Home insurance quotes: what do you actually need?

It's hard to overestimate the usefulness of home insurance in situations when your house gets damaged or destroyed. Unfortunately, such situations take place more often than you would normally imagine, so there's a very good reason to start comparing home insurance quotes right now if your house isn't insured yet. However, this usually leads to the most common questions customers have about home insurance: what actually should we get? Assuming that various package options and coverage limits will result in very different home insurance quotes, it's very important to understand what do you actually need to get with your home insurance policy and what can be left behind. In order to answer this question you will have to take note of the different aspects of your home insurance needs: Structure Naturally, the house itself is the most important factor that defines your home insurance needs to a great extent. Its overall square footage, materials used for the structure and the interior, electric and plumbing system and other aspects will determine the replacement cost of the structure in case it gets completely destroyed. The most important rule here is to go with the full replacement cost according to current construction prices. You will simply need to multiply the overall square footage of the house by the construction costs per foot depending on the materials used in your structure. This will give you a solid starting point in defining your actual insurance needs and will always be the core of the coverage. Contents While many people tend to think that the house is the most expensive thing they have, they often tend to forget that the contents of the house can be as valuable if not more expensive than the actual structure. Most home insurance policies will cover the contents of your house only if there's a detailed inventory of all the things that have to be covered. So you should certainly compile such an inventory beforehand if you want all your belongings to be reimbursed in case they are destroyed. And if there are specific valuables such as jewelry, works of art, expensive or unique equipment then you might want to get special waivers or separate insurance policies for such items. Possible perils Knowing the possible risks your house may be subjected to can seriously affect your home insurance quotes since it will be easier for you to define the actual list of perils that need to be covered. For example, if there's a very low risk of tornadoes in your area then you certainly don't need to purchase tornado coverage. And at the same time, if the area is known for wildfires or floods, you must include these perils to your home insurance quotes. Liability coverage Many people tend to overlook the liability coverage potential of home insurance until they are faced with a serious lawsuit. There are different situations in which this coverage may come in very handy. For example, if someone is making repairs in your house and gets injured due to the house's condition your home insurance policy will pay the medical expenses. Or if your guest gets bitten by your dog in your house, the medical bill will be covered by home insurance. You never know what may happen, so it's better to include liability coverage to your home insurance quotes as well.