Maine Home Insurance

Owning a home requires a fair amount of diligence, discipline, and determination. The diligence comes in when one looks for a home, finds it, and then follows up to make sure it is all that it appears to be. This is usually verified by a primary home inspection, and even a second home inspection.

The discipline is found in the savings one must attain for a down payment and the closing costs, as well as good credit. And evidence of determination is seen in the years of hard work that led to buying the home, especially for those who took on a second job to do so.

Once you are in your home, do not let your guard down when it comes to insurance. After all of the hard work you put forth, the last thing you need to do is forfeit the years of diligence, discipline, and determination because of a lack of these qualities on something that appears to be a small detail.

However, insurance is no small detail. It is the coverage you attain to protect yourself in the event that something happens to your most valuable asset. For those with assets more valuable than a personal residence, this applies even more so, because without proper insurance those other assets are at greater risk.

Now that this is covered, it is time to explore the various facets that Maine home owners need to address when buying insurance.

The important areas to cover are researching quotes online and then comparing them to those you can get from an agent, understanding the appropriate level of coverage you need, getting a flood policy (you'll need it even if you are not in a flood zone), and following up over the years to make sure you have are getting the best rates for the level of coverage you need.

Use the FREE comparison tool above to start  your search!

Researching Quotes on the Web

With regards to insurance, the web is most helpful in terms of obtaining quotes. Not only can the quotes be found quickly and easily, but they can be compared to the ones you might get from an agent, allowing you to find out whether or not you really have a person helping you, or helping themselves.

For example, if you go to two insurance agents and one gives you a price that is comparable to the one you found online and the other's is 25% higher, you can verify that he or she is giving you a price on the same data.

If so, then there is something wrong with the calculation, and if the person got that wrong, then what else will be wrong down the road.

For those who prefer a personal agent over a general company's services, the need for a person's expertise and care is very important. When this expertise is lacking, then he or she is not worthy of your business.

Without the right guidance, many people end up not getting the proper level of insurance coverage.

Getting the Right Amount of Coverage

What is the proper amount of insurance coverage on a home? Typically, many think that it is the price that the home was originally purchased for, or perhaps the original loan amount. Lastly, others think it is the appraisal value.

If all of these numbers were not confusing enough, the truth is that none of them are correct. The proper level of insurance coverage is what it would cost to rebuild your home. New construction is rarely in the same neighborhood - price-wise - as something already built.

This is not meant to impart any kind of fear into homeowners, but to implore them to get the proper level of coverage. The only thing that may be worse than not having a proper policy in place would be to not have any. This is true for general insurance policies, and it is especially true for so-called supplemental policies, or, as we call them, policies you need to have, especially for floods.

You Need a Flood Policy

For those who live in coastal towns, or even those with larger lakes or in a mountain valley, your lender may require you to have flood insurance. The reason for this is because your home is more likely to be flooded and they do no want you ending up homeless while they lose out on the satisfaction of their investment, which is your loan.

For those who are made to buy flood insurance, it is merely part of the cost of living on or near the water. However, for those who are not required to purchase this type of coverage, you should not own a home without it. The main reason for this is because of how flooding is defined.

When you or I think of a flood, we consider the ideas of a flash flood, when water comes suddenly into an area. However, when an insurance company comes to see the water damage you may have occurred from an event, the adjuster cannot take this classic, common sense definition of a flood. He or she must adhere to the definition they have been taught.

The key takeaways to this article are as follows:

1. You can obtain quotes online, and should. Then, have these quotes validated by a local agent who may be able to help you get an even better rate.
2. When you get coverage, be sure that it is for the replacement amount, not the amount you purchased the home for or what you borrowed. Also, the tax assessment is not reliable either.
3. You need flood insurance. This cannot be overstated. Insurance adjusters will not be able to label damage that has been caused by what they have to define as flooding in any other way, and, for this, you need to protect your assets and your family.

Use the FREE comparison tool below to start  your search!