Homeowners insurance
Home insurance, sorted before the closing date.
Your lender needs proof of coverage on a specific day. We shop the market, bring back a short list that genuinely fits the property, and make sure the paperwork lands where it needs to.
What homeowners insurance is for
Homeowners insurance covers the structure of your home, the things inside it, and your liability if someone is hurt on your property. Alcove narrows the market to the options that actually fit, and stays involved after you buy.
When this comes up
Most people arrive here with a deadline. A lender or title agency needs proof of insurance before closing, and the property has details — the age of the roof, the distance to a hydrant, a finished basement, a wood stove — that quietly decide which carriers will write it and at what price. Those details are the whole game, and they are exactly what a generic online form fails to ask about.
Coverage
What a policy usually includes.
General guidance on how this line works. What any individual policy covers is set by the policy document and the issuing carrier.
- The structure itself
- Dwelling coverage pays to repair or rebuild your home after a covered loss. The limit should track what rebuilding would actually cost today, which is a different number from what you paid for the house.
- Other structures on the property
- Detached garages, fences, sheds, and similar structures are usually covered separately from the house, often at a percentage of the dwelling limit.
- Your belongings
- Personal property coverage applies to what is inside — furniture, clothing, electronics. Certain categories such as jewellery, art, and firearms are typically capped unless specifically scheduled.
- Somewhere to live
- Loss of use covers additional living costs while a covered loss makes the home uninhabitable. It is one of the most-used coverages and one of the least discussed at the point of sale.
- Liability
- Personal liability responds if you are legally responsible for someone else's injury or property damage, and pays to defend you — which is often the larger expense.
- Medical payments to others
- A small no-fault coverage that pays medical costs for a guest injured on your property, regardless of who was at fault. It exists to resolve minor incidents before they become claims.
Decisions
The choices actually worth thinking about.
These are the questions an advisor will raise with you. They are worth settling before you need the policy rather than after.
- Replacement cost or actual cash value
- Replacement cost pays to replace without deducting for age and wear; actual cash value subtracts depreciation. The difference is invisible on the day you buy and very visible on the day you claim, particularly on a roof.
- Where to set the deductible
- A higher deductible lowers the premium and moves more of a small loss onto you. The right level usually depends on what you could comfortably absorb without financing it, not on the lowest quoted number.
- How much liability to carry
- Liability limits should reflect what you have to protect, including future income. If the answer is more than a home policy comfortably covers, an umbrella policy is usually the efficient way to close the gap.
- Water, and which kind
- Home policies treat water differently depending on where it came from. Sewer and drain backup is commonly excluded unless added, and flood is a separate policy entirely — worth settling before it matters rather than after.
- Anything worth scheduling
- Items with sub-limits — rings, watches, collections, instruments — can be listed individually for full value. It is a small change that is far easier to make now than during a claim.
Terms
The words that appear on the paperwork.
- Dwelling coverage
- The part of a home policy that pays to repair or rebuild the structure itself. Its limit should reflect what rebuilding would cost, which is not the same as the home's market price.
- Replacement cost
- A basis of settlement that pays what it costs to replace damaged property with new property of like kind and quality, without subtracting for age or wear.
- Actual cash value
- A basis of settlement that pays replacement cost minus depreciation. It costs less than replacement cost coverage and can leave a meaningful gap on an older roof or older belongings.
- Deductible
- The amount you pay out of pocket on a covered claim before the insurer pays anything. A higher deductible usually lowers your premium, and means more of a small loss falls to you.
- Mortgagee clause
- The wording on a home policy naming your lender as an interested party. Lenders require it, and getting the details wrong is a common reason proof of insurance is rejected at closing.
- Escrow
- An account your lender uses to collect and pay your property taxes and insurance premium along with your mortgage payment. When escrowed, your insurance is paid by the lender, not by you directly.
- Loss of use
- Home coverage that pays additional living costs — temporary housing, meals — while a covered loss makes your home unliveable. It is one of the most-used and least-discussed coverages.
- Proof of insurance
- A document showing that a policy exists and what it covers. Lenders, title agencies, and dealerships ask for it before a transaction can complete, often on a fixed deadline.
Questions
Asked most often.
How does Alcove decide which options to show me?
We shop the market and then narrow it, rather than handing you every result. Options are ranked against your actual situation — the property or vehicle, the coverages you need, and any requirement a lender or dealer has imposed — and you see a short list with the reasoning, not a wall of forty quotes. A licensed advisor can walk you through why one option sits above another.
What information do I need to get a quote?
For a home, the address and basic facts about the property — roughly when it was built, the age of the roof and major systems, and anything unusual about it. For a car, the vehicle identification number, who will drive it, and any lender or lessor requirements. If you already have a policy, your current declarations page answers most of these in one document.
How quickly can I get proof of insurance?
Faster than the usual back-and-forth, because the information needed to quote generally arrives with you rather than being collected over several emails. Once you choose a policy and the carrier confirms it, proof of insurance is issued and can be sent directly to your lender, title agency, or dealership. Exact timing depends on the carrier and on how complete the information is.
Can I switch if I already have insurance?
Yes. Bring your current declarations page and we will compare it against the market on like-for-like coverage, so any difference in price reflects a real difference rather than a thinner policy. If your existing coverage is already competitive, we will tell you that.
What happens when my policy renews?
Your policy is re-shopped against the market before renewal, and you get a clear keep-or-switch recommendation with the reasoning behind it. The intent is that you find out where you stand before renewal, rather than discovering a large increase after it has already taken effect.
Insurance is offered and serviced through licensed Partner Agencies, which are insurance agencies, not insurance companies. Coverage is underwritten and issued by third-party insurance carriers. Nothing on this site is an offer or binder of insurance, and no coverage is in force unless and until a carrier issues a policy.
Start with the deadline, not the paperwork.
Tell us what has to happen and by when, and we will work back from there.