When searching for the right homeowners insurance policy, you will find that there are several options for you. Hundreds of insurance companies are out there waiting to do business with you and each of these companies have tons of homeowners insurance packages that can fit your needs.

It is important to note though that getting a homeowners insurance plan does not automatically mean that you are covered in case anything bad happens to your home. All policies have certain items which you will not be qualified to file a claim for. These are called exclusions, and they vary from company to company.

The most common home insurance exclusions include environmental factors, accidental damage by household pets, home vacancy and external factors.

Environmental factors usually include floods, earthquakes, hurricanes and other natural calamities. Not only are these events not covered but if your home is situated in a place where these events frequently occur like along a fault line or in a low-lying flood-prone area, you will find it very hard to get a good deal on homeowners insurance policies.

Accidental damage done by household pets is also included in most companies' homeowners insurance exclusions. Other kinds of accidental damage are typically covered but the insurance company will need to do some inspection to verify that the damage is in fact not done on purpose. However, damage due to the age of the house or the furniture is not covered.

Home vacancy means that you have left your home for a period of more than one month without a caretaker. In case an accident occurs during this period, you will not be qualified to make a claim since you have obviously neglected to take care of your property. Some homeowners insurance policies are more indulgent and will allow you up to two months of home vacancy.

Finally, external factors include events like war and pollution. In recent years, many homeowners insurance companies have also included terrorism in this category, because of the rise in terrorist attacks all over the world in recent years.

Although most insurance companies have the mentioned exclusions, these are not all of them. They could have a lot more in their list depending on the location, climate and kind of neighborhood that your house is in. They could even think of more exclusions as times change.



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No matter what the purpose of your home is, it is important to protect it and its contents with homeowners insurance policies. There are various homeowners insurance policies designed for different types of homes. Again, the most common home is used as permanent residence and most homeowners insurance policies are dedicated to this type of house.

These homeowners insurance policies usually have the most coverage options. They protect the interior and exterior structures of the home including outdoor buildings such as sheds and swimming pools. Most of them also cover most items found inside the house like appliances, furniture and other possessions of the homeowner that have significant value.

Other homeowners insurance policies are geared towards the protection of homes that are leased out to tenants. In this case, the focus of the homeowners insurance policies is just the house itself and not the items inside which actually belong to the tenant and not to the homeowner.

If the homeowner owns some of the furniture found inside the house, these have to be listed down and may be covered by the homeowners insurance policies, pending approval of the insurance company.

Finally, there are the vacation houses that a person owns but only occupies maybe one or two months in a year. During the rest of the year, these vacation homes are usually tended to by a caretaker and are not leased out. If you have such a home, you should look at homeowners insurance policies that focus on vacant homes.

Regular homeowners insurance policies usually have a rule that if you leave your home unoccupied for more than 30 days, you will not be qualified to claim for losses or damage that have taken place after the 30 days. In some more lenient policies, this is extended to 60 days.

However, with vacant home insurance policies, there is no such rule. You can just visit your home twice a year and it will still be insured. The catch is that if you want full coverage for your vacant vacation house, you will naturally be charged a more expensive premium amount.

An option you can take if you want to insure several houses is to go for the multiple-property Homeowner Insurance policies. With these policies, your permanent home is usually insured as the primary property and the other houses are added as secondary properties. You can actually save a considerable amount with these all-in-one deals rather than if you take out separate homeowners insurance policies for each of your homes.

If you own several homes though, you might need to take out at least one other separate plan since these multiple policies have a limit as to the number of secondary properties you are allowed to insure.



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If you have ever hear a public insurance adjuster speak, you'll most likely hear, "Your insurance company is going to cut corners on your claim," or in laments terms, "Your insurance adjuster is going to screw you." While that may be the perception many people have with corporate or independent homeowners adjusters and the companies they represent, often the case, it simply isn't true.

Your insurance contract states that your company will pay to damages to your property as caused by an accidental loss. Sure there are losses that will not be covered, (ie. mold, rot, ground water seeping through the foundation of your basement) but lets be realistic, these losses aren't accidental. Ads on TV, the Internet and in the yellow pages boast that regardless of your loss, you should contact a public adjuster. Why? Well, I'll tell you, and then I'll tell you why you needn't hire one.

1. "We can help you avoid the stress that comes with dealing with the 'evil' homeowners adjuster."
- Seriously? The stress you are enduring is most likely due to your homeowners loss, not from the men and women who are so irritable and so annoying that they were only put on earth to become insurance adjusters.

2. "We can maximize your claim payment."
- Plain and simple. Homeowners adjusters pay whatever it costs (less deductible) to get your home and your personal property back to the way it was prior to the loss. This is really not an item in which a public adjuster can "maximize".

3. "Payment comes from a small portion of your settlement."
- Ah yes, the payment. After your public adjuster has taken the stress from your life and has "maximized" your claim payment, he/she is going to want to get paid. 10%? 20%? It varies. But how's this for an example. Say your house burns to the ground and you have $300,000.00 in limits on the home and $100,000.00 in limits on the personal property. Your "evil" homeowners adjuster works with your public adjuster to find that a total loss has occurred on the home that has reached limits. Upon completing your inventory of your personal property, you find that your replacement cost exceeds $100,000.00. Minus any endorsements your policy may hold for this exercise, your total amount available per your policy is $400,000.00. Here is your check. Oh, wait. You have to come up with $40,000 to $80,000 out of your own pocket now... because you hired a public adjuster.



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Home owners insurance coverage is also largely affected by the type of occupants in the house. There are certain types of residents that are much more likely to create damages resulting in more claims by the homeowners. Home insurance companies deem these residents as high-risk individuals and award them with higher premiums.

To have an idea of what kind of home owners insurance coverage you and your household is qualified for, here is a general guide that most insurance companies follow in making their evaluations.

1. Senior citizens

If the majority of residents in your home are above 60 years old, are retired and stay home most of the time doing their gardening or embroidery, you have an excellent chance of getting the best home owners insurance coverage possible. Seniors in general are typically regarded as peaceful people who don't like to bother too much with making claims on house damages. Since they also seldom leave their homes, burglaries and break-ins are very rare, reducing the chances of filing for property losses.

2. High school or college students

Students on the other hand are notorious for creating a lot of havoc especially those that frequently throw parties and invite the entire neighborhood over. Property damage is more likely with students in the house so in order to give adequate home owners insurance coverage, insurance companies need to charge a much higher premium amount. If there is an equal number of seniors and students in your home, the actual amount will probably be just in the middle range since they balance each other out.

3. Young children

Babies and young children are usually not a factor in determining a home owners insurance coverage since they are not really capable of doing large-scale damage to the house. However, if you run a day care in your home or some other activity that involves the constant presence of several young kids at a time, this may be a different scenario. If you wish to have home owners insurance coverage for the damages that they could possibly make, you might need to pay somewhat higher premiums.

4. Pets and other animals

Most insurance companies do not include damage resulting from pets and other animals in the home. Homeowner Insurance coverage so their presence will be of no bearing in determining your monthly or annual premiums. Still, there are some companies that offer home owners insurance coverage for these damage but again, this will result in a higher insurance rate.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Stiehler