As a home buyer, and especially as a first-time home buyer, you might be continually surprised by the secondary costs and stipulations put forth by your mortgage or lending company.
On top of things like closing costs and different fees associated with closing on your home and getting a mortgage, you might be doing research in every nook and cranny to make sure you know what you’re paying for and how much. This research might have brought you to hazard insurance and homeowners’ insurance, both of which you’re most likely required to have by your mortgage lender.
Though you might have heard of these types of insurance before, you might still wonder if hazard insurance is the same as homeowners insurance, or if you’re just getting scammed or charged twice for something that’s essentially the same thing. Navigating insurance types can be tough for anyone, so let’s break it down.
Before comparing the two, let’s first define what hazard insurance is and what homeowners insurance is. Hazard insurance, or mortgage hazard insurance, is a type of insurance that covers your home’s physical structure.
Hazard insurance will most likely be required by your mortgage lender, as this type of insurance, though usually included in your homeowner’s policy, can really mean the difference between being able to rebuild or get money in the event of something happening to your home, and just being left in the dark. Hazard insurance covers damage caused by fire, hail, lightning, theft, vandalism, falling trees, explosions, and more.
Since hazard insurance is generally included in your homeowner’s insurance policy and its costs, you’ll pay hazard insurance for as long as you pay for your homeowner’s insurance! However, once your mortgage has been paid off, you might have the option to reduce the amount of costs covered by hazard insurance if you want to reduce your premium now that you don’t have to meet a requirement.
Now that we’ve defined what hazard insurance is, let’s determine what homeowners’ insurance is. This type of insurance refers to an overall policy that protects or covers your home and your belongings in the event of theft, damage from natural disasters or the elements, and more.
Many homeowners insurance policies also cover you for any liabilities associated with injuries or damage to or from others within your home.
There are many different policies included under the homeowner’s insurance umbrella, and some can be added or removed depending on how much or little you’d like to be covered or how low of a premium you’d like to pay.
Now that we know what hazard insurance is and what homeowners insurance is, let’s discuss the difference between the two.
Though hazard insurance, as we detailed prior, is included in your homeowner’s insurance policy, this insurance type protects just your home, not the belongings in it or any people inside. Home insurance is going to be the overall policy that is put in place to protect your home, your belongings, and your inhabitants from natural disasters, theft, or personal injury.
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Great experience with Hollander’s crew: Dominic R, Alex P, and Chris C. They were contracted (military move) to deliver some of our things that had been packed up and stored for a year, in a different location. They were professional and worked without complaints in the heat, placing our items carefully where I requested. They maneuvered a large, deep freezer down a tight staircase easily. They were thorough in helping me check to make sure all our things were accounted for, since it had changed locations/companies a few times before making it here. They were so helpful and courteous – I am very happy with my experience and would definitely recommend them!
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The driver was the head of the crew, and he was on top of everything. He made the experience working with Hollander Moving a pleasure. We have used others before but it was our first time using Hollander. Everything turned out great.
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Every employee I worked with was courteous, professional, and exceedingly competent. I was nervous about the packing and long distance move (from Illinois to New Mexico, October 2009) and Hollander helped make the move as smooth as possible. Not a thing was damaged or broken
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I would recommend Hollander to any company thinking about switching vendors, and any family making a move. A Hollander rep even stopped by my new place when they were unloading just to check on things.
Wonderful service – first class!
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Everything Hollander has done was over the top. It was courteous people, polite, caring. Their friendliness was over the top. There was one member of the crew who’d been a friend for 30 years, and the rest was family. I couldn’t say enough about them.
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This move envolved packing and delivery to four different destinations. Attention to detail and coordination were vital and effectively executed by Tony R driver and his crew. Ardene did a great job coordinating everything. The entire group were both extremely pleasant and efficient.
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