insurance companies would rather pay under this coverage and handle it quickly because it lessens the risk of being sued for more. The limits under this coverage are usually $1,000. This coverage does not cover resident family members or someone working at your home.
Liability: Here we have the same situation as with Auto insurance. Ifou need to have enough so that if sued the person suing will not go after your assets. The umbrella policy discussed in the Auto section could also provide coverage here.
Damage to property of others: This is like a little liability coverage for property damage you or a household family member might cause. A great example is when my nine-year- old son was sure he could hit a golf ball over the neighbor’s house, but only got it as high as the first floor window. Covered!
Back up of sewer and drain: Although this sounds like great coverage to have, it is very limited in what it covers and it usually carries a separate large deductible. It’s easy to understand why really, because only people who think they will need it buy it, right? It might be good to have this coverage but be sure you understand what is covered and what the limits are.
