Buying the first house is an incredibly major step in anyone’s life. You’re no longer making someone else rich, and you’re building equity in a valuable property. Not to mention, you have peace of mind and you can make any changes to make the house your home.
However, you should also think of insuring yourself and your house. It’s the best way to protect this big investment that you made. Not to mention, your lender might be much happier and offer better terms when you get homeowners insurance for your property.
If you’re wondering how a homeowners’ insurance policy can benefit you? Check out the reasons below.
Insure Your Valuables
The first and foremost reason for having homeowner’s insurance is to keep your valuables safe in your home.
When people buy houses, they usually make the choice after looking into the safety of the neighborhood. You most probably did the same. However, even the people living in safe areas have security guards, security systems, fences, or even dogs to keep them safe.
Even if you have all those things or none of them, getting homeowners insurance can keep you safe from suffering any financial losses if your home is robbed.
For this, you should keep an inventory of your valuables along with their receipts and pictures of the items. This makes it easier for you to get compensated if something does happen.
Coverage for Damage
No matter what you do, you can’t protect your house against damage. Firstly, your home may suffer damage over the years from the environment and usage. While you can do things to carry out regular maintenance, your home can still be damaged by natural disasters, fire, and other reasons.
When you get homeowners insurance, you can get financially compensated for all the damage that happens to your house. That can help you fix things up without incurring any expenses, losing value in your house, and losing equity.
Loss of Use
Sometimes when damage occurs to your house, you might find it difficult to live in the house while making the repairs for the damage that has happened. Since the insurance is covering the repairs, you might think that you have to cover the hotel expenses and relocation costs until your home is habitable again.
However, that is not true. With a good homeowner’s insurance policy, you can have your insurance cover the hotel expenses and relocation costs, among others, to make sure that you don’t suffer any financial losses.
Keep in mind, that your insurance may not cover all of the expenses. That’s why you should look into the maximum coverage for loss of use you have in your policy before booking a five-star hotel for a month while the house is being repaired.
Covers Personal Liability
Accidents can happen at any time, even in your house. If you’re having a party and one of your guests happens to fall on a slippery surface and they need medical care, you might be held responsible.
In that case, your insurance company can step in to cover the costs of the medical bills as long as the accident happened on the insured property.
The same happens if, for instance, your dog bites a guest and they need medical attention.