You may be wondering how your homeowners insurance can protect your home from Virginia's more severe weather. Every home insurance policy is different. It's important to regularly review your home insurance policy to meet your changing life needs. While you decide your policy's limits (the total amount your insurance company pays on a claim) and deductibles (the portion you pay on a claim), a standard homeowners policy offers valuable coverage and protects you and your family from unpredictable, severe weather and a whole lot more.
What Does Homeowners Insurance Cover?
Dwelling coverage
This coverage protects the structure of your home and pays for the costs to rebuild or repair it after a covered peril. The dwelling coverage limit is typically equal to your home's estimated value. This damage might be caused by theft, vandalism, or weather events like lightning, wind, or hail. Additional damage could also occur from incidents such as a tree falling.
Common perils, or events, that home insurance cover
- fire and smoke
- lightning
- windstorms
- hail
- theft
- explosions
- vandalism
- weight on sleet, ice, and snow
- falling objects
- power surges
- riots
- damage from cars and planes
- freezing of household systems
Find out how much home insurance you need by talking to your local insurance advisor.
Personal Property Coverage
The policy can replace or repair items like appliances, furniture, clothing, and other personal belongings if they are damaged or stolen due to a covered event. You can also choose between replacement cost coverage, which replaces your items for new ones, or actual cash value coverage, which offers money during a claim for the depreciated value of your items.
Other Structures
It can also extend to outbuildings on your property, such as a garage, barn, or shed, as well as outdoor features like grills, fireplaces, swing sets, walls, or fences. While a swimming pool or other recreational equipment might be included, these higher-risk items could necessitate additional liability coverage or might be excluded from your policy.
Liability and Medical Expense Coverage
Standard home insurance includes liability coverage, which can cover medical expenses and legal fees if someone who doesn't live in your home gets injured on your property. It can even cover funeral expenses of someone who is injured on your property.
Additional Living Expenses (Loss of Use)
Standard home insurance may also cover living expenses if you need temporary accommodation while your home is being repaired, such as pay for hotel stays, restaurant meals or other expenses. Hotel fees and other living expenses can quickly add up to thousands of dollars.
Check out our Superior Homeowners Endorsement
- Credit card, fund transfer card, forgery, and counterfeit money (increased limit up to $2500)
- Earthquake damage, sinkhole collapse, special debris removal coverage, loss caused by water that backs up through sewers or drains (personal property sub-limit of $25,000 applies)
- Refrigerated property damage
- Personal injury
- An additional $1000 in medical payments to others
- Ordinance or law: coverage for the increased costs known or estimated by the insured for materials and labor to repair or replace the damaged property, demolish the undamaged portion of damaged property, and clear the site of resulting debris according to the ordinance or law.
- Most of our add-on coverages
Understanding replacement cost coverage
Standard home insurance generally provides coverage for the cost required to repair your home, subtracting the depreciation in value due to age or wear. This is referred to as actual cash value (ACV). This might mean you would have to cover the additional expense to restore your home to its original condition, which is more expensive today.
Replacement cost coverage can bridge this gap. This type of coverage can pay the current market price for building materials to repair your home. It can also replace your possessions at today's cost for similar items. It's crucial to discuss replacement cost options with your insurance agent when selecting your policy.
Learn more about homeowners insurance in Virginia >
THE NORTHERN NECK INSURANCE INTEGRITY PROMISE — We pledge to provide straight talk and good counsel from our NNINS Virginia insurance experts through our blog. While we hope you find this to be a helpful source of information, it does not replace the guidance of a licensed insurance professional, nor does it modify the terms of your Northern Neck Insurance policy in any way. All insurance products are governed by the terms in the applicable insurance policy.
