Your home is one of the biggest purchases in your life. If anything were to happen, you want to make sure your insurance coverage helps you do what’s necessary – replace, repair, or rebuild.
HO-1 – This is the most basic type of homeowners insurance, but it doesn’t cover much. HO-1 only offers protection of the structure of your house and only in specific situations like damage from a vehicle, fire and lightning, windstorms, theft, or volcanic eruption.
HO-2 – HO-2 coverage is very similar to HO-1, except it covers the house and your personal belongings.
HO-3 – This is the most common homeowners insurance as it covers your home, your personal property, liability, additional living expenses, and medical payments. It offers “open peril” coverage on the structure of your house, meaning that it will cover damages beyond the list in HO-1, but personal items are still limited to specific situations.
HO-4 – Another name for HO-4 insurance is standard renters insurance. This offers basic protection for your personal belongings and some liability coverage, but no protection for the actual house. Certain policies also cover related costs, like hotel rooms if you have to temporarily move out due to damages.
HO-5 – The most comprehensive home insurance option, HO-5 covers the house itself, your personal property, liability, additional living expenses, and medical payments for others. Both the house and the belongings are covered by open policies, meaning that barring a few exceptions they are insured for any event. This can make life easier if you end up needing to file a claim as you won’t need to prove that the damage was caused by one of the perils included in your coverage.
HO-6 – This type of coverage is specifically for condos. Generally named peril policies, HO-6 insurance will cover everything inside your condo, plus personal liability and additional living expenses. The insurance for the shared parts of the building will likely be part of your HOA fees, but not part of your personal insurance policy.
HO-7 – HO-7 insurance offers a similar set up as HO-3, but it’s specifically for mobile or manufactured homes. It offers an open policy on the home, a set list of events covered for personal belongings, liability, additional living expenses, and medical payments.
HO-8 – This coverage is meant for older homes, historical homes, and registered landmarks. In this policy, reimbursement amount is paid on an actual cash value basis instead of the replacement cost. For homes that would be difficult to replace because they were built with materials or methods no longer used, the difference can be substantial.
