When purchasing home insurance, whether through a place like Germain Insurance Agency or a similar agency, you're getting protection for much more than just the house you live in. Home insurance policies offer many coverages, which can provide important protections beyond insuring your home against fire, theft and other similar hazards. When you go to purchase home insurance, make sure you consider these other coverages in addition to your primary dwelling coverage.

Liability Coverage

Liability coverage provides protection for covered accidents that cause property damage or bodily harm and you're held responsible, or liable, for. The specific protections that a policy provides will depend on the terms and conditions of its liability coverage section. A policy may protect you from a lawsuit if any of the following happens:

• you accidentally start a fire that spreads to the neighbor's property
• a guest staying overnight slips in your bathroom and gets hurt

Personal Property Coverage

Personal property coverage insures your personal belongings, such as your furniture, clothes, electronics and books. Virtually all policies include personal property coverage, but personal property is covered can vary. Some policies have exclusions that stop the policy from providing coverage for particular items, and other policies have low limits that limit how much coverage a policy provides.

When looking at a policy's personal property section, check to see if it has exclusions or limitations for

• firearms
• jewelry
• antiques
• Electronics and computers
• collectibles

If a policy has exclusions or limitations for these items, and you own these kinds of possessions, you may need to purchase additional coverage for your belongings. Additional coverage may be available through a different home insurance policy or a rider, which extends coverage for a narrowly defined thing or incident.

Secondary Structure Coverage

Secondary structures are any structures on your property that aren't part of the house you live in. They can include guest cottages, detached garages, storage sheds, fences, boat houses and similar structures.

If your property has any secondary structures, you'll want to make sure they're covered by your home insurance policy. Usually, their coverage falls under the realm of secondary structure coverage, rather than primary dwelling coverage. Secondary structure coverage may have different deductibles and limits, since these structures are usually much less expensive than a primary house. You'll want to find a policy that has deductibles you can afford and limits that are at least equal to the value of your secondary structures.