10 Home Insurance Terms to Know

1. Adjuster: The claims adjuster investigates your claim, collects evidence and determines how much to pay for the property damage or total loss.

2. Declarations Page: This is the front page of your homeowner’s insurance policy. A declarations page summarizes basic information about your policy such as the policyholder, the home covered, and your coverage and premium amounts.

3. Indemnification: The compensation for your homeowners insurance claim.

4. Loss of Use: Coverage that pays additional expenses when a policyholder has to move out of their residence while repairs are made as a result of damage caused by a covered loss.

5. Negligence: A failure to take reasonable care or otherwise prevent damage to your home and property.

For example, you neglect to shovel the snow from your sidewalk and a neighbor injures themselves. Or, you don’t take a dead tree down and it falls on your property or your neighbor’s.

6. Occurrence: A single event or series of exposures that cause an injury or damage to your property. Examples include break-ins, fires, burst pipes and more.

7. Personal Umbrella Policy: An optional, additional liability coverage for your personal assets in the event of an accident on your property that exceeds the limits of your current homeowners coverage.

8. Replacement Cost: The actual cost of replacing your home and property in the event of damage or complete destruction. Replacement cost is different from the current market value of your home.

9. Scheduled Personal Property: If you have high-value personal property such as jewelry, artwork, antiques and more, this type of coverage can be added to your homeowners policy.

10. Subrogation: When someone else’s negligence leads to damage to your property (such as a neighbor’s tree falling on your roof), you can ask your insurer to settle the claim for you. Subrogation is the process of seeking payment recovery for you.

Have questions about your homeowners insurance? Just reach out, and we’ll be happy to help.