The last two weeks, I’ve outlined 10 options available on many home insurance policies (see http://50.87.248.161/~wiseinsu/home-insurance-coverage-options/ and http://50.87.248.161/~wiseinsu/home-insurance-options-continued/). No home policy covers everything, so options allow people to tailor their policy to meet their specific needs by adding the coverage they need, but not paying for coverage they don’t need. Here are 5 more options worth knowing about.
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 may still need property coverage though on the secondary home.
Other Structures Rented to Others: I once had a manager who lived in a garage apartment of a home in the Park Cities area of Dallas. It provided a comfortable home for him and his wife, and the owner, enjoyed the occasional assistance my manager provided her.
This coverage applies to a guest home, garage apartment, or other similar structure that is rented to a tenant and is 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 (see http://50.87.248.161/~wiseinsu/home-insurance-liability-coverage/). Personal injury provides additional protection to the homeowner for false arrest, malicious prosecution, slander and libel, or privacy violation. People in the public eye including lawyers, doctors, professional athletes, authors, speakers, and business owners may need this coverage more than the average consumer. These items are usually covered by an umbrella policy, but a few insurance companies require personal injury coverage on the home policy prior to issuing an umbrella policy.
Credit Cards and Forgery: Most policies offer optional identity theft coverage which helps with the cost incurred to get your identity back. But what do you do if you suffer losses for fraudulent use of your credit or debit card, someone forges a check, or you receive counterfeit currency? If the policy holder has this option, the policy will cover 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 deductible.
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 coverage. What option would you like to see? Share them with us, as well as, your comments, experiences, and questions on our Google +, Facebook, or LinkedIn pages. I’d love to hear from you!
