For most people, buying a home is the biggest and most important purchase they will ever make. And because of this, it’s vital to protect your investment with homeowners insurance.
Despite this fact, some homeowners are on the fence about homeowners insurance. These homeowners don’t know if they really need this insurance or, if so, how much coverage they need.
If you happen to be unsure about homeowners insurance, this guide is for you. We are going to review some of the primary reasons why homeowners insurance is definitely worth the cost!
1. Protecting Your Possessions
Some of the reasons why you need homeowners insurance are more obvious than others. For example, most who have homeowners insurance rely on it to protect their possessions.
Chances are that your home is filled with many valuable things. This includes electronics, furniture, jewelry, designer clothing, and more. In the event of theft, vandalism, or unexpected catastrophe, these items may get stolen, damaged, or even destroyed.
Depending on the possessions, the cost of replacing these items may be very expensive. But with homeowners insurance, you can quickly and easily replace these possessions. These specific possessions are protected even outside of your home, so things like laptops or jewelry that are lost or stolen while you travel can still be replaced.
2. Repairing or Replacing Your Home
It’s one thing to protect the possessions inside your home. But what about protecting the actual structure of your home?
In the event of unexpected disasters, your home may be extensively damaged. Structural damage to your walls and your roof are costly to pay for out of pocket. And in some extreme cases, the entire home may be destroyed.
If this should happen, homeowners insurance has your back. Your policy will pay to repair or even replace your home. For a relatively low monthly premium, you can ensure the safety of even the most expensive home.
3. Unexpected Catastrophes
We touched on this a bit earlier, but it bears repeating, homeowners insurance is worth the cost because it helps you prepare for the unexpected.
As with automobile or medical insurance, nobody buys homeowners insurance because they know something bad will happen. Instead, they take out this insurance policy to better prepare for the unknown future.
For example, very few homeowners think that their house could ever catch on fire. But according to the National Fire Protection Agency, fire departments respond to about 353,100 home structure fires per year.
In other words, unexpected catastrophes are more common than you may think. But with homeowners insurance, you can rest assured that your home and your possessions are protected.
4. Emergency Living Expenses
When those unexpected catastrophes occur, they can cause serious damage in a short amount of time. All it takes is a sudden tornado or an unexpected fire, and you and your family won’t have a place to live.
Fortunately, homeowners insurance does more than repair or replace your home. It also provides money for emergency living expenses if your home has been rendered unlivable. You’ll have money for you and your family to stay in a hotel until your home is repaired or rebuilt, and the insurance will also cover the cost of meals during this time.
Just imagine how much all of that would cost if you didn’t have homeowners insurance. And that’s on top of the exorbitant cost of repairing or replacing your home out of pocket.
5. The Threat of Theft and Vandalism
Want to hear what most victims of property theft have in common? The vast majority of victims never thought that such a crime could happen to them.
But according to the FBI, there were 7,196,045 property crime offenses in 2018 alone. This is a powerful indicator that you never know when or how thieves will break into your home and steal or destroy your property.
And once a thief is inside your home, none of your property is safe. Given enough time, such a thief may completely clean your house out while you are at work or on vacation.
Homeowners’ insurance helps protect against property theft by paying to repair or replace anything that is damaged or stolen. As a bonus, this insurance also protects against vandalism. Without such protection, you might have to pay thousands of dollars to repair and restore any damage that vandals do to the outside of your home.
6. Dealing With Extreme Weather
Previously, we covered the unexpected catastrophe of your home catching on fire. But another threat you need to be very wary of is the threat of extreme weather.
Certain weather events such as hailstorms may move through your area very quickly. But it doesn’t take long at all for falling hail to cause extensive damage to your property.
Similarly, it takes only half a second for lightning to strike. But a lot can happen after that. For example, lightning may strike a tree and cause it to fall directly on your house.
These are just a couple of examples of how extreme weather can cause sudden and massive damage to your home. And depending on the extent of the damage, it may be financially impossible for you to both repair your home and replace all of the damaged possessions.
But with homeowners insurance, you no longer have to worry about extreme weather, including the threat of hurricanes. When your home is affected by hail, lightning, tornadoes, hurricanes, and more, you can count on homeowners insurance to protect you.
7. Protecting External Dwellings
Because of the name, most people think homeowners insurance primarily protects the home itself. But did you know that such insurance will also protect external dwellings attached to the home?
These kinds of dwellings include any deck or garage that may be attached to your property. And garage protection is especially important because you may keep many expensive items (such as specialized tools) in the garage.
If you need to repair these external dwellings after they are damaged, homeowners insurance has you covered. And the sooner you get these dwellings repaired or replaced, the sooner your house can feel like a home once more.
8. Coverage for Fences and Sheds
Now you know that homeowners insurance can protect attached dwellings such as garages and decks. But what about dwellings that aren’t attached, including fences and sheds?
The good news is that homeowners insurance helps to protect your detached properties, including fences and sheds, from unexpected damage. And quickly repairing or replacing a fence is particularly important if your neighbor has pets who are likely to otherwise wander into your yard.
Ultimately, this is a big part of what we love about homeowners insurance and what makes a good policy worth its cost. You can rest easy at night knowing that your entire home is protected and that the insurance company won’t “nickel and dime you” when it comes to these exterior dwellings being damaged.
9. Liability Protection
We don’t always think about liability coverage outside of automobile insurance. But when it comes to your home, liability is something you need to really be worried about!
Imagine that you have a guest over, and they fall down your stairs. They may sue you, and you may end up legally obligated to pay for their medical bills.
Another more common scenario is that your dog accidentally gets out the front door and bites one of your neighbors. You would be found legally negligent and can be required to pay for the neighbor’s medical care.
With homeowners insurance, you get the protection you need to pay for property or bodily damage that happens to other people. You will also get financial assistance for legal fees that could otherwise get very expensive in a short period of time.
10. Protection for Guests
If one of your guests injures themselves inside your home, then it’s not likely to turn into a legal matter. But even if they don’t take you to court, the chances are that you’ll feel some level of guilt and responsibility regarding their injury.
This is another scenario where homeowners insurance is nice and flexible. Your policy should include a guest medical protection feature that helps pay for the medical bills of any guest that injures themselves inside your home.
Otherwise, your guests may have their own growing pile of medical bills to worry about. And even if they don’t take you to court, the combination of injury and medical debt is very likely to destroy whatever relationship you currently have with this person.
Get a Homeowners Insurance Quote Today
Now you know why homeowners insurance is most definitely worth its cost. But do you know where you can find the best homeowners insurance policies at the most competitive rates?
At Freeway Insurance, we make it easy to get things started with homeowners insurance. With just a click, you can get a quote online. If you’d like to visit in person, see us at a local office near you. Alternatively, you can grab your phone and simply call us at (800) 777-5620 for a quote today!
