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You probably already know that if you want earthquake insurance you have to purchase it separately from a homeowner's policy, which may leave you wondering what in the world the earthquake insurance policy will cover. Well, it depends on the provider that you work with; however, there are some basic coverages that you should get out of the deal to protect your finances in the event that an earthquake hits in your area.

Property Damage

First and foremost, the point of earthquake insurance is to provide you witha way to pay for damagesto your home after an earthquake, which is somethinga standard homeowner's policy doesn't cover. If you obtain a policy, you should acquire enoughcoverage to pay for repairingor rebuilding your home.

Personal Items

In addition to your structure being protected from damage with an earthquake policy, your personal items are also protected. In many cases, you will be required to take out coverage for at least 10% of the cost of your dwelling to cover your personal property.

Temporary Housing and Extras

This is where you might see some varying features in your coverage. Depending on the insurance company you work with, you may receive temporary housing (rental home, apartment, hotel) if your home is too damaged to stay in while being repaired. Also, you may receive restaurant meals, telephone or utility installation at a temporary residence, storage, furniture rental and laundry assistance. Again, this depends on who you work with, but is something to look forward to in the event that you're hit by an earthquake.

Since every company will offer slightly different coverage features, it's important to ask as many questions as possible to ensure that you receive adequate coverage for your home. You don't want an earthquake to hit only to find that you still have to come out of pocket for something aside from your deductible.

If you've noticed that market values have lowered in your area and are considering lowering your property insurance, you might not want to act just yet. While it's natural to want to reduce the cost of your insurance to match your home's newly-lowered market value, if you move forward without knowing all that your insurance truly covers,you might be digging a financial hole that's difficult to climb out of.

One reason this is true is because it costs a great deal to rebuild a house. So if you find that you need to make major repairs to your house, the cost of tearing down and building again can cost an arm and a leg - and these costs are not reflected in the market value. In other words, as you price your property insurance, it should not just incorporate market values for your area, but also the cost to rebuild in the event that something tragic occurs.

However, before you dive in and start determining the costs, it's good to sit down with your agent to help make these determinations. This way, you can ensure that you're making the most cost-efficient decisions regarding the protection of your most valuable asset.

Saving on Home Insurance

If saving is a huge priority for you right now, there are some ways - other than reducing the amount of property insurance coverage you carry - that can lower costs:

• Evaluate Your Credit. It is well known that a credit score is a huge factor in insurance rates. So if you know that you've cleaned up your credit recently and have lowered your score, it's a good idea to talk with your insurance company about repricing your coverage.
• Raise Your Deductible. Another idea that you might consider to lower the cost of your coverage is to choose a higher deductible. The higher your deductible, the lower your premium will be.
• Seek Discounts. Many insurance customers don't know that if they purchase more than one type from the same company they can receive discounts on all of them. This could help to lower your property insurance premium.

It may be incredibly tempting to reduce your property insurance when you see market values lowering in the area. But if you remember that market values don't tell the whole story, you can make a better choice insurance-wise. If you decide to go forward with reducing your coverage, make sure you have enough to at least rebuild your house in case it is destroyed.

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