Buying a home is an exciting time. You get to settle into your desired location. You get to search for a home like you’re a buyer on House Hunters. And you get to make something your own—you can paint the walls whatever color you want, get creative with your landscaping, and expand your home if you prefer to add to it in the future.

All of the fun things that come with buying a home are enough to get you emotionally invested in your property. When you’ve spent days or months looking for a place and personalizing it to your taste, you want to make sure you protect it, which is why you’re probably wondering how can I get homeowner’s insurance. 

Finding homeowner’s insurance isn’t that hard. All you have to do is follow a brief list of steps: 

1. Compile a list of suitable options 
2. Compare the costs of different insurers
3. Investigate the health of each insurance company 
4. Check policyholder satisfaction and retention rate
5. Talk to a real person to ask questions and get clarification

If you follow these steps, you’ll find the right homeowner’s insurance in no time. However, before you dive into this process, you should ask yourself what your homeowner’s insurance will cover. 

Will it provide everything you need to protect your new home? Or are there different types of homeowner’s insurance that you should consider? Knowing the answers to these questions will give you the insight you need to confidently start your hunt for homeowner’s insurance.

You don’t want to go into this process uninformed. And with the right amount of knowledge, you’ll discover the best policy possible.  

If you’ve already started wondering how can I get homeowner’s insurance, then you likely know what this type of insurance is—however, it’s essential to get a refresher just in case. 

Homeowner’s insurance protects your home and possessions by giving you financial relief in the instance that something gets stolen or damaged. While it’s not required by law, you may need to purchase homeowner’s insurance if you have a mortgage. After all, your lender wants to protect its investment the same way that a landlord does. 

With homeowner’s insurance, you and your lender can count on help in three specific areas: 

• Repairs to your home or your yard
• Repairs to other structures dealing with your home 
• Replacement of personal belongings 
• Personal liability coverage if you’re legally responsible for damage or injury to someone else

Given its range of benefits, homeowner’s insurance isn’t just important. It’s necessary. And if you’re taking steps to get it, you’re on the right path. 

Protecting your new home is critical, and insurance companies that offer good policies want to ensure they achieve that goal. As a result, standard homeowner’s insurance typically covers the following. 

This type of coverage repairs damage to your home and any attached structures, like your back porch, where you grill and hang out. Usually, if someone or something damages your home, this coverage will ensure you get enough money for the rebuilding costs.

For this coverage, you’ll get to protect stand-alone structures on your property. For example, think of a shed or fence. If one or both of these gets damaged, you don’t have to worry about it. This coverage typically makes up 10% of your homeowner’s insurance. 

This coverage usually encompasses 50% to 70% of your homeowner’s insurance. It covers any repairs or replacements that were stolen or damaged. 

If your home is getting repaired, you may have to leave for a certain amount of time. Whenever this situation happens, this type of coverage will help pay any temporary living expenses. Usually, this coverage makes up 20% of your homeowner’s insurance. 

Unfortunately, there’s always a chance that you might accidentally injure someone or damage your property unintentionally. Luckily, personal liability coverage will help you. It typically covers $100,000 – $500,000 in damages. 

If someone gets injured on your property, this coverage will help pay their medical payments regardless of who’s at fault for the injury. What’s even better is that it also covers a situation where you, a relative, or a pet hurts someone while off your property. 

While standard policies tend to include the same types of coverage, you will have to choose between different types of homeowner’s insurance. 

These different types are called “policy forms,” and some offer more expansive coverage than others. What’s also interesting to know is that policy forms can differ across states and insurance companies. But three of them are pretty common. 

This type of homeowner’s insurance is the most popular. In 2017, nearly 80% of owner-occupied homes had HO-3 insurance. If you have a mortgage, more often than not, your lender will request this level of coverage at the bare minimum. 

It generally covers damages to your home, except for any events that the policy specifically excludes. For example, some of those excluded events might be an earthquake or a flood. But the list of things that HO-3 insurance won’t cover when your house gets damaged is relatively short. So, you should be happy with this particular aspect of the policy. 

However, if you buy HO-3 insurance, you may want to get additional coverage for your personal belongings. This policy will only cover damage from 16 different perils, including smoke, volcanic eruption, fire, lightning, riots, explosions, vandalism, theft, and more. 

If you’re looking for more extensive coverage, then HO-5 insurance might be right for you. It’s the most comprehensive and premier homeowner’s insurance that you can get—it’ll cover all damages, except for the ones that the policy prohibits.  

However, typically, you can only buy HO-5 insurance if you have a well-maintained home in a low-risk area. In 2017, about 14% of homeowner’s had this coverage, so it’s not as popular as HO-3 insurance. But again, it’s the most extensive coverage you can buy. 

These insurances are probably the least popular since they offer very limited coverage. They only cover damages that are listed in the policy—and that list is pretty short. 

HO-1 and HO-2 insurance provide the bare bones of what you need, which is probably why only 7% of homeowner’s had this type of insurance in 2017. It also doesn’t help that HO-1 and HO-2 insurance policies are hard to come by, as neither one is widely available.  

Now that you know what homeowner’s insurance covers and the types of policies to consider, you can start your hunt for the best homeowner’s insurance. Again, it won’t take long to find the right policy and insurance company for you, especially if you follow the steps outlined above. 

But if you need a little help, here’s a head start. Barry Risk Management, Inc. offers homeowner’s insurance to give you everything you need to protect your new home. 

Barry Risk Management specializes in helping people like you find and purchase the proper coverage for all of your everyday essentials. With the guidance and expertise of Barry Risk Management, you can trust Barry Risk Management, Inc. to find the best homeowner’s insurance for you. 

What’s even better is that you can also speak to an agent to ask questions and clarify the insurance coverage options you have. Remember step five at the beginning of this article. You want to talk to someone at the insurance companies you’re considering, and Barry Risk Management, Inc. makes this easy. 

The representative you speak to will be knowledgeable, helpful, and committed to getting you the best homeowner’s insurance possible. So, don’t wait. Contact a representative with Barry Risk Management, Inc. now to get the homeowner’s insurance you need. 

Get the coverage you need to protect your home by contacting an agent with Barry Risk Management, Inc. today!