Homeowner's Insurance Policy
Definition of "Homeowner's insurance policy"
Homeowner’s insurance is a kind of property insurance that covers risks commonly encountered by homeowners.
There are several kinds of homeowner’s insurance policies:
Homeowners-1 (HO-1) - the most basic coverage. Basically, HO-1 provides homeowners protection against catastrophic losses only. HO-1 is a Named Peril Policy, that is; a policy that specifies exactly what it covers.
Homeowners-2 (HO-2) - known as a mid-range policy, the HO-2 provides broader coverage than the HO-1, but it’s not as robust as the HO-3, for instance. It is also a named peril policy.
Homeowners-3 (HO-3) - is the most common homeowner’s policy in the US. The HO-3 is midway between a named perils policy and an open perils policy. That is because under the HO-3, your personal properties (appliances, furniture, cars…) are insured via named perils but the house itself is insured under an Open Peril Policy, which is a list of exclusions of damages insured by the policy. If it’s not on the list, the insurance will cover it.
Homeowners-4 (HO-4) - also known as renter’s insurance, the HO-4 is a policy made for people renting a property.
Homeowners-5 (HO-5) - the HO-5 is one of the most comprehensive homeowner's insurance available. An elite policy, the HO-5 is an upgraded version of HO-3, as it also includes the personal properties under the open perils policy and not just the house.
Homeowners-6 (HO-6) - the HO-6 is for people renting condos and townhomes. Also known as the condo insurance or the townhome insurance, the HO-6 is similar to the HO-4 in scope, but it deviates from it regarding the way some aspects are calculated.
Homeowners-8 (HO-8) - the HO-8 is designed to protect older homes and remodeled buildings that are difficult to replace if destroyed. It is similar to HO-1 as it is also a basic coverage, but the HO-1 usually evaluates the house via replacement cost approach, whereas it’s difficult to do that with HO-8, which typically uses the actual cash value.
Real Estate Advice:
Search our Glossary Terms for the specific definitions of all the types of homeowner's insurance.
And find a real estate agent to help you decide which type of homeowner's insurance is the best for you.
Popular Real Estate Terms
Are you planning on buying a house? If you are, you’re going to love the Buyer's Market definition. But if you are a home seller, you will wish that term never comes up again in your ...
Process of the borrower giving the lender security to obtain the loan. ...
Statutes stipulating that the property of deceased individuals is distributed in a way that assumes that property during marriage is jointly owned and equally shared by the spouses ...
An interim or provisional court decree, which is not final and can be reversed or amended, normally issued to direct additional proceedings prior to issuing a final decree. For example, an ...
Classification of one's ownership rights in land. One way either buy the land and own all rights to it or lease it where one's rights are described in and limited by the lease agreement. ...
Time interval between buying a real estate investment and selling it. A sound way to determine the return from a real estate investment is over its life. For example, if land was bought on ...
Expenditures incurred to initially purchase property, including incidental costs necessary to put the property into existing use and location. This cost is then depreciated over the assets ...
Also called the Rule of the Sum of the Digits. An approach that bank use to formulate a loan amortization schedule. It results in a borrower paying more interest in the beginning of a ...
Document evidencing the passage of title to a purchaser of property sold for taxes. The tax deed is issued upon foreclosure of the property lien. Typically, there is a grace time period ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.