HOW TO SHOP FOR HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE

Owning your own house is a major life achievement. Your home is arguably one of the most important assets you can have.

It helps ensure your financial independence, as well as your family’s future economic stability.

Given its significance, your home also deserves the best protection from any untoward event that could negatively impact its value. This is where homeowners insurance comes into play.

 

WHAT HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE CAN DO FOR YOU

Homeowner’s insurance can protect against a range of unfortunate circumstances that are beyond your control.

Examples could include damages from extreme weather events, earthquakes, fire, burglary, and vandalism. You can buy insurance coverage for all sorts of events.

If you’re not careful, however, it can be easy to oversubscribe on coverage and risk paying too much for your insurance policy in California. In this article, we give you tips on how to avoid overbuying insurance, and how to effectively shop for a policy that’s right for you.

Determining Your Insurance Needs

Give yourself time to learn about the different kinds of homeowners insurance coverage. Reflect on what kinds of coverage might be applicable to your home and your geographical area. At the very least, however, every homeowner’s policy should include the following coverage:

1. Dwelling or Structure of the Home Coverage
2. Personal Property Coverage
3. Additional living expenses
4. Liability coverage
5. Medical Payments coverage

Consider Hiring An Independent Broker

When looking for an insurance policy and provider, you need to conduct thorough research. However, the information you find online may be scant, not detailed enough, or biased toward a particular provider. In this case, it would be best to hire an independent agent or broker.

These professionals specialize in comparing policies from different companies. They also shouldn’t be affiliated with any insurance providers, so you can rely on them to give you impartial and accurate advice.

Preparing Necessary Information For A Quote

The next step is to get quotes from different insurers so you can compare prices and coverage limits. For this, you will need to provide insurance agents with the following details:

1. Your home address – This should be the address of the property you’re getting insurance for.
2. Insurance appraisal – If you’ve hired a professional appraiser to calculate the rebuild of your home, have their report ready. If you’ve had a previous insurance policy for your home, you can also refer to the appraised value in that document. You could also hire building contractors to assess your home’s construction value.
3. Previous insurance inspection reports – If you’ve had a previous insurance policy, it should have come with inspection notes. Insurance inspectors would note down things about your property that might need coverage. For example, if your house has old plumbing, this may need coverage in case of water damage later on.
4. Previous insurance policies – Furnish your insurance broker or agent with a copy of your previous insurance policy, if any. This document would make it easy for them to collect information like your home’s square footage, roof age, plumbing specs and condition, electrical specs, heating specs, and distance from emergency services.
5. Lender requirements, if you have a mortgage – If you have a mortgage lender, they would normally require certain kinds and levels of coverage. Inform your insurance broker or agent of such requirements so that they can include it in the quote.

Compare Quotes And Decide On A Policy

Once you receive quotes from different insurers, make sure to go through each policy carefully. While the price is a major factor to consider, don’t let this be the only deciding factor. Whichever policy you go for, you should make sure that it provides you with the adequate coverage you need for your home.

You may also want to consider the reputation of the insurance company you’re buying the policy from.

Search for them online and see if they’re a financially stable company that would be able to pay your insurance claims. To do this, you can consult reports from credit rating agencies.

Contact us

Panorama in Northridge, CA has an expert team of financial advisers who can assist you in finding the right policy for your needs. Get in touch with us today.