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[F421]Florida State Homeowners Insurance

by April Tourneau, Apr

Property Damage Coverage

Property damage is useful in the event of what's known as "peril": fire, hail, a tornado. Some perils like floods or earthquakes are only protected against with additional coverage, so they are not part of the basic coverage package. Property damage insurance helps repair your home and your personal property in the event of a peril.

Personal Property Insurance

Property damage insurance will cover your personal belongings in the event of peril, but in the event of theft or certain accidents, personal property insurance is the coverage you need. All the contents of your home that you or your family own (if they are covered under your policy) will be covered up to 50% of the value of your home. So if your home is insured for $100,000, you have $50,000 worth of personal property insurance, which is why it's usually a good idea to insure separately high-valued policy.

Additional Living Expense Coverage

Also known as Loss of Use coverage, Additional Living Expense insurance will cover the extra costs of rebuilding or renovating your home. Often when damage is substantial, families must move to a hotel or rent an apartment while their home is being rebuilt. Additional Living Expense coverage will give you money for these accommodations. This extends to expenses occurred if you are denied access to your home by government order. Be aware that this policy is subjected to duration limits, and is usually closer to a modest standard of living than a generous one.

Personal Liability Insurance

Personal liability coverage is a policy which protects you or your family members from claims or lawsuit. There are two main types of lawsuits that you are protected from: lawsuits resulting from injury on your property (non-auto and non-business) and claims or lawsuits resulting from property damage to others for which you or your family are responsible. Personal liability insurance includes money for defense costs until the limit of the liability has been exhausted—after that, you're on your own.

Medical Payments Insurance

Closely tied to Personal Liablity Coverage, Medical Payments Insurance helps pay for the medical injuries that result from an injury on your premises, as well as adjoining property (like a sidewalk or an alley). Medical payments insurance does not, however, apply to injuries that result from auto accidents, or your own injuries that occur in your home. In addition, if you are running a home business, Medical Payments coverage does not apply to injuries as a result of your business, or when someone else is renting your property.

You do need to know how much insurance you need on your home before you start your search for cheap homeowner's insurance. One simple method of calculating this is to multiply the square footage of your home by the amount a builder in your area charges by the square foot to build a new home of the same size.

You can also look at the real estate prices of similar homes in your location to find out how much money you would need to have in insurance in order to rebuild your home if it were to be completely destroyed. When you have a starting price, then you can start searching through the numerous insurance providers to find one that gives you the best quote.

Along with insuring the home itself, you have to include your personal property. This includes your furniture, clothing, appliances and electronics. As a rule, the insurance for the contents of the home is a percentage of the coverage of the home itself.

You can take an inventory of the contents to ensure that your personal property is less than or equal to this value. Furs and paintings that are quite valuable will require their own clause in the insurance policy and although they will add to the total cost, you do need to have them insured for their value.

The amount of liability coverage you have will affect the cost as well. This not only covers the cost of repairing any damages caused by accidents, but it covers any damages caused to others, such as to a visitor that slips and falls in your driveway. When looking for cheap homeowner's insurance, it is important to cover all the bases because accidents can happen at any time.

Don't sacrifice coverage for price. Depending on the amount of assets you own, the basic coverage is for $100,000 liability. If you do own a lot of assets valued over this amount, then you need to increase the amount of liability. This clause in your policy will help cover your legal fees if you are sued by someone hurt on your property.

When looking for cheap homeowner's insurance it is important to know that outbuildings on your property are covered as a standard part of your policy. An insurance policy that charges extra for this coverage is not one that you want to deal with. However, if you live in an area where flooding commonly occurs, it would be in your best interest to have this coverage included in your policy.

First of all, you shouldn't discount your current insurance provider when you are looking for cheap homeowner's insurance. If you have your vehicle insured with one provider and your home with another, you may be able to substantially reduce your costs by having both policies with the same provider. Take a look at your deductible and decide if your finances will permit you to raise the amount of this deductible.

The standard amount is $500, but you can get a cheaper rate if you raise it to $1000. If you think you would be able to afford to pay the first $1000 of repairs in an accident that may never happen, then go for the cheaper cost of insuring your home. Having burglar alarms installed with further reduce your premiums.

Search online for insurance providers so that you can compare the rates of each one along with the coverage offered under the various policies. Choosing a site that will compare several providers is a time saving option as well. You should always request free quotes from at least three insurance providers to make sure you do get cheap homeowner's insurance that meets your needs.

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About Author

Both April Tourneau & K Widner are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

April Tourneau has sinced written about articles on various topics from Free Credit Report Score, Homeowners Insurance and Finances. April Tourneau has a passion for saving people money, especially in these hard times. Whether she's helping with a or understand what t. April Tourneau's top article generates over 5400 views. to your Favourites.

K Widner has sinced written about articles on various topics from Home Management, Homeowners Insurance and Food and Drink. . K Widner's top article generates over 1300 views. to your Favourites.