When it comes to keeping your home safe, you need homeowner's insurance. Many people carry homeowner's insurance without realizing completely what it covers. Here are a few things you need to understand about homeowner's insurance if you own a home.

Homeowner's Insurance Covers Your Property & Possessions

Your homeowner's insurance is designed to provide you with a wide range of coverage. It is designed to cover the physical structure of your home. Your insurance is also designed to protect the items inside of your home if they are damaged. Your homeowner's insurance is also designed to provide protection to personal items that you take off your property, such as your computer.

Homeowner's insurance is designed to protect your home and the items inside of it. However, if you have any really high value items, such as expensive jewelry or paintings, you may want to contact your insurance company and see if you need a special rider for those items. High-value items often need extra coverage if you want to be fully compensated for them in the event of a loss.

Homeowner's Insurance Doesn't Cover All Events

Next, it is important to understand that homeowner's insurance is designed to help you replace your home and belongings under certain events. The most commonly covered events include things such as theft and vandalism, fire, or a wind storm.

There are lots of "events" that cause damage that may not be covered. For example, if you live in a flood plain, you will need special flood insurance to cover the damage from a flood. Or if you live somewhere that gets frequent hurricanes, you may need special hurricane coverage. Make sure that your home is covered for the types of natural disasters that could potentially happen in the area where you live. It is almost always worth it to purchase extra insurance coverage for common disasters that strike your area.

Homeowner's Insurance Premiums Can Be Lowered

Finally, it is important to realize that you have some level of control over what your homeowner's insurance premium ends up costing you for a six-month coverage period. The level of coverage that you choose for your home as well as the amount of the deductible greatly impact your insurance premium cost.

For example, having a low deductible will increase your premium, whereas having a high deductible will help lower your premium. Having an excessive level of coverage on your home will increase your premium and lowing the coverage can also lower what you pay for insurance.

When you own a home, it is important to understand what homeowner's insurance covers and what it doesn't cover, as well as ways that your choices can impact the cost of your insurance premium.