The Property Insurance Blog

Some people may ask, “If I only rent a house or an apartment, will it still be advisable for me to have insurance?”

The answer is yes. Even if you don’t own a house, it is still likely that you own personal items that are valuable to you. These valuable items might be too expensive for it to be easily replaced whenever it is damaged or stolen. In addition, you have to legal liability to any person who gets injured on the property that you are occupying. If there is a Homeowner’s policy, there is also a “Renter’s Policy”. This is essentially similar to Homeowners Policy minus the coverage for the structures or buildings. With this taken out of the equation, the Renters Policy is way cheaper than Homeowners Policy.

In deciding how much actual property insurance you need, it is wise to look at two things before deciding; replacement cost and current market value. The usual practice is to insure the property for the market value or appraised amount, however, in many cases this is not enough because this amount is influenced by outside forces that are most of the time beyond the control of property owners. That is why you need to take a look at replacement cost. Think of all the added items placed in the property since it was bought and take into consideration a worst case scenario, like your property burned to the grown and nothing but the land is left. How much would it cost to rebuild your property to the state it was before the accident in the shortest possible time? How about the lost income, if any, from your property that will stop because of the accident? Thinking of all these conditions will give you a better appreciation of the actual amount of property insurance you need.

Determining your insurance premiums depend mostly on the frequent perils or risks your business encounters on a normal basis. Understanding statistical risks associated with your line of business is the job of insurance providers and based on this assessment, they can adjust policies to provide for greater protection. The primary factor in setting premiums include building structure type, safety measures in place and the location of the property to various high risk areas.

Based on this information, basic rate is adjusted based on the discretion of the insurer basing it on history of claims or definite measures for loss control. Dividends are usually used, when rates cannot be adjusted, in order to reduce premium rates. Dividends however are not guaranteed and are only good when you actually have the check in hand.

Property insurance is not limited to protecting your investment inside the home or building but extends to your personal belongings outside. Property insurance can also help to secure your financial future in case you are sued for damages that resulted from your negligence.

There are two ways that property insurance can protect your assets. First is your protection from financial loss which includes but not limited to reimbursement from losses in case your property or belongings are damaged by fire or other unexpected events that are covered by your policy. Secondly, it protects your personal liability in the event that someone was injured on your property and decides to sue you for damages. Property insurance can be very important in this case to provide that financial cushion for you.

There are different types and levels of property insurance coverage available in the market. Knowing how to properly protect your property from theft, fire and other perils will go a long way in securing your prized possessions. Property insurance can be specific to your needs as a business enterprise.

You need to determine what properties you need to insure for the protection and continued operation of your business. Common types of assets included in property insurance are:
Leased or owned structures
Equipments, supplies and furnishings
Leased machineries and equipments
Inventory (products and materials)
Money and securities
Accounting records
Improvements made on property
Machinery
Boilers
Computers and other electronic devices including appliances
Valuable documents including books
Mobile property
Satellite dishes
Properties not attached to the structure
Intangibles such as patents, trademarks, goodwill and the likes

The coverage provided by property insurance covers the business’s building and extends to its contents such as securities, accounting records, money, machinery, inventory, furniture, supplies and even assets like trademarks. The property insurance is enforced in times when damage occurs due to theft, fire or other events explicitly stated in the policy coverage.

Most businesses opt to purchase business owner’s policy or BOP. However, since this type of protection has a relatively lower coverage that a standard property insurance, they take out separate policies for additional protection. Most common BOP add-ons which provide the business owner additional security for losses are business interruption insurance and extra-expense insurance.

There are some practical reasons that you can consider why you should buy your insurance coverage online. First, you can do it at a time and place that is convenient for you and within the confines of your secure and private home. Second is that you save on your insurance quotes and applications.

Another advantage is that you can view your billing and policy information online without the need to go down to the insurance company. And of course, you can pay your insurance premiums via the use of your credit card. Online insurance purchase is a viable option that everyone can easily avail of.

For everyone’s awareness, let me emphasize that there is no law that requires homeowners to apply for an insurance policy program. In contrast to this, if a homeowner borrows money from a banking or loan company to buy a house, the lending company will need to take a particular deed of trust or mortgage to be able to protect its interests that will stretch up to the day where the loan has been fully repaid. This certain mortgage will require homeowners to have an adequate amount of insurance to cover the reconstruction or repair of the house that was bought.

For your property insurance needs, you may refer to InsureMe. InsureMe helps people like you in looking for the top notch insurance policies with competitive rates. InsureMe offers aid to people free of charge. InsureMe has been around in the insurance industry since the year 1993. This just shows that InsureMe has been one of the companies that have already helped over millions of people in saving money, effort and time on insurance policies. InsureMe also provides services beyond insurance. InsureMe has built orphanages in various locations such as Ghana. Homes were also built in Mexico, thanks to InsureMe. InsureMe has also donated sufficient amounts to different organizations in Denver.

The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) is a pool of property and casualty insurers in Texas. It was established in 1971, after Hurricane Celia forced insurance companies in the region to cease writing business. Its goal is to give Texans wind and hail coverage when it is unavailable in the marketplace and to pay claims in case of losses. It is therefore the provider of “last resort”, not a for-profit company or a state organization. TWIA runs agent workshops from April to June that are approved for continuing education. Learn more about the TWIA and visit their informative FAQs section on their website at www.twia.org.