House insurance provides financial protection in the event that your home or its contents are damaged. It also provides protection if you or a family member are held legally liable for the injuries to others or damage to their property.
There are four essential types of house insurance:
- Cover for the structure of your home
- Cover for your personal belongings
- Liability protection
- Additional living expenses
House insurance is typically offered in two ways:
- Buildings insurance
- Home Contents insurance
The former is a compulsory type of insurance that is required if you’re buying a house through a bank or other micro lender. This type of insurance provides cover for fire, windstorms, hail, lightning, theft or vandalism as well as personal property coverage.
Buildings insurance is a type of house insurance policy that pays for the repairing or rebuilding of your home if it’s damaged or destroyed by fire, hurricane, hail or lightning. Cover is typically provided for garages, tool sheds or gazebos.
Homeowners’ insurance provides cover for furniture, clothes, sports equipment that is stolen or destroyed by fire. The best way to determine the value of items is by conducting a home inventory.
Liability protection covers you against lawsuits for bodily injury or property damage that you or family members cause to other people. If a friend of yours slips and falls in your home for instance you can avoid lawsuits by having house insurance.
Some house insurance policies provide cover for additional expenses associated with the costs of living away from home if you cannot live there due to damage from an insured disaster.
By combining your insurance policies you may have the benefit of lower insurance premiums. For instance, if you combine your house insurance with your car insurance, you may get lower insurance premiums.
