Understanding the Types of Homeowner Insurance Policies for Your Dwelling | Department of Insurance, SC (2024)

FAQs

What are the three types of dwelling policies? ›

What are the different types of dwelling policies? Like homeowners insurance policies, dwelling policies come in different tiers of coverage. These include DP-1 (basic), DP-2 (broad) and DP-3 (special), with DP-3 providing the most coverage.

Dwelling coverage (often called Coverage A on a homeowners or condo insurance policy) is one part of your home insurance policy that covers your house, including an attached garage, countertops, flooring, and built-in appliances.

A: Think of home insurance as a package of protection. Dwelling coverage is simply one part of that package. It covers the home itself —not the contents or land. Just the structure.

If you have a structure on your property that isn't connected to your home and doesn't qualify as part of your dwelling — like a detached garage, fence or shed — it is likely not protected by dwelling coverage.

Coverage C - Personal Property

This coverage provides protection for the contents of your home and other personal belongings owned by you and other family members who live with you. Additional amounts of insurance may be purchased. You may want to consider scheduling these items separately.

What Is an HO-5 Home Insurance Policy? Called a comprehensive policy, an HO-5 policy offers the highest level of insurance coverage for houses and belongings. It covers your house and belongings under all circ*mstances except those listed as exclusions in the policy.

South Carolina Condominium Insurance Coverage (HO6)

South Carolina condominium insurance policies cover owners in the case of fire, theft, or disaster. These policies also protect landlords in the event of a claim. Items that are covered by the condominium association will be outlined in their master policy.

HO-1 — Basic Form

HO-1 policies are the most basic form of homeowners' insurance. HO-1 is a named peril plan, so anything that happens outside of the perils specifically named in the policy is not covered.

There are several factors that insurance companies look at to determine dwelling insurance rates, including: The cost to rebuild your home. The materials that make up your home, such as stone, stucco, brick and wood. The age of your home.

What is Coverage B on a dwelling? ›

Coverage B, also known as other structures insurance coverage, is the part of your homeowners policy that protects structures on your property not physically connected to your home, such as a detached garage, storage shed, or gazebo.

If something is poorly made or has a hidden defect, this is generally excluded and won't be covered. The same applies to any mechanical breakdown. Additionally, if your home should suffer a power outage, things like food spoilage are not covered under a standard policy.

Generally, the dwelling limit is supposed to be set at 100 percent of replacement cost. If your dwelling coverage is issued at less than 80% of replacement cost, coverage for damage could be limited.

Basic dwelling policies offer coverage against a limited set of perils, typically focusing on common risks like fire, lightning, and windstorms. While more affordable, these policies may leave homeowners exposed to certain types of damage.

Covered dwelling means a dwelling that is occupied by a tenant pursuant to a residential lease or without a lease or with a lease terminable under State law, and is on or in a covered property.

Although there are many insurance policy types, some of the most common are life, health, homeowners, and auto.

Just like homeowners insurance, there are several different types of dwelling fire policies. DP-1 is known as the basic form, DP-2 is known as the broad form and DP-3 is known as the special form. Each provides a significantly different level of coverage.

The biggest difference between DP3 and HO3 is the type of risk each covers. DP3 policies are most commonly for properties the owner rents to others. An HO3 policy is for owner-occupied homes. Notice, too, that some coverages are added by default, while others are optional.

Dwelling types

There are so many different names used to describe a building where people live; townhouse, apartment, condominium, studio, terrace, villa, granny flat, duplex, dwelling, semi-detached, house, cottage, flat, bedsit, bungalow, chalet, cabin, manor, triplex and quadraplex are just some of the terms used.