Homeowners insurance isn’t required by law in California but there are some other important reasons that you should be considering it.

If you have a mortgage on your home, your bank or lender usually requires you to have a level of cover until the loan has been paid off. Lenders have the ability to legally enforce borrowers to take out insurance to cover the amount of the outstanding mortgage.

If you don’t have homeowners insurance you are at risk of losing your home in the event of a fire or other disaster if you cannot afford to repair or rebuild your home.

One of the biggest mistakes homeowners can make is to assume that all of their personal items and valuables will be covered in their policy. Make sure to read the coverage details carefully as you may have to add specific valuable items separately to your policy. These items could be valuable handbags, wedding rings, jewelry, or an expensive surfboard or bike.

When searching for a homeowners insurance policy, it's important to see what is included or excluded from the policy. If you need to ask an insurance agent what is included, simply call our licensed agents and ask them to explain the coverage.

A typical insurance policy for homeowners (or HO3) generally covers your home and your personal property and provides you with a level of cover to help repair or replace the damaged property that results from the following:

Lightning, storms, fire, hail showers, theft, or vandalism.

Typically, damage caused by floods and earthquakes is not covered by basic homeowner insurance policies. Optional homeowner insurance coverages and policies may be available to cover damage caused by such additional threats.