Slavsky

Home Owners Insurance Policies

We may be thinking: “I live in a safe neighborhood and I try not to set my home on fire as much as possible,” but skimping on Homeowners insurance is not the best solution. If you own a home, your mortgage company may require having it.

Theoretically we think that the more we safeguard our home, car, loved ones, the better off we’ll be. But that is not necessarily true for insurance. While being underinsured or uninsured could leave us unprotected from nasty lawsuits, being over insured means we are throwing money away. Let’s stick with “bigger is not always better” rule.

There are six Homeowners Forms most commonly used by insurance companies. To figure which one is best for you, determine whether you are a homeowner, renter or townhouse/condominium owner. Then decide if you want Basic, Broad or Special coverage for the building and contents (Basic Form is very limited. Broad Form is much better. It covers the majority of the losses. And, of course, Special Form is the best. Any accidental cause-of-loss is covered by it. Unfortunately, natural disasters are often excluded from Homeowners insurance coverage.)

If you own a house it’s best to have the building covered with the Special Form and contents with the Broad. Why? Because the structure is the biggest property risk, and exposed to all kinds of elements, where most contents are protected by being inside. If you have expensive art or antiques, it’s a good idea to get Special Form. It’s only 10 percent more expensive than Broad coverage.