If you have a mortgage on your home, the lender will require that you have home insurance to protect them in the event of a total loss. However, getting home insurance is not always easy. If you live in an area prone to wild fires and particularly if you live too near a canyon, it is possible that it will be very difficult to get home insurance. Insurance companies can Google Earth your home to see how close you are to a natural open brush area and if you are too close, they will decline to provide home insurance.
Further if you own a dog on the vicious dog list like a pit bull, some insurance companies will not provide home insurance. What you also may not know is that any time you file a claim to repair some damage to your home, your home ends up on a liability list that all insurance companies can access. Your home's claim history remains available for years so if there are too many claims, conceivably an insurance company may turn you down and or the premiums will be higher.
Finally, with building cost going up dramatically, it is time to check with your insurance agent to make sure you have enough insurance coverage on your home to rebuild it in the event of total destruction. If you don't have specific earthquake or flood insurance and your home is destroyed from one of these events, you may have little or no coverage. So, you need to make sure you are covered for events that are likely in your area. Buying home insurance is not so simple. Make sure you understand what is covered and what is not covered. The fine print matters.
