Home Insurance
Your home is usually the largest financial asset you own. Home insurance is what stands between you and a four-to-six figure check the day something goes wrong, and it's also the policy where the cheapest premium is almost never the right answer.
What it is.
Home insurance, technically called an HO-3 in most cases, is a package policy that covers four things at once. The structure of your house. Your stuff inside it. Liability if someone gets hurt on your property. And living expenses if you have to move out while the place is being repaired.
Most clients we write are surprised by two things. First, how affordable the right limits actually are once we shop carriers. Second, how much wiggle room there is on the deductible, the dwelling limit, and the personal property cap. Those three numbers are where the real conversation happens.
Below is what each layer of a typical home policy actually covers, why dwelling limits drift out of date, and the riders most people skip and later regret.
Anyone who owns a single family home, condo, multi-family, or seasonal property. Renters need a separate (and much cheaper) renters policy.
What it covers.
Each policy is a stack of named coverages. Required parts are mandated by state law. Recommended parts are what we put on most policies. Optional parts depend on your situation.
Dwelling (Coverage A)
Pays to rebuild the structure if it's damaged or destroyed by a covered peril. The limit should match the cost to REBUILD with today's materials and labor, not what you paid for the house and not the market value. Construction costs are up 25% to 40% since 2020. Limits set in 2019 are usually badly underinsured today.
Other Structures (Coverage B)
Detached structures on the property: garage, shed, fence, gazebo, in-ground pool. Usually 10% of your dwelling limit by default. If you have a $40,000 detached garage, make sure that 10% number actually covers it.
Personal Property (Coverage C)
Your stuff inside the house. Furniture, electronics, clothes, kitchenware. Default is usually 50% to 75% of dwelling. Anything special (jewelry, fine art, firearms, collectibles) usually has a sub-limit and should be scheduled separately if it matters.
Loss of Use (Coverage D)
Hotel, restaurant meals, and a rental house while yours is being repaired after a covered loss. Usually 20% to 30% of dwelling. After a kitchen fire that math gets used up faster than people expect.
Personal Liability (Coverage E)
If someone is injured on your property or you accidentally damage someone else's property, this pays legal defense and any judgment. Most policies start at $100,000. We typically push clients to $300,000 or $500,000 because the price difference is small.
Medical Payments (Coverage F)
Pays for minor medical expenses for someone hurt on your property regardless of fault. Usually $1,000 to $5,000. Settles small incidents before they become liability claims.
Water Backup
Sewer or sump-pump backups are NOT covered by standard home policies. This endorsement adds it back. Usually $20 to $80 a year for $5,000 to $25,000 of coverage. We add it on every policy we write because backup damage runs into five figures fast.
Service Line Coverage
Underground pipes, wires, and lines running from the street to your house. If your sewer line collapses, that's $8,000 to $15,000 to dig up and replace. Endorsement is usually $20 to $50 a year.
Equipment Breakdown
HVAC, well pumps, water heaters, central air, smart home equipment. If a power surge fries your AC compressor, this covers replacement minus deductible. About $30 to $60 a year and pays for itself in one summer.
Scheduled Personal Property
Higher limits for jewelry, fine art, firearms, watches, musical instruments, and collectibles. These items have low default sub-limits inside Coverage C. Scheduling them costs a small percentage of the appraised value annually and removes the deductible on those items.
When it kicks in.
Real situations we see in the agency. The point is to show how each layer of coverage maps to actual life, not to scare you.
Pipe burst behind a wall in February
Frozen pipe ruptures on a 14-degree night, soaks the wall, ceiling, and laminate floor. Dwelling pays the structural repair. Personal Property pays for any furniture or rug that's ruined. Loss of Use pays for the hotel while the wall dries out and the floor is replaced.
Tree falls on the roof during a Nor'easter
A 60-foot oak comes down in a coastal storm, punching through the roof. Dwelling pays the rebuild. Personal Property pays for any contents that get water-damaged before the roof is tarped.
Sewer backup floods the basement
After a heavy storm the municipal sewer line backs up into your basement. This is NOT covered under standard dwelling. The Water Backup endorsement (which we add on every policy) pays for the cleanup, the ruined drywall, and the boiler that took on water.
Guest slips on the front steps
A delivery driver slips on icy steps and breaks a wrist. Personal Liability pays the medical bills and any settlement. This is exactly why we recommend $300,000 minimum on liability.
Stolen engagement ring
A $10,000 ring goes missing during a move. The default Coverage C sub-limit on jewelry is usually $1,500. If the ring wasn't scheduled separately, you collect $1,500 minus deductible. If it was scheduled, you collect the full appraised value with no deductible.
Key terms.
Plain-English definitions. The vocabulary insurance carriers assume you already know.
- 01Replacement Cost vs Actual Cash Value
- Replacement cost pays what it takes to rebuild today. ACV pays depreciated value (a 10-year-old roof is worth less than a new roof). For a $400,000 home the difference at total loss can be $100,000 or more. Always insure on replacement cost where the carrier offers it.
- 02Dwelling Limit
- The maximum the policy will pay to rebuild your house. NOT your purchase price, NOT market value, NOT a Zillow estimate. It's a construction-cost number tied to square footage, finish quality, and local labor rates. We rerun this number annually because materials inflate.
- 03Deductible
- What you pay before insurance pays. Most clients run $1,000 to $2,500. Higher deductibles save real money on premium but only make sense if you can absorb that hit on a rainy week.
- 04Wind / Hurricane Deductible
- A separate, often percentage-based deductible (1% to 5% of dwelling) that applies only to named-storm or hurricane damage. In coastal CT and along the shore this matters. Make sure you understand what it actually means in dollars before you accept the policy.
- 05Inflation Guard
- An automatic annual bump on your dwelling limit so it keeps pace with construction costs. Most carriers include this by default but worth confirming on every renewal.
- 06Loss Settlement
- How the carrier calculates payment on a claim. Replacement Cost vs ACV is the most common variable. Roof claims often have a separate ACV clause hidden in the fine print, especially on older roofs.
Common questions.
Questions clients ask before they get on the phone with AJ. If yours isn’t here, just call.
It's based on square footage, construction quality, and local rebuild costs, NOT your purchase price. A $600,000 market-value house might only cost $450,000 to rebuild, or it might cost $700,000. We use carrier rebuild calculators that pull current labor and materials. We rerun the number every year or two because costs drift.
Get a quote that takes minutes,
not days.
Tell us a bit about what you need to insure. We’ll come back with a real recommendation. No junk mail. No auto-dialer. No commitment.