Every single day every where, someone loses their home to a fire, flood, or other natural disaster. Or they are losing their valuables to thieves. These are just a couple of the reasons people need to carry homeowner insurance.

The first thing a person needs to be aware of, however, is that a homeowner’s insurance policy will not cover a flood caused by surface water due to rain, snow, ice etc. This type of coverage must be obtained from a government agency and your home must be in a flood plain.

Second what does a homeowner’s insurance policy cover? It should cover flooding due to busted water pipes or other internal water problems. It should cover the structure itself and the furnishings and contents within the home in the event of a fire. A homeowner insurance policy should cover damage due to a tornado, trees falling on the house, shingles being blown off and other roof repairs, and broken windows.

Third a homeowner’s insurance policy should cover liability on the property. If someone comes on your property and gets hurt, this is the portion of the policy which will pay for the injuries to that person. However, since a person cannot be liable for themselves, it will not cover the homeowner or his/her family living in the home in the event they get hurt. Liability is only to pay for non-resident visitors who might get hurt.

Fourth homeowner’s insurance should cover any outbuildings and other structures you may have on your property. This means if you have a small storage shed or other type of building where you store tools, lawnmowers, and other small equipment the homeowner’s insurance should cover it. It, of course, also means that it will cover the tools and equipment stored in the building. One thing to be aware of, however, is that large tractors and other large farm equipment such as hay balers, corn pickers, combines, is not covered under a homeowner insurance policy. These must be put on a farmowner’s policy.

Fifth if you have extremely valuable items such as expensive jewelry, guns, stamp or coin or other collections, you will need to specifically insure these items. You will need to make a list or a video to provide along with an itemized price list to the insurance company. Since most homeowner’s insurance policies only will go up to so much coverage, you may have to get what is known as umbrella policy to pick up the extra coverage for the valuables.

Sixth remember that a homeowner’s insurance policy will never cover a vehicle. Vehicles must be insured on their own auto insurance policies. This even means if the vehicle is kept in an attached garage or a garage under the home, you still must have it insured on its own auto policy. On the other hand, a homeowner’s policy will cover person items that are in the vehicle that are not factory installed.

Therefore, homeowner insurance is very important to have if you wish to cover your home in the event of fire or other natural disaster or theft of items in the home.