Paying for homeowners insurance makes some people flinch. Forking up money month after month for a product you can't even see or touch can sometimes make people feel like they're throwing their money down the drain. Although, homeowners insurance could be the best investment you have ever made, all while hoping you will never have to actually use it of course.
What exactly is it and what does it cover?
Homeowners insurance policies are not one-size-fits-all. While a typical policy comes with particular coverages. Homeowners insurance is typically customized to meet each homeowner's unique needs.
To sum it down for you, homeowners insurance is made up of coverages that may help pay, repair, or replace tangible items and charges against your home. Homeowners insurance can help cover the cost of the house or personal belonging damages in regards to cases such as a fire, earthquake, and theft. It may also help cover the costs if you accidentally damage another person's property, or if a visitor is injured at your home.
“When explaining to your customers what the homeowner's insurance policy does for a family a lot of times people don't realize that the home insurance policy includes many different lines of coverage for your house,” owner, Greg Gath said. “The big line of coverage is for the house itself.”
Other circumstances that the insurance can cover is in the event of something happening to the homeowner's house; homeowners insurance would pay for them to live somewhere else if they can't live in their house, it would pay for damages the property has liability on, and personal liability coverage.
A lot of times with homeowners insurance, clients can make it cost what they want by including or not including certain coverages.
“Homeowners policy includes a lot of coverages that protect the house and just everyday activities,” Gath said. “Our office can help the homeowner understand what their policy will and won't do for them.”
As independent agents, Gath Insurance represents several different homeowners insurance companies. So if you are having a problem with your existing home insurance policy, Gath Insurance can try to help them find a coverage that will fit right for the homeowner.
How much will I have to pay?
For a home insurance policy, a lot of it has to do with how much it's going to cost to rebuild the house until. The insurance agent will first start off by talking about the type of house you have, what features the house has. Then the agent will do a calculation to figure out how much it's going to cost to rebuild the house from the ground up.
“Once we figure out the exact number of how much the house is worth from the contractors, then we take into consideration the charge for that amount of customized insurance you would like,” Gath said.
From there an agent will determine if there are any special hazards lying around the house, such as animals, that can cause an injury to somebody.
How do I get started?
To get homeowners insurance it’s a step-by-step process. An insurance agent at Gath Insurance will compare prices and offer you a policy that's adjusted to suit your needs. The agent will also go over a deductible, a specified amount of money that the insured must pay before an insurance company will pay a claim. Lastly, they will go over extras such as identity theft, or sewer lines that cost extra.
From there Gath Insurance will have an application ready for you to read and sign electronically. Once finished your agent will then write to your insurance company that you understood and have read the policy.
“We have been here for so long and we've established deep relationships with the area,” Gath said. We pride ourselves in providing superior knowledge on what to expect when trying to get and use your insurance.”