Before you start
Guide contents
The words first
Six words worth knowing first
Every home insurance policy is described with these. They come up on every page from here on, so two minutes now saves you guessing later.
The six words
Read them once. You do not have to memorize anything.
- PremiumWhat you pay the insurer each year to have the policy.
- DeductibleWhat you pay yourself on a claim. Wind and hurricane damage often carries its own, set as a percentage of the house limit rather than a flat amount.
- Dwelling coverageRebuilding or repairing the home itself. You choose this limit, and most of the others are a percentage of it.
- Personal propertyFurniture, clothes, electronics. Typically 50% of the house limit, sometimes more.
- LiabilityIf someone is hurt at your home, or you damage someone else’s property, and they claim against you.
- Replacement cost and actual cash valueReplacement cost pays to rebuild using materials of similar kind and quality. Actual cash value takes age and wear off first, so a fifteen-year-old roof is paid as a fifteen-year-old roof.
Now the guide.
Six short steps, in the order the questions actually come up.