Buying homeowners insurance means making your investment in your home more secure.

You never know when a hazardous event might occur on your property, and when it does, the process of picking up the pieces might prove costly. Without homeowners insurance in place, you run the risk of financial insecurity as you try to recover from house fires, weather damage, property theft, vandalism, lawsuits and other hazards.

With coverage, however, you’ll be able to make a claim for your losses on your homeowners policy. So long as the policy covers the cause of the damage, it will compensate you for your losses. Therefore, your own financial burden for your losses will drop substantially.

If you plan to take out a mortgage to buy your home, then your lender will likely require you to buy a homeowners insurance policy before they will approve the loan. Therefore, you will need to have a policy before you can close the deal on the home.

Still, even if you don’t take out a mortgage, you can ensure you have coverage from day one by buying your policy early in the closing process.

Please note, homeowners insurance does not cover flood damage. However, you might have to buy flood insurance if you live in a designated flood zone. Click here to learn more about flood insurance.

Homeowners insurance is supposed to help you pay for the ramifications of costly accidents in your home. Policies will usually include coverage for the:

• Dwelling: This coverage pays the replacement cost of a dwelling damaged by hazards like fires, theft, vandalism or weather.
• Other Structures: You can insure detached garages, gazebos, fences and other property separate from your dwelling.
• Possessions: This covers repairs or replacements for possessions damaged by hazardous events.
• Homeowners Liabilities: This applies to legal fees and settlements arising from a lawsuit brought by a third party who experiences an injury or property damage that is your fault.
• Living Expenses: This covers costs that arise when an accident occurs on your property and forces you to temporarily move out of the home.

At minimum, your policy should include replacement cost coverage for the dwelling itself. This is the cost necessary to repair or replace the home at today’s construction and labor costs.

All policies will include deductibles, exclusions and other limits on how much they will pay for certain losses. However, you can buy expanded options for your coverage including pet liabilities, umbrella liabilities, scheduled items riders or replacement cost possessions coverage.

All homeowners policies vary, and so do their premiums. Most insurers base premiums on risk factors that indicate a policyholder’s likelihood of filing a claim. Those with higher risks are more likely to pay more. Therefore, even if you and your neighbor buy similar policies, your premiums might vary.

Some of the factors that can influence how much you pay for your coverage might be:

• The coverage limits, deductibles and endorsements of your chosen policy.
• Your credit rating.
• The value of the home.
• Your location.
• Your history of homeowners insurance claims.
• The number of people and pets in the home.

If you are concerned about the cost of your policy, your agent is happy to work with you to explore your coverage options, available discounts and bundling options to keep your rates affordable.