2. Home Insurance

Home Insurance

There are typically 4 types of policies that one can have when it comes to Home Insurance. The differences based on type of property covered are as follows.

Home Insurance

These are applicable for homes that are owned and occupied by the homeowner. The coverage provided is for building and contents of the building (personal belongings)

Rental Dwelling (Investment property) insurance

These are applicable for homes that are rented out to tenants by the owners of the properties. The coverage provided is for the building. Typically there is no coverage provided for the contents. The tenant of the property can purchase the coverage for contents belonging to the tenant by purchasing a Renters Insurance.

Renters Insurance

These are applicable for tenants of properties. The coverage provided is for the contents (personal belongings) of the tenant.

Condominium Insurance

These are applicable to properties where the exterior of the building is covered by the homeowners association. The coverage is provided for the interior finish out of the building and contents (personal belongings).

There are some other coverage’s which are bundled with some of the above policies like Personal Liability, Loss of Use, Medical expenses etc. Our Agency has provided coverage to hundreds of customers over the years spread across Texas including but not limited to Dallas, Fort Worth, Irving, Plano, Arlington, Grapevine, Mckinney, Garland, Austin, Round Rock, San Antonio, Houston, Woodlands Katy, Sugarland, Abilene.

Some of the companies that we represent providing this coverage are : Safeco, The Hartford, ASI Lloyds, Fidelity, Encompass, Kemper, State Auto, Imperial Fire.

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Note : Information provided here is for general information purposes only. Please refer to your policy contact your agent for specific questions regarding coverage.

Common Questions Answered

  • 1
    Home Insurance - Common Questions Answered
    When we talk about Home insurance the term can be loosely applied to mean Homeowners Insurance, Rental Dwelling insurance, Renters insurance, or Condominium insurance. Out of all these types of policies, the renters policy is the only one which does not have any component about coverage for the building itself. With all the other policy types there is some type of coverage provided for the dwelling structure. The type of coverage that you have on the policy is based upon the type of policy form that is being used. While most policy forms will typically cover the dwelling structure against common perils such as Fire, Wind, Hurricane, Hail, Tornado etc., it is important to know what type of policy form your policy has to know what perils it covers against. In Texas various types of policy forms are available to the consumers to choose form. While having such a variety of policy forms a good thing on hand as it creates a competitive and healthy marketplace where lot of insurance companies are willing to compete, it also creates a situation where the homeowners have to pay attention to the type of the policy they are buying to make sure that they are getting coverage's they are looking for. The different types of policies that are available for the different forms of homeownership are listed below. Please keep in mind this is not a complete list but just a sampling of all the different types that are available.
    • Homeowners Insurance policy types - HO-B, HO-3, HOA-Plus, HO-A
    • Rental dwelling properties- TDP-3, TDP-2, TDP-1, DP-3, DP-2, DP-1
    • Condominium Policies - HOB-CON, HO-6
    • Renters Policy - HOB-T, HO-4
    • Earthquake Insurance
    • Flood Insurance
  • 2
    What information is generally needed in order to purchase Home Insurance?
    The most common information that is required to buy an home insurance policy is as follows:
    • Name and date of birth of the Homeowner
    • Property Address and date of purchase
    • Year of construction, Square footage of the home, Number of stories, details about the type of construction & features of the home
    • Details about updates to plumbing, wiring, heating if the home is more than 40 year
    • Age of the roof
    • Information about any pets in the house
    • Whether the home has a swimming pool or not and if so whether it has a slide or a diving board
    • Whether there is a trampoline
    • Name of the responding fire department and distance to the nearest fire hire hydrant from the home
    • Details about prior insurance policy if any is present
    • While a Social security number is not required it is helpful to have this info when it comes to identifying the insured’s credit score which is a factor in calculating the premiums
  • 3
    What factors affect the premiums that insured’s pay for home insurance?
    • Age of the home
    • Prior Claims activity
    The insured’s credit score – Most companies these days offer steep discounts to insured’s with good credit scores while the ones with poor credit may end up paying more for their insurance.
  • 4
    What are the discounts available on Home insurance policies?
    While discounts vary by insurance company here is a list of some of the discounts that are available. Please keep in mind that not each insurance company may offer these discounts.
    • New Purchase Discount
    • Accredited builder discount
    • Multi Policy Discount
    • Monitored Burglar Alarm discount
    • Monitored Fire Alarm discount
  • 5
    What type of perils is the property covered against with most policies?
    • Fire or Lightning
    • Hail
    • Explosion
    • Aircraft or Vehicles
    • Falling objects
    • Freezing
    • Windstorm
    • Sudden & Accidental damage caused by escape of water or steam or smoke
    • Riot or Civil Commotion
    • Vandalism & Malicious Mischief
    • Weight of ice, snow or sleet
    • Theft
  • 6
    What optional coverage’s available with payment of additional premiums?
    Please keep in mind that this is a combined list of optional coverage’s available. The following optional coverage’s may not be offered by all the companies:
    • Replacement cost for property
    • Foundation Water Damage
    • Access & Egress
    • Damage caused by Leakage & Seepage of water
    • Extended replacement cost coverage for the dwelling
    • Sewer Back up
    • Increased coverage for theft of jewelry (Most policies cover jewelry valued up to $500 to $1500 by theft)