Homeowners Insurance Ocala, FL (HO3)
Homeowner’s / Hazard Insurance
If you’re purchasing a home for the first time, CONGRATULATIONS! Welcome to a whole new world of excitement and uncertainty. There is a lot to learn! For example, did your lender or mortgage broker tell you that you need to get wind & hazard insurance? If so, all (s)he means is that you need homeowner’s insurance.
Why do you need home insurance? If you’re a cash buyer or if you don’t have a mortgage on your home, technically you don’t. But if you have a mortgage and/or you’re financing a home, then your lender requires that you have it because they have an interest in your home as much as you do.
The purpose of having a hazard insurance policy is to protect yours and your lender’s assets in case of a lawsuit that arises from a “hazard” that occurred on your property, theft, damage, or complete destruction.
Examples of hazards:
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The neighbor’s kid falls off the trampoline in your backyard and breaks her ankle.
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Your Doberman sunk his teeth in the mailman’s rear end.
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An uninsured contractor injures herself on your property.
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At your pool party, someone slips and breaks a wrist.
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Someone drowns in your pool.
Causes of damage or complete destruction:
Hurricane Insurance
This is also called wind and hail insurance. Hurricane insurance basically covers the same thing as your homeowner’s / hazard policy covers above.
How much does home insurance cost in Ocala?
You’re gonna love this answer. IT DEPENDS! It depends on multiple factors. Here are 10 risk factors that affect the cost of home insurance policies in Ocala.
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Claims. The more claims you file, the more your insurer raises your rates. If you have a lot of claims, you probably won’t qualify with many carriers because they’ll consider your policy too “high-risk.”
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Lack of maintenance. People who don’t maintain their homes tend to file more claims due to damage from a leaky roof, for example. See factor #1.
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Aggressive dogs.
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Location. Expect to pay more for living close to a body of water. The closer you live to one, the more intense the winds are, which drives up the cost of your premium.
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Trampolines. It’s all fun & games ’til someone breaks a leg.
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Pools. Fences and screen enclosures add value to a pool but also have a high risk of being damaged in a storm.
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Low insurance score. Less favorable credit could cause a premium increase.
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Exterior construction type. Owners of frame homes pay more than concrete block homeowners do.
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Fire. You’ll pay more the further away you live from a fire hall or hydrant.
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Weather prep. The more prepared your home is to withstand high winds, the better. It pays to get a wind mitigation inspection.
Now that you know the factors that drive the cost of hazard insurance in the City of Palms, you’re probably wondering:
How can I get the best value on my home insurance policy?
That’s the question on everyone’s mind. You want the best value for your premium and you want to be sure that your insurance carrier will help you when you need it most. We work with some of the top insurance carriers with some of the best ratings to give you peace of mind.
We have lots of great partners. However when it comes to insuring homes in Ocala, we have found the following five companies provide very competitive rates, to ensure you get a great deal.
Ocala Home Insurance Discounts
Florida Statute 626.0629 requires insurance companies to offer Florida homeowners discounts, credits, or other rate differentials for construction techniques that reduce damage and loss in windstorms. Fortunately for you, there are many ways to save on your homeowner’s insurance in Florida. Contact us here to set up a free consultation so we can tell you how.
Home Inspections
If you want to get the best deal on your homeowner’s insurance in Ocala, then we highly recommend getting your home inspected! A home inspection will give your insurance company a clear report of all the components in your house. Insurance companies pay special attention to the age and condition of your roof, plumbing, HVAC system, and electrical wiring. In most cases, the better condition they are in, the lower your premium will be! He or she will offer the following services.
Wind mitigation
The purpose of a Wind Mitigation Inspection is to determine the existence of certain features of a home’s construction that will help strengthen it, in the event of strong winds such as those of a Hurricane. The Wind Loss Mitigation Verification Inspection will determine if you are qualified for a discount off your homeowner’s insurance policy. The inspector will evaluate all of the typical construction features that reduce wind damage and loss, including roof-deck attachment, secondary water resistance, roof shape, bracing of gable ends, protection of openings, roof-to-wall connection, roof covering, doors and windows.
Four-point inspection
A four point inspection is simply a condensed version of a standard full home inspection. Full home inspections are usually 60 pages whereas a four point inspection is usually on one page. It highlights a house’s 4 major systems (roof, HVAC, electrical, and plumbing), hence it’s name. Truthfully, that’s what insurance companies care about. They don’t care if your home has ugly landscaping, painted an ugly color, or if the carpet reaks from your 5 cats. You might think that stuff matters but home insurance companies could care less. 🙂
Combo Wind Mit. and Four-Point
Ocala Liability Insurance
Most standard home insurance policies come with liability. But some people want coverage for liability only on their house. At Regency, we have the option to write “liability only” policies for homeowners. This is one of the ways in which we’re set apart from our competitors because the majority of them won’t offer this type of insurance.
In addition, if you’re a handyman, farmer, electrician, or landscape guy, we can write general liability coverage and cover those business exposures, too.
Pet Insurance Liability
Regency Insurance Group completely understands the value of having a dog protect your home, especially if you’ve ever been a victim of theft or a violent crime. We also understand that your dog may be the sweetest dog on the planet. And we respect the fact that “Grimsby” is probably like a family member.
But as you probably know by now, getting home insurance in Ocala while owning a dog that’s considered an aggressive breed is difficult. The reason why is because most insurers believe that legal and medical bills arising from the bite of a dog is too much of a risk to insure your home. They consider these “bully breeds” to be dangerous:
When others tell you “Sorry we can’t insure you. Your dog is too dangerous”, request a quote from us. One of the benefits of working with Regency Insurance Group is that we can still get your home insured even with multiple dogs considered to be aggressive.
New Construction Insurance
Homes in Florida that are built after March 1, 2002 are all subject to getting automatic discounts so they get the credits for wind mitigation. Pricing on those homes is going to be significantly less expensive than a home built in 2001. Insurance companies are so motivated to earn the business of new construction that in addition to those wind mitigation credits, they also give discounts for it being brand new. There’s special credits that just say new home discount that is usually worth quite a bit in premium.
First Time Home Owners Insurance
Hey there Rookie! Welcome to the wonderful world of homeownership! We’ve been where you are now and we know how daunting it can be to absorb all the information that’s being thrown at you. Take heart, you’ll get through this and we’re happy to help. So here’s what you need to know in terms of insuring your home in Ocala.
1. If you’re buying a home, it’s important to consider what your insurance costs are going to be. You can always get a quick quote on the property to get some preliminary numbers and whether or not you’ll need flood insurance. Don’t worry, we won’t charge you! 🙂
2. As mentioned above, a home inspection can be your best friend for saving money on home insurance. The condition of your home’s roof, HVAC, plumbing, and electrical systems are the biggest driving factor toward the cost of your premium. That’s what insurance companies look at the most. So if those systems are new and in good shape, you’re sitting pretty. Be aware that if the home you’re purchasing is over 30 years old, insurance companies will want to ensure it can pass a 4 point inspection.
3. Rebuild value and Purchase Price are very different. If you’re buying a home with a lot of square footage, be prepared to insure for at least $110 per square foot. If you’re buying a 3,600 square foot home for $200,000, your insurance value is going to be a lot higher than what your purchase price is going to be.
“Force Placed” or Lender Placed Home Insurance
WARNING: The last thing in the world you want is force placed lender insurance, (aka lender placed home insurance).
When you finance a home, you have to sign a lot of disclosures and agreements. One of those agreements authorizes your lender to “force place” flood and home insurance on your property if at any time your policy lapses for non payment or gets cancelled. In this event, your lender is notified and they have the ability to purchase on your behalf at whatever rate they want, with no discounts. In essence, it’s a “no frills” kind of coverage. Typically the cost on those policies are 2 to 3 times higher what you can find on your own.
The lender will only cover what you owe on the home. So if you have a $200,000 home and you owe $20,000 they usually only cover the interest in the loan. They don’t cover water damage, theft, vandalism…it’s the most basic fire & hurricane policy that you can buy & it’s expensive.
If you forget, your bank will purchase one for you and it’s not pretty! In fact we saw one case in which a man accidentally let his insurance policy lapse. He also didn’t realize that his lender force placed a $15,000 policy on his home. Even though he secured his own insurance 45 days later, they charged him $41 per day from the date his previous policy ended, to the date he secured a new policy. The lender added the $1,845.00 onto his mortgage and forced him to pay it.
So please don’t forget to pay for your homeowner’s insurance. If you have forced placed home insurance, call us now at 352.792.1035!
Ocala, FL Landlord Insurance
Thinking about leasing your property? Just like any home or condo, you’ll want to protect it from mayhem. There is a difference between standard homeowner’s policies (HO3) and a landlord policy. A lot of standard home insurance policies don’t allow tenant exposure. So if you have a standard home insurance policy and you’re leasing your property to others, that could be a big problem in the event you need to file a claim. Instead, what you should have is either a DP1 or DP3 policy.
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DP1 insurance policy – A basic policy available for rental properties in Ocala often referred to as Dwelling Fire Form 1, or DP-1 insurance. It provides very basic insurance coverage for your rental property.
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DP3 insurance policy – Considered the best insurance policy for rentals and is often referred to as the Dwelling Fire Form 3 or DP-3 insurance. It provides excellent coverage for Landlords.
But what if you bought a duplex and your plan is to live on one side while renting the other? What kind of insurance do you need, then? Generally insurance companies consider this situation the same as if you were purchasing a town home or a villa which falls under the HO3 Home Insurance Category. But if you’re planning to purchase a tri-plex or any multi family home larger than a duplex, then you’ll want a commercial insurance policy.
