Home Insurance
It comes in many types:
Newer homes, Older homes, Vacant Dwellings, Condo Units, Tenant Insurance, Investment Properties, Rental Properties, Homes under Construction and/or Renovation.
We know you’ve worked hard to make your house a home. It is commonly found that a person’s home represents their greatest financial and emotional investment.
The Petrucci Agency is ready to offer flexible and affordable options to meet your needs.
You may also qualify for a whole range of cost-saving discounts and credits such as: Alarm systems, Dead Bolt Locks, Wind Mitigation, Newer Home Credits, etc.
Premiums can be arranged in a number of flexible payment options or even put on credit cards in many cases.
The increased frequency and severity of hurricanes has made insuring homes in Florida at an affordable rate a continuous challenge. The Petrucci Agency is here to help! Don’t Pay Your Insurance Bill Until You Call Petrucci To Compare Rates. The savings may surprise you!
Whether your home is on the Florida Coast or in Central Florida, we have financially secure insurance companies ready to compete to insure your property. As an independent Agency, the Petrucci Agency proudly represents over 20 property insurance companies. We understand the many issues of insuring homes in Florida and we know the territories.
We write HO-3 (home), HO-6 (condo unit) HO-8 (limited coverage homeowner), HO-4 (tenant) as well as DP policies (Dwelling Fire) to meet the varied personal dwelling and personal property insurance needs.
Property and Liability Insurance:
Personal Property and Liability insurance policies cover persons, not property or operations. While individuals may refer to having “insured my house”, this is not correct because the payment is due upon and measured by the Economic Loss suffered by the Person.
If the policy insured property, then it would follow the property as it changed hands from time to time. The insurance policy deems to “make whole”. The “insured” must have suffered economically from the loss or the occurrence. The policy, following the principle of indemnity, should not allow the client to profit from its response to a claim.
Homeowners Insurance is a package policy designed to protect against economic loss to residences and household personal property and legal liabilities for injuries and damage arising from residences and personal activities.
There are six different Homeowner Policy Forms most frequently used:
- HO-2 Broad Form- limited- names perils covered- for owner occupants
- HO-3 Special Form -broadest offers most coverage – for owner occupants
- HO-4 Contents Broad Form – for apartment dwellers and renters
- HO-6 Unit-Owners Form- Condominium unit owners – owner occ. or rented.
- HO-8 Modified Coverage Form – limited coverages – owner occupants
Each form has two main divisions: Section I- Property and Section II – Liability
The main differences are found in Section I: Perils and Coverage type for Property.
Coverage A – covers the “Dwelling” and Structures Attached to it.
Under the HO-6, Coverage A covers Building Additions and Alterations for which the unit-owner has insurance responsibility.
Coverage B- covers Other Structures at the residence premises not attached to the dwelling, such as detached garage, guest house, fences, pool or storage buildings. Coverage B does not appear in forms HO- 4 or HO-6.
Coverage C- covers Personal Property that is owned or used by the insured. It is optional for coverage to extend to property of a guest in residence occupied by insured. Coverage C Exclusions- Separately insured articles, animals, birds, fish, motorized vehicles- except those used to service residence or assist handicapped, tape decks, CB radios and similar equipment operated by the power from motorized vehicle while the equipment is in the vehicle, aircraft and parts- except hobby and model aircrafts, property of roomers or tenants, property in an apartment regularly rented or available for rental, property rented or held for rental to others away from residence, business data – paper or electronic media.
Coverage D – Loss of Use – covers increases over normal living costs if damages from a covered peril makes the residence unfit for occupancy. The policies will set additional limits within the package plans. Each company will offer underwriting standards as to minimum coverages, as well as coverages determined by percentages.
Perils Insured Against:
Section I states the causes of loss that are covered. Generalizing, HO-2 states Named Perils only, HO-3 provides “All-Risk” coverage on Coverages A and B and Named Perils on Coverage C. HO-4 and HO-6 provide Named Perils coverage.
HO-8 covers for only certain Named Perils and offers very limited, very basic coverage.
Your home and other structures on your property are offered the most coverages through the HO-3 form of homeowner policy.
In most home policies the actual coverages cannot not all be listed, instead the policy lists all the exclusions. The policy would say something like “all risks except…”
Typical exclusions might be: Infestation of vermin, animal damage, arson, rising water from outside -flood, earthquake, lack of routine maintenance- gradual deterioration.
Your contents (personal property not permanently affixed to the home – mostly articles that you could pack up and move when you move) are also afforded coverage through the home insurance policy under Coverage C. The coverage for contents is on a named peril basis – where the policy actually lists all the coverages and names specific exclusions
The following may be named on the policy as covered perils:
- Fire and Lightning
- Windstorm and Hail
- Explosion
- Riot and Civil Commotion
- Vehicle Damage
- Falling Aircraft
- Smoke Damage
- Vandalism and Malicious Mischief
- Glass Breakage
- Theft
- Falling Objects
- Weight of Ice of Snow
- Sudden and Accidental Tearing Apart of Heating or Cooling Systems or Appliances
- Water Damage from Rupture or Overflow of a Household Appliance, Plumbing, Heating or Cooling System
- Freezing water pipes, etc
- Damage from Electrical Currents (except to tubes, transistors, or similar components)
- Volcanic Eruption
- Sinkhole
Typical Exclusions are:
Theft from a dwelling under construction, wear and tear, rust, mold, rot, smog, settling and cracking, Flood, Earthquake, back up of sewers and drains (can be bought back)- power failure occurring away from the residence, ;neglect to use reasonable means to preserve property after a loss, war, nuclear, intentional losses, governmental action etc.
The home and/or contents can be on a Replacement Cost (cost to buy new like kind and quality today) or Actual Cash Value (what depreciated value is now) basis.
EXCESS LIABILITY/ UMBRELLAS
When the basic liability limits provided by a policy are not adequate for the needs of an insured, two types of coverage are widely used to provide the additional amounts needed:
Umbrella Policies and Excess Liability Policies.
Either of these policies add their limits to those provided by the underlying coverage.
Umbrellas
If the client purchases a Million Dollar Umbrella to be excess over an home and auto policy, with limits of $300,000, the total limit of liability available would be $1,300,000.
The Umbrella Liability is standardized in the industry while there are several variations.
The Umbrella form is a stand alone policy. It may include additional coverages not included in the underlying policies. These additional coverages of the umbrella may be non-owned auto or watercraft, property in the care, custody and control of the insured, personal injury, and limited pollution to name a few.
When a claim involves an underlying policy, the Umbrella responds just as if it were a stand alone excess policy. If a claim involves a coverage provided by the umbrella but not by any underlying policy, the umbrella becomes the primary liability policy.
Any claim for which the umbrella is primary is subject to a deductible known as the self-insured retention (SIR).
Excess Liability
There are two types of excess liability policies: the stand-alone and the follow form.
There must be underlying policies for both of these to be in effect and neither one will provide any coverage that is not proved by an underlying policy.
For an example, if there is no auto policy, there is no coverage from the Excess Policy.
If there is an underlying policy in effect the follow form and the stand alone forms perform differently:
The Follow Form policy provides the same coverages and provisions and exclusions.
The true follow form is simple to understand.
The Stand Alone Form provides the same coverages as the underlying policies, but each form does this on its own terms. The stand alone forms can have their own exclusions and limitations. There is no guarantee that if the underlying policy covers, the stand alone excess will too. The claims adjuster will have a more difficult time determining if coverage applies. The adjuster must review the forms provisions in detail.
Contact us for our expertise today!