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Homeowners insurance is the best way to protect your personal property whether you own or rent a home, manufactured home, townhouse, or condominium. When reviewing your insurance policy it’s a good idea to understand what kind of Homeowner Form your insurance policy is written on. Home-owner’s policies are classified by the type of perils they cover.
There are six basic types of homeowner insurance policy forms which tend to be defined by the Perils they cover:
HO-1: is the basic homeowners insurance form. Also known as a Standard Fire Policy An HO-1 policy covers a dwelling (the actual structure of the house) and personal property from losses caused by 11-named types of Perils:
- Fire or Lightning;
- Windstorm or hail;
- Explosion;
- Riot or civil commotion;
- Aircraft;
- Vehicles;
- Smoke;
- Vandalism or malicious mischief;
- Theft;
- Damage by glass or safety glazing material that is part of a building; and
- Volcanic eruption.
HO-2: is the same as the basic HO-1 homeowners with 6 additional named perils insured. An HO-2 Homeowner policy will cover the dwelling and personal property against the same 11 perils of the HO-1 with these added perils insured:
- Falling objects;
- Weight of ice, snow or sleet;
- Electrical surge damage, and
- Three categories of water-related damage from home utilities or appliances.
HO-3: An HO-3 is an extended or special homeowners insurance policy form. It covers the same 11 stated perils under the HO-1 and the additional 6 perils under HO-2 plus any other perils not specified in homeowner insurance policy, with the exception of:
- Flood Insurance,
- Earthquake Insurance,
- War, and
- Nuclear accident
HO-4: The HO-4 is the insurance policy form used to write Renters Insurance policies. The HO-4 will cover only a stated amount of personal property from 17 listed perils covered under the standard HO-1 and HO-2 Homeowner insurance policy forms. There is no coverage for the dwelling as that would be insured by the owner or landlord.
HO-6: This is the homeowner insurance policy form that covers condominiums. An HO-6 homeowner insurance form will covers personal property from 17 listed perils on the HO-1 and HO-2 forms in addition to specific certain building items a condominium owner might wish to add to the policy.
HO-8: The HO-8 is basic home insurance for older homes. This insurance policy form will cover the dwelling structure and personal property from the 11 perils named on the HO-1 however it’s different from HO-1 because the HO-8 form will cover the cost of repairs or actual cash values and not the rebuilding costs. The HO-8 is an important form for historic and/or architectural aspects which make a home’s replacement cost significantly higher than the market value of the house.
Insurance companies offer variations on these homeowner insurance policy forms. Some coverage’s can be adjusted to meet the needs of the property owner. A good example of this is the standard landlord coverage which offers insurance for only dwelling structure and not any of the personal property. The tenant’s personal property would be covered under the HO-4 renter’s policy. There are special policy forms customized to offer insurance coverage on mobile homes or manufactured houses, and most of these policies are based on the perils covered by HO-2 and HO-3 policies.
Related Blogs:
- The Standard Fire Insurance Form
- Household Inventory–Getting Started.
- Flood Disaster
- Earthquake Insurance
Glossary of Insurance Terms:
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J-K | L | M | N | O | P | Q-R | S | T | U-V | W-Z
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