Homeowners/car insurance ?'s

[lisam]

We're looking into homeowners insurance for our new house and I figured we'd also look at car insurance while we were at it. Especially since they usually offer some sort of discount for having all with the same company.

I'm confused by the many options they are offering for different coverages. I basically want to be covered and insure my engagement and wedding rings under my homeowners' insurance. Otherwise, what else do I need to make sure they cover? Any insight appreciated.

[aurora]

When you say you "want to be covered" do you mean purely for property? That tends to be more straightforward - they insure for at least the assessed value of your house, then add some standard percentage for your state for additional items.

I think it's more the liability coverage and medical that can get confusing. Unfortunately standards vary from state to state so you might have to talk to an agent in your area.

[jenn1298]

I think the most important thing is just to see the breakdown of what coverage they are quoting you, so that if you have multiple companies provide quotes you can compare them fairly. If you aren't sure what something is, ask the agent and if that item isn't included on another company's quote ask them to include it and re-quote. Also make sure that you agree with the deductibles and that they are the same for every quote.

[mollybrown]

The only thing I think everyone should have is replacement cost coverage on both the dwelling and your personal property. Everything else depends on your location and house. You might need sump coverage, flood, earthquake, etc, or you might not. You should probably just go through the quotes line by line.

[jennysmitten]

Aug 6, 2012 11:21:07 GMT -5 mollybrown said:

The only thing I think everyone should have is replacement cost coverage on both the dwelling and your personal property. Everything else depends on your location and house. You might need sump coverage, flood, earthquake, etc, or you might not. You should probably just go through the quotes line by line.

:Y:

I would carry a minimun of 100,000 for liability, but 300,000 is preferable and is not really anymore expensive. 5,000 for medical is standard around here.

[niq]

Frequently jewelry will be excluded from the homeowner's insurance. Our insurer makes us carry a separate policy for jewelry. But other than that property/theft insurance is usually quoted as a percentage of the price of rebuilding your home*.

I would also see what level of coverage they offer for identity theft.

* The insurance amount on your home is going to be less than what you're paying for it. Don't freak out! Because insurers deal in bulk, they get good rates on construction costs.