For most of us our home is our most valuable financial asset, but it’s also a vulnerable asset. A windstorm can blow your roof off, a burglar can steal your home entertainment system, or a neighbor could trip and fall on your front step. To provide protection from the financial risks associated with these potential disasters, most New Yorkers purchase a homeowners multi-peril policy. A homeowners policy wraps a number of coverages-- fire, windstorm, theft, liability—into one convenient package.

This resource center is designed to help homeowners choose the right coverage, the right company, and the right price.

Protecting your new home with insurance is a must. How well you do that depends on the details of your policy. And while you are not legally required to have homeowners' insurance, mortgage lenders stipulate that you do.

A standard policy will suffice in most instances. It protects against several natural disasters and catastrophic events. However, it will not guard against earthquakes, floods, war, and nuclear accidents. The policy can be expanded to include these disasters as well as coverage for such things as workers' compensation. In fact, the lender may require that you purchase flood or earthquake insurance if the house is in a flood zone or a region susceptible to earthquakes. You also can increase coverage beyond the depreciated value of personal property such as televisions and furniture by purchasing a replacement-cost endorsement.

Title insurance protects the owner of property and the mortgage lender against future claims for any unknown defects in the title to the property at the time of sale.  Claims can arise as a result of fraud, forgery, unpaid real property taxes, judgments, liens, or other encumbrances that were not discovered during a search of the property’s title history conducted before the sale. A title search is a detailed examination of historical public records including deeds, court records, property and name indexes and other public documents.

Things to Know

There are two types of title insurance policies: lender’s (mortgage loan) policies, and owner’s (fee or purchase) policies.  The homebuyer is generally responsible for paying for both policies.

Lender’s Policy- Protects the lender’s interest in the property.  The amount of insurance coverage is usually the loan amount, and the amount of coverage declines as the loan amount is reduced by mortgage payments.

Owner’s policy- Protects the property owner up to the full original sales price of the property.   Unlike mortgage policies, an owner’s policy’s amount of coverage does not decline over time.  An optional market value endorsement can be purchased with the owner’s policy to keep pace with increases in a property’s value over time.  In the event of a claim, the full market value of the property would be recoverable.  (An owners Policy could also apply to Leasehold Policies and Construction Loan Policies