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How to Buy Home Insurance

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When buying a home, many people overlook the importance of shopping for home insurance. It happens almost everyday, title and/or escrow companies ringing insurance agencies at the last minute and asking for a home insurance binder. But you don’t have to experience that if you begin searching for the right homeowner policy once a purchase price has been set.

Below are tips to help you find the right homeowner insurance:

Considerations for Insurability

To determine insurability, your insurance agent will want to know things like how old the house and its plumbing and electrical systems are, its location, the type of roof it has, square footage, how many claims were filed 5 years going back, and so on.

Insurance companies may deny coverage for houses in far-flung areas or in the absence of a fire hydrant on the street. In that is true for you, you can try a specialty or surplus-lines insurer, although you will have to wait for a quote much, much longer.

Deductible Amount

Yes, it’s true: you can save more money if you have a higher deductible on your insurance. In most cases, insurers will offer discounts at a $500 deductible, going up as your deductible rises. The maximum deductible for most companies is $10,000, but be careful because many mortgage companies will not let you go beyond a $1,000 deductible. Ask your lender about this before you choose a plan with a higher deductible, you can also get in touch here!

What You Need

In most cases, agents will rely on a cost estimator to know cost replacement estimates. The purpose is to make sure that your house will be sufficiently insured. Remember that insurance firms do not insure dirt, so if you bought a house with a massive lawn, don’t be astonished when you learn that you are covered for a much smaller value compared to the price for which you bought the house. What is included in the coverage is no more than the house itself, land excluded.

Policy Options

You will actually be able to choose features for your home insurance policy, depending on what you want. One is liability coverage, which is usually overlooked. This helps you in the event of claims to property damage or bodily injury. Let’s say your neighbor’s house is on fire and you caused it because of some accident. You might have to leave the area, but your policy will pay your neighbor.

Enjoying Discounts

Finally, make sure you’re getting all of the discounts for which you are eligible. Having a home security system that is hooked to a monitoring hub, for example, can instantly fetch you some 10% in discounts. Have your agent tell you about discounts, don’t forget to contact us now!