wis-law.com is your doorway to information pages on legal subjects including Wisconsin Divorce Law, Wisconsin Real Estate Law, Wisconsin Personal Injury Law, Bankruptcy Law, Social Security Law and Landlord/Tenant Law in Wisconsin, as well as issues regarding motor vehicles, bankruptcy and insurance. wis-law.com is also a central access point to other resources available on the web with respect to Wisconsin Law and Government.

HOMEOWNER'S INSURANCE

Insurance on your residence is another absolutely essential insurance for everyone to have. Included in this discussion is not only Homeowner's Insurance but also renter's insurance and farm insurance, as both of these insurances also insure a person's home and provide the same basic coverages included in a homeowners policy.

A homeowner's policy provides coverage for the following:

• contents insurance
• building replacement insurance
• med pay coverage
• and liability insurance.

As a renter's policy is for someone who does not own the dwelling, the building replacement insurance is usually not included in such a policy. All three of the above coverages would be included in a farm policy, and also many additional coverages which only pertain to a farm.

The problem in understanding insurance is that there is always some exception. Homeowner's insurance insures a person against almost all casualties associated with the above coverages, with certain exceptions, primarily things like earthquakes and floods and things which should be insured under other policies, such as liability associated with driving a car.

Contents Insurance. This coverage provides for payment if the contents of the dwelling, and other personal property of the person, is stolen or destroyed. Personal property that is covered under this policy usually means things like appliances, furniture, clothing, cameras, computers and personal effects. Certain items may be treated differently by different insurance companies, such as bicycles, jewelry and boats. Always check the policy over carefully if you have a valuable item which could be lost or stolen away from your residence and discuss these items with your insurance agent. You may want to get an all risk coverage on such item, for which you will have to pay extra. Of course, there is almost always going to be a deductible and typically, unless the item is listed on a specific rider, you will not receive the full replacement value of these items, but only what the insurance adjuster thinks they are worth used.

Rule of thumb: if you want more in replacement for an item than it might generate at a garage sale, discuss it specifically with your agent.

Building Replacement Coverage. This coverage is there to rebuild or replace your dwelling if it is destroyed by a disaster, such as fire, wind or tornado. Hazards insured against usually include:

• Fire or lightning
• Windstorm or hail
• Explosions
• Riot or civil commotion
• Aircraft
• Vehicles
• Smoke
• Theft or vandalism (sometimes called malicious mischief)
• Falling objects
• Weight of ice, snow or sleet
• Freezing of a plumbing, heating, air conditioning or other such household system

Source - Independent Insurance Agents of America http://iiaa.iix.com/homeguid.htm

In almost all cases, this coverage will not insure you against damage by flood or earthquake. For information about flood insurance, Click here.

Building Replacement Coverage can be complicated, especially when the building is insured for less than its replacement value,which is too often the case with the continuing increase in construction costs to rebuild or repair a building. Traditionally, if a building is insured for less than 80% of its replacement value, and there is a partial loss, the insurance company is not obligated to pay the full value of repairing the partial loss.

On a related issue, Wisconsin does require by statute, that when a principle residence is a total loss, that the insurance company must pay for the total amount of policy limits regardless of the value of the home.

To illustrate, say a 2,000 square foot older home is purchased for $80,000 and insured for $100,000. To rebuild such home would cost $160,000. Thus, the home is only insured for 63% of its replacement cost, but more than its fair market value. There is a fire that damages 50% of the home which will cost $80,000 to repair. The insurance company will only be obligated to pay that percentage of the loss as the insurance you purchased relates to the insurance you should have purchased - 80% of replacement value = $128,000, $100,000 is 78% of $128,000. Thus, only 78% of the repair costs will be covered by insurance. However, if the home burns to the ground or is a total loss, the insurance company will have to pay the entire $100,000, even though a comparable residence could be purchased for $80,000.

There are two ways to avoid this problem, the first is to insure that your home is insured for its full replacement value, or second, to purchase guaranteed replacement value coverage, which most insurance companies offer.

Med Pay Coverage. This coverage pays for medical bills for those hurt while on your premises, regardless of whether the homeowner is liable for such injuries. However, homeowner policies routinely exclude the medical bills of anyone who is a family member of the homeowner.

Liability Coverage. The liability coverage on a homeowners policy is usually a very broad coverage, which not only provides coverage for liability related to owning the home, but many other kinds of liability exposure which would not normally come under a specific other type of policy. For example, the homeowner's liability policy would not cover automobile liability and professional liability.

For what the Independent Insurance Agents of America have to say about homeowners coverage, click here.

Car | Homeowners | Health | Life | Flood | Umbrella

The materials on this World Wide Web site are provided purely for informational purposes and are not legal advice. These materials are intended, but not promised or guaranteed, to be correct, complete, and current. This web site is not intended to be a source of advertising, solicitation or legal advice. Therefore, the reader should not consider this information an invitation for an attorney-client relationship. Readers should not act or rely upon any information contained in this World Wide Web site and should always seek the advice of competent counsel.

The owner of this web site is a law firm, the Johnson Law Office which organized the Brain Injury Law Group. The Johnson Law Office is licensed to practice in the States of Wisconsin , Illinois and Michigan. The Brain Injury Law Group does not wish to represent anyone desiring representation based upon their viewing any portion of this World Wide Web site that fails to comply with all legal and ethical rules in such individuals state. While not intended to do so, but in a good faith effort to comply with all rules and regulation which may be applicable to it, the Brain Injury Law Group hereby informs readers that this site may be construed as advertising and promotional materials. The Brain Injury Law Group makes no representation that it can obtain the same results as reported in this web site in other legal matters.