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Most people consider buying a home an investment. Their hope is that over a certain amount of time, their home will increase in value and can then be sold for a profit. Like any investment there is a certain amount of risk involved. But you can reduce the amount of risk to your home investment by purchasing homeowners insurance.

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Standard Homeowners Policy At the very least, you will need a basic homeowners insurance policy. Standard policies include four types of coverage:

1. Structural coverage pays to rebuild your home should it be destroyed by a disaster listed on your policy. Detached structures like tool sheds are usually covered also, but at a lower percentage.

2. Personal Belongings coverage pays for the value of your belongings. Most insurance companies cover 50% to 70% of the amount of insurance you have on the structure of your home to replace personal belongings.

3. Liability Protection covers bodily injury or property damage you or your family members (including pets) cause. It covers the price of defending you in court, and any payouts should you lose. Most liability coverage includes some amount of no-fault medical coverage.

4. Living Expenses coverage pays additional costs should you not be able to live in your home. Meals, hotel bills, and other expenses will be paid while your home is being rebuilt. Also, if you rented out your home, this coverage will reimburse lost rent you would have been due.

Disasters Covered by Homeowners Insurance According to the Insurance Information Institute, most homeowners insurance policies cover damages from the following disasters:

1. Fire or lightning
2. Windstorm or hail
3. Explosion
4. Riot or civil commotion
5. Damage caused by aircraft
6. Damage caused by vehicles
7. Smoke
8. Vandalism or malicious mischief
9. Theft
10. Volcanic eruption
11. Falling object
12. Weight of ice, snow or sleet
13. Accidental discharge or overflow of water or steam from within a plumbing, heating, air conditioning, or automatic fire-protective sprinkler system, or from a household appliance.
14. Sudden and accidental tearing apart, cracking, burning, or bulging of a steam or hot water heating system, an air conditioning or automatic fire-protective system.
15. Freezing of a plumbing, heating, air conditioning or automatic, fire-protective sprinkler system, or of a household appliance.
16. Sudden and accidental damage from artificially generated electrical current (does not include loss to a tube, transistor or similar electronic component)

Some insurance companies only cover the first 10 disasters (see your policy for specific details), and standard homeowners insurance policies do not cover earthquakes or floods.

Take Matters Into Your Own Hands You can avoid some of these disasters, like fires, smoke or theft, by taking basic safety measures. Installing smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, burglar alarms and deadbolt locks will protect your family, and could give you discounts (2-15%) on your homeowners' insurance premiums.

A house is a valuable investment, but it is more than that—it is a home. You and yours will be living there for some time, making it your own and creating memories. Protect those memories and your investment by getting the best homeowners insurance coverage you can. When you are ready to compare homeowners insurance quotes from top providers, make sure to check out InsWeb.com.

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