What is Homeowners insurance?
Homeowners insurance provides financial protection against disasters. A standard policy insures the home itself and the things you keep in it.

Homeowners insurance is a package policy. This means that it covers both damage to your property and your liability or legal responsibility for any injuries and property damage you or members of your family cause to other people. This includes damage caused by household pets.

Damage caused by most disasters is covered but there are exceptions. The most significant are damage caused by floods, earthquakes and poor maintenance. You must buy two separate policies for flood and earthquake coverage. Maintenance-related problems are the homeowners' responsibility.

Why do you need homeowners insurance?
It is really all about protecting yourself financially if something unexpected happens to your home or possessions. That's important because chances are your home is likely one of your largest investments.

• If your home was destroyed by fire or damaged by a natural disaster, you'd need money to repair or replace it.
• If a guest in your home is injured, liability protection and medical coverage help pay expenses.
• If you are a victim of theft and vandalism, it can reimburse you for your loss or pay for repairs.
• If you are still paying for your home, your lender will require insurance.

It is important to know that homeowners insurance is meant to cover unexpected damage, not routine maintenance. Ask your agent to talk about what is covered and be sure to read your policy so you know exactly what's included and what is not.

Things to consider and questions to ask your agent
Here are few things to discuss with your agent that will influence your decisions.

• How much will it cost to rebuild my house and replace my belongings if they are damaged or destroyed? (Ask your agent to talk you through your home's features and the things you own so you can make an informed decision about coverage.)
• Does the insurance company have a good reputation for customer service? Is it known for paying claims fairly and promptly?
• What discounts are available? (Ask about multiple policy, security system and fire resistance discounts.)
• What's the process for filing and settling a claim? (Ask who to call and what happens after you file a claim.) 

With renters insurance, you will be able to replace what is damaged or stolen.

Renters insurance covers your possessions against losses from fire or smoke, lightning, vandalism, theft, explosion, windstorm, and water damage from plumbing.

However, renters insurance does not cover floods, earthquakes or routine wear and tear. You can, however, buy separate policies for flood and earthquake damage.

If you are forced out of your home because of a disaster your additional living expenses will be covered.

Renters insurance pays the reasonable additional costs of temporarily living away from your home if you can't live in it due to a fire, severe storm or other insured disaster. It covers hotel bills, temporary rentals, restaurant meals and other living expenses incurred while your home is being rebuilt. Coverage for additional living expenses differs from company to company.

Renters insurance also covers your responsibility to other people injured at your home or elsewhere by you, a family member or your pet and pays legal defense costs if you are taken to court.

Decide How Much Insurance You Need.

Add up the cost of everything you would want to replace if it were damaged or stolen. This could also serve as the basis for an inventory that will make filing a claim easier. For an inventory, also record model numbers, dates and places of purchase. Take photographs or make a video of these items and place a copy of the inventory in safe place away form your home.

If you rent an apartment or house you need insurance to protect your belongings. While your landlord might have insurance, it only protects the building. Your belongings are not covered under those policies.

Farm Insurance Information

While farms need the standard types of insurance policies that other businesses need, such as property insurance and general liability coverage, they also need insurance that is specifically related to the business they run.

Crop Insurance

Some farms make all or most of their profits through the crops that they grow. When a disaster, such as a tornado, wildfire or flood strikes and the crops they depend on are devastated, crop insurance can reimburse them for the losses they face. Before buying crop insurance, it's vital that farmers submit an accurate representation of the planted acreage they have per unit. Should they underreport, they may not be reimbursed for all losses they could realistically experience.

Livestock Insurance

Livestock insurance is a multifaceted type of coverage with several different policy options. For example, farm owners can buy coverage for specific activities such as their livestock's transit or for auction market coverage; they may buy coverage for specific animals such as poultry coverage or pasture and dairy cattle coverage; or they may buy mortality insurance for animals with an especially high value to the farm such as a stud.

Farm Equipment Insurance

It takes a lot of specialized equipment to run a farm. From tractors to irrigation equipment, trailers to combines, these complicated expensive machines are fundamental to a farm’s ability to operate properly, efficiently and successfully. Equipment insurance for the vehicles and machines on the farm will allow for reimbursement for certain losses and damages and can help keep you operational.

Workers Compensation Insurance

Farms that employ people should also look at workers compensation coverage. Without this protection, they will be responsible for paying the medical expenses and lost wages of employees who are injured at work.

Windstorm Insurance Information

Certain storms bring a high wind that exceeds the classification of what your home insurance policy covers. In these instances, you must have additional coverage in place to protect yourself. Windstorm insurance can provide coverage for the damage caused by high wind events such as tornadoes, hurricanes and cyclones.

Windstorm insurance can cover both the outside buildings and main structure of your property, as well as the inside contents. Windstorm coverage may not be automatically provided for in a standard home insurance policy, but it can be added through a rider or endorsement. Some, such as individuals living in zones that are prone to catastrophic winds, may find that they need a separate policy for adequate windstorm coverage. Often, this coverage will also pay for the damages associated with hail.

Generally, if you live in an area that is susceptible to high-wind storms and your home insurance policy does not automatically cover the damages they could cause, you will want to add this protection. Remember that if a flood occurs as a result of the storm, the windstorm coverage will generally not cover the damages. Instead, you’d need to look to your flood insurance policy.

Windstorm coverage added as a rider to your home insurance policy will generally have a separate deductible from the rest of the hazards covered by the policy (for areas prone to hurricanes, this may be referred to as a hurricane deducible). This amount is generally represented as a percentage of the policy’s overall limit. In order to determine which deductible applies to an individual event, your insurer might rely on the National Weather Service’s classification of the recent storm that caused the damage to your property.