Homeowners Insurance is about financial security. It can help you when costly accidents happen at home that you would rather avoid. When all issaid and done, you will benefit from coverage.

Let’ s say that something like a fire, tornado or hail damages your home. Repair bills might skyrocket. Some items and possessions might even be total losses. You might not have the money on hand to replace these items without facing financial trouble. A claim on your home’s insurance can help you avoid those cost losses that you don’t want to have to deal with.

Texas law does not explicitly require homeowners to carry home insurance. However, it does allow mortgage lenders to require loan applicants to carry coverage. Therefore, if you plan to finance your home, you’ll probably have to keep a policy.

What does coverage include?

All home policies differ, but they all usually contain a lot of similar pieces. Within a policy, you can find:

Structure protection: Coverage can insure your house, garage and often detached buildings on the property. It can cover you in case of damage from fires, weather, theft and similar hazards.

Possessions insurance: This coverage pays for damaged belongings. Protection might cover everything from food in the pantry to computer systems in your office and clothes in the closet.

Liability coverage: If you harm someone else or damage their property, you can use this coverage to compensate them. Coverage will often pay for incidents on or off your property.

Additional expense protection: Do you need to move out temporarily after an accident at home? Let this coverage reimburse you for expenses like dining or hotel bills.

A standard homeowners policy will have a lot of rock-solid coverage for multiple risks around your house. Yet, you might not have coverage for things like floods, hurricane-force winds and earthquakes.

Weather-related floods, like from river swells, usually don’t have coverage under standard home insurance. You’ll likely need a flood insurance policy backed by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Keep in mind, certain water damage, like from burst pipes, might still have coverage on your standard homeowners policy.

Wind damage will usually have coverage under your standard home policy. However, if you live in an area prone to hurricanes, then you might need a special policy endorsement.

Earthquakes usually doesn’t have coverage under a standard home policy. However, agents can often add endorsements to your policy to protect against these risks.

Talk to one of our agents about whether you qualify for flood, wind and quake insurance. We’ll do everything we can to add this coverage to your policy. Keep in mind, damage brought on by normal wear and tear will almost never have coverage on any policy.

Everyone’s home will have a unique value and face a unique set of risks. Such factors will influence how much you will have to pay for your policy. Some of the factors that influence premiums might include:

• The policy limits you choose
• Your home’s value
• Your location
• The value of your possessions
• Whether you have a pet
• Your claims history
• Proximities to police, fire and ambulance services

Generally, the more risks you have, the more you might have to pay for your policy. However, we’ll help you get the right balance of coverage to financially protect you, but also keep your rates affordable.

Most home insurance policies will include deductibles that you will have to pay for certain damage. In Texas, deductibles generally range from $500 to $2,500. So, if you have a $5,000 policy claim and a $1,000 deductible, you will pay the $1,000. Then, your policy will pay the remaining $4,000 of the claim.

Generally, if you choose a higher deductible, your insurer will reduce your policy premium because you will now represent a lower risk to them. So, getting a high deductible might prove to your advantage. However, keep in mind, if you choose too high a deductible, you might not get full help from a policy claim. For example, if you have a $1,000 deductible and only a $500 claim, then you will receive no help from your policy. Could you afford to pay that $500 on your own? So, your security will depend on finding the right balance of deductible and affordability.

There are dozens of homeowners insurance providers in Texas. There are also a lot of policies that might fit your needs. However, you can usually find only one that offers you the best cost benefit.

Here at New Day Insurance, we can compare the policy options of multiple providers to hone in on one that has appropriate coverage for you. However, we’ll also make sure you can obtain the best cost-benefit for the coverage you choose. Our goal is to always provide you the best coverage at the best price to meet the needs of your family.