Home Contents Insurance For Homeowners, Renters, and Condo Owners
What is Home Contents Insurance? The personal items in your home, like your tv, computers, jewelry, and books are probably worth thousands of dollars.
In fact, the value of some people's personal property is worth as much, or more, than the actual structure they live in.
That is, if they actually had to pay to replace it, and did not just think about the used or "garage sale" value of those items.
Typical US Families Own A Lot of "Stuff" Think about a typical US family of four that consists of two parents and two children.
At the least, their home is likely to contain three tv sets, two computers, a wedding ring, a fridge, clothes, software, movies, and many other valuable items.
If you really sat down and calculated what it would cost to replace those items, it could add up to many tens of thousands of dollars or more.
Since you probably did not buy everything at the same time, but spread out these purchases over years or decades, you may not be aware of the value of the things your family owns! Home Business Owners Need To Plan for Coverage Home businesses, or at least home offices, are becoming very popular these days.
Business related items like laptops, inventory, and records can double or triple that total.
Maybe your accounts are just printed on cheap paper, but how much does it really cost you to replace them? Real Value vs.
Replacement Value Home contents insurance or personal property coverage will protect your investment in the property inside your home.
Many standard homeowners policies contain this protection, but you need to make sure it is sufficient.
You also need to consider hw the insurer will value this property.
If it is valued at its real value, a tv set may only be worth $50 at a garage sale.
But that same set would cost $500 to replace! If your property is covered at replacement value, you will be able to buy new things in case your old ones are damaged in a covered accident.
Who needs property insurance? Well, everybody who owns personal property, and keeps it in their home, needs coverage.
Again, it may be included in a typical homeowners policy, but many homeowners really do not have enough protection.
But two groups of people may concentrate on personal property as the bulk of their protection.
Renters - Since renters do not own the actual structure they live in, they can probably leave that up to their landlord's policy.
However, a renter's insurance policy provides valuable property coverage for the things inside the house or apartment.
A renter's policy can also provide some liability insurance and relocation assistance.
Condo Owners - These dwellers may seek coverage that is similar to a tenant's policy even though they own their dwelling space.
The building association may cover the outside of the building, but condominium owners are sure to need to cover their own stuff.
And of course, they will want to consider liability protection and relocation assistance in case they cannot live in their home if it is being repaired.
Evaluate Your Home Insurance Policy You should probably sit down and look at your policy every year or so.
You may not have considered insurance when you bought a new big screen tv or computer the way you do when you buy a car.
But maybe you should have.
You should also do some periodic price and policy shopping to make sure you have top quality coverage at an affordable price.
Things change with insurers, just as they do with local areas.
You cannot always assume your old insurer is the best, especially if your assets have changed.
In fact, the value of some people's personal property is worth as much, or more, than the actual structure they live in.
That is, if they actually had to pay to replace it, and did not just think about the used or "garage sale" value of those items.
Typical US Families Own A Lot of "Stuff" Think about a typical US family of four that consists of two parents and two children.
At the least, their home is likely to contain three tv sets, two computers, a wedding ring, a fridge, clothes, software, movies, and many other valuable items.
If you really sat down and calculated what it would cost to replace those items, it could add up to many tens of thousands of dollars or more.
Since you probably did not buy everything at the same time, but spread out these purchases over years or decades, you may not be aware of the value of the things your family owns! Home Business Owners Need To Plan for Coverage Home businesses, or at least home offices, are becoming very popular these days.
Business related items like laptops, inventory, and records can double or triple that total.
Maybe your accounts are just printed on cheap paper, but how much does it really cost you to replace them? Real Value vs.
Replacement Value Home contents insurance or personal property coverage will protect your investment in the property inside your home.
Many standard homeowners policies contain this protection, but you need to make sure it is sufficient.
You also need to consider hw the insurer will value this property.
If it is valued at its real value, a tv set may only be worth $50 at a garage sale.
But that same set would cost $500 to replace! If your property is covered at replacement value, you will be able to buy new things in case your old ones are damaged in a covered accident.
Who needs property insurance? Well, everybody who owns personal property, and keeps it in their home, needs coverage.
Again, it may be included in a typical homeowners policy, but many homeowners really do not have enough protection.
But two groups of people may concentrate on personal property as the bulk of their protection.
Renters - Since renters do not own the actual structure they live in, they can probably leave that up to their landlord's policy.
However, a renter's insurance policy provides valuable property coverage for the things inside the house or apartment.
A renter's policy can also provide some liability insurance and relocation assistance.
Condo Owners - These dwellers may seek coverage that is similar to a tenant's policy even though they own their dwelling space.
The building association may cover the outside of the building, but condominium owners are sure to need to cover their own stuff.
And of course, they will want to consider liability protection and relocation assistance in case they cannot live in their home if it is being repaired.
Evaluate Your Home Insurance Policy You should probably sit down and look at your policy every year or so.
You may not have considered insurance when you bought a new big screen tv or computer the way you do when you buy a car.
But maybe you should have.
You should also do some periodic price and policy shopping to make sure you have top quality coverage at an affordable price.
Things change with insurers, just as they do with local areas.
You cannot always assume your old insurer is the best, especially if your assets have changed.
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