Many factors determine the home insurance rates that a homeowner should pay. It is however important to know the rates you should pay so that you can take enough coverage for your home and contents. Having a home insurance helps to cover the home in case fire, theft and other disasters take place destroying the home. Getting enough coverage will mean that the insuring company will compensate you for an amount enough to repair or replace your home. Mortgage lenders also require a homeowner to have homeowner’s insurance coverage and they also determine the minimum coverage.

Below are some of the factors that will determine your home insurance rates.

•    Mortgage lenders requirement -When taking a mortgage, you are required to have a policy to protect your home in case a peril takes place. The lender wants to ensure that the home is protected and they can get back their investment even if a disaster destroys the home. The lender provides requirements on what should be covered by the policy and the coverage limits. What the lender requests is part of what determines the home insurance price that you should pay.

•    Home factors – there are factors in the home that affect the rates of insurance. Some of the factors include the condition of the home and the systems, the age of the house and its value. If the home has old systems that are not maintained, you will end up paying a higher insurance price. An old home is charged higher premiums and so is a high valued home. Other factors contributing to the level of insurance rates is the personal items and valuables that are in the home in case you will include personal possessions coverage. The higher is the value of your personal possessions, the higher would be the rates.

•    The area you live- if your residence is in high risk area that is susceptible  to disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes and floods, then your home insurance price will be higher. This is because you will need additional coverage to cover the disasters because the regular homeowner’s policy may not cover them.

•    The amount of deductible- if you opt to pay a high deductible, then your insurance rates will be low. However, when choosing a deductible, it is important to assess yourself if you can manage to pay the deductible in case a peril occurs. Do not just choose a high deductible so that you can have lower premiums because in case there is a peril, the deductible is the amount you should pay. You can know how much deductible you can afford if you look at your budget and the amount of expenses that you can handle. You may also have a savings account that you can use the money to pay the deductible.

The above factors will help you in calculating how much it will cost you to insure your home. Using them, you can compare quotes from different insurance companies to see which one provides the best coverage.

Landlord home insurance and homeowners insurance both protect the home structure from damage caused by insured perils. However, home insurance for landlords provide greater coverage better than what a rider on homeowners policy would provide. It is suitable for properties for rent, even if it is on your home that you plan to rent for a few weeks per year.

What landlord insurance entails

This insurance is for protecting rental property structure and the landlord’s personal property. The tenant should get their own policy for protecting their personal property. This insurance has three categories with DP1 being the basic with cash value coverage for common perils such as fire, wind, hail and vandalism. DP2 covers more perils that the policy names while DP3 provides coverage on replacement cost basis for all the perils that have not been excluded from the policy.

How the landlords and homeowners insurance differs

Home insurance for landlords has liability coverage included and has higher coverage limits to protect the landlord in case someone gets injured while on the property. It is recommended that landlords should have liability coverage of at least 1 million US dollars. With the homeowners insurance, the liability coverage is included at an additional fee as an add on. Because the insurance is for rental property, it also protects against lost income in case an insured peril makes the property uninhabitable. The lost income cover only compensates the landlord if income is lost due to a peril that has been covered and not because the property is vacant. On the other hand, a homeowners insurance does not provide cover if you have lost income due to a peril making your home uninhabitable. Landlord home insurance provides additional coverage more than what the homeowners insurance does. This makes have a higher cost by about 10 to 20%. However, there are measures you can take to reduce the cost of premiums, such as using one insurance company to meet all your insurance needs. Insurers offer discounts to those with bundled services. You may also require the tenants to get renters insurance to protect their personal possessions and liability coverage in the event their guests are injured on the property.

Benefits of using home insurance for landlords

If you plan to rent your property even if it is in the home you are living in, it is important to take landlord insurance. This is because this type of insurance provides coverage that is not given by the homeowners insurance. You may also get into loggerheads with the insurance company if it finds out that you are renting your home while using homeowners instead of landlords insurance. Landlord insurance provides coverage on the structures only and not the personal possessions of the tenants and therefore reducing the premium you should have paid on possessions. You may cover your possessions if they are in the premises. The liability coverage is more that means in case the tenants get injured on the premises, there is enough coverage for it unlike in homeowners.

New York home insurance laws help to ensure that homeowners in the State get home insurance coverage from licensed insurer operating there. Homeowners insurance is important because it covers your home against perils such as fire, vandalism and theft. In case the insured peril takes place, the insurer either replaces or repairs the home. This way you do not suffer the cash setback that the peril causes. For home insurance New York, the department of insurance promotes and enforces these laws.
Some of these laws are on:

Credit information

Insurance providers use credit information in pricing an insurance policy. In New York, the credit information law provides safeguards for consumers, which the insurers must abide to when they are using your credit information. The insurer must inform you when they want to use your credit information and on the credit agency they have used. In case you quote a lower credit rate but your score is higher, the insurance company should let you know. If your credit report has an error and it is corrected, resulting to a higher score, you can make a request for lowering of your premium. You can request for annual review of your credit information and if the score improves, your premium should be adjusted. The insurer cannot use your credit information to terminate he policy or to raise your premium rate on renewal.

Discounts

If a homeowner installs storm shutters or laminated doors and glass windows that are hurricane resistant, the insurers should give discounts. You should notify the insurance company if you install them so that they can adjust your premium.

Workers compensation insurance

According to home insurance New York laws, a policy for a one-to-four family in an owner occupied home with personal liability cover must also have workers compensation. The compensation coverage applies to the employee working in the property for below 40 hours every week such as a domestic helper or a gardener.

Cancellations

According to the laws, when an insurer cancels your insurance policy, it must provide you with a cancellation notice to notify you why it has canceled. This notice can only be given in the first 60 days of the policy being in effect, or else there can be no cancelling or renewing for up to three years. However, there are certain conditions when the policy can be cancelled. They are: insured not making payment, the insured being convicted, discovery of deception or fraud against insurer; intentional misstatement of information to the insurer by the insured, the property undergoing physical changes that impact on coverage limits, and/or if the insurer violates the insurance law.

Excess line market

The New York home insurance laws allow homeowners to obtain insurance policy from an excess line insurer or unlicensed insurer if certain conditions are present. For instance, if three licensed providers turn you down if you want homeowners insurance. You must however use an excess line broker with a New York license. The down side is that these insurers’ deductibles and policies are different from those offered by licensed companies. You are also not protected by property securities fund in case the insurer becomes bankrupt.

When taking homeowners insurance, you should have an estimate of home insurance cost. This will help you when searching for the right insurance company because you will know how much your policy is likely to cost and that you are getting the right coverage.  A number of factors play a role in determining the home insurance cost, such as the type of insurance, deductibles and property value among others. By analyzing these factors, you can get an estimate of how much your home insurance should cost.

What determines the cost?

If you are taking a mortgage, the amount that the lender requires as the minimum policy will determine the cost. It is usually an amount enough to pay for the rebuilding costs in case an insured peril takes place. The higher the required amount, the more will be the cost. There are also variables that determine the cost of the insurance such as the property’s value and the homes condition. A property that has a higher value requires more cost in coverage and so is an old property. The type of home also dictates how much you should pay for coverage. Condominium coverage is much lower than for a single family detached home with additional structures.

The coverage on home contents also adds to the cost especially if there is additional coverage for the valuables. The amount of coverage for personal liability also determines the cost.  A house located in an area with high occurrence of natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods and hurricanes have a higher cost of premiums. You may also have to get additional coverage of such disasters because the standard insurance does not cover them. If your home is in a fire hazard zone, you may get coverage from the standard homeowners insurance, but at higher premiums rates. The amount of deductible on the policy determines how much you should pay in premiums. A higher deductible means lower insurance payments. You should however be careful if choosing higher deductibles because you can find yourself with a hefty bill incase a peril occurs. This is because deductibles represent the amount of money you pay out of your pocket before home insurance companies chip in. If you find that you may not have enough funds to pay the deductible, it is better to take higher premiums and lower deductibles.

Using online calculators and home inspection

Online calculators can be helpful in determining the cost. Home insurance companies provide these calculators and you can use them to calculate how much the insurance would cost and the premiums you should pay. You should however note that the premiums are just an estimate and for the actual cost, you should talk to an insurance agent. For a more accurate estimate, you can have a home inspection from the insurer to determine how much it would cost to insure it. The insurer considers the age of the home, risk level and its value.

If you have homeowners insurance, you may be wondering if it includes home appliance insurance. Are your appliances covered in case of damage? The truth of the matter is that the homeowner’s policy only covers some of the risks depending on the cause of damage. The appliances are covered for the insured perils on the coverage of the home contents. For instance, if your home insurance policy covers your contents against fire, your appliances would also be covered in case the peril occurs. There are cases that your homeowners insurance does not cover the appliances, such as damage to normal wear and tear and damage due to normal power failure. This means that you need coverage for the appliances in case they are damaged due to normal use. In that case, you should take the home warranty insurance for your home appliance insurance.

When to make a claim

Wear and tear

The appliances are not covered by homeowners insurance in the event of damage due to normal wear and tear. Appliances wear out as they are used. You may find out that after you use your refrigerator for a while, it may suddenly stop working. Because the homeowner’s policy does not protect on damage due to wear and tear, you cannot make a claim. However, other policies are there that are designed to cover for home equipment in case they are not operating due to normal use. They are known as home warranty or home protection policies and they cover the gap left by the homeowners insurance in providing home appliances insurance.

Fire and lightning vs. power failure

In the event there is a fire, you can make a claim from your insurer on the appliances as long as the contents of your home are insured on homeowners insurance. Even sudden fire caused by an electric current is covered. However, appliance damage caused by an electric power surge is not covered. The appliance can only be repaired or replaced by insurer in case you have a home warranty policy. This is because a fire is considered as a onetime event while a power surge is a normal event. You may file a claim if the food in your refrigerator spoils due to loss of power for an extended period. However, the policy has a limit and you would have to document every item in addition to providing its retail price.

Strikes by lightning damage electric appliances. If there is a storm, the smart thing is to unplug all electronics and appliances. In case they are damaged by lighting, the homeowners insurance provides coverage. Proving lightning damage is easy and examining the appliance can reveal the cause. To protect your appliances against the normal wear and tear, an aspect that is not covered by homeowners insurance, you should take home appliances insurance. This ensures that if your appliances are damaged, you do not spend a lot of money in their repair or replacement.