More on Home Insurance
If your mortgage company requires you to purchase “hazard insurance”, what they’re referring to is a standard home insurance policy.
Updated April 29, 2020
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Prior to closing on a home loan, your lender will require you to purchase hazard insurance to protect the property — and your lender’s investment — from certain hazards. But what they’re referencing is the coverage provided in a standard homeowners insurance policy.
Hazard insurance refers to the specific portion of your homeowners insurance policy that protects your home from perils covered in your policy. Your mortgage company wants to make sure that, at the very least, the structure of the home has adequate coverage against potential risks like fire, theft, or bad storms so that it can be rebuilt in the event of a total loss.
But as a homeowner with potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of personal property and combined assets, you’ll want a comprehensive homeowners insurance policy that covers the replacement cost of your personal belongings, additional living expenses if you’re forced to relocate, and legal expenses if someone is injured in your home and sues. Your lender may only see to it that you have enough insurance to rebuild the home, but you should make sure you’re not simply settling for the bare minimum in coverage.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Your lender may require you to get “hazard insurance”, which is the same thing as homeowners insurance
Most lenders require that their investment be adequately protected against at least fire, windstorms, and hail
In addition to coverage for the home, you'll want a policy with comprehensive protection for your personal belongings and liability
Yes, when your mortgage company tells you to get hazard insurance for your home, what they really mean is a homeowners insurance policy.
However, there are other types of insurance products — namely dwelling fire policies for landlords — that could qualify as sufficient coverage and secure you a home loan. But keep in mind that dwelling fire policies are only intended to protect the structure of the home against covered hazards. If the home is your primary residence, you’ll want a complete homeowners insurance policy.
Homeowners insurance, in its most basic form, is coverage for your home, personal property and combined assets in the event your property is damaged, burglarized, or you’re held liable for an accident.
But there are actually eight different types of homeowners insurance coverage forms, and the different policy types vary in terms of how many perils are covered, insured property types, how you’re reimbursed for a claim, and whether you own or rent.
If you own a condo, you’ll get what’s referred to as an HO-6 condo insurance policy; if you rent, you’ll get an HO-4 renters insurance policy; if you own a single-family home, you’ll typically get what’s referred to as a special form HO-3 policy designed for homeowners.
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As you go through your homeowners insurance policy, you’ll notice it’s broken up into six distinct provisions, or coverages.
When you file a claim for covered losses or damages and you and your insurer agree to a settlement, you’ll first pay your deductible, which is the amount you pay out of pocket for damages before your insurer covers the remaining amount. The amount you’re reimbursed depends on which of the following two reimbursement provisions are in your policy:
Actual cash value - Actual cash value policies are the least expensive, are usually required for older homes, and offer the smallest reimbursement for damages. Actual cash value policy settlements only reimburse you for what your home or personal property was worth at the time it was damaged or destroyed.
Replacement cost value - Replacement cost value policies are more expensive than ACV, but are the safest bet in making sure you’re not left paying out of pocket to make up for the depreciated value. Replacement cost settlements replace the damaged or stolen property at its full cost to buy new, regardless of wear and tear.
Hazard insurance is simply the language that some lenders use in the mortgage contract to describe an insurance policy that covers your home against specific perils. Your lender will include “scope of coverage” requirements, coverage amount requirements, deductible requirements, and proof of insurance once you’ve obtained a policy.
There are two types of homeowners insurance policies that determine what hazards are covered: named perils, which protects your home and personal belongings against 16 perils named in your policy; and open perils, which covers everything except perils specifically listed in the policy.
It varies by insurer and policy type, but the dwelling and other structures provisions of your policy are usually covered by open perils, or those left off your policy, while damage to personal property is only covered if it results from one of the 16 named in your policy.
A named perils policy covers these 16 perils:
An open perils policy covers everything except these perils:
Pat Howard
Homeowners Insurance Expert
Expertise
Pat Howard is a homeowners insurance editor at Policygenius in New York City. He has written extensively about home insurance cost, coverage, and companies since 2018, and his insights have been featured on Investopedia, Lifehacker, MSN, Zola, HerMoney, and Property Casualty 360.
Education
Pat has a B.A. in journalism from Michigan State University.
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