In life, there are good surprises and not-so-good surprises.
A good surprise may be an unexpected hotel or flight upgrade, a surprise party thrown by dear friends, or a hidden spot you discover along a new hiking trail.
We tend to think of not-so-good surprises along the lines of car trouble, additional taxes, and issues requiring a claim with your home insurance, say, for a named peril like a fire, windstorm, or vandalism.
When it comes to having to file a claim with your insurance carrier, the last thing you want is to find something you thought was covered actually had no insurance coverage at all. That makes a difficult situation even worse. Not . . . so . . . good.
That is why it helps to review your home insurance policy to know in advance what situations are covered and what is excluded. First, it helps to know what kind of standard home insurance policy coverage you have.
Named Perils Policy
What's in a name? When it comes to perils and home insurance, coverage, that's what.
If you have a named peril policy (a.k.a, broad form policy), you'll have a listing of all events (perils) your home insurance policy will cover you for. It's like a New York nightclub, if on the list, you're in for coverage. If not, well, try back again sometime next policy.
When it comes to perils named on the policy, here are the usual suspects:
- Aircraft
- Explosion
- Fire
- Lightning
- Riot/Civil Commotion
- Smoke
- Vandalism/Malicious Mischief
- Vehicles
- Windstorm/Hail
This isn't an exhaustive list, but it is a common list of many of the perils usually found on a standard HO3 insurance policy. The exclusions are implied here, i.e., whatever is not on the list.
One caveat worth mentioning, having these events on your policy doesn't necessarily protect you if the damage to your home was caused by something preventable and was not sudden or accidental. But what about the alternative?
Open Perils Policy
In an open peril policy (a.k.a, all perils policy), your insurance carrier plans to cover your home and belongings in any event unless specifically excluded. You might think that sounds great and you're right - it provides for a lot of coverage.
With that extended coverage tends to come a bit of a higher premium.
Can you have have both types of coverage on the same policy? Actually, yes. Your home and personal belongings may be covered by one or the other. For instance, the structure of your home may be covered by open peril coverage while your personal property falls under named peril coverage.
Your Texas independent insurance agency should be adept at structuring your policy to fit your needs, whether you need a named peril, an open peril, or a combination coverage policy.
If you don't know what you want or need when it comes to covered perils, we'll make sure to help you know what is worth excluding and what is worth naming.
If you are local to the Grapevine area, feel free to mask up and stop by.
Stay covered, Texas.