Protecting Your Largest Asset With Homeowners Insurance
Homes aren't cheap guys…we're literally talking about something that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, so you want to make sure that you're protecting this large asset of yours, and that’s what homeowners insurance is for! I'm no expert when it comes to this type of stuff, which is why I reached out to Jeff Bisker who is the agency owner of Goosehead Insurance located in Bel Air, MD to share with you everything that you will need to know about homeowners insurance. So with that being said, here are Jeff’s answers to some of the most commonly asked questions that people have about homeowners insurance.
1. What is homeowners insurance?
Homeowners insurance is designed to help people protect one of their biggest assets (their home) from a destructive event. This includes their home, belongings, and themselves from legal responsibilities for any property damage and injuries to others.
2. Are people required to get homeowners insurance?
You are not required by law to have homeowners insurance, however, your mortgage lender does make it a condition that must be met.
3. Why should people get homeowners insurance?
Homeowners insurance provides peace of mind to a customer. It’s an uneven exchange, meaning you pay a small amount every month, and then your home that’s worth hundreds of thousands of dollars get completely destroyed; well, since you have homeowner insurance, your carrier will rebuild your home. Also, purchasing a home is a life accomplishment, you work so hard to get to this point in your life and make this investment, why not protect one of the biggest assets you have (your home). Personal Liability and Umbrella policies provide “lawsuit protection coverage” to help protect that asset and even future wages.
4. What does homeowners insurance cover?
The HO3 policy is the standard homeowners policy, there is also the HO6 which is for condos, and the HO4 which is for renters. HO3 policies are “open peril” meaning everything is covered unless it’s excluded. Examples of things that are excluded on most HO3 policies: war, nuclear disaster, flood, earthquake, wear and tear, rust, mold, intentional actions, etc.
5. How much does homeowners insurance cost on average?
On average condo policies range from $300-$600+ a year and other types of homes are $800-$1800+ depending on the risk and if there is a bundle discount applied.
6. What factors determine the cost of a person’s homeowners insurance policy?
Location, age of home, square footage, insurance score (past claims/driving record, etc), coverage limits. Also, risks that the home poses are factored in such as pools, trampolines, dog breed, plumbing, wiring, flood zone, ect.
7. What questions should people ask when shopping for homeowners insurance?
RCV vs ACV policies, what optional coverages are out there, (service line, sewer and water backup, earthquake, flood) How much yearly vs monthly, bundle discount, what is my deductible, Carrier rating “AM-Best” level of financial stability, how was the rebuild cost calculated, if in a condo what is my loss assessment level.
8. What sets your homeowners insurance policies from the policies of other insurance agencies?
We are on the customer’s side vs the carrier's side. I have 13 years of claims experience so I know the real-world implementation of the product, Goosehead has a 93%+ NPS service rating which is double that of the industry average. We leverage technology, text, email, “request a call” features. Lastly, Goosehead provides the customer with simplicity; we can shop more carriers in an hour than most people do all their life.
9. Do you have any stories where a person that you helped get homeowners insurance would have been in deep trouble if they didn’t have homeowners insurance?
We haven’t had a substantial loss, however, I’ve seen so many losses in my past home completely destroyed due to a fire, hail damages to soft metals on a home, basement backups, toilet overflow, etc
10. How can people reach out to you if they’re looking to get homeowners insurance?
Here is my contact information as well as my website. I’m looking forward to helping you all out in any way that I can!
Phone Number: 443-836-5609
Email: Jeff.Bisker@Goodsehead.com
Website: https://agents.goosehead.com/md/bel-air/336-s-main-st
Anything Can Happen…
As cliche as it is to say this, we all don’t think that we need something until we actually need it. If you’re on the fence about getting homeowners insurance, then ask yourself this…do you have hundreds of thousands of dollars to rebuild your home in the event it was to be destroyed by who knows what? I’m willing to bet that the majority of you said no, which is why I urge you to consider getting homeowners insurance to protect your largest asset, and to also consider using Jeff Bisker to provide you with an exceptional homeowners insurance policy.
Here’s the video version of this blog for all of my visual learners! <3
