Types of Homeowners Insurance

Charles Goodman Group: Friendly Chappaqua Insurance Agent

Insurance companies have a standard set of specific policies they can offer homeowners, and a Chappaqua insurance agent may be able to discern which policy is right for you. If you have a mortgage from a bank, your lender probably requires you to have a certain amount of coverage, but even if you own your home outright, having too little coverage transfers all the risk of a catastrophic event to you. If you live in a condominium, the owner of your building has insurance for the external structure, but you should still have insurance for the property inside your unit.

The same advice applies to apartment dwellers and property renters. Your landlord most likely has insurance for the building you live in, but certain types of liability coverage and casualty insurance aren’t part of your landlord’s policy. For example, if you or a member of your household unintentionally destroy another person’s property or seriously injure someone, your landlord’s insurance doesn’t protect you from a lawsuit, hospital bills or property replacement costs. The owner of your building is responsible for insuring against different types of catastrophic weather events and other perils, but you should insure your personal property in case of certain situations that may not be covered.

The basic type of homeowners insurance protects against lightning, storms, wind damage, vandalism, rioting, aircraft and vehicle damage, theft and even volcanic eruptions, but it doesn’t protect against every type of natural disaster.

The insurance agent experts at the Charles Goodman Group of Chappaqua can assist you with any questions regarding health insurance or property insurance.

Certain events are covered separately, including earthquakes, landslides and floods. It’s important to read your policy carefully to understand whether you’re covered in these situations because damage from an event not listed on your policy won’t be repaired by your insurer. Most people who live in flood zones or near fault lines purchase a separate rider to insure their property against water damage, sink holes, earthquakes and similar events. There are also other types of specialty damage protection, such as nuclear hazard coverage and war coverage.

There hasn’t been a war on U.S. soil in more than a century, but a terrorist attack that destroys your property would not be covered by a typical policy. Nuclear hazard coverage is somewhat different and applies to the nuclear meltdown of a power plant or any other type of contamination that damages your property. Any kind of fire or smoke damage caused by a nuclear meltdown isn’t covered by a standard policy, even if these events are specifically listed. A standard policy covers only fire and smoke damage from non-nuclear sources.