Three Key Tips to Ensure You Find the Right Homeowners Insurance Policy to Protect Your Family

We buy homeowners insurance to protect ourselves from the financial loss that can result from some of our greatest fears. Fortunately, these events rarely occur.

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Because of this, many people don’t invest time learning about homeowners insurance. This is a missed opportunity as educating yourself about homeowners insurance can help your family avoid costly surprises and save money.

What is homeowners insurance?

Homeowners insurance provides financial protection for your home, personal belongings, and usually provides personal liability coverage for members of your household.

Below, we’ve prepared three key tips to help you find the right policy.

1.Determine your family’s insurance needs

Generally, your policy will cover the costs of replacing your home and its contents. Insurance companies estimate your home’s replacement costs during the quoting process.

Before you start your insurance journey, try to determine the total value of your home as well as your personal belongings to ensure you get the right amount of coverage.

Start by gathering key information about your home; for example, its square footage and construction type (e.g., wood frame). Some people hire an appraiser to determine their home’s insurance value.

You’ll also want to catalogue your personal items and their replacement value. Consider developing a spreadsheet that lists your belongings and their monetary value – photographing or taking video of your belongings is recommended.

The more detailed you are when determining your home’s replacement cost and cataloging your valuables, the more accurate your insurance quote will be. 

2. Research and understand insurance policies available to you

Generally, there are four types of homeowners insurance policies:

• Comprehensive – covers your home and contents for “all risks,” except any perils excluded (perils are events that could cause damage to your property or personal items).
• Broad – includes “all risk” coverage but coverage is less extensive.
• Standard – cover your dwelling and contents only for perils you identify.
• No frills – policies offering coverage to homes that don’t meet normal insurance standards.

Choosing home insurance is about trade-offs and a key question you’ll want to consider is, how do I want to spend my insurance budget?

For example, if you choose a higher deductible (the cost you pay out of pocket when filing a claim), the lower your premiums will be. An insurance broker can help you understand trade-offs which may result in savings.

3.Work with an insurance broker to find the best solution

When shopping for homeowners insurance, it’s in your interest to compare policies from many insurance companies to ensure you’re getting the best coverage at the best rate.

Insurance brokers make this task easy for you as they deal with a large network of companies and will be able to explain the similarities and differences between policies offered by providers.

Brokers will listen to understand your unique needs and offer advice about policy options based on their expert knowledge and their experience working with other clients.

AP insurance brokers are experienced, qualified and trusted brokers that treat our customers like family – contact us today to learn about how we can help you with your homeowners insurance needs.