What Homeowners Insurance Normally Covers

Home insurance is designed to cover the loss of your property and belongings through theft, fire and numerous other events. Cover will vary from one policy to the next but, in general terms, a policy will pay part or all of the cost involved if your home or belongings are destroyed, damaged or stolen.

It is not possible to list just what will be covered by your policy because this will depend on the insurance company selected and the terms and conditions of your policy. Most plans will however give cover for some or all of the following:

Fire
Hot water heater bursting
Hail
Freezing of plumbing
Falling objects
Theft, including check forgery and counterfeit currency
Riot
Power surges
Ice, snow, or sleet weighing on vehicles
Vandalism
Windstorm
Lightning
Unauthorized use of credit cards
Heating system malfunction
Smoke
Flooding due to plumbing overflow
Explosion
Volcano

There are a variety of different types of house insurance policy, normally called a 'form' and the most commonly available forms are:

The Dwelling Fire Form. This type of house insurance policy covers merely your dwelling and does not provide cover for your personal possessions. Further, it does not cover your personal liability. As its name might suggest it only covers you for certain events which normally extend to smoke, fire, hail, windstorm, lightening, explosion, vehicles and civil unrest.

The Basic Form. This type of house insurance extends your cover to include the theft of your personal possessions and vandalism.

The Modified Coverage Form. The cover here is identical to that provided under the basic form but this sort of cover is used for older properties for which rebuilding costs are greater than the market value of the property.

The Broad Form. The broad form of house insurance extends cover further than that seen in the basic form so that it includes damage caused by falling trees and other objects; damages caused by the weight of snow, ice and sleet and the freezing, rupturing or sudden accidental overflow of a plumbing, air conditioning, heating or fire sprinkler system or another household appliance.

The Special Form. This is the most commonly purchased sort of house insurance and offers cover against all risks unless these are specifically excluded in the terms and conditions of the policy. Hazards that are normally excluded include earthquake, flood, war and nuclear accident.

On top of the types of house insurance listed above there is also the tenants form insurance for renters and the condominium unit owners form for owners of condominium units. Further, townhouse owners could take out an individual policy or might be able to take cover from an association master policy. Finally, in almost all states mobile home owners whose home has wheels and which is not resting on a permanent foundation will be required to buy some form of auto insurance instead of house insurance.