Whether you’re buying a home in California or you’re looking for a new insurance company for your current house, home insurance is essential. In fact, it’s usually required that you have at least a basic home insurance policy that will pay to repair or rebuild your home if it’s damaged.
But getting just the bare minimum coverage isn’t always the best idea. After all, this is your home and belongings we’re talking about. You deserve to be able to replace or repair your valuable possessions should the worst happen, and that’s what specialty home insurance is for.
What Is Specialty Home Insurance?
This type of coverage applies to specific items and special situations not normally covered by home insurance. It can be beneficial for businesses who need additional coverage. Before you choose your insurance policy for your California property, learn what specialty home insurance covers.
What Does Homeowners Insurance Typically Cover?
Before you decide if you need specialty home insurance, you should get to know what a regular homeowners policy covers.
Dwelling Coverage
First, there’s Dwelling coverage, which simply pays to repair or rebuild the structure of your house if it’s damaged in a covered event, such as fire or vandalism.
Personal Property Coverage
Another type of coverage your home insurance policy will have is for Personal Property, which protects the personal belongings in your house. Additionally, it will have Liability coverage in case someone is hurt or their belongings are damaged on your property. Otherwise, you’ll have to pay for medical bills and repairs out of your own pocket if they sue you.
Loss of Use
Finally, there’s Loss of Use, which will pay for you to stay somewhere else—such as a hotel or short-term rental—while your home is repaired or rebuilt after it’s been damaged. Loss of Use will also pay for expenses like food and laundry costs until you’re able to move back into your house.
While these types of coverage can be very helpful after your house is damaged, they might not be sufficient for every homeowner since they do have limitations. For example, if you have any particularly valuable items in your home, your Personal Property coverage limit may be too low to replace them.
And if your home is in a location that’s susceptible to certain natural disasters—such as earthquakes and floods—you’ll need more than the traditional home insurance policy for complete coverage. That’s why you should look into California specialty insurance.
What Kind of Coverage Does Specialty Home Insurance Offer?
Basically, for nearly anything that a traditional homeowners insurance policy doesn’t cover, you can purchase specialty insurance. One of the best reasons to buy this type of insurance is to cover valuable items in your home. Here are some of the things you may want to get specialty home insurance for:
Jewelry or Artwork
If you have an expensive piece of artwork or jewelry, you’re encouraged to get specialty home insurance to cover it. This is because the Personal Property part of your California home insurance policy has limits that you might surpass if you have to make a claim on all your belongings after a major event, such as a fire.
Boats, Motorcycles, or ATVs
Similarly, if you have expensive equipment, such as a boat, motorcycle, or ATV on your property, you should buy California specialty insurance to cover it.
Natural Disaster Coverage
Another reason you might need specialty home insurance is if your home is in an area where certain natural disasters are likely to strike. After all, typical home insurance doesn’t cover every event. For example, you’ll need to buy earthquake insurance to protect your home from this somewhat common natural disaster in California.
In addition, you need to buy flood insurance if you want coverage for water damage due to flooding. And while home insurance generally covers fire damage, it can make exceptions for homes that are in areas that see lots of wildfires, so you may need to buy specialty home insurance for that, depending on where your house is located.
In short, a traditional home insurance policy will get you basic coverage. But if you want more peace of mind—and have certain circumstances where you need extra coverage—you should look into specialty home insurance for your California property.
