Friday, November 4, 2011

What Is Title Insurance For Your Home - Fire and Lighting Protection

What Is Title Insurance For Your Home

Trees, Shrubs, and Other Plants

The standard ISO HO 2 and HO 3 policies also provide up to 5% of the dwelling policy limit for loss to trees, shrubs, plants, or lawns at the residence premises caused by the perils of: 

  • fire or lightning;
  • explosion;
  • riot or civil commotion;
  • aircraft;
  • vehicles not owned or operated by residents of the residence premises;
  • vandalism and malicious mischief; or,
  • theft.
This coverage is in addition to the dwelling policy limit and is subject to a maximum of $500 for any one tree, shrub, or plant.


Fire Department Service Charge

This additional coverage applies up to $500 for fire department service charges that the insured has assumed under contract. Covered fire department service charges must be incurred when the fire department is called on to save or protect covered property from a covered peril. No fire department service charges are payable if the insured property is located within the limits of the city of fire protection district furnishing the response. When this additional coverage applies, it is payable in addition to the policy limit and without application of a deductible. What Is Title Insurance For Your Home

Credit Card, Forgery, and Counterfeit Money 

With the rise in identity theft, this additional coverage is one more policy holders should be aware of. Under this coverage, the insurer will pay up to $500 for the legal obligation of an insured to pay because of the theft or unauthorized use of credit cards or electronic fund transfer (EFT) cards issued to or registered in an insured's name. 

This coverage is subject to limitations. In addition, it obligates the insurer to provide the insured with a legal defense in the event the insured is sued to collect the charges incurred by the unauthorized user. This additional coverage also applies to loss caused by forgery or alteration of any check or other negotiable instrument and by aa insured's good faith acceptance of counterfeit United States or Canadian currency. This coverage is an addition to the policy limit and applies without a deductible.

The following restrictions apply - no coverage exists for use of a credit card, electronic fund transfer card, or access device:

  • by a resident of a named insured's household;
  • by any person who an insured entrusts with a credit card or EFT card or device; or,
  • if an insured has not complied with all the terms and conditions under which the cards or devices are issued (such as, for example, disclosing personal identification members to others).
In addition, this coverage does not apply to loss arising out ofbnsiness use or to loss arising out of dishonesty by an insured.

Loss Assesment

Loss assessment coverage can be important to insureds who are members of a homeowners association or cooperative association and potentially subject to assessments for the costs of repairs to common areas that are jointly owned by all the members of the association. 

This could occur, for example, if the homeowners association's own policy limits were not sufficient to repair or replace the damaged common area property. The insurer will pay up to $1,000 per loss (regardless of the number of assessments) for the insured's share of a loss assessment that results from direct loss to common property of a type that would have been a covered peril (excluding earthquake and land tremors before or after a volcanic eruption). What Is Title Insurance For Your Home

This coverage only applies to assessments by the homeowners association against the members of the homeowners association. This additional coverage does not apply to assessments imposed by. any governmental body or agency.

A single deductible applies per unit owned by an insured. This coverage is in addition to the policy limit.
 
Collapse

The collapse coverage of the current ISO HO 2 and HO 3 policies has been redrafted in an attempt to address a legal debate that has existed as to whether the collapse coverage required an actual falling down or caving in of all or part of the building or whether an imminent collapse was sufficient to trigger coverage. The current edition of the ISO HO 2 and HO 3 policies contains clarifications intended to make clear that an actual collapse is required for collapse coverage to apply.

The collapse coverage begins with a series of four definitions that state what is and is not considered to be a collapse. These definitions state that: 

1. collapse means an abrupt falling down or caving in of a building or any part of a building with the result that the building or part of current intended purpose;
2. a building or any part of a building that is in danger of falling down or caving in is not considered to be in a state of collapse; 
3. a part of a building that is standing is not considered to be in a state of collapse even if it has separated from another part of the building; and,
4. building or any part of a building that is standing is not considered to be in a state of collapse even if it shows evidence of cracking, bulging, sagging, bending, leaning, settling, shrinkage, or expansion.

The insuring agreement of the collapse coverage next provides that coverage will exist only if the collapse was caused by one or more of the named perils applicable to the personal property coverage or five additional specified perils, These five additional specified perils include the following: 

1. decay hidden from view, unless the presence of such decay is known to an insured prior to collapse;
2. insect or vermin damage (i.e., termite) that is hidden from view, unless the presence of such damage is known to an insured prior to collapse;
3. weight of contents, equipment, animals, or people;
4. weight of rain that collects on a roof; and,
5, use of defective materials or methods in construction, remodeling, or renovation if the collapse occurs during the course of the construction, remodeling, or renovation.

Finally, if the, cause of the collapse is one of the five specified perils, the collapse coverage provisions state that collapse coverage does not apply to: 
  • awnings;
  • fences;
  • patios;
  • decks;
  • pavements;
  • swimming pools;
  • underground pipes;
  • flues;
  • drains;
  • cesspools;
  • septic tanks;
  • foundations;
  • retaining walls;
  • bulkheads;
  • piers;
  • wharves; or,
  • docks.

This is unless the loss to these categories of property is the direct result of the collapse of all or a part of a building.
 
The inclusion of collapse coverage in the policy does not operate to increase the policy limits. To know more, you can get What Is Title Insurance For Your Home and learn the secrets of insurance.


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