Homeowners in Indianapolis need to consider several factors, the history of the state, its climate and coverage options when purchasing their Indianapolis home insurance coverage. As a thriving city with 808,329 residents, Indianapolis brings a lot of notoriety to the State of Indiana.

Every year over two hundred thousand people make their way to Indianapolis for the Indy 500, the Brickyard 400 and the American Gran Prix. These races have helped make Indianapolis a household name and they bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to businesses.

Indianapolis was initially settled in 1820 and was made the capitol of Indiana in 1825. However, it was not until 1832 that Indianapolis officially became a city. While Indianapolis was already a thriving city, a population and economy boom occurred in 1847 when the railroad included it on their line.

Indianapolis residents enjoy diverse weather in their beautiful city and experience the full seasons of spring, summer, winter and fall. However, they are also a state that has had their fair share of tornados. These tornados have caused thousands of dollars of damage each time they touched ground in a populated area and many homeowners have found themselves unable to return to their homes for extended periods of time until their homes are repaired or rebuilt. In these cases, most do not recover their personal items intact.

There are 320,000 homeowners in Indianapolis. As of October 2009, there were 14,757 homes for sale with a medium asking price of $146,188. Empty homes are in more danger of being vandalized and burgled because most thieves do not want to risk breaking in to an occupied home and face a confutation or being caught.

Property crime, burglary and larceny are relatively serious for a town the size of Indianapolis. According to the FBI Report of Offences Known to Law Enforcement report, in 2008, there were 49,177 incidences of property crime, 14,267 burglary, and 28,466 cases of larceny.

With these crime rates, homeowners have reason to be concerned, it is important to have the right coverage on a home to ensure that theft, disaster, and other concerns are covered by home insurance. With that being said, there are several types of homeowners insurance to consider.

Types of Indianapolis Home Insurance to Consider

First of all, you need to know what your bank requires you to carry on your home. If your home has a mortgage on it, you will be required to carry home insurance and many institutions have requirements that other lenders do not require. You may be required to carry additional insurance on your home if you choose a small or no down payment plan as well. Some banks will even require that you use a specific insurer, so you may want to try to negotiate that part if you find you can get cheaper Indiamapolis home insurance rates elsewhere.

Different types of insurance are labeled by a letter and number system called HO-1 through HO-6. Each HO (homeowner) type represents different types of coverage available to you; however, coverage, such as flood insurance, are called riders (or in some cases endorsement).

HO-1 represents coverage for damage from automobiles, aircraft, damage by glass, theft, volcano damage, smoke, vandalism, fire, riots, hail or wind, and explosions. While this is no longer a very popular type of coverage, it was once the gold star of home insurance coverage.

HO-2 is a more expensive type of coverage than the HO-1 coverage; it does cover more things, however, such as all of the things covered by HO-1 coverage. Coverage like water damage (not caused by acts of nature) and freezing pipes are also covered under this more extensive plan.

HO-3 covers pretty much anything except for nature caused flooding. Naturally, this is more expensive than HO-1 and HO-2 coverage.

HO-4 and HO-6 are condominium owners and renter insurance policies that cover personal property rather than the structure of the home.

Finally, HO-5 coverage is a comprehensive policy that not only covers property damage, but it also covers damage or theft of your personal property as well. Upgrades can be added to this policy (rather than purchased separately) to ensure that you pay less for your entire policy. Most likely, you bank will require that you purchase HO-5 insurance when you get a loan for your home.

What to Cover on Your Indianapolis Home Insurance Policy

Naturally, you will want to insure the value of your home. It is important to recognize the difference between the value of your home and what you paid for you home. For example, 1 in 69 homes in Indianapolis are in foreclosure, despite the fact that unemployment is not at an all time high here. What this means for buyers is that they are going to pay less for a foreclosed home than its actual value. A bank will often charge what is owed on the home rather than the value of the home to get a faster turn around, especially in a tough market. In addition, it is a tough housing market right now and many homes have been reduced to encourage buyers to consider the home.

The average value of a home in Indianapolis in 2008 was $165,000 but the average selling price of the home was $131,423. What this means is that when you insure your home, you will want to insure it for the value so that if your home is destroyed by a natural disaster, explosion, airplane crashing into it, etc. you will be able to rebuild your home in full. Make sure you have a policy that includes the replacement cost of the quality of materials you want to have your home made from.

If you add improvements or additions to your home, then you should make sure to call your insurance company to have the value of those additions added to your policy. They will probably send out an appraiser in order to verify the value of any improvements or additions. You should check under section one of your policy to check the max coverage allotted for repairs or rebuilding before you sign the policy to ensure you are getting the coverage that you want.

You are also going to want to make a list and take a picture of all of your possessions that you want covered on your policy. This will include anything of value such as your silverware, linins, electronic equipment, appliances (even your KitchenAid mixer), workshop equipment, hobby equipment (if they represent an investment of more than one hundred dollars), your jewelry, furs, and even your clothing and other personal belongings. Some insurance companies have limits on how much insurance you can have on each type of property so you will want to know those limits up front.

You will not be covering your boat or auto in your home insurance coverage, as these pieces of property require their own policies.

Saving Money on Your Indianapolis Home Insurance

Saving money is important and you can certainly save some money on your Indianapolis homeowners insurance. This is done by utilizing discounts offered by insurance companies as well as ensuring you have up to date theft prevention and fire prevention devices in your home. Again, every insurance company is different, so knowing what discounts and insurance company offers will help you make your insurance choice.

You can save money by purchasing your home and auto insurance through the same company; typically, all insurance companies make this offer. You can also increase your deductible to lower your annual premium; however, you need to ensure that you can afford the deductable amount because in many cases your insurance company will require you to pay the deductable before they start paying for repairs or property replacement.

Find Cheap Indianapolis Home Insurance Quotes

Lastly, you will want to compare rates using a quote tool at least once a year. Quote tools allow you to compare the rates of different companies without visiting many different sites or talking to many agents. What’s more, a quote tool allows you to compare rates without the pressure of an agent trying to sell you insurance, which makes it easy to compare. Enter your zip code above to start comparing cheap Indianapolis home insurance quotes today!