New York Homeowners Insurance
(Quotes, Cost & Coverage)
Get homeowners insurance quotes, cost & coverage fast. Home insurance protects your house, personal belongings and the cost of medical expenses for someone injured on your property.
NY Homeowners Insurance
A significant portion of our lives are spent in and around our homes, be it owned or rented. For most of us it is the largest investment we ever make. We fill it with the belongings we amass during our lifetime. Any loss, therefore, is devastating, and so it is important that you protect it. The best way to do this is with New York homeowners insurance.
An owner-occupied single family dwelling provides living accommodations for an individual, a couple, one or more adults raising children, or a multi-generational family. The individuals living in the dwelling may be related by blood, marriage or other arrangement such as adoption, foster parenthood or a guardianship. The household may also own a pet(s). Owner occupied means that the property owner(s) live on the property and that the premises are not leased or rented out to others.
The on-premises exposure includes the land and all structures on that land, such as a garage, storage shed, or swimming pool. Off-premises exposures include activities of the dwelling owner and all members of the household, including students who live away from home as long as they are in school and are younger than 24 years of age.
In the event of a storm, fire or other disaster, your NY home insurance will provide you with financial protection. New York homeowners insurance is purchased in a package policy. That means it covers both damage to your property and your liability or legal responsibility for any injuries for a visitor on your property, like slipping on a icy front walk or being bitten by your dog or other pet.
What Does New York Homeowners Insurance Cover?
A New York homeowners insurance policy has a few major parts including:
Dwelling - This covers the physical structure of your NY home, like the walls, floors and roof.
Other Structures - This can help protect the physical structure of buildings on your property that are separate from your home, such as a shed or a detached garage.
Personal Property - Personal property insures the belongings inside your home, w like furniture, computers, clothing and more. And if these belongings are stolen or damaged away from your home, personal property coverage could also kick in.
Personal Liability - Liability insurance can help pay the legal costs if someone makes a claim against you or sues you after being injured on your property. Think dog bites, slips etc.
Guest Medical Protection - This type of coverage can help cover the cost of medical expenses for a person who's injured on your property.
Loss of Use: If a fire or other insured loss damages your house, you might need somewhere else to stay. Loss of use can cover the increase in cost to live until you can move back in.
What New York Homeowners Insurance Doesn't Cover
NY homeowners insurance typically does not cover:
- Intentional damage to property (like arson) or harm to another person (like punching your neighbor in the face because they won't turn down their music).
- Business activities or professional services offered in your place (you will need commercial insurance for those situations).
- Flood
How Much Does New York Homeowners Insurance Cost?
How much does New York homeowners insurance cost? The average price of home insurance is usually affordable. The premiums vary depending on the company and their underwriting rules, and it depends on the coverages and deductible selected. Following are some of the main factors that go into the price of a policy:
- Location - The more dangerous your location in NY is, for both natural and human risks, the higher premiums you will pay as there is a higher probability for claims.
- Home Size - The more square footage your home is, the more the premium will be.
- Credit - The better credit you have, the lower your rates. Most insurers look at credit and weight it heavily.
- Deductible - The deductible is your out of pocket cost before your policy kick in. Lower deductible = higher premium, and higher deductible = lower premium.
- Your Belongings - The more of your things you insure the higher your premium will be.
- Security Precautions - Having a security system, or a deadbolt lock can lower your premiums.
- Claims History - If you have made claims in the last 5 years your homeowners insurance will cost more.
How Much Should I Insure My NY House For?
Insurance experts recommend that your home is insured for at least 100% of its Replacement Cost.
Market Value vs. Replacement CostWhen it comes to home insurance, you need to make an important distinction: Market value is the amount you could sell your home for, including the land, regardless of how much it would cost to rebuild the home. It is depending on the real estate and other markets that are not tied to the actual physical value of your house.
Replacement cost is the cost to rebuild your entire home. It is tied to labor and materials. Replacement cost is not:
- The market value of the home.
- The purchase price or the land cost.
- The outstanding balance on a mortgage loan.
Ways To Lower New York Homeowners Insurance Premiums
- Install a smoke detector that is UL-approved on every floor of your home. Make sure that the batteries are working properly, so replace them on a regular basis. Try scheduling battery changes on your birthday so that you don’t forget this important task.
- Have a UL-approved fire extinguisher nearby in case of grease fires in the kitchen. Regularly check that its fully charged. A carbon monoxide detector is also a good investment for homeowners.
- Secure access doors with dead-bolt locks. At the same time, install a motion-detector alarm. This will guard against any trespasser with criminal intent.
- You get huge savings on your New York home insurance if you install a central burglar and fire alarm.
- To guard against chimney fires, have your chimney, fireplace, and flues cleaned regularly as the damage from this sort of accident can be horrible and messy.
- If your keys are stolen, change your locks immediately. You don't want to make life easier for a burglar by being careless.
- Virtually every home insurance policy excludes damage from groundwater and flooding. Guard against this by buying a sump-pump system.
- To prevent damage in case of hurricane or tornado, trim your trees regularly. You should also keep your walkways safe and clear of any obstacles that can cause accidents.
- While a home with a swimming pool is attractive, you have to take some steps to prevent accidents. For one, don't install a diving board. Many of the accidents happen here. Surround the pool with an approved fence, and install a locking pool cover for good measure. Pools are considered an attractive nuisance, and kids are strongly attracted to them.
- Instead of buying your own trampoline, just enroll in a health club with access to trampoline. You and your children would better enjoy this activity and avoid injuries at the same time.
While the tips above sound simple enough, they help reduce the possibility of an accident. Nonetheless, accidents happen and New York home insurance can help you get through a financial loss brought about by storms, theft, fire or even vandalism.
NY Homeowners Risks & Exposures
Property exposure includes the dwelling, its contents, and any related non-business structures and their contents located on the premises. The most significant controllable hazards are fire and theft. The major uncontrollable hazards are windstorm, hail, snow and ice, flood and earthquake. The age of the structure and its maintenance are primary concerns since both can contribute to losses. Fire hazards include electrical wiring, heating, cooling, and cooking equipment. The location of the property, type of contents, adequacy of locks and alarm systems are important when evaluating theft exposures.
The property's location is the key to assessing its vulnerability to natural disasters such as wind, hail, snow and ice, flood, or earthquake. The premises should be built to current code. Vegetation should be trimmed and away from the structures.
Inland marine exposure includes any antiques, collectibles, electronics, fine arts, firearms, furs, jewelry, silverware, and other types of property subject to sublimits and exclusions within the homeowners policy. As these items are often attractive theft targets, security features such as locks, alarms, off-premise/transit exposures and storage arrangements should be reviewed.
Personal liability exposure arises from conditions at the premises and the actions of the members of the household (including pets). The age of any children, the social and civic organizations, and sports that the family participates in can all impact the loss potential. In addition, the type and breed of any pet(s) should be considered. Pools, trampolines, tree houses, playground equipment, non-licensed motorized vehicles, and similar attractions must be secured to prevent young children from gaining unsupervised access.
Auto exposures are from household members driving owned, rented, or borrowed vehicles or from loaning their vehicles to others outside the household. All drivers must be identified, licensed, and have acceptable MVRs. The type of vehicle, ownership, the principle driver, garaging location, miles driven, and type of driving must be considered when evaluating the exposure. Age and experience of each driver must be evaluated. Driving courses can assist drivers of any age.
The exposure of household residents temporarily living away from the household exposures such as students away at college is important to explore because of potential vehicle ownership, state compliance, garaging, and usage changes.
NY Home Insurance Quotes
Request a New York Homeowners Insurance quote in Albany, Amherst, Auburn, Babylon, Binghamton, Bronx, Brookhaven, Brooklyn, Buffalo, Clarkstown, Clay, Colonie, Elmira, Glen Cove, Greenburgh, Hamburg, Hempstead, Huntington, Islip, Ithaca, Jamaica, Jamestown, Long Beach, Manhattan, Middletown, Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, Newburgh, Niagara Falls, Orangetown, Oyster Bay, Perinton, Poughkeepsie, Queens, Rochester, Rome, Rye, Schenectady, Smithtown, Southampton, Staten Island, Syracuse, Tonawanda, Troy, Union, Utica, Watertown, West Seneca, White Plains, Yonkers and all other cities in NY.
New York Insurance Rules & Regulations
In the state of New York, there are a couple of different types of insurance that are regulated by the state that you should be aware of - as well as the regulations behind them. Understanding what is required for business and personal insurance will help you make sure that you have the right insurance if you ever decide to open a business or even if you are simply looking for information on what kinds of personal insurance you need and what sort of oversight there is for them. Let's take a closer look at personal and business insurance in NY State.
NY Commercial Insurance
The first type of insurance is general liability insurance. Although general liability insurance is not required by law for New York businesses, it is a good thing to have. General liability protects companies from lawsuits that stem from slips and falls, damage to property while they are on the premises and a variety of other potential incidents that customers may file a lawsuit for. General liability simply keeps you safe in case something happens to someone on your property and they decide to bring a lawsuit against you.
In addition, businesses in New York must carry specific types of insurance such as Worker's Compensation insurance when they have at least one full or part-time employee. This does not apply to independent contractors and subcontractors. The only other regulation in New York is that commercial vehicles that are operating as part of a business must carry commercial auto insurance.
New York Personal Insurance
Now, we move onto personal insurance starting with auto insurance. New York State requires that anyone operating a motor vehicle carry liability insurance with $25,000 for bodily injury to one person and $50,000 total for a single accident. In addition, motorists must carry $10,000 for property damage as well.
There are also some regulations governing life insurance. In Article 32 of the New York Consolidated Law it says that residents have a free look period that is limited to 10 days, as well as a grace period of 31 days and then insurance companies must make timely payments within 30 days of receiving notification of the death. If the insurance company does not make these payments on time, then interest can be added to the amount owed. You can find out more about this life insurance information as well as information on the New York state guaranty that ensures that you will receive a payment even if your life insurance company goes out of business.
If you are looking for state specific Homeowners insurance quotes, costs and information: California Homeowners Insurance, Colorado Homeowners Insurance, Delaware Homeowners Insurance, Florida Homeowners Insurance, Illinois Homeowners Insurance, Kentucky Homeowners Insurance, New Jersey Homeowners Insurance, New York Homeowners Insurance, Oregon Homeowners Insurance, Pennsylvania Homeowners Insurance, Texas Homeowners Insurance, Washington Homeowners Insurance.