Spring is here and baseball season is warming up.  Plenty of rusty players who took the winter off are remembering that not every pitch is what it seems and that curveballs can surprise even the best players and make them kick themselves for swinging at what looked like a good pitch.  Make sure you’re watching for surprise curveballs when buying your homeowners insurance and avoid kicking yourself for choosing the wrong thing.  Too often, one policy may look just like another-until it’s too late.  Many times, a policy could be missing vital coverages that every homeowner should consider.

It makes sense to be economical and select the homeowners coverage that fits your budget, but make sure the coverage also fits your needs.  Here are some coverages you need to know about and definitely consider including on your homeowners policy:

Personal Property Replacement Cost – This coverage will pay for the cost to replace items in the home at brand new cost instead of a depreciated value.  If you don’t have this endorsement on your policy, you will get used value for your items.

Sinkhole Coverage – This coverage pays for damage to your home from sinkholes that form that are not “catastrophic” in nature.  Most policies will cover sinkholes that completely destroy the home, but many policies do not cover other sinkhole damage that can be very expensive to repair.  It may costs many thousands of dollars to repair cracked walls, broken plumbing, and doors and windows that won’t open.

Extended Replacement Cost – This coverage will pay an additional amount to rebuild your home in case the coverage amount listed in your policy is not enough.  It is basically a safeguard for when prices increase drastically such as after a hurricane or other catastrophe.

Animal Liability Coverage – Did you know that many homeowners policies do not cover animal liability?  This means that if your dog bites someone and you are sued, it is not covered by the policy.  Animal liability coverage can often be added to give you protection.

Jewelry, Furs, and Other Items – Some items on homeowners policies are covered for only a limited amount of coverage.  For example, a standard homeowners insurance policy will only pay $1000 for theft of jewelry.   Look into increasing this limit or specifically scheduling higher value items to be covered for a specific dollar amount.

The above coverages are just a small sampling of some coverages you may want to consider including in your homeowners policy.  Make sure you are reviewing your coverage with your agent and getting the right coverage so you can avoid those pesky curveballs at the time of a claim and hit a coverage home run.