Home Insurance Basics For All New Homeowners

First-time homebuyers may not realize that homeowners insurance covers more than just the structure of a house. It also protects the homeowner and generally anyone named on the policy, including a spouse, resident, household employee, guest or visitor. Most policies offer three kinds of protection:
1. Structures – A homeowners policy protects a person’s dwelling for damage due to common threats like fire and smoke, lightning, theft and extreme weather. Unless it is listed among a policy’s exclusions, anything that causes loss to a homeowner or his property is covered. To cover the exclusions, homeowners can often pay to add endorsements to their policy, although some exclusions, such as flood damage and earthquake damage, may require the purchase of a separate policy.

Coverage Amounts – When choosing coverage amounts, people should remember they are protecting the entire home