Homeowners Insurance

Hazard insurance is not the same as homeowners insurance; however, hazard insurance is part of a homeowners insurance policy.

Hazard insurance, also called dwelling coverage, protects the physical structure of your home, including damages from fires, hailstorms, lightning, smoke, vandalism, or frozen pipes. As a general guideline, you should purchase enough hazard insurance to cover the cost of rebuilding your home.

The law does not require you to buy homeowners insurance, but your mortgage lender might. When you close on your home, your lender will likely want to see proof that you have homeowners insurance and expect you to keep your home insured throughout the life of your loan.

A home insurance policy term is 12 months.

It depends. Your mortgage lender might arrange for an escrow account managed by a third party through which you’ll pay your mortgage. If you have an escrow account, you’ll likely pay a single payment each month that covers your private mortgage, home insurance, and property taxes. Escrow accounts are commonplace and may be required if, for example, your down payment is less than 20 percent.

If you don’t use an escrow account, you’ll pay your mortgage, taxes, and home insurance yourself—each to different entities.