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Ohio Home Insurance Coverage Homeowners insurance coverage can vary significantly among insurance companies.   It’s critical to understand the different coverages available to protect your most valuable asset.  Two of the most important  items to keep in mind when considering Ohio home insurance coverage  are:  1) how is my property going to be valued should you have a loss, and 2) will what happens to my home be covered? 

Most policies Ohioans buy for their homes include replacement of the house.  Known as “replacement cost”, it will pay to rebuild your home without deducting for depreciation.   You can also opt to have replacement cost coverage on your personal property or contents.  It will pay “new for old” so if your 12 year old furniture is destroyed, the insurance company will buy you new furniture.  Although this is more expensive than insuring property to its ‘actual cash value’, make sure you know which valuation you are being quoted when comparing insurance companies.  

Another homeowner coverage feature to be aware of is whether you are being quoted “named perils” or “special” perils, also known as “all risk”.  Perils are the things that can happen to damage your home or personal property, such as fire, wind, hail, theft, broken pipes, etc.  Special perils include anything that can happen to cause a claim, except those that are specifically excluded in the policy.  With named perils, the perils are listed in the policy that trigger a covered claim.  If it is not listed, then coverage does not apply.  Named perils include fire, windstorm, hail and theft, among others.  Many large insurers will quote special perils on your home and named perils on your personal property.  This is less expensive for you, because there could be a claim to your contents that isn’t covered.