For homeowners in Massachusetts, home insurance isn’t a luxury, but a necessity. Home insurance protects your home and possessions against damage or theft, and helps provide liability protection in the event that someone is injured on your property. Most mortgage companies require borrowers to have insurance for the full or fair value of a property and won’t make a loan without proof of it.

Knight-Dik is an independent insurance agency with more than 100 years of experience insuring homes in Massachusetts. We represent many of the country’s finest insurance companies. Your Knight-Dik advisor will research and compare your best options so he or she can deliver comprehensive coverage and exceptional value.

Within a home insurance policy, the following coverages can help ensure that your home and assets are adequately protected:

• Dwelling coverage can pay to repair or rebuild your home if damaged by a covered cause of loss. You will likely want to buy enough dwelling coverage to cover the estimated cost to repair or rebuild.
• Other structures coverage can pay for covered damages to detached structures like garages, sheds, and fences on your property.
• Personal property coverage can pay you for the personal items in your home that may be damaged or destroyed by a covered cause of loss, which could include your furniture, clothes, sporting goods, and electronics. Special limits of liability may apply to certain items.
• Loss-of-use coverage can pay your additional living expenses if you must move out of your home temporarily while it’s being restored.
• Personal liability coverage can help protect you in the event of a claim and can provide a defense in the event of a lawsuit if you or a member of your household is responsible for causing bodily injury or property damage to others.

While homeowner’s insurance covers most scenarios where a loss could occur, natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes are typically excluded from policies. You may want to consider additional coverage or extra policies for these events. There’s also sewer and drain backup coverage you can add on, and even identity recovery coverage that reimburses you for expenses related to being a victim of identity theft.

Because the list of exclusions keeps expanding, we will review your policy each year to ensure that you are properly covered. Knowing what is and isn’t covered can make all the difference in the world.