As I mentioned in last week’s post (see https://wiseinsurancegroup.com/home-insurance-options-part-one/), no Texas home insurance policy covers everything a homeowner can experience. Nor does everyone need the same coverage across the board. This is why all home insurance policies come with options. These options enable a person to tailor the level of coverage to their specific needs and risk tolerance. Some people wouldn’t dream of having a policy without identity theft and credit card fraud coverage while others think such coverage are a waste of money. In this week’s post, I’ll outline more options you can include on your Texas home insurance policy.
Identity Theft / Fraud: Restoring your identity after it’s been stolen can take a large amount of time away from work and your life. This coverage helps pay for the time spent getting everything cleaned up, as well as provide a case worker to help. It also covers child or elder expenses incurred.
Credit Cards and Forgery: This option provides the policy holder with coverage for the higher of $1,000 or the actual loss if forced to pay for a fraudulent transaction or receipt of counterfeit paper currency, and waives the policy deductible.
Home Business: The number of people operating a business from home increases each year. Home business or business pursuits coverage provides protection for business personal property (computers, printers, furniture, and equipment), merchandise, other structures used for storing business property, and in some cases, limited business liability coverage.
Theft of Building Materials: If you’re remodeling your kitchen, master bath, or have another project, this option covers theft of materials and supplies used in such projects. Coverage applies to lumber, shingles, cabinetry, flooring, windows, appliances, etc.
Secondary Residence: If you own a second home, such as a lake house, home in the country, etc., many home policies provide the option of extending personal liability coverage from your primary home to your second home. There may also be an option to cover personal property of your secondary home on the primary home’s policy. If available, both of these may provide a savings on the overall insurance rates for both properties, so compare that against having two separate policies. You will still need property coverage though on the secondary home.
Other Structures Rented to Others: This coverage applies to a guest home, garage apartment, or other similar structure that is rented to a tenant and not attached to the primary home. It provides coverage similar to a rental property policy where the structure is covered, but not the tenant’s personal property or contents. In addition, this option either extends liability coverage from the primary home policy or provides it as a part of the overall coverage, and that comes in handy if the tenant sues for negligence.
Personal Injury: Personal liability coverage protects a homeowner financially if they’re sued by someone not living in the home for negligence. Personal injury provides additional protection to the homeowner for false arrest, malicious prosecution, slander and libel, or privacy violation. These are usually covered by an umbrella policy, however, some insurance companies require personal injury coverage on the home policy prior to issuing an umbrella policy.
Golf Carts and Boats: Some companies write golf carts and boats on a separate vehicle or boater policies, while others provide this as an option on the home policy. This may provide an easy way to have these items covered by the same company, however, I usually recommend client’s compare placing golf carts and boats on the home with having their own policies. Separate policies alleviate issues with engine size and hull length on boats, and may provide lower cost coverage from a company who writes these type of policies on a regular basis.
These are just a few of the options available on many home insurance policies. Other options may include earthquake coverage, residence held in a trust, coverage for household employees, farmers’ personal liability, business personal property, and even scheduled property (jewelry, collectibles, artwork, antiques, etc.). What option do you need? Share them with me, as well as, your comments, experiences, and questions on my Google +, Facebook, or LinkedIn pages. I’d love to hear from you!
