Some Facts About Home Insurance Policies
First of all here are some facts for you to consider regarding properties and insurance in the state of Nevada. The average home insurance policy costs $509 as of July 2010. Before June it was $510, and the price rises or falls depending on the economic climate. Unfortunately the whole country is still in the grips of a recession, so policy premiums are likely to rise in the foreseeable future. Once we come out of recession, hopefully premium rates could fall. In the Las Vegas area the average value of a home is $188,558 and average households consist of three members, with a total average income of $51,925.
If your home is in this price bracket then the amount quoted above is probably the amount you would pay for a standard home insurance policy. You should be aware though that the policies do not just cover your home for damage/replacement or repair is damaged by one of the perils covered in the policy. For example a standard policy would usually cover you in the event of theft, fire, damages by rain, hail and lightning. The amount you insure your home for also provides a base for calculating cover for other types of protection such as liability protection and personal belongings insurance, as these are calculated as a percentage of the value of your home, or the insured amount in the Home Insurance policy. It is therefore very important that you insure your home for an amount which would pay for its rebuilding is a disaster occurred, such as a fire.
You will need to think very carefully about the type of cover you require in addition to the simply insuring the building against damage. Standard policies will cover you for theft, but you will have to decide if the cover provided on the standard policy is sufficient to cover loss of personal property such as furniture and belongings such as jewelry. These would be covered for between 50-70% of the amount your home would be insured for. So if your home is insured for the average amount of $188,558, then your personal effects would be covered for $94,278 minimum. Would this cover the replacement costs of you washing-machine, fridge, freezer bedroom furniture, lounge furniture and your electronic items? This is the sort of thing you need to consider carefully.
If you do a few quick sums now, you may decide that you need extra cover and this can be provided, on top of the standard cover, or you could choose to have a "deluxe" policy which offers you more protection. However you may still wish to have extra cover and this can be provided relatively cheaply as an add-on policy (or policies).
Some people are really keen gardeners and have spent a lot of money getting their garden perfect. If you are one of these people, you may want extra cover, as the garden cover is calculated at 5% of the amount of the Home cover and the highest amount payable for one item is $500.
These are some points to keep in mind when calculating the value of your home for insurance purposes in Nevada.