Your home is probably one of the biggest assets you own and if it is damaged or destroyed it can be financially devastating.

Unfortunately, a house is vulnerable to a wide variety of risks. Fires, storms, wind, hail and even injuries that happen at your home can lead to damage or lawsuits making homeowners insurance an absolute necessity.

Here are just of few of the most important reasons to protect your home with a homeowners policy.

It’s Probably Required

Unless you own your home outright, your mortgage lender will require that you carry homeowners insurance. While car insurance is required by almost all states, the decision to protect your home with insurance is all yours, unless you have a mortgage.

Homeowners insurance protects the lenders asset (your home) in the event it is damaged or destroyed. In most cases, if you fail to carry a homeowners policy, your lender can “force place” insurance on the property and bill you for it in your monthly mortgage payment. In the majority of cases a “forced placed” policy will be much more expensive than a policy you buy in the open market.

On the other hand, if you own your home free and clear you are welcome to drop homeowners insurance but if your house is damaged or destroyed the cost to repair or rebuild will fall entirely to you.

Homeowners Insurance Protects Your House

There are not a lot of us who can afford to rebuild their house out of pocket if it is severely damaged or destroyed by a storm or fire. Homeowners insurance will cover this cost as well as protecting your home from perils such as fire, vandalism, tornadoes, hurricanes, thunderstorms and more.

In addition to covering your main house, a homeowners policy will also cover outbuildings such as storage sheds, barns and garages.

Regardless of whether it is a repair or your home is leveled, homeowners insurance will help cover repair or rebuilding costs. When shopping for a policy it is always best to consider a replacement cost policy over an actual cash value policy, which takes depreciation into account when determining your payout.

Your Personal Property is Covered

Over a lifetime (or even a few years) people manage to accumulate a lot of personal property. Imagine having to replace everything in your home if the worst were to happen. Homeowners insurance will step up and cover the cost of all of your personal belongings if they are damaged or destroyed.

Homeowners insurance covers your personal property regardless of whether it is stolen, damaged or destroyed. It even protects your property when it is out of your home. It doesn’t matter if it is in your car at the local mall or a hotel room halfway around the world, your items are covered.

Liability Protection

Liability coverage is one of the best features of your homeowners insurance policy and can literally be a financial lifesaver if someone is injured on your property. Homeowners insurance steps up to cover medical bills and the cost of lawsuits if a person is injured at your home.

It can be an injury from slipping, falling, a dog bite or a wide variety of other types of accidents. Medical bills and lawsuits can quickly spiral out of control, making liability coverage a must have protection.

Additional Living Expenses

Hotel bills can quickly add up if your home is uninhabitable after a fire, storm or other covered peril, luckily your homeowners policy will help cover some of your additional living costs.

Details vary by policy but in many cases hotel or apartment costs are covered as are additional living expenses such as restaurants, laundry, storage units and even dry cleaning. There are limits to these expenses so check with your agent regarding your policy limits.

 For a quote, go to https://www.gorockland.com/hom...