It’s alright to lose yourself in the excitement of buying a place to live in a beautiful city like Tacoma or Seattle, but after finding a new home, you will still need to do some shopping. To protect your investment, you will need to acquire a homeowners insurance policy. Here’s how to find one at the best rates for your needs.
What Is Homeowners Insurance?
The first step in finding a great deal on your homeowner’s insurance is to have a better understanding of what exactly that means for you. The basics are straightforward: you will pay an annual fee, likely divided into monthly installments, that will require the insurance company to adhere to a contract to pay for certain types of damages to your home and property. Despite the name, home insurance can also be purchased for condominiums, farm lands, and apartment units with minor alterations to the policy.
Like your home loan, an insurance plan is a form of financing that leverages profit against risk. In this case, the insurance company determines an insurance rate that will satisfy the risk they are taking by covering various aspects of your home.
What Types of Coverage Are There?
Home insurance is broken down into categories based on the types of damages that are covered by the policy.
- Dwelling Coverage
Dwelling coverage is the most basic type available to homeowners. With it, you can make a claim for the damages to the building itself if the cause is listed in the policy.
- Additional Structure Coverage
You can add coverage for structures like sheds and workshops. The coverage limit will typically be around a tenth of the main property’s value.
- Personal Property Coverage
If you want to cover the items that are kept in your home, you will need personal property coverage. Instead of per item coverage, personal property is covered up to a maximum based on the main property value and will require an itemized claim to get the most benefit.
- Injury Liability Coverage
This will pay out in the case of an accidental injury of someone while they are on your property.
- Rental Coverage
Although renters don’t have to worry about the responsibility of the property, they do keep valuable possessions inside their residence which need to be protected. Renter’s insurance covers personal property for non-owners. If you plan on renting out rooms or apartments, then you will want to ask your insurance provider about the available options.
Which Factors Influence Your Rates?
- Your Risk Assessment
Because insurance is a risk-based industry, the providers will use a suite of factors like your financial status, credit report, and so forth to determine a risk level that influences your rates. If you haven’t already, take the time to review your credit report and look for negative notes that need to be addressed or disputed.
- The Deductible
The deductible for your homeowner’s insurance has the same meaning and influence as it does in medical coverage: you may be required to pay up to the deductible for individual claims, and a higher deductible will result in lower annual rates as the insurance company is taking less risk. This is one of the factors that you will have the most ability to control, so try to find a deductible that leaves your rates acceptable without creating a scenario where you won’t be able to realistically cover the deductible when filing a claim.
- The Value of the Home and Covered Items
A more expensive home will cost more to repair, scaling to the level of coverage, and dwelling coverage is the largest portion of a homeowners insurance plan’s coverage requirements.
- The Selected Coverage Types and Levels
As you add on additional coverage types or increase the level of coverage, the insurance rates will fluctuate. This will tend to move the rate upwards, but there may be instances where selecting better coverage causes the insurance company to consider you as a lower risk and thus reduce your rates in the long run.
- The Local Market
The potential costs of repairing damage to your home and property can modify the risk, which makes the going rates of local construction services and materials play a part in your insurance costs.
Where Can I Find More Information?
The first place to stop for information is the website of the Washington state Insurance Commissioner. The office of the commissioner oversees insurance regulations for all varieties of protection, including homeowners. The offered guide to purchasing homeowner’s insurance is a valuable resource to read through before signing any insurance agreement.
Survey the Market
The complexity of the factors that influence the exact pricing of your insurance policy requires every homeowner to shop around to get an accurate assessment of what each insurance company will offer. Homeowners insurance policies are available from a mix of regional and national insurance agencies, many of whom you have likely heard of before from advertisements or other services. Companies like USAA, State Farm, Allstate, and Esurance all offer policies in the state. Make a list of several insurance companies, ask them for quotes, and review their ratings from consumer reviews services like the ones listed on the Insurance Commissioner’s website.
Are You Prepared for the Future?
Armed with information, you are now ready to look for the best homeowners insurance for your new home in Washington. You can still take a few steps to get yourself ready in case an incident occurs which requires an insurance claim.
- Make an Inventory of the Covered Items
Gather documents like bills of sale, receipts, and value assessments for any item that is covered under the insurance policy. This should include the main property, any additional structures, and personal property.
- Add Photographs and Video
Including additional media that details the status of any covered items while they are in your possession can be useful when presenting a claim, especially when you need to prove that damage occurred during a certain incident or time.
- Talk with Your Real Estate Team
Your Movoto real estate agent has helped numerous families move into their new homes, and those families also had to purchase insurance policies. Ask them for advice on insurance policies to take advantage of their familiarity with the local Washington market and the claims processes that their clients and associates have gone through.
2 Point Highlight
The deductible for your homeowner’s insurance has the same meaning and influence as it does in medical coverage: you may be required to pay up to the deductible for individual claims, and a higher deductible will result in lower annual rates as the insurance company is taking less risk. This is one of the factors that you will have the most ability to control, so try to find a deductible that leaves your rates acceptable without creating a scenario where you won’t be able to realistically cover the deductible when filing a claim.
Homeowners insurance policies are available from a mix of regional and national insurance agencies, many of whom you have likely heard of before from advertisements or other services.
