What Insurance is Needed to Protect Your Townhome

What Insurance is Needed to Protect Your Townhome?

We may be a little biased here, but protecting your home and personal belongings is important-and often required. Usually selecting policies is pretty straightforward, but one question we often get here at Erie Insurance is how to select the correct policy for your townhouse. For specifics on policies and what fits your exact situation, we always recommend you speak to your local insurance agent, but let's cover some of the basics:

What is a Townhouse?

A townhouse is an older concept in housing, first introduced in Paris in the 1600s, however in recent years they've seen a booming comeback. This style of home was popular in dense urban areas, where life can be a little cramped. To accommodate the dense city populations, these homes are built vertically, they are often narrow, multi-story homes that share one or two walls with adjacent neighbors.

Today, townhouses are seen in both big and small cities and even out in suburban areas. A townhouse is purely a style of residence, meaning its ownership can take several different forms, which then leads to some confusion on insurance policies.

What Type of Policy Do I Need?

So, you found the perfect little townhouse in a cute area you love and now you must insure it, but how? Well, that is actually based on the ownership status of the townhouse. You can fall under one of three types of policies:

• Homeowners Policy. This type of policy is for private homes. These are policies designed to protect you, your belongings and the structure of the home. If you own a townhouse, or have a mortgage on it, then you should look into a standard homeowners policy for your townhouse.
• Renters Policy. This policy is designed for protecting you and your personal belongings while renting property from a landlord. The landlord themselves will hold a policy on the dwelling and property, but these often do not cover your personal belongings.
• Condominium Policy. Some townhouses belong to a Condo Association. The Association will hold policies for the dwelling and shared spaces, but again these policies do not protect you from the walls in.

I Own My Townhouse

If the townhouse you live in is solely yours, even with a mortgage on it, then you should be looking into a homeowners policy. This policy is the standard policy for private single-family residences. It is designed to cover everything from the top down, wall to wall and the property. This policy covers things like:

• Dwelling and Other Structures. This covers the physical structure of the home in the event of a covered loss, such as fire, smoke, wind, hail and lightning. "Other structures" refers to things such as detached garages, fences, sheds, etc.
• Personal Property. This protects the things inside your home from theft and vandalism or loss from another covered claim (such as a fire).
• Living Expenses. Should you find yourself in need of alternate lodging while your home is being repaired or rebuilt from a covered loss, this will help with food, parking and hotel fees-up to pre-set coverage and time limits.
• Liability Coverage. This is financial protection if a person is injured on your property.

I Rent My Townhouse

If the townhouse you are moving into is owned by a landlord you pay rent to, then you would want to look into a renters policy. These policies are not for property or dwelling, as the landlord will have policies in place that cover the physical structure and property for which you are renting.

Renters policies instead protect you and your personal belongings. Personal property, living expenses and liability coverage are all coverages you'll find on most renters policies. For example, in the event of a fire, the landlord's policy will cover the structure loss, but it doesn't always cover your things that were in the building. That is where renters policies come in.

My Townhouse Belongs to a Condo Association

If your townhouse belongs to a condo association, then the coverages needed change a bit. Similar to a renters policy, the condo association will hold a policy that often covers any shared spaces (such a lobby, pool, elevators, etc.) as well as the exterior of the home. Condo insurance is typically designed to protect everything within the walls of the unit.

Personal property, living expenses and liability coverages still apply in the same ways they do with the others listed here. One of the major differences is condo insurance often also covers interior additions and alterations should you make a permanent structural change within the condo, such as adding a bathroom.

No matter what type of policy you're going to need or if you need help navigating what coverage you should have, we're here to help bring you peace of mind. Make sure to reach out to a local ERIE agent for a quote!