Homeowners Insurance Company Ratings - An Important Factor When Shopping for Coverage

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If you're entering the real estate market and looking to buy a home you are also going to have to look into buying homeowners insurance. If you're borrowing money to pay for a new home there is a very strong chance that your lender requires that you insure your home or they will not lend you the money. Whether you are a new home buyer looking to obtain coverage for the first time or you are a longtime homeowner looking to get a better deal on your coverage you may want to look into some homeowners insurance company ratings to help you make your decision.

Whenever you do any comparison shopping price is obviously a factor. Everyone wants to get the most value for the money they spend but in addition to price there are some other factors to keep in mind. It's a good idea to go with a company that is financially strong. If your insurance company doesn't have enough money to cover your claims this could lead to some serious headaches at some point in the future.

In addition to the financial stability of the company you choose to go with you may want to look into some other things such as consumer reviews and the company's customer service record. There are a number of places that you can go to find homeowners insurance company ratings so that you can make an informed decision.

Some of these places include:

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners - The NAIC has a website at www.naic.org where you can select your state and be redirected to your state's Department of Insurance website. Your state's website will have a lot of information about any insurance providers operating in your state. The information will include things like a list of licensed agents and any complaints that may have been filed against the company.

A. M. Best Company - This company reviews many insurance providers and evaluates them on a number of different factors including the strength of the company and whether it's under regulatory supervision.

J. D. Power & Associates - J. D. Power conducts consumer surveys and rates companies based on prices, policy options, the way they handle claims, and customer service.
There's a lot to think about when you're shopping for homeowners insurance.

After you've determined the type of coverage and the amount of coverage that you need its a good idea to evaluate any companies you might consider going with by finding homeowners insurance company ratings to help you make the most informed decision possible. And of course when shopping for anything price is always a factor. The good news is that you can get multiple online insurance quotes in just a matter of minutes and this makes finding the best price one of the easiest parts of the entire process.

Answers to commonly asked questions about homeowners insurance

How much homeowners insurance do I need?

To answer this question you simply need to figure out how much it would cost to rebuild your home if it were completely destroyed. You do not need to have enough insurance to match the fair market value of your house because a large percentage of that value is attributed to the land that your house is built on. If your house were to burn to the ground you would need enough money to rebuild your house, you would not need to purchase the land again.

You would also want to take into consideration how much liability coverage you might need in case someone were to injure themselves on your property and you also have to decide on how much coverage you want for any personal property and possessions you have in your home.

Once you've decided on the amount of liability coverage you want, the amount of coverage you want for personal property, and figured out how much will it cost to rebuild your home, you'll know exactly how much homeowners insurance you need.

How much does homeowners insurance cost?

A lot of first-time homebuyers will eventually find themselves asking the question, how much is homeowners insurance anyway? The cost of your premium payments will vary from state to state. In addition to where you live there are a number of other factors that determine how much your premium payments will be.

A homeowners insurance company is in business to make money, so they will try to determine how much of a risk you are and adjust your premiums accordingly. Anything you can do to lower your perceived risk can also help to lower your premium payments. For example, having a security alarm reduces the risk of having a break in. Because of this your homeowners insurance company has less risk of paying a claim to replace personal property or repair damaged caused during the break in and therefore you could be entitled to a discount on your premium payments.

There are many other possible discounts that you may be eligible for and you would need to talk to your insurance agent to find out about any possible discounts.

What does homeowners insurance cover?

This is another question that anyone looking to buy homeowners insurance would want to know the answer to. A standard homeowners insurance policy will cover your house against a number of different perils such as fire, lightning, storms, burglary, vandalism, and more. Certain things however are not covered. Things like earthquakes and floods are not covered by a standard homeowners insurance policy and would require additional insurance to be covered against those types of events.

I don't want to pay too much, how do I know if I'm getting the best deal?

Everyone wants to save money and nobody wants to feel like they're being ripped off. To make sure you're getting the best deal, you need to do a home insurance comparison. Do some comparison shopping and see what different companies will charge you for your coverage. There are many websites that allow you to get free online homeowners insurance quotes so that you can compare coverage and prices quickly and easily. This is by far the fastest and easiest way to make sure you're getting the best price.