If you are buying a home in Washington State, you know that your mortgage lender will require you to carry a homeowner’s insurance policy. However, before you blindly just pick the one with the lowest price or accept the minimum terms required by your bank, you should understand how to truly protect yourself with this type of insurance.
Consumer Reports indicates that in addition to protecting your structure, you should factor in the assets in your home. There are a couple of elements to a homeowner’s insurance policy that may be important in doing this. One includes provisions that provide liability protection. A good way to go here may well be to purchase an umbrella policy so you are covered in the event that someone pursues recourse from you.
Another element you should review is determining what assets in your home are valuable and need protecting. As you itemize these, you may choose to increase the limit on your policy to ensure you may be properly compensated for these losses should that ever happen. Adding weather-related coverages may also be beneficial as damage from rain, ice storms, hail and more can wreak havoc on your home, and these are not the times when you want to learn that you were underinsured.
If you would like to learn more about the elements that you should review carefully before making a final decision about which homeowner’s insurance policy to purchase, please feel free to visit the personal protections page of our Washington State insurance law website.