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If simple home repairs for a Boston condo can already cost you anywhere between a few hundred to a thousand dollars, can you imagine how financially debilitating it would be to your home after a disaster such as a fire or a flood?
Most mortgage companies and banks require you have home insurance. While having homeowner insurance is a must, if you purchase your Beacon Hill home through a mortgage, it is only optional to those who inherited their midtown high rise condo or paid for it in cash.
Though it’s not required by law, home insurance is still an essential part of homeownership — and understanding how it can protect your home and family will help you see why.
Here’s a comprehensive overview of what your standard homeowner’s insurance typically covers.
Homeowner’s Insurance Coverage
Any insurance advisor would tell you, your Boston condo coverage is the most fundamental and critical part of your homeowner’s insurance. Your home insurance pays for the repair or rebuilding costs if the main structure of your home sustains damage or is destroyed by perils covered by your policy. Among these perils are fire, hail, lightning, vandalism, hurricanes, etc.
Typically, Boston condo building’ policies also include an “other structures” coverage, which covers damages to structure itself and the common areas of the condo building.
Insurance of Personal Property
Your homeowner’s insurance can also protect your personal belongings as well. Depending on the scope and extent of your coverage, your policy may also pay for the repair or replacement of appliances, furniture, clothes, gadgets, etc. that were lost in your condominium.
Valuables like jewelry, art, antiques, and other collectibles are also covered, but with corresponding dollar limits. You might not be reimbursed with the full amount in case they’re stolen. If you want to insure these expensive items to their appraised value, consider a personal property endorsement.
A standard personal belongings insurance is around 50 to 70 percent of your dwelling coverage. You may want to conduct a home inventory to determine whether that amount is enough to cover most of your possessions.
Home Liability Insurance
Accidents and injuries happen when they’re least expected — and when they take place within your Seaport condo, you can be held legally accountable. The liability coverage that comes with your home insurance policy is a novel but handy feature.
Your liability insurance will protect you and your family against lawsuits resulting from bodily injury or property damage that you may have caused other people. The coverage also extends to damages caused by your pets.
Living Expenses
In the event that your downtown condo becomes unlivable due to severe damage caused by an insured disaster, your additional living expenses coverage will pay or reimburse you for the cost of your temporary living expenses. This includes hotel bills, meals, clothing, and other related expenses incurred while your home is being rebuilt.
What’s not Covered by Your Homeowners’ Insurance?
Your standard home insurance will protect you and your home from many common types of losses, including fire, hail, explosion, lightning, and vandalism. But like most things, it has a limit – which, in this case, is the maximum amount that your policy will pay toward a covered loss.
Also, even the most extensive policies cannot safeguard you from every type of peril there is. Most home insurance will not cover damages due to natural flooding, earthquakes, power failure, and intentional loss. You may purchase separate insurance if you live in a high-risk area that’s prone to flooding and earthquakes.
Insurance policies are generally the same, but the details may differ from company to company. As the insured, it is your responsibility to know and find out what is and what isn’t covered. Make an inventory of your assets and understand the limitations of your coverage so that you can adjust the amount of your premiums according to your lifestyle and individual circumstances. Your insurance advisor can help ensure that you have the level of protection you need.
