Why You Should Increase Home Liability Insurance Limits

Liability Costs Could Break The Bank Without Home Liability Insurance

By Meha Ahmad, InsuranceAgents.com Staff Writer

Home liability insurance is one of the most important coverage options a homeowner can include on their policy; it’s also one of the cheapest options to add. To find affordable home liability insurance, look online using our simple forms located here for homeowners insurance quotes. There are plenty of ways to protect your home with homeowners insurance—hazard insurance, content insurance, etc. If there are damages to your home or personal belongings, your insurance will cover the financial cost of it. But what about you? What coverage protects you if you (or a guest) are injured on your property?

That’s where home liability insurance comes in. Accidents happen, and if they occur in or around your property, it generates personal liability exposure.

What Your Home Liability Insurance Covers

While the standard home insurance policy is legally required to have a minimum amount of home liability insurance, most states’ minimum limits are not nearly enough to provide proper coverage to a homeowner in a bad liability situation. For you (and your home insurance agent) to determine what home liability insurance limits should be, you have to first understand what the insurance is for:

Bodily Injury: If someone—you, a family member, a guest, etc.—is injured on your property, liability coverage will cover all subsequent costs, including:

a. Medical – Medical bills, even for minor injuries, can be very expensive, costing thousands of dollars.
b. Home repair – In a liability case, if your home is damaged, the insurance company will foot this bill, too.
c. Legal costs – In some cases, you may find yourself in a lawsuit as a result of injury to another person on your property.

Home liability insurance will cover your legal expenses (and the other party’s, if you don’t win in court) so you don’t have to pay a huge bill out of pocket. In some cases, you may even be held responsible for injury that isn’t physical: it is not unheard of for homeowners and their insurance companies to be taken to court for emotional injuries or defamation of character.

Risky Reasons to Raise Home Liability Insurance Limits

Now that you know what your home liability insurance will cover, here are a few reasons you should increase your liability limits now.

1. Inflation – Medical costs and home repair costs are not only expensive, but they are also on the rise. Can you afford to pay medical bills, which are getting steeper by the day, out of pocket? For an affordable premium, your home liability insurance can do it for you should the need ever arise.
2. It’s cheap. It’s surprisingly inexpensive to obtain a significant amount of home liability insurance. To increase your home liability insurance limits from $300,000 to $500,000 can cost anywhere between $10 and $20. You can increase your deductible and use those savings to buy hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of home liability insurance coverage.
3. Is your home particularly dangerous? Your property may present a high liability risk. If your property includes pets (particularly dogs or cats, who may bite or attack visitors), or features like a swimming pool or trampoline, it is even more important for you to increase your home liability insurance limits.

Shop Online For Home Liability Insurance Now

If you’re ready to start looking for home liability insurance, start by looking online using our free quote service for home insurance quotes. It’s the easiest way to get in touch with local home insurance agents. They will get in touch with you immediately and offer you low quotes and policies. Make sure the policies include high home liability insurance limits.

Published: Friday 24th July 2009