What is Covered Under Mobile Home Insurance?
If you're looking for a home that will be significantly less expensive than a regular house, a mobile home may be an affordable option. As with a regular house, however, you'll want to insure your mobile home. This will get you back on your feet faster in the event of a disaster. Even though mobile insurance is a separate classification of insurance, it covers many of the same things that regular house insurance covers.
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Basic Coverages
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Mobile home insurance usually covers damage to the the mobile structure, as well as to any buildings like sheds that may be on your mobile lot. This part of the policy covers you in the event of events such as fire or storm damage. It also may cover damage that occurs to the mobile home as it is moved to or from your lot, depending on the policy. The second part of mobile insurance is the personal property protection. This would cover items such as your TV or furniture, or even stolen jewelry. Typically, the coverage extends to your items even when they are not at the property, such as a laptop computer taken on a trip, although coverage may be lower. The final item usually covered with mobile home insurance is personal injury. If anyone were to be hurt while on your property, the mobile insurance would pay expenses such as those for medical procedures or doctor visits. Some policies also cover the cost of hotels and meals in the event you must relocate for repairs or to find a new home.
Additional Coverages
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Depending on which company you use, you may be able to get additional coverages on your mobile home insurance. This would cover items such as getting rid of the tree that fell down on your property, replacing food that spoiled during a power outage, or handling forged checks, as covered by Foremost Insurance Group.
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Actual vs. Replacement Value
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When you buy mobile home insurance, you will have the option of choosing actual value or replacement value for your coverage. Actual value pays you based on the value of the property damaged or lost. For example, if you bought your mobile home for $50,000, it might be worth only $40,000 in five years; if damaged, the insurance company would pay $40,000, not $50,000. Replacement value is just the opposite. It pays up to the amount of coverage purchased and does not account for any depreciation. Under this option, if you bought $50,000 worth of coverage for your $50,000 mobile home, the policy still would cover $50,000 even after five years when the property really is only worth $40,000.
Manufactured Home Insurance vs. Mobile Home Insurance
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As explained by Geico and the website Insure.com, manufactured homes and mobile homes are essentially the same thing, except that the label "manufactured home" applies to mobile homes built after 1976. For this reason, insurance companies generally do not distinguish between manufactured homes and mobile homes. You may buy manufactured home policies for a mobile home and vice versa. Coverage will be the same.
How Companies Determine Coverage
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Insurance companies will include items in your mobile policy in part based on your location--for example, a mobile home policy for a Minnesota resident may stress snow and ice removal or damage, while a policy for someone in Kansas may stress wind damage. They also look at what other companies are offering and what the most common losses are for mobile home owners. A good policy should cover a wide variety of items. Some companies allow their policy holders to build customized policies that indicate "named perils" and which are tailored to the individual mobile home--for example, you could buy only $10,000 worth of coverage and have it cover only the structure if you currently aren't residing in the home.
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References
- Photo Credit Camping â€" Mobilhome image by albillottet from Fotolia.com
