Before you buy a homeowner's insurance policy, scrutinize the small print carefully. Pay special attention to the areas that often result in conflicts during claim filing such as:

The Exclusions

Know the risks that your policy may not cover. This will help you to determine whether you need supplemental riders for their protection. For instance, most policies exclude damages caused by floods and earthquakes. This is usually the case in flood- prone or earthquake-prone areas because the risks are just too great for the insurance companies. However, if you leave in an area where earthquakes or floods are not common, then you may be able to get policies that cover them.

An Anti-Concurrent-Causation Clause

An anti-concurrent-causation (ACC) clause may limit or even invalidate your claim if two damages occur concurrently, and your policy excludes one of them. Consider an example where an earthquake damages your house, and a fire also burns your household items during the earthquake. If fire damages are included in your coverage, but not earthquake-related damages, then you may receive limited or no compensation. The reasoning is it is difficult (or even impossible) to determine the respective damages caused by each hazard.

The application of the clause can be complicated, especially hen calculating the percentage payable. Therefore, you should sit down with your insurance agent and understand it (as many questions as possible) before buying a policy.

High Value Items

If you have some extremely valuable items in your house, then you should also confirm whether your prospective policy covers them. This is because most insurers exclude extremely valuable items such as high-end computers and pieces of artwork from their standard policies. You may be able to purchase a home contents insurance for such valuables.

Code Compliance Upgrade

Lastly, you should also check if your homeowners insurance policy will cover code compliance upgrade for your house should such the need arise. As you know, home renovation or repair projects can trigger upgrades to new building codes that had not been instituted when the original construction took place. A standard insurance policy is likely to cover only the repair of your house to its original state, but not the upgrades.

Insurance policies differ a lot. Only by comparing them will you be able to choose the best one for your house. Remember to discuss every small detail with an insurance agent, such as Kerr Agency, so that you know exactly what you are buying. That way you avoid potential misunderstanding with your insurer later on.

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