Homeowners Insurance

Homeowners and renters insurance can help you recover from damage, loss, and liability related to your dwelling.  It’s important to remember that homeowners insurance can provide benefits for many other things.  Homeowners policies and additional endorsements to those policies can cover other structures like garages or sheds, personal property such as jewelry or artwork, personal liability, and medical expenses due to accidents on the property, and much more.  Consumers can download and review the Post-Disaster Claim Guide for information that may assist with understanding their policy, steps to take to prepare for a claim, and what to do in the event of a claim. The guide also has charts for keeping track of claim related items and a home inventory.

Additional Insurance for Homes

While a homeowners insurance policy can cover a wide range of scenarios that may affect your home, there are other coverages that you may wish to consider.  Talking with a licensed insurance agent can help ensure you are adequately covered.  Items that are exceptional or expensive like jewelry, a pet, or a boat may require an additional endorsement on the policy.  In addition, the Iowa FAIR Plan Association may provide basic property insurance to qualified applicants who are not eligible for insurance in the voluntary insurance market.

Items like flood and earthquake are generally not covered by regular homeowners insurance and would be additional items to discuss with your licensed insurance agent.  The University of Iowa's Iowa Flood Center has an Iowa Flood Information System that shows information, alerts and maps showing flooding scenarios for Iowa. 

Home-Sharing (Airbnb, HomeAway, etc.)

The sharing economy allows many Iowans to engage in home-sharing or peer-to-peer rentals through online sites, such as Airbnb or Homeaway.  With a few simple clicks on a smartphone, you can either rent out your home when it isn’t being used or rent a home for your use while on vacation.  In either scenario, it’s important to consider ahead of time who is responsible if an accident happens while home-sharing.  Talking with a licensed insurance agent can help ensure you’re properly covered.

Insolvent Property and Casualty Insurers

“The [Iowa Insurance Guaranty Association] provides coverage in the event a property and casualty insurer becomes insolvent.... The Iowa Insurance Guaranty Association was created by the Iowa Legislature in 1970. . . . When a member is declared insolvent by a court order, the [Iowa Insurance Guaranty] Association is charged with providing protection, subject to the terms of the law, to Iowa residents who are insured by the insolvent insurer or have claims against those insureds.  The funds the [Iowa Insurance Guaranty Association] uses to pay the policy obligations of insolvent insurers is derived solely from assessments made on member insurers.  The [Iowa Insurance Guaranty Association] receives no public funds or tax revenues.”  --Iowa Insurance Guaranty Association

For more information, go to the Iowa Insurance Guaranty Association’s website.