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
The Loan-to-value ratio (LTV) is a calculation that measures how much you need to pay for a mortgage (loan) concerning how much the asset is worth. The loan-to-value ratio in real ...
A Vanilla Shell - also known as a Vanilla box, white box or whiteboxing – is something very common in commercial real estate and growingly common in residential real estate. In many ...
Each payment made by the borrower is equal each period, usually monthly. Each payment is comprised of principal and interest. Interest is based on the beginning balance. The cash paid less ...
Legal competence of parties to be held responsible for the terms of a contract or to be brought into the courts. Those who are under the legal age, are mentally incompetent, or under the ...
Possession and use of a property estate by virtue of a lease. There are four types of leasehold estates: estate for years, periodic tenancy, tenancy at will, and tenant at sufferance. ...
The right to recover property taken away by foreclosure by paying the lender the total amount owed plus foreclosure costs. The right of a debtor in bankruptcy to recover personal ...
Materials that are inherently noncombustible, are widely used in constructing exterior surfaces and include brick, aluminum siding, cement, and asbestos shingles. ...
Analysis of the risks and rewards to an individual in making a particular property investment. Investment analysis considers the cost of the original investment, the investment return over ...
Circumstance where no people or contents occupy or are kept in a building for at least 60 consecutive days. The same stipulations apply to property coverages as found in unoccupancy. ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.