Home insurance helps you protect one of your most valuable assets. While researching different policies, you should avoid a lot of the misinformation that’s out there. In order to ensure that you find the right policy, here is a look at some common home insurance myths that you should ignore.
● Home Insurance Automatically Includes Travel Coverage
If you travel a lot, your home may be left unprotected unless you take the necessary measures to cover it. Before you go on vacation, make sure that you cut off your home’s water supply. You also need to put measures in place to ensure that your home’s heating system is functioning properly. Without taking these steps, you may be left unprotected if your home suffers water damage due to frozen pipes bursting. If you will be gone for an extended period of time, consider finding a house sitter to visit your property every week to check on things.
● Home Insurance Covers Your Home’s Market Value
One of the more common home insurance myths is that home insurance covers the market value of your home. This is incorrect. The policy only covers the rebuilding value of your home. If your home is damaged due to a natural disaster, your home insurance policy would cover the costs to restore your home to its original value before it was severely damaged. The value of the land is likely not included in the policy.
● Home Insurance Covers All Liabilities
This is not true. The liability coverage in your policy covers you if someone is accidentally injured on your property or if you unintentionally cause damage to someone else’s property. If you intentionally cause damage to someone’s property, you will not be covered.
● All of Your Valuables Are Covered
While your home insurance policy does cover your valuables if they are damaged or stolen, there is a catch. If you have luxury items such as furs or jewelry, you will have to add extra coverage to your policy to protect those items. You may need to show a receipt to help establish proof of value.
● Home Insurance Only Covers the Home
A common home insurance myth is that home insurance only covers your home and personal items. Home insurance policies also cover all of the detached structures on your property, such as your garage. You are also covered if you are involved in a liability dispute, such as your pet injuring someone. If your home is severely damaged, your policy should include temporary lodging coverage so that you will be reimbursed a certain amount for lodging expenses while your home is being repaired.
● Home Insurance Is Cheaper for Older Homes
Home insurance is actually more expensive for older homes because the likelihood of something going wrong is higher. It’s also going to cost more for your insurer to fix it. Homes with older pipes and materials require more maintenance.
● Home Insurance is Mandatory
It may surprise you that this is one of the more common home insurance myths. Compared to auto insurance, home insurance is not mandatory. However, if you are financing the property, the bank or lender will require you to have an active home insurance policy.
● Home Insurance Policies Include Act of God Coverage
Home insurance policies do not include Act of God coverage. Many policies include protections if your home is damaged due to a hailstorm, wildfire, or lightning. However, you will have to amend your policy to cover you if your home is damaged due to an earthquake or severe flooding.
● Home Insurance Covers Insect Damage
This is also incorrect. You have to take care of your home. You should be able to avoid insect damage around your home if you maintain proper maintenance.
● Home Insurance Covers a Sewer Issue
Your home may suffer sewer damage if the sanitary and storm sewer systems experience a water buildup. Protection against such water buildups is not automatically included in your home insurance policy. However, you can amend your policy to include this type of coverage.
Avoiding these common home insurance myths will simplify the process as you search for home insurance coverage. If you need more information about homeowners insurance, contact the experts at Advanced Insurance Group. We are ready to help you with all your coverage needs.
Leave A Comment