Common Endorsements for Home Insurance

When you buy homeowners insurance, you will receive a base level of benefits within every policy. However, though standard coverage will be extensive, it might not be entirely expansive enough for your property in particular. Because your home is unique, you will have to tailor the basic policy elements to fit your unique risks and liabilities. 

To do so, you will likely need to add endorsements to your policy. These are simply policy changes that you will make to ensure that your policy continues to offer you benefits right when you need them. There are a multitude of endorsements available for almost any homeowners policy, and all you have to do is ask your agent how to add them to yours. 

Essential Endorsements for Every Homeowner 
Sometimes, the basic limits of your homeowners policy won’t provide adequate coverage against unique liabilities. However, you still will want to make your policy a perfect fit for your property. To do so, you can add endorsements to your plan. 

Endorsements simply change the terms, limits and language of your policy to make your benefits extend beyond their basic conditions. Essentially, they act the same way as adding a should strap to a lap seatbelt. In other words, they give you more protection without sacrificing your standard coverage. 

Just a few of the endorsements that you might need in your home include: 

• Scheduled Personal Property Coverage: If you have unique or high-value items, then the coverage offered by your standard possessions coverage might not cover you. By scheduling these items on your plan, you will insure them for their unique values, outside of any exclusions posed by your basic policy terms.
• Sewer Backup Coverage: Though burst pipes might be covered under standard benefits, backups resulting from clogged pipes or damaged sump pumps often aren’t. This benefit extends that protection.
• Replacement Cost Possessions Coverage: Your standard possessions insurance will usually only cover the value of items at the time of their loss, rather than at their like-new values. A replacement cost endorsement ensures that you are compensated for like-new items, rather than used ones.
• Cyber Security Coverage: If you experience personal computer network hacks, data thefts or other incidents, this coverage can pay you for the requisite losses.
• Identity Theft Coverage: If someone steals your identity, then this benefit can provide recovery services like credit monitoring and social security number tracking.
• Windstorm Coverage: In some communities, standard dwelling coverage won’t pay for damage done by windstorms (hurricanes, tornadoes, and other high winds). This benefit will extend to those losses. 

Though these are just six endorsements, there are numerous other benefits that you might be able to add to your homeowners policy. Just let your agent be your guide in choosing the most appropriate benefits.