Selecting the right home insurance is an important part of protecting the investment you’ve made in your property. Choose the wrong type or too little coverage, and you could face large out-of-pocket costs after a loss. Try to shop for coverage on your own, and you could end up overpaying for your policy. What you really need is the help of an agent with industry experience who has your best interests in mind – not the insurance company’s. That is why many St. Paul and Virginia area families are choosing the help of Krog Insurance to shop for Minnesota home insurance personalized to fit their needs.
Types of Losses
Home insurance may cover only certain types of named perils, or it may cover all perils except for those specifically excluded by name. Some of the most common disasters covered by home insurance include:
- Fire
- Lightning
- Smoke
- Explosions
- Riots
- Theft and vandalism
- Falling objects
- Water discharge
- And more
Some types of losses are always excluded from most home insurance policies. For example, flood damage is not covered under a typical home insurance policy, but it may be available as stand-alone coverage. Contact our office for more information about the events that are typically excluded by homeowners insurance and what you can do to better protect yourself against those types of losses.
What’s Covered?
Home insurance usually includes several different types of coverage under one policy umbrella. For a standard policy, home insurance generally protects you against:
Structural Damages
This is the part of your home insurance that covers the rebuilding or repair of your home after damage due to a covered loss. It typically includes damages to your house, fence, and any other structures on your property, such as a detached garage. It is important to check your policy language concerning the type of coverage you have for your home. We always recommend purchasing replacement-cost coverage that will cover the rebuilding of your home and minimize your out-of-pocket losses.
Personal Belongings
This section of your home insurance will cover compensation for the loss of the things you own. This includes the contents of your home, as well as items stored away from your home. Most standard homeowners insurance policies only cover the actual cash value of personal belongings, which reimburses you for the depreciated value of your items. With the help of Krog Insurance and our team, however, we can show you how adding endorsements to your policy can increase your coverage to pay for full replacement of your items instead.
Tip: A home inventory can help you track the value of your belongings and determine if or when you may need to increase your limits. Your home inventory should include a list of everything you own, sorted by category. Store paper copies in a safe place away from your home, or use an app or cloud-based software instead.
Liability
Liability coverage is an important part of any homeowners insurance policy, as it helps protect your income and assets against lawsuits when you are financially responsible for another person’s loss. It includes expenses related to injuries and property damages you or a member of your household is responsible for. In addition to accidents occurring on your property, it also follows you and your household members outside of the home, with exclusions only for certain types of liabilities, such as car accidents.
We generally recommend high-limit liability protection – enough to cover legal bills, medical bills, court costs, property repairs, lost wages, and other losses. If your limits are too low, you risk having to liquidate your own savings or make payments from future income to satisfy your financial responsibility. Our team can help you assess your liability risk exposure and determine how much coverage you may really need. We can even offer supplemental high-limit liability protection with umbrella insurance that extends your protection by $1 million or more.
Temporary Displacement
Homeowners insurance also includes coverage for temporary displacement from your home due to a covered event. If your house is destroyed in a fire, for example, it can provide the funds you need to temporarily pay rent at an apartment or perhaps stay in a hotel for a few weeks. It can also cover other excess living expenses you incur as a result of your loss.
Deductibles
Do You Need Coverage?
If you have a mortgage on a home, you are probably required to have homeowners insurance until the balance is paid in full. This coverage not only protects your investment, but it also protects the lender in case something happens to the property that secures the value of your loan.
If you own your home outright, you still need homeowners insurance. While it’s possible to go without coverage, it could turn out to be the worst financial mistake of your life. A fire could wipe out everything you own in just minutes. Thieves could swipe thousands of dollars worth of electronics, jewelry, and other valuables. These types of scenarios happen to unsuspecting people every day. Could you afford to start over again if it happens to you?
Calculating Your Coverage Needs
It’s impossible to determine your home insurance coverage needs if you don’t know what you stand to lose. It’s important to account for a wide range of variables, including local construction costs, inflation, and the amount of income and assets that could be at risk in the event of a lawsuit. Likewise, some things, such as the lot your home is built on, may not be relevant. On the other hand, you might need to account for funds needed for property cleanup and remediation after a destructive event.
We can help you find a policy that provides enough protection to completely rebuild the structure of your home from scratch, replace your personal belongings, pay for temporary relocation expenses, and protect you against liability.
To find out more about how Krog Insurance can help you save on Minnesota homeowners insurance, give us a call today. We look forward to serving you soon.
