Understanding the Types of Homeowner Insurance Policies for Your Dwelling | Department of Insurance, SC (2024)

FAQs

What are the 3 types of coverage available in dwelling policies? ›

Coverage A — Dwelling. Coverage B — Other Structures. Coverage C — Personal Property.

Dwelling coverage is an important part of your homeowners or condo insurance policy. It covers your home's structure, installed fixtures, and permanently attached appliances. It helps you protect your residence structure and certain items attached to it.

HO-1: Basic form insurance only offers dwelling protection. HO-2: Broad form insurance extends beyond basic forms coverage to include personal belongings and additional perils. HO-3: The most common type of homeowners insurance, special form insurance includes dwelling, belonging, and liability coverage.

A: Think of home insurance as a package of protection. Dwelling coverage is simply one part of that package. It covers the home itself —not the contents or land. Just the structure.

What are the different types of dwelling policies? Like homeowners insurance policies, dwelling policies come in different tiers of coverage. These include DP-1 (basic), DP-2 (broad) and DP-3 (special), with DP-3 providing the most coverage.

Note: Dwelling coverage on standard policies typically won't protect against damage caused by floods, earthquakes, sewer backups, or lack of maintenance. Learn how flood insurance works and what to do if your home is damaged in an earthquake.

Personal property coverage, which is Coverage C within home insurance policies, helps to pay for your personal items that have been damaged, destroyed or stolen due to a covered peril. It's standard protection within many home insurance policies and is pivotal to cover those personal items that mean the most to you.

Another reason your dwelling coverage might be higher than the sale price is if the home is in an undesirable area, which lowered the market value. Certain homes that are older may also yield higher dwelling coverage.

Coverage F, or “Medical Payments to Others” coverage is the component of your homeowners insurance policy which will help pay towards injuries sustained by someone who is not the insured, or a regular resident of the property.

What's the difference between HO3 and HO6? The main difference between an HO3 policy for a single-family home and an HO6 condo insurance policy is that while an HO3 covers the physical structure of your home itself, an HO6 policy only covers what's inside the walls of your condo.

What types of insurance are not recommended? ›

An HO-3 insures the contents of your house only for specific problems named in the policy, such as fire and wind. An HO-5 policy insures your belongings against all causes of damage that aren't excluded. Another key difference: HO-5 policies automatically include replacement cost coverage—HO-3 policies might not.

Although a lot of people think of their dwelling as just the physical structure that they live in, dwelling coverage may help protect more than that. Dwelling insurance typically helps cover the home you live in plus attached structures.

The basic form covers only damage from fire, lightning, and internal explosion, but additional perils can be covered by endorsem*nt. The broad form covers direct damage to dwellings and personal property on a broad named perils basis.

Most homeowners insurance policies come with replacement cost coverage for the structure of your home. Dwelling coverage typically helps pay to repair or rebuild your home using materials of a similar quality, says the III. It generally does not take into account depreciation of your home due to factors such as age.

Insurance helps protect you from expensive lawsuits, injuries and damages, death, and even total losses of your car or home. Sometimes, your state or lender may require you to carry insurance. Although there are many insurance policy types, some of the most common are life, health, homeowners, and auto.

Homeowners insurance policies generally cover destruction and damage to a residence's interior and exterior, the loss or theft of possessions, and personal liability for harm to others. Three basic levels of coverage exist: actual cash value, replacement cost, and extended replacement cost/value.

Home insurance usually covers the structure of your home and your personal belongings, typically covering the cost to repair or rebuild your home after a covered event, such as fire, hurricane, vandalism, or theft. Many policies will also cover detached structures, such as a garage, shed, fence, or gazebo.

Coverage Summary

Liability Coverage is for accidents that are your fault. Bodily injury liability pays for bodily injury you cause someone else. Property damage liability pays for property damage you cause someone else. California law requires you to have this coverage.