Other Residential Policies
- Renters insurance: A landlord’s insurance does not cover a renter’s personal property. Renters insurance covers your belongings, provides liability protection, and pays additional living expenses if a fire or other event stated in your policy forces you to move temporarily from your rented home.
- Condominium insurance: Condominium insurance matches the benefits of renters insurance, and also covers damage to improvements, additions, and alterations to the condominium unit.
- Townhouse insurance: Townhouses may be insured by either an individual homeowners policy or an association master policy. If a townhouse is owner-occupied and the townhouse association does not have a master policy on the building, you can purchase a homeowners policy on your individual unit. If the association has a master policy, you should get a Texas tenant homeowners policy to insure your personal property.
- Mobilowners insurance: Mobile homes without wheels and resting on blocks or a permanent foundation qualify for a homeowners policy. However, most mobile homes are insured by a mobilowners policy. A mobilowners policy is actually an auto policy that covers mobile homes used as residences. Mobilowners policies offer extremely limited coverage.
- Farm and ranch insurance:Farm and ranch owners policies insure homes outside city limits on land used for farming and raising livestock. You can pay extra to get coverage for certain farm equipment and outbuildings.
Other Types of Insurance You Might Need
Flood Insurance
Texas ranks near the top of the nation in weather-related property damage each year. A large portion of this damage is caused by flooding.
Homeowners policies do not cover flood damage. To protect yourself from losses caused by most flooding, you can purchase a separate flood insurance policy from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Local insurance agents sell NFIP flood policies and can tell you about the program in your area. For more information, call NFIP
1-800-427-4661
www.floodsmart.gov
If a lender determines that a property is at a high risk of flooding (called being in a “special flood hazard area”), it will require you to purchase flood insurance. A special flood hazard area has a 1 percent chance of being flooded in any given year.
Hurricanes and Windstorm Insurance
The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) is the state’s insurer of last resort for wind and hail coverage in the 14 coastal counties and parts of Harris County on Galveston Bay. TWIA provides wind and hail coverage when insurance companies exclude it from homeowners and other property policies sold to coastal residents. You can buy TWIA coverage through local insurance agents if you need it.
When a hurricane enters the Gulf of Mexico (80 degrees longitude and 20 degrees latitude), you can no longer change or purchase new windstorm coverage.
Your agent can tell you how to get an inspection. For more information about windstorm coverage, contact TWIA
1-800-788-8247
www.twia.org
Earthquake Insurance
If you are concerned about earthquakes, you can get coverage with a separate policy. The cost is relatively low because earthquakes are rare in Texas.
Extra Coverage (Endorsements)
You might want more coverage than your policy provides for certain items. For an extra premium, you may be able to buy endorsements that expand or increase the coverage on these items. Some of the most common endorsements expand or increase coverage for jewelry, fine arts, camera equipment, coin or stamp collections, computer equipment, and radio and television satellite dishes and antennas.
Personal Umbrella Liability Insurance
If you have assets to protect and want more liability coverage than a homeowners policy provides, you can buy a separate umbrella policy. Because policies vary, make sure the agent or company fully explains the coverage.