If you are like most Americans, then your home is the most substantial asset you will ever own. Because of this high level of value, it is important to protect yourself with an insurance policy that will pay to repair your home after a disaster, or provide you for reimbursement for your property and your belongings if they are destroyed as a result of fire or some other sort of disaster. Such coverage would be provided by a homeowners’ insurance policy, but what many people don’t know is that homeowners insurance is merely a subset of a broader insurance category.

That category is property insurance, which includes not just homeowners insurance, but other types of coverage policies, like renters insurance, earthquake insurance, and flood insurance. All of these insurance types have the same general goal – to protect the financial value of the structure or property you call home – but they are used in different situations.

Homeowners insurance, of course, is what you would purchase when the deed of a home was actually in your name. The policy would protect your house and its contents from a range of damages and threats, including fire and smoke, snow and ice, theft, vandalism, hail, wind, and more.

A renters’ policy, meanwhile, would provide the same kinds of protection, but would do so for someone who does not own the property they call home. In such situations, the deed to the property would be in the name of a landlord, who would have a separate insurance policy to protect the apartment or house itself, but not to protect your belongings. Your coverage for the stuff in or on your rental property would have to be provided by a renters’ insurance policy.

In addition to protecting you from damages, property insurance also includes liability coverage, which can pay the medical expenses or legal fees that arise if someone is injured on your property and decides to take legal action against you as the owner or renter. Both homeowners and renters policies include some liability coverage.

Many people make the mistake of thinking that their homeowners or renters insurance policies protect them from all threats, but there are certain disasters that insurance companies consider “acts of god” and therefore do not cover under general property insurance policies. These include earthquakes and flooding, but you can get coverage for both through additional insurance packages.

These auxiliary packages include earthquake insurance and flood insurance, and both can give you extra protection and peace of mind. If you live in an area where disasters of this ilk are common (the West Coast for earthquakes, or the East Coast for hurricanes and flooding), then you should absolutely consider adding earthquake or flood coverage to your plan on top of your more general homeowners or renters’ property insurance policies.

Need help designing a property insurance policy that makes sense for your home and location? Call Lunares Insurance today and one of our reps will help to walk you through what makes a good and reliable insurance policy.