A homeowners insurance policy is a contract you make with an insurance company. In exchange for your premium payment, the insurance company will pay for financial losses related to your home or your property during the period of the contract. The insurance company also agrees to pay for damages resulting from injuries or damage to other people for which you are held liable. When you're searching for homeowners insurance, you'll want to shop for the type of policy that will fit your needs best, with adequate protection for your valuable house contents from fire and theft and supplemental coverage to protect against natural disasters that are not covered in your basic policy. 

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Most standard homeowners insurance policies will provide coverage for damage to your home (and many of the items in your home) caused by:

• Theft
• Fire and lightning
• Smoke
• Frozen pipes
• Ice and snow

Home owners insurance also provides coverage for liability claims, medical payments to third parties, and legal costs if a lawsuit is brought against you. The most common amount of liability coverage included in a homeowners policy is $100,000, but you may need much more, depending on your circumstances.

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Types of Home Insurance

Home owner insurance can be broken down into 7 basic types of plans. What differentiates them from one another are the types of circumstances they cover. The most popular plans today involve #2 and #3.

Basic homeowners insurance covers 11 types of disasters:
aircraft, wind/hail, explosion, riots/civil unrest, fire/lightning, vehicles, volcano eruptions, vandalism, theft, smoke, and self-damaging instances (part of building falls on itself, etc.).

This list can be expanded to include 6 more disasters:
falling objects, water damage (3 sub categories), snow/sleet/ice, and electrical surge damage.

1. This is the basic homeowners insurance that covers your home and property against losses due to the 11 disasters listed above.

2. This plan includes #1, in addition to more specific disaster circumstances: snow, falling objects (like trees), water damage (i.e. washing machine overflows, or dishwasher breaks), and electrical damage (power surge).

3. This plan includes extended/specialty items, in addition to all of the above. The only disasters that this doesn't cover are flood, earthquake, war, and nuclear blasts.

4. Renters insurance coverage. This type of insurance will protect your personal property for the above listed items.

5. Complete risk coverage for the building and property.

6. Condominium coverage. This type of policy covers personal property from the above disasters (all 17).

7. This policy is designed for older homes with historic value. Coverage includes protection from the basic 11 disasters listed above. Under this plan, coverage is limited to repairs or cash values of the items involved. The rebuilding/replacement cost is not covered in this, because some aspects of the home (historic significance) can make these costs higher than current market value.

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