Your mortgage company may require you to carry homeowners’ insurance, or you may elect to continue coverage after purchase. Maybe you just paid off your mortgage, and you’re riding the fence about renewing your policy. VAC Insurance Agency of Brooklyn, NY wants you to understand exactly what a standard homeowner’s insurance policy covers and why you need it.

Protecting Your Investment Four Ways

Your standard policy provides vital financial protection for your investment. The home policy protects you from physical property loss due to a named peril like fire or tornado, as well as from accidents such as a teenager who drives into the garage while the garage door remains closed. The policy also covers theft, so if a burglar breaks in and steals your big screen and stereo, the insurance pays for the replacement, plus the repairs for how the burglar broke into the home. The same standard policy provides liability protection. That means if your neighbor visits to watch a football game and falls down the front steps leaving to go home, the home policy pays for their medical bills. If they sue, it would also cover your attorney fees.

Named Perils

The standard homeowner’s policy covers the expense of repairing or rebuilding the home when it becomes damaged or destroyed by a named peril. That means a specific cause named in the policy. In a standard policy, a named peril refers to fire, hail, hurricane, lightning, or tornado, but not flood. The latter requires a standalone National Flood Insurance Program policy. Some states include earthquakes in the named perils, and others do not.

The other structures not attached to your home also receive coverage in the amount of 10 percent of the insured value of the house. Other structures refer to a garage, gazebo, shed, or workshop.
Talk to VAC Insurance Agency of Brooklyn, NY about the homeowner’s policy you need. You can include items like additional living expenses (ALE), so you can live in a hotel while the home receives repairs. You can also add extra liability coverage, helpful if you host a lot of parties or run a home business. Let’s discuss your needs, so your home investment remains protected.