Protect Your Home Value: Why Home Insurance is a Must-Have 

You likely already have home insurance protection. You certainly do if you have a mortgage, because most lenders require it. They don’t want to take the risk of their investment literally going up in flames — and neither do you. 

If your home’s paid off, you have options. You might consider saving a few bucks a month by dropping your home insurance, but that’s no way to protect home value. Before taking the ultra-risky step of saving money the wrong way, look into why home insurance is important even when there’s no mortgage holder to demand it. 

Why Home Insurance Is Essential in Protecting Your Home’s Value 

Comprehensive home insurance provides invaluable property protection in a number of ways, including, keeping your nest financially protected. Here’s how it breaks down. 

Home Insurance Shields Your Home from Financial Loss 

Fire, smoke, internal flooding, vandalism, cataclysmic weather…you don’t even want to think of the almost endless list of damaging events that can set you back thousands of dollars without adequate (or any) home insurance coverage. 

How much damage could you sustain to your residence and pay for it out of pocket? Maybe you could live with the destruction for several months until you can save what you need. But at other times, the repairs must be made immediately. Imagine, for instance, a tornado bringing a tree through your roof. That repair won’t wait. 

What would you do if you couldn’t file a claim on your homeowners insurance policy and expect a check to be cut almost immediately? 

What Does Home Insurance Cover? 

Its purposes include safeguarding home value, asset protection, and keeping your family financially protected. That’s done through your homeowners insurance policy in various ways. Here’s just some of what home insurance covers. 

Protection of Your Home’s Structure 

Consider once again that unsettling tree-through-the-roof scenario, because it illustrates the most basic protection, and the home insurance benefit you might think of first. Your roof, walls, floors, plumbing, electrical, and HVAC systems are all critically necessary to your comfort. They are also complex and costly to fix or replace. 

When the damage is sudden and caused by a calamity rather than normal wear and tear, you call your insurance company. That phone call could save you thousands of dollars that would otherwise have to come out of your own finances, if that were even possible. Could you write a check to cover major fire damage or the internal flooding caused by a burst water pipe? Most people can’t. 

What happens to your home value — most likely by far your largest investment — if you can’t immediately deal with such calamities? Don’t worry, though. Your financial protection is only a call away when you’re covered. 

Safeguarding Your Belongings 

Property protection isn’t just limited to the structure — the walls, roof, etc. Your homeowners insurance benefits you by also covering everything in your living space — valuables and incidentals alike. That means your furniture and furnishings, jewelry, artwork, expensive electronics, clothing, toys, accessories, and everything else that could be lost, damaged, or ruined by a covered event. 

And that doesn’t just mean financial protection for the items within your four walls and under that one roof. You’re also covered for personal goods stolen from your car, garage, other outbuildings – even your hotel room and rental car. To some extent, you can even make a claim for belongings stolen off-premises, or taken or damaged at a storage facility. 

Protecting Against Legal Claims 

A limb falls from a tree on your property and hits a pedestrian on the sidewalk below. Or your son and his friends play backyard baseball too well. A well-hit ball crashes through a neighbor’s window and smashes an antique vase. 

In either scenario — and countless others — it will get expensive. In one case, you can be sued for personal injury. In the other, the lawyers will come after you for property damages with a figure that might have more zeroes than your bank account can handle. That’s why your standard homeowners insurance policy includes liability benefits. 

Your liability coverage can help pay for lawyers, plaintiff damages, and court costs — all of which are big-ticket items you wouldn’t want to pay fully on your own. 

Providing a Desperately Needed Home Away from Home 

Your furniture, electronic devices, and wardrobe can all be replaced pretty quickly after a fire or other highly destructive event. But how about the house itself? It could take weeks, months, or longer for your heavily damaged and uninhabitable spaces to be restored so you can live there again. What will you and your loved ones do in the meantime? Camp out on the couch and floor of a friend or other family member? How long can you do that? 

If you have home insurance, you don’t have to worry about it. Your insurer will cover the cost of temporary housing when you need it most. Real housing, including a kitchen and all the living space and privacy you and your family need. 

How Home Insurance Helps You Recover After a Loss 

With money. Fast. That’s just the short answer, but read on for a breakdown of how and why that occurs. 

What Happens After You File a Claim for Damage or Theft? 

You’re at your lowest point when you must file a claim on your property. You might have suffered a burglary or case of vandalism, which will be emotionally damaging in addition to the property loss or damage. Maybe it was a fire, and you’re devastated. You can’t even calculate what you’ve lost yet. Or water or smoke damage, a catastrophic windstorm, or something equally damaging to your property, possessions, and psyche. 

Your insurance adjustor can guess your mood: stressed, fearful, angry, confused, and perhaps even grief-stricken. However, it breaks down in your case, your insurer knows the urgency of processing the claim and getting you the payment you so desperately need.  

So if it’s a reputable and dependable insurer, they’re going into action quickly. They’ll offer their sympathies, and then ask you for relevant details. They’ll read the police report if there is one and get immediately to work on your claim. 

Here’s What You Should Do 

First, take a deep breath. Try to stay as calm as possible. Take photos of the damaged or vandalized area of your home. Call the police if you even suspect that it might be a matter involving law enforcement. At worst, they’ll tell you to call your insurance company rather than them. 

Which should be your very next step anyway. Have your insurer’s toll-free phone number in your cell phone contacts or otherwise handy. Place the call and let your insurer take it from there. Be sure to tell them that you have photos and a police report, and send them all of the verification that’s required. 

A previously-secured inventory of your major possessions stored off-site (in the cloud) records will help you determine what’s lost or damaged. If you photograph those more pricey objects, it will help you and your insurer understand the make, model, approximate age, and value of those goods. 

Your competent and dependable insurer will handle your claim as quickly and comprehensively as possible. 

The Importance of Rebuilding Your Home’s Value Quickly and Efficiently 

Remember those negative emotions that were likely stirred up after major loss or damage to your home? You may have been feeling any combination of stress, fear, anger, confusion, or sadness.  

But even beyond your emotional reaction, you need to consider the hit to your home’s value. How much of it has been lost as a result of the damage or destruction? Your neighbors and local authorities will be anxious to see action taken immediately to remediate whatever is detracting from your home’s aesthetic appeal and functionality. 

If the furnace is no longer working, your pipes might freeze in the winter, resulting in even more damage. A compromised electrical system could start a house fire. A roof with a jagged hole will result in weather destruction to your premises and an invasion of vermin. Broken windows must be fixed, and gutters replaced. 

In other words, your home is at its low point after a major cataclysmic event. Quick action on the part of your insurance company will give you the resources to restore your losses and boost the value of your home by many thousands of dollars. 

In fact, your place might look better — and be worth even more — than ever before once your claim is settled. But only if your insurance company is on top of the action. 

Start Protecting Your Home’s Value Today with a Free Quote from Acceptance Insurance

Accidents happen. When they do, you can get left without living spaces or with a home that’s worth less than what you paid for it. At Acceptance, we offer affordable home insurance that will protect your home value and restore your property after any covered incident. 

Sit down with your independent Acceptance home insurance agent and find out just how much you can save on coverage. As independent brokers, our agents have established working relationships with multiple quality insurance brands. That means they can go shopping on your behalf for the most affordable home insurance with the benefits you and your family need. 

Your Acceptance agent can also show you how you can save more by taking advantage of multiple insurance discounts. Perhaps you’ll consider bundling your auto and homeowners insurance coverage for reduced rates. 

It all starts with contact. Simply call us at (877) 405-7102 or get a quick cost quote online. You can also find an Acceptance Insurance office near you. 

FAQs About Home Insurance

Does Home Insurance Cover Depreciation of My Home’s Value?

Home insurance does not cover depreciation of your home’s market value. It covers sudden damage from covered perils, and whether depreciation factors into a claim depends on whether you have RCV or ACV coverage.

How Do I Know How Much Home Insurance Coverage I Need to Protect My Home’s Value?

You need enough coverage to completely rebuild your home, not just cover its current market value. Dwelling coverage should be set at the replacement cost, with optional add-ons for extra protection against inflation or unexpected cost increases.