Coverages Provided by Homeowners’ Insurance Policies

A report published by the AARP The Magazine has revealed some interesting findings regarding some of the most common insurance claims made by homeowners across the United States. According to this report, dog bites on residential premises constitute about a third of all the liability claims made by house owners. This number also includes instances where a visitor on a residential property has been attacked, bitten, and/or injured in any other way by any pet belonging to the owner.

So if you own a pet, you should buy personal liability coverage or some other coverage that takes care of the medical bills that you may need to pay others. You should actually explore the various homeowners’ insurance coverage options thoroughly to ensure that you are protected from the common perils that might befall you.

Given below are the various types of home insurance coverage options available to homeowners across the United States.

Coverage A: Dwelling

This coverage option protects your house and attached structures like your garage from certain specified perils. It also provides coverage from damages caused by fixtures such as the heating and air-conditioning unit, the plumbing works, and electrical wires while remodeling, repairing, and/or altering the house and its adjacent structures within the same premises. The amount of coverage depends on a host of factors like the market value of your house, the purchase price, and the replacement cost of the building and the insurers calculate this amount. You should choose to select a coverage amount that is at least 80 percent of the replacement cost of the dwelling structure.

Coverage B: Other Structures within the same Premises

This coverage option protects the structures that may have been built within the residential premises but are not attached to the main dwelling. This includes detached garages, outhouses, or tool sheds. The coverage amount is usually fixed at 10 percent of the limit on your dwelling coverage.

Coverage C: Personal Property

This coverage option protects your personal belongings in the house. This coverage is restricted to certain types of objects that are especially susceptible to damage and loss, like jewelry, fine art and wine collections, stamp and coin collections, manuscripts, and delicate articles of clothing like furs. Usually, the coverage amount on personal property is set at half the limit of Coverage A or the dwelling coverage.

Coverage D: Loss of Use

This is an additional coverage option that many homeowners choose to check off on such as when their houses are damaged and have become inhabitable. However, the coverage rules make it mandatory that the damage to the house must be caused by a peril for which the homeowners are covered. Usually the limit for loss of use of a residential property is set at 20 percent of your dwelling coverage amount and covers costs such as housing expenses, rents to be paid for using storage facilities, and meals.

Coverage E: Personal Liability

Many homeowners choose to buy this coverage to protect their resources—wallets, bank balances, and assets—when faced with liability lawsuits by people who have been unintentionally injured by the homeowner or any member of his household. The homeowner has the liberty to choose the coverage amount in this case.

Coverage F: Medical Payments to Others

This coverage option is useful for times when you have to pay the medical bills of persons who may have been accidentally injured or harmed in any other way in your property. Accidental injuries may be caused by slip-and-fall accidents or attacks by your pet animal or bird. You can choose the coverage amount yourself and many homeowners who operate home-based businesses and have a steady footfall of clients buy this coverage.

Determining what coverage plan to buy depends entirely on your specific needs. The dwelling coverage plan protects the most important asset in your life—your house—while the other coverage options provide additional layers of security.