Does home insurance cover a fire?

Whether your house has been reduced to a pile of ashes by a fire (sorry about that), or you’re just preparing for the worst, we’ll assume that you don’t have the money to buy your house all over again if it burns down.

“But wait!” you announce in a superhero stance, “I have – HOME INSURANCE!!”

But will it cover you if you don’t exactly have a home anymore? Like if a fire strikes?

Probably, and kind of. We’ll explain:

There are two things you’ll probably want to replace if your house burns down in a fire: The actual house itself and all the stuff inside.

The structure of your home can be insured for its replacement cost.

Your home’s replacement cost is different than its market value. Replacement cost coverage can help you pay for the stuff it takes to actually rebuild your house like contractors, materials, etc. Basically, it helps you rebuild your home from the ground up.

If you bought your house with the intention of staying there, you might want to make sure your house is insured for its replacement value.

Now for your stuff.

Your personal belongings can be insured for their actual cash value (ACV) or their replacement cost value (RCV).

ACV coverage can pay you back for the value of your items at the time of the loss, which means their depreciated value. RCV coverage can help you replace the items you lost at today’s prices.

So, if you don’t care about getting paid for half of your furniture, go ahead and insure your things for their ACV. If you want to replace your furniture, though, you probably want to insure your things for their RCV.

You should also make sure that you have a home inventory before disaster strikes. Your insurance company can’t insure what they don’t know you have.

You also might not know what kind of dope home insurance you can have until you talk to our agents. So, go ahead and LiveChat with us to start getting some awesome rates.