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Unfortunately, many people do not stop to consider if they are covered properly under their home owners insurance policy before a claim arises. Finding out if you are covered should happen before a claim not after a claim. If you have an incident, the time for doing your homework is over. One really easy thing to understand is that there are different policy's or types of home owners insurance. We call them" Forms." There is the HO3 Form of home owners insurance and the HO5 form of homeowners insurance. So what is the difference?
The predominate difference is that the HO5 policy form has what is called "open peril" coverage for your contents, or your personal property. The HO3 policy, if unendorsed (or changed) has what is called "named perils" coverage for contents.
Open Perils coverage means that you have coverage for everything that could happen to your personal property unless it is specifically excluded in the policies exclusions section. This means you have a very broad range of coverage's. In contrast, Named Perils coverage means you only have coverage against risks or perils that are specifically named in the policy. In an HO3 policy there are 16 of them. This significantly narrows the number of things you are covered for. The 16 perils are as follows:
Fire and Lightning
Windstorm or hail
Explosion
Riot/Civil Commotion
Aircraft
Vehicles
Smoke
Vandalism & Malicious Mischief
Theft
Volcanic Eruption
Falling Objects
Weight of ice, snow or sleet
Accidental discharge of water
Sudden & accidental tearing apart of what heater etc.
Freezing
Damage from Artificially generated electrical currents
While this list seems long, it is far from comprehensive when considering all the things that can damage your personal property.
We at Insurance Professionals of Arizona recommend you have your policy reviewed by us to determine what type of coverage you have. At the very least, if you have an HO3 policy, you should make sure that it is endorsed to insure you for "open perils" rather than "named perils" on contents.
Call us today for a free review and quote at 480-981-6338 or visit us ONLINE