Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Property insurance is one of those things that many know about, but don’t fully understand. Since it is one of the most important insurance policies for all property owners, it pays to comprehend the details so you know what you’re getting.
Commercial Property Insurance
This type of insurance covers anything that is related to the loss or damage to a company’s property, including the buildings, computers and other equipment, valuable papers, money and lost income from the interruption of the company’s business. This insurance does not cover injuries related to such events; workers’ compensation and casualty insurance covers losses due to employee injuries.
Homeowners Insurance
Generally, homeowners’ insurance covers the actual structure of the building against fire, burglary, weather events or damage caused by outside forces not in the homeowner’s control, such as riots, terrorism, aircraft damage and other forces. Many policies will cover not just the structure, but also most items within the home.
Renters Insurance
Unlike homeowners’ insurance, renters’ insurance covers only the renter’s personal property within the rented home. The right policy will also cover living expenses in the case that the rented home is uninhabitable following the insured event. For renters, it’s important that a comprehensive cheap insurance quotes comparison is performed to ensure that the renter’s belongings are appropriately covered.
Flood Insurance
A notable consideration when shopping for homeowners’ or renters’ insurance is flood insurance, which is not included in most policies. Since floods are the number one natural disaster in the U.S., buying flood insurance in addition to a policy for cheap home insurance is a wise move for homeowners or renters in all 50 states.
Property Insurance Riders
In the case of homeowners’ and renters’ insurance, some items are not covered, including antiques, jewelry, electronics and specialized items. For these, a rider policy or endorsement is recommended to add on to your policy when making your cheap insurance quotes comparison.
Insurance for Home-Based Business
A home-based business is in a kind of “no-man’s land” when it comes to insurance policies. Homeowners’ insurance only goes so far, and commercial insurance won’t cover a home-based business since the business is not conducted on commercial property. The solution is to look for an endorsement or rider policy for office equipment when researching cheap home insurance policies.
Actual Cash Value vs. Replacement Value
While you make your cheap insurance quotes comparison, you need to consider whether the policy with cover the actual cash value (ACV) of your items or their respective replacement value. For insurance purposes, ACV is described as the value of the lost or damaged item at the time of the loss. For example, if you lost an expensive camera you purchased five years ago, the compensation you would receive would allow for five years’ of depreciation, which would be well below what replacing the camera would actually cost. On the other hand, insurance that covers the replacement value of the camera would pay the cost to replace the camera in entirety.