Homeowners Insurance at a Glance

At first glance, homeowners insurance may seem perplexing and quite overpowering. Understanding your policy is crucial to know what you are actually purchasing, and also an extremely important part of owning a home. A homeowners insurance policy provides financial security against disasters, as well as insures the home and the possessions kept within.

A basic homeowners insurance plan consists of four major types of coverage. These include: Home structure, coverage for personal belongings, liability protection, and living expenses in the event you cannot reside in your home as a result of an insured disaster.

Earthquakes and floods are not covered by standard insurance plans. To insure your home against these natural disasters, you will need to purchase a separate insurance policy. However, here is a list of catastrophes that are covered by homeowners insurance: fire, lightening, theft, vandalism, overflow of water from plumbing, just to name a few. You need to think ahead when purchasing homeowners insurance. When assessing the amount of coverage you should buy, think about how much it would cost to reconstruct your home if it were completely demolished.

All of your personal belonging are covered if they are stolen or ruined by an insured disaster. A majority of insurance companies will offer coverage for 50% to 70% of the sum of insurance you have placed on your home. Between $1,000 to $2,000 is allotted for expensive items such as furs and jewelry. Up to $500 coverage is also allowed for unauthorized use of credit cards.

Liability protection shields you against legal action for bodily harm or estate damage that was caused by you or family members. This part of the policy pays the expense of your defense in a court of law, and is supported throughout the world.

If you are unable to live in your home due to damage from an insured disaster, most homeowners insurance policies will pay for the additional expenses such as hotel fees and restaurant tabs, while your house is being reconstructed. However, coverage for these extra costs vary with each insurance company.

Timothy Gorman is a successful webmaster and publisher of Best-Free-Insurance-Quotes.com. He provides more insurance information and offers discount home insurance, life and auto insurance that you can research in your pajamas on his website.

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In this May 4, 2007 file photo Timothy Geithner is seen in Montreal. President-elect Barack Obama is likely to name Timothy Geithner, president of the New York Federal Reserve, as Treasury Secretary in a time of intense economic turmoil as he rounds out the upper echelon of his Cabinet, a senior Democratic official familiar with the deliberations said Friday, Nov. 21, 2008. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Ian Barrett, File)AP - President-elect Barack Obama has moved with unusual speed to select officials for his administration, and senior Democratic officials say he intends to name Timothy Geithner as his treasury secretary as soon as Monday.



Former US President Jimmy Carter, former UN head Kofi Annan, and Graca Machel, wife of former South African President Nelson Mandela, seen from left, during a news conference in Johannesburg, Staurday, Nov. 22, 2008. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter says he and others have been refused entry to Zimbabwe for a humanitarian mission. Carter says he and other members of The Elders group were informed Friday night by former South African President Thabo Mbeki that efforts to secure travel visas had failed. The Elders group was formed by Nelson Mandela and includes former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Mandela's wife Graca Machel, an international advocate for women's and children's rights. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)AP - Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said Saturday that he and others planning a humanitarian mission in Zimbabwe had been refused entry to the impoverished African country.



AP - A college student committed suicide by taking a drug overdose in front of a live webcam as some computer users egged him on, others tried to talk him out of it, and another messaged OMG in horror when it became clear it was no joke. Some watchers contacted the Web site to notify police, but by the time officers entered Abraham Biggs' home — a scene also captured on the Internet — it was too late.

U.S. President George W. Bush, left, with President Hu Jintao of China before their meeting at the APEC Summit in Lima, Peru Friday, Nov. 21, 2008. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)AP - President George W. Bush, faced with a dwindling number of days in office, was using his final world summit to try to keep a virulent economic crisis from triggering a retreat into protectionism.



Nebraska lawmakers Brad Ashford, front, of Omaha, and Arnie Stuthman, of Platte Center, Neb., vote in favor of LB 1 Friday, Nov. 21, 2008 at the state capitol in Lincoln, Neb., The bill puts a 30-day age limit on children who can be dropped off at Nebraska hospitals under the state's safe haven law. The bill easily passed 43-5. (AP Photo/Bill Wolf)AP - Gov. Dave Heineman signed into law Friday a bill adding a 30-day age limit to a safe-haven law that allowed 35 children — including teenagers as old as 17 — to be abandoned at state hospitals. The law, approved hours earlier by the Legislature in a 45-3 vote, goes into effect Saturday, and makes Nebraska the 14th state with a 30-day age cap. It had been the only state with a safe-haven law without an age limit.



AP - Federal regulators on Friday shut down two big thrifts based in Southern California, saying they fell victim to the acute distress in the housing market in that state.

Senate Majority Harry Reid of Nev., center, accompanied by fellow Democratic leaders, gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008, to discuss the auto industry bailout. From left are, House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer of Md.,  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., Reid, Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.,  Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., and  Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)AP - Democratic leaders ordered Detroit's Big Three automakers Friday to submit what amounts to a detailed loan application to Congress so lawmakers can decide whether to give the beleaguered industry an emergency $25 billion lifeline.



Canadian Minister of National Defense Peter MacKay, center, shakes hands with his Australian counterpart Joel Fitzgibbon, as U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates walks past at the conclusion of a news conference on Friday Nov. 21, 2008, in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia, Canada. The three are taking part in discussions of International Security Assistance Force's (ISAF) Regional Command South, which is comprised of forces from Canada, Australia, Denmark, Estonia, Netherlands, Romania, United Kingdom, and the United States. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Mike Dembeck)AP - Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday he would like to add significant U.S. forces to the war in Afghanistan before national elections scheduled for next year, and that grim depictions of backsliding in the seven-year-old war are "far too pessimistic."



Joerg Schoenbohm, Brandeburg state Interior Minister and current chairman of the German Interior Ministers Conference, center, opens the final day of the ministers meeting in Potsdam, Germany, on Friday, Nov. 21, 2008. At left is German Federal Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble. German security officials said Friday they will drop their attempt to pursue a ban of the Church of Scientology after finding insufficient evidence of unconstitutional activity.  (AP Photo/Bernd Settnik Pool)AP - Germany is dropping its pursuit of a ban on Scientology after finding insufficient evidence of illegal activity, security officials said Friday.



In this Oct. 5, 2008, file photo, Golden State's Al Harrington (3) catches a pass in front of New Orleans Hornets David West in the first half of an NBA preseason basketball game in New Orleans. The Golden State Warriors traded disgruntled forward Al Harrington to the New York Knicks for guard Jamal Crawford on Friday. (AP Photo/Bill Haber, File)AP - The New York Knicks traded Zach Randolph and Jamal Crawford in separate deals Friday, parting with their two top scorers to free up coveted salary-cap space for the summer of 2010. Crawford was sent to Golden State for forward Al Harrington. Hours later, Randolph was shipped to the Los Angeles Clippers along with reserve guard Mardy Collins for Cuttino Mobley and Tim Thomas.



Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke (R) nods as he listens to President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Timothy Geithner before addressing the Economic Club of New York in this October 15, 2008 file photo. (Lucas Jackson/Files/Reuters)Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama on Friday moved toward nominating Timothy Geithner as Treasury secretary and charging the respected head of the New York Federal Reserve with helping pull the United States out of an economic nosedive.



Pedestrians walk past a Citibank branch in Singapore November 18, 2008. (Vivek Prakash/Reuters)Reuters - Citigroup Inc has begun talks with the U.S. government as its plummeting share price raises doubts about the bank's ability to survive, a person familiar with the matter said.



Leaders of the U.S. automotive industry testify at a hearing held by the House Financial Services Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington November 19, 2008. From left are General Motors CEO Richard Wagoner, Chrysler Chairman and CEO Robert Nardelli and Ford president and CEO Alan Mulally. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)Reuters - Detroit automakers began work on turnaround plans demanded by Congress in return for $25 billion in aid as General Motors Corp said it would cut production more and give up two of its controversial corporate jets.



General Motors World Headquarters is seen along the Detroit River in Detroit, Michigan, September 17, 2008. (Rebecca Cook/Reuters)Reuters - The board of directors of embattled U.S. automaker General Motors Corp is considering "all options" including bankruptcy, according to a report on the Wall Street Journal's website late on Friday.



Traders work in close quarters on the main trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange early in the trading session in New York City, November 21, 2008. (Mike Segar/Reuters)Reuters - U.S. stocks stormed higher in a late rally on Friday to cap another volatile week as investors welcomed reports that President-elect Barack Obama has chosen his point person to combat the U.S. economic crisis, instilling confidence about the administration's ability to take action.



Former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan addresses a news conference in Nairobi, in this file photo from October 17, 2008, after receiving the report on Kenya's post election violence in 2007 from the Commission of Inquiry. (Antony Njuguna/Reuters)Reuters - Zimbabwe has barred former U.N. secretary general Kofi Annan, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and other prominent figures from visiting the country to assess the humanitarian crisis, the group said on Saturday.



Rashid Rauf (R), a Pakistani-British man suspected of involvement in an al Qaeda plot to blow up transatlantic airliners, enters the courtroom during his appearance in the civil court in Rawalpindi in this file photo from January 5, 2007. (Faisal Mahmood/Reuters)Reuters - Pakistani television channels reported that Rashid Rauf, a British Islamist militant with al Qaeda links, was killed along with an Egyptian militant by a U.S. missile strike in the North Waziristan tribal region of Pakistan Saturday.



A British military vehicle drives past an Afghan man in Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province October 20, 2008. (Abdul Qodus/Reuters)Reuters - The Pentagon is considering a plan to send more than 20,000 troops to Afghanistan over the next 12 to 18 months to help safeguard elections and quell rising Taliban violence, officials said on Friday.



Protesters demonstrate against the arrival of US President George W. Bush in Lima. Leaders from Pacific rim nations are set to meet to chart ways to boost trade despite turmoil in the global economy, as aspiring powers China and Russia bid farewell to Bush.(AFP/Sengo Perez)AFP - Leaders of the Pacific rim are set to meet to chart ways to boost trade despite turmoil in the global economy, as aspiring powers China and Russia bid farewell to US President George W. Bush.



An everything-must-go sign in Coral Gables, Florida. The economic team of US president-elect Barack Obama came into view as fears mounted on the global financial crisis and more mass job cuts loomed worldwide(AFP/Getty Images/Joe Raedle)AFP - The economic team of US president-elect Barack Obama came into view as fears mounted on the global financial crisis and more mass job cuts loomed worldwide.




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