How to Insure Your Home: A Step by Step Guide to Buying the Coverage You Need at Prices You Can Afford

259 Pages·1996·0.78 MB·English

by  Merritt Editors

How to Insure Your Home : A Step By Step
title: Guide to Buying the Coverage You Need At
Prices You Can Afford
author:
publisher: Silver Lake Publishing
isbn10 | asin: 1563431327
print isbn13: 9781563431326
ebook isbn13: 9780585044231
language: English
Insurance--Purchasing, Insurance,
subject
Homeowners--Purchasing.
publication date: 1996
lcc: HG9986.H69 1996eb
ddc: 368.096
Insurance--Purchasing, Insurance,
subject:
Homeowners--Purchasing.
Page i
How to Insure Your Home
A Step by Step Guide to Buying the Coverage You Need
at Prices You Can Afford
The Merritt Editors
MERRITT PUBLISHING
A DIVISION OF THE MERRITT COMPANY
SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA
Page ii
How to Insure Your Home
A Step by Step Guide to Buying the Coverage You Need at Prices You
Can Afford
First edition, 1996
Copyright © 1996 by Merritt Publishing
Merritt Publishing
1661 Ninth Street
Santa Monica, California 90406
For a list of other publications or for more information from Merritt
Publishing, please call [phone]. Outside the United States and
in Alaska and Hawaii, please call [phone].
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system or transcribed in any form or by any means
(electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise) without
the prior written permission of Merritt Publishing.
Library of Congress Catalogue Number:
96-075086
The Merritt Editors
How to Insure Your Home
A Step by Step Guide to Buying the Coverage You Need at Prices You
Can Afford.
Includes index.
Pages: 247
ISBN: 1-56343-132-7
Printed in the United States of America.

Page iii
Acknowledgments
The Merritt Editors who contributed to this book include Cynthia
Davidson, Jan King, Megan Thorpe and James Walsh. Thanks also to:
Kimberly Baer Design Associates, Kathie Baumoel, Cynthia Chaillie,
Ginger McKelvey and Mimi Tennant.
Some forms that appear in this book are based on standard forms and
information used with the permission of the Insurance Services
Office.
How to Insure Your Home is the second book in Merritt Publishing's
How to Insure. . . series. Upcoming titles will include How to Insure
Your Income and How to Insure What You Own. Because these books
are designed to make the concepts and theories of insurance
understandable to ordinary consumers, the Merritt Editors welcome
any feedback. Please fax us at [phone] or call [phone]
during regular business hours, Pacific time. More information from
Merritt Publishing is available on the InsWeb Internet site and at
http.//www.merrittpub.com.
Page v
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Why You Need Homeowners Insurance 1
Chapter 2 How to Figure Out How Much Insurance You
Need 21
Chapter 3 Why Liability Is Such a Major Issue 45
Chapter 4 Important Definitions 67
Chapter 5 Fires, Floods and Earthquakes 91
Chapter 6 Coverage for Condos and Other Dwellings 113
Chapter 7 Coverages and Issues for Renters 135
Chapter 8 How Insurance Companies Price Homeowners
Coverage 153
Page vi
Chapter 9 Assigned-Risk Programs and Alternative 167
Markets
Chapter 10 How to Make a Claim 183
Chapter 11 How to Avoid Common Coverage Problems 203
Chapter 12 Tips for Smart Buyers 225
Index 241
Page 1
Chapter 1
Why You Need Homeowners Insurance
Fleeing from the 1991 Oakland fires, Tobie Shapiro packed
everything she could into her car and left her home to meet her
husband and children on safe ground. She and her family figured they
were going to lose their homebut they felt little financial threat. Their
house and its contents were covered by homeowners insurance.
Or so they thought. After the fire incinerated their home, the Shapiros
found that their homeowners coverage didn't cover everything they'd
lost. Their insurance agent had recommended against buying
guaranteed replacement cost coverage, which would have picked up
any building costs that exceeded the policy's face value.
After the fire, contractors set the cost of rebuilding the Shapiros' home
at more than $1 millionthey were insured for less than $400,000.
The Shapiros weren't alone. The California Department of Insurance
concluded that, of the 4,842 homes damaged or destroyed in the
Oakland fire, 1,409 were underinsured.
Page 2
Under pressure from state regulators, about 30 insurance companies
agreed to upgrade retroactively more than 1,000 homeowners policies in
Oaklandincluding the Shapiros'. But you can't count on political pressure
to work for you when you make a claim.
If You Own Property, You Need Coverage
Homeowners insurance is a necessity for both homeowners and renters.
A homeowners policy is a complete package of personal property and
liability coverages designed to cover the average residential and
personal exposures that most individuals and families encounter.
Personal property doesn't just mean real estate. It means just about any
household possession that's financially valuablefrom the smallest earring
to the largest refrigerator.
A policy can be issued to cover a premises used principally for private
residential purposes (some incidental business occupancies, such as a
studio or office, are permitted), and which contains no more than two
family living units (that means single family homes and duplexes are
eligible).