If you’re anything like most homeowners or people in general, peace of mind is something you place a high value on. After all, who wants to be nervous and fidgety all the time? As a homeowner, one of the best ways to find peace of mind is through homeowners insurance. Up next, we’ll look at three reasons why you need homeowners insurance. Then, we’ll conclude by pointing you to your best homeowners insurance options if you live in North Carolina or South Carolina.
1) To protect your home
Bad things happen all the time. Even to good people and those who do an excellent job of taking care of their home. It’s just the way it is. So although homeowners insurance isn’t required by law in North Carolina or South Carolina, any homeowner who doesn’t buy homeowners insurance is taking a great risk. Homeowners insurance covers a wide range of perils associated with owning a home. A peril, in this case, is something that causes damage to property.
Good examples are fire, theft and most major weather events. Or let’s say a pipe breaks and drenches the carpet in one or more room. Obviously, any of these scenarios is going to do significant harm to your home. Homeowners insurance enables you as the homeowner to fix what’s broken and repair damages that would likely be beyond repair without this kind of coverage.
2) To avoid a financial disaster
Not only does homeowners insurance protect your home in the event of a disaster, but it’s essential to avoid potentially falling into major debt. Without homeowners insurance, you’re still going to want to fix any damages, but instead of getting a check from your insurance company, you’ll be footing the bill out-of-pocket. And we’re not talking about a couple hundred bucks here. If your house catches on fire or there’s a water spill or someone breaks in and steals multiple things, we’re talking about thousands of dollars.
Who can afford to just reach into their wallet and pay for this? Most people can’t – and this is a big reason why homeowners insurance is so critical. Sure, it’s going to cost you somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,000 a year, but it’s so worth it when you consider the thousands you may have to spend without it. And, obviously, having to pour potentially tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars into a home repair is going to wreak havoc on your finances. And no one – homeowner or not – wants that.
3) To sleep well at night
Getting back to how we started this article: Can you really put a price tag on peace of mind? The answer is no. While it might be tempting to not purchase homeowners insurance in an effort to save a few bucks, it’s simply not worth the risk. When you consider risk versus reward, the risk of not having homeowners insurance far outweighs the potential reward of avoiding annual homeowners dues.
Final thoughts
Even if your state doesn’t require you to purchase homeowners insurance, it’s likely your mortgage lender does. So if you’re thinking about a home purchase, be sure to ask about the lender’s insurance requirements, so you can plan accordingly. The good thing is that, in most cases, homeowners insurance is rolled into your monthly mortgage payment. It’s part of your escrow, which also includes property taxes. So there’s a very real possibility you’ll be making monthly homeowners insurance payments and not even think about it. As for the best places to shop for homeowners insurance, check out this website if you live in North Carolina and this website if you’re a South Carolina resident. And, of course, contact us if you have any questions!
