5 Common Home Insurance Myths

If you want to know exactly what's up with your home insurance, read your policy and call your agent. There's too much bad information out there that gets passed around and repeated so often that it must be true, but it's not. Here are five of the big ones: image of family in front of home

Renters Will Be Covered Under the Landlord's Policy

Some protections provided by the landlord's insurance policy may extend to the renter, but these are the protections that are there to keep the landlord from getting sued. That is, there is some liability protection should a tenant's losses or injuries be found to be the landlord’s fault, but beyond that, the landlord's policy covers the home itself, not the tenant's possessions.

Filing A Claim Always Results in a Higher Premium

Not always. This is always a risk, but it's not always a guarantee. The risk is in filing multiple claims a year or filing claims where you're only saving a marginal amount of money by not paying out of pocket.

Mold Is Covered, Right?

A few major exclusions for most home insurance policies, which many homeowners may not be aware of, include mold, pests and flooding. Flooding is best handled through flood insurance, while mold and pests tend to only do serious damage after a long period of homeowner negligence.

Home Insurance Will Cover the Owner's Medical Expenses

Home insurance will cover the medical expenses of a guest who is injured on your property. It won't cover your medical expenses. Home insurance protects your home and your finances. Medical insurance covers your healthcare needs.

Any and All Valuables Will Be Covered

This is only true if you have an inventory covering every single item, and you have purchased additional insurance for high-value items that exceed the limits of a standard policy.

Read your policy, and if you have any questions, call your agent. A lot of the common wisdom we hear regarding home insurance simply isn't true, and even if it is, it might not be true of your policy. You won't know until you read it over.