Homeowners Insurance - A Guide to Homeowners Insurance

Most Americans that own a home have some form of insurance on the home. Most Americans with a mortgage on their home are required by the mortgage lender to carry insurance on the home at least until the mortgage loan is paid off in full.

Homeowners insurance is not uncommon in the United States, but most Americans probably know little about it other than who their carrier is. In fact, this can probably be said about all types of insurance purchased by Americans daily. Not all homeowners insurance policies are the same, they vary from state to state and policy form to policy form.

What are some other common names for Homeowners insurance?

Homeowners insurance is commonly known by other names in the United States, but some policies and some coverages must be differentiated from others so confusion is eliminated. Homeowners insurance is sometimes referred to as home insurance, home owner insurance, fire insurance, dwelling insurance, house insurance, casualty insurance and hazard insurance.

These names don't all mean the same thing (necessarily) from an insurance company's perspective and this could affect your coverage in the event of a claim. Homeowners insurance is also correctly referred to as Home Insurance.

While the other names used for homeowners insurance have elements of correctness in them, they may not refer to the coverage the homeowner needs or actually desires to cover their property.

Who needs Homeowners Insurance?

Homeowners insurance should be purchased by any one who owns a home that they actually LIVE in. (Exceptions are also made for close relatives who live in a home owned by the actual homeowner). Most states have defined who is eligible for homeowners insurance and have defined eligibility in the policy language.

Other forms of dwelling coverage are available in all states, but not all of these policies are correctly known as true "homeowners insurance" and consequently homeowner insurance quotes vary by policy type. The necessary distinction in these policies is that the owner of the property actually lives in the property.

Other insurance policies known as dwelling insurance, fire insurance, landlord insurance, casualty insurance and hazard insurance are necessary when the homeowner does not physically live in the dwelling insured by the insurance company.

Collectively, these policies are sometimes called "Fire Insurance". Although the peril of "Fire" is most commonly covered on all of these insurance policy forms, the policies afford much broader coverages than only the named peril of "Fire".

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