Home(owners) Insurance?

[sinderstorm]

I searched and didn't see a thread on this. DH and I just had our first home offer accepted. I now have 2 weeks to produce a homeowners insurance policy and have no idea where to begin. We haven't had renters insurance (I know, I know) and our car insurance co doesn't do homeowners insurance.

Where did you find the best info? What coverage do I need? (In CO, so no hurricanes and right next to the mountains so tornados aren't really an issue either.) Recommendations? Horror stories? Lay it all on me!

[MrsSmith]

Congrats!! We simply called around and gave them details on the house and they quoted us the amounts. We went with the best coverage for the best price. Keep in mind if you have furs, expensive jewels, or other items like that, you'll want to get separate coverage for them on your policy.

[mayiko]

Just start asking around for recommendations from friends and family. Also every state insurance commisioner has a website. You can check out complaints filed with the state etc. Also flood and earthquakes are excluded from the basic policy so if you need coverage you would need a separate policy for flood and an added endorsement for earthquake. A policy covers you for the rebuild of the structure not the market price for the house. So if the dwelling coverage is lower that what you're paying for the house don't panic.

[MrsDroege]

Do either of your employers offer discounts with certain insurers? When I found out that mine did I quoted it out and it was close to 50% cheaper that the same coverage at other insurers just because of who I was working for.

[riotgrrl]

have you ever heard of them basing home owners insurance on your credit rate? this is what my car insurance company said (they also do other types of insurances).. we need to pick a company for homeowners insurance but wasn't sure who to go with.

also does 500-600 a year sound right for a house in the 170,000 range?

[ADSigMel]

I'm in the same boat, although I haven't gotten around to looking yet, since we found a house sooner than we expected and haven't even settled on a lender yet. :eek: I plan to ask for recommendations from our realtor, friends, and family. We'll probably end up going with whoever insures my parents.

riotgrrl - 500-600 a year does sound about right for a house in that price range. That's about what my realtor told us to expect.

[mindy75]

riotgrrl: that's the range of what we pay for a similarly priced house, so I'd say that's about right.

To the OP, I'd say call around, get recs from your friends and relatives. We went with a local company that my parents have been with longer than I've been alive, but we called around first. It's nice to have an agent that knows you. The prices/coverage are pretty great too! Also check with whoever has your car insurance. If they do both cars and homes then you may get a discounted rate for having both with the same company.

[riotgrrl]

thanks. when i first started going into this i thought home owners insurance was going to be like 250 a month. glad to hear it won't be that bad!

[sinderstorm]

Through USAA, with our flood rider, we're looking at $47 a month, which isn't as bad as I had anticipated.