insurance homeowner

What personal properties is covered with homeowner insurance?

I want take picture of the items in my car and home for insurance policy. What is or isn't acceptable?

The best thing to do is first talk with your agent and determine any policy limitations or exclusions. Some company's cap certain lossess for certain items (e.g. a non-scheduled jewelry theft might be capped at $2,500).

A good rule of thumb is this: Ask yourself if you have anything worth having appraised. If you think you have something worth having appraised then you're probably going to want to have that item specifically scheduled on your homeowners policy.

It may add to the premium so you'll need to get only A: what you can afford and B: what your comfortable with coverage-wise. You may want to play around with changing deductibles etc in order to lessen the any premium increase.

As far as items in your car; be carefull with this one. Lets say your car caught fire and burned up taking a bunch of clothes, furniture and tvs with it that were inside the car at the time. Your belongings that were in the car would be covered under your homeowners policy and not under the auto (which would only cover that car itself and possibly some custom stuff depending on your policy). Just don't think that because it's in the car the auto insurance will cover it.

I would recomend taking any receipts for expensive items and keeping them in a folder outside the house (or have your agent put them in your file), walk around make a general inventory of your belongings, and take either pictures or videos of the inside of your home.

Homeowner Insurance keeps going up, Home Values going down?

Assuming you remain a good driver and keep the same car, most auto insurance rates will go down as the car gets older. So if you don't make any homeowners claims and with housing values dropping, why does my homeowner insurance keep going up? From 2005 to 2008, my premium's gone up about 30%. I think they claim that the housing "replacement value" has also gone up. How true is that?

The cost of building materials has gone up.

Shingles are made using gasoline. Gas prices go up. The cost to make the shingles goes up. The cost to transport the shingles from the plant to Home Depot goes up. (again- gas is used to transport). Therefore, the cost to put a new roof on your home goes up.

The coverage of your homeowners insurance is based on what it would take to rebuild your home as it is today. NOT what the market would sell it for. It is very possible that the cost to build the home is more than what you could sell the home for.

A good example is a 1970's all brick home. The home may sell for one price. But since it's all brick — and brick is very expensive (that's why many high end new homes are brick on 1 side only). Therefore, the 1970's all brick home is much more expensive to build today that you may be able to sell it for.

What is a very competitive homeowner insurance company in Houston, TX?

What company are you with for house insurance? Any cheaper recommendations? Thanks.

I have Chubb & like them.

What is a very competitive homeowner insurance company in Houston, TX?

What company are you with for house insurance? Any cheaper recommendations? Thanks.

Home insurance covers lots of different things. I don't understand all the details of my home policy, but my home insurance agent is always a phone call away. Try calling your agent or a homeowners agent in your area. http://www.easyhomeinsuranceguide.com They will be able to assist you.

what's the difference between homeowner's insurance and landlord's insurance?

What's covered in the landlord's insurance not covered by homeowner's insurance.

A previous tenant destroyed our heater. Will that be covered under any of the two?

Thanks in advance for your time.
I'm in Guam right now. Property is in San Diego. Tenant was previously managed by an ex property manager. Tenant no longer there. I just discovered the situation when the new property manager asked a heating company for an estimate.

Well, the homeowners is for owner occupied dwellings, the landlord's policy (not a real insurance term, btw, so it's impossible to know what kind of coverages are there) is for tenant occupied dwellings. IN other words, the owner doesn't live there.

A landlord's policy covers the dwelling. Other coverages can be added – but are not built in. It's more of a cafeteria style insurance policy.

How did the tenant destroy your heater? Vandalism? Did you file charges? You have to file charges. If you're on a homeowners policy, and you don't live there, and the tenant vandalizes something, you could have an exclusion on your policy.

Heck, even on the "landlord" policy, you could have basic coverages – fire only. And then, again, it would depend. Did they set it on fire?

YOUR AGENT is the person to ask, both if the property is insured correctly, and if this claim is covered.

Can a homeowner's insurance cover an auto stolen because keys were taken from break in to home?

My friends home got broken into and car keys were stolen and with that stole the vehicle. The vehicle only had liability insurance. Now both homeowners and auto insurance are telling them that they won't pay for that loss. Is this correct in any way? The vehicle has a value of $7K. Would obtaining an attorney be helpful?

I don't think so

If a tree falls into your house is that usually covered by homeowner's insurance?

Or is that considered "an act of god". Actually this would be homeowner's and renter's insurance. My sister is the renter so I'm wondering if she'd be covered too. Just wondering what the norm is. She has State Farm.

The home owners insurance covers the tree and damages to the home owners property.

It will not cover the renter in any way. The renter has her own insurance, renters insurance, and her possessions are covered by that, but not the house itself.

What is Liability/ Fidelity Insurance for the Homeowner's Master Policy and all common areas?

Buying my first home in a master-planned community. The commitment letter from the loan processor has listed a condition that I provide "evidence of Liability/Fidelity Insurance for the Homeoener's Master Policy and all common areas." When I searched the internet, this insurance looked like something condo associations have to purchase? Is this something additional I have to purchase above Homeowner's insurance? How much will it cost?

Some "master planned" properties are part of an association that charges a monthly assocation fee. Sometimes, this fee will include your portion of the master insurance policy for the association. If you share a wall or a roof, it's almost guaranteed that you have a master policy. If you have a single family home that is not attached to any other home, your association dues might only cover lawn care/snow removal/common area maintenance.

The liability clause protects the assocation from lawsuits if someone slips on their sidewalks, etc… Fidelity protects you in case of fraud or embezzlement by your association managers. Every association would have this by default, as no one would lend on their properties without it, so don't worry, it's not something you have to worry about.

You should be receiving a copy of the assocation documents, so you can review them. You should certainly ask your agent for help.

But really, I've almost never made my client go get their insurance binder themselves. I ask you to get me the contact info, and I go do it myself. So that's a little weird. I'd get the HOA number, and make them get it. They need to provide the insurer with their own mortgage loss payee clause and loan number anyway, stuff you shouldn't have to do.

One final, very important note: If you are covered under a master policy, your personal property is NOT covered. Not even your kitchen cupboards and appliances. Only the structure. You need to get yourself an HO-6 policy. It's similar to a renter's policy, in that it insures your personal property in a home where they aren't covering the structure. Getting this from the agent you have your car insurance with is a good idea, as you'll often save money on the car insurance to offset 50% or more of the cost of the HO-6. For my HO-6, it was only about $250 for the whole year. And I saved about $150 annually off my car insurance, so it really was less than $10 per month. Don't forget to get it!!!!!!

PS the bank won't require the HO-6. They don't sound like they'd even have mentioned it to you. But for your own sake, don't skip it. You can't control it if your neighbors burn your place down.

What can I do if my homeowner's insurance says that they don't cover the damage?

My homeowner's insurance just called and said that they are denying my claim completely. They said that an overflowing toilet is not covered and that I should contact my builder and try to get the money from the 1 year warranty, which has not yet expired. What can I do?

Read your policy. IF you don't understand it and feel like paying a lawyer, have him read it for you. An insurance policy is a contract. It's legally binding. You pay the premium and they are contractually obligated to pay COVERED claims. To be a covered claim, it has to be explicitly stated as being a covered peril in a named peril policy or not explicitly stated as not being covered in an all or open peril policy. Typically, an overflowing toilet is not going to be covered because in general, it is very avoidable. Seriously though, how much damage could this cause, when a toilet overflows, don't you just turn the water off right away? THis may not be that big a deal. If the damage is minimal, it would probably be below or just above your deductible, and if they did pay the damage, they would slap a claim surcharge on your policy for the next 3 years, which would raise your rate by about 50-66% each year. I can't tell you how many times I've quoted peoples insurance and they couldn't understand why they were paying $1600 a year when their friends all pay less than $1000….hmmm, was that claim really worth it? At any rate, you are probably s.o.l

Will my homeowner's insurance cover my heat pump going out?

I have two heat pumps, one in the attic and one in the basement. Last night my power went out, when it came back on the one in the attic wouldn't come back on. It's cold here, and I need both in order to heat my house. I just bought it this year about 8 months ago. Will my homeowner's insurance cover the system going out?

Keep in mind your deductable. It will be at least $500 and very likely $1000. Plus your rates will probably go up after making a claim. If you can prove that a power surge ruined the heat pump your ins probably would cover it, but like others have said it should have a years warranty. However i wouldn't mention your power outage to them.