HOME INSURANCE

Your home is one of your largest assets. Do you want access to the state's premier insurance providers to craft the exact coverage you want (and need)? We've got you covered.

Home insurance

Home insurance, also commonly called homeowner's insurance, is a type of property insurance that covers a private residence. It is an insurance policy that combines various personal insurance protections, which can include losses occurring to one's home, its contents, loss of use, or loss of other personal possessions of the homeowner, as well as liability insurance for accidents that may happen at the home or at the hands of the homeowner within the policy territory.

If you have a septic tank on your property, check with your insurance agent to make sure septic tank runoff protection is part of your homeowner's policy. If it is not, see if they have an additional add-on policy to your homeowner's to cover this. If they do not, there are septic tank companies that can provide this coverage as a home warranty program that includes pumping out and maintaining the septic tank annually to prevent runoffs and cover the damage and repairs if it does.

Separate flood insurance is available to cover water damage to your dwelling and property in case of a flood by the lake or excessive rainfall. On some lake properties, this is a requirement for homes in low lying flood zone areas. Your home may be in a flood zone area. Ask your insurance agent or check with the county land and tax assessor at the courthouse or town hall to see if your home is in these types of areas.

Consider an Umbrella Policy to protect your personal liabilities. Homeowners are often liable for injuries that occur on their property; homes, autos, boats, docks. It is the responsibility of property owners to maintain safe conditions for people coming on or about their property. But if you cannot, accidents happen, and an umbrella policy coverage will protect your personal liabilities.

Freedom Insurance can help you cover the variety of homes listed below.

Primary Home — To be considered a “Primary” home, the insured must not live elsewhere for three consecutive months during the year. Homeowners’ insurance carriers typically surcharge non-primary homes by approximately 10%.

Homeowners insurance is a form of property insurance that covers losses and damages to an individual's house and assets in the home.
The policy usually covers interior damage, exterior damage, loss or damage of personal assets, and injury that arises while on the property.
Every homeowner's insurance policy has a liability limit, which determines the amount of coverage the insured has should an unfortunate incident occur.

These insurance requirements may also state that your insurance must be primary. What does this mean? A primary policy is the first policy to respond to a loss or claim. An excess policy is the second policy that responds to the same claim or loss and essentially sits “on top” of the primary policy.

Secondary Residences — A second home is a one-unit property owned by an individual, occupied by the borrower for some portion of the year, and not subject to any timesharing ownership arrangement. According to U.S. Legal, a secondary residence is a place where a person lives part-time or less than the majority of the calendar year. A secondary residence can include a vacation home, resort property, second home, or an apartment. An individual can have more than one secondary residence.

Whether your second home is a seaside bungalow or a cabin in the woods, you're going to need homeowners insurance to protect the home and your personal belongings.

Vacation Home — To insure a vacation retreat, a homeowner simply purchases an independent home insurance policy for the seasonal residence. The premium will be priced based on the same factors as any other home - the replacement cost value, the deductible you choose, and other applicable risks - but it will be higher than if the same home were your primary residence.

Insuring vacation homes is more expensive because most of the time they are uninhabited and at a higher risk for claims to be filed.

Lake Home — Your Homeowner's insurance coverage consists of a dwelling, personal property, structures in addition to the primary dwelling such as a dock or boathouse, loss of use of the home caused by named perils such as fires or natural disasters, and liability exposures like property damage and bodily injuries caused by accident. Additional coverage is available for occurrences such as floods, septic runoffs, and umbrella coverages to protect your liabilities above your homeowner's coverage like accidental deaths.

Docks are considered part of the homeowner's property and provide coverage on or around the dock. Check with your insurance agent on this coverage. If it is not included, add it to your policy.

Mobile, Manufactured, or Modular Home — A key to understanding the difference between a mobile home vs. a manufactured home and a modular home lies in their construction. Although they all are built off-site in a facility designed for home-building, modular homes tend to be built with the highest quality materials. Manufactured homes are usually less energy efficient than modular and built of less expensive construction materials. Mobile homes are typically mounted above-grade, where they rest on blocks without a connection to a foundation wall below, like their manufactured and modular counterparts.

Mobile home insurance, or manufactured home insurance, is a special type of homeowner's policy designed to cover a different set of risks compared to traditional site-built homes. Manufactured homes are built in a factory with lighter materials, then transported to a site where they are typically tied down via ground anchors for stability.

Rental Home — You may not live there, but the rental property you own is a big investment. So, just like you protect your own home with the right insurance coverage, you want to do the same for your rental. A Rental Dwelling policy can help pay for property damage, injury, and liability claims made against you, even loss of rental income if your property is damaged by a covered loss.

Rental Dwelling Policy covers accidental, direct physical loss to your rental dwelling and your personal property located there, based upon the coverage provided by your policy.

This policy may help with the following coverages:

Dwelling Coverage: To pay for covered repairs or reconstruction of the dwelling and other structures on the same property.
Personal Property Coverage: To pay for covered losses to your property located at your rental dwelling. This includes furniture and other personal property rented with or used to maintain the property.
Loss of Rents Coverage: To reimburse you for fair rental value lost if your rental dwelling is damaged by an insured loss that causes the property to be uninhabitable.
Liability Coverage: To protect yourself financially against costly liability lawsuits.