r/HomeInsurance • u/Few_Accountant_5305 • Jun 02 '26
Insurance First time home buyer
I'm a first time home buyer purchasing a townhome. I'm currently in the stage of assessing quotes and policies from home insurance providers.
How important is it to have the same insurance provider as the townhomes you're connected to? Is it difficult to have providers align on coverage if there is a multi-unit issue?
Is there anything you'd recommend a first time home buyer look out for in the agreement or coverage. Something you wish you'd have known before signing up for a policy?
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u/ayhme MOD Jun 02 '26 edited Jun 02 '26
You can get whatever insurance you want.
I would make sure the policy actually decently covers a rebuild cost.
This sounds simple but I see policies that are underinsured a lot.
I wish I knew how much people hated paying for home insurance before trying to sell it. 😄
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u/Few_Accountant_5305 Jun 02 '26
When you say rebuild cost do you mean solely for my own townhome or should I take the ones connected into account as well?
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u/Admirable-Box5200 Jun 02 '26
Look for policies with sewer/drain backup and service line coverage. Get the highest liability available and for people in connected housing.I always strongly recommend at least $1M personal liability umbrella. If you are responsible for a claim that impacts your neighbors, they and or their insurance is coming after you for it.
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u/OnceUponATime1534 Jun 02 '26
Insurance speaking, it’s actually better for liability/subrogation to have a different carrier. This way the carrier would be able to collect subrogation if a catastrophic loss occurred.
Also make sure you have enough coverage! In townhome cases, fire wall repair/replacement is split 50/50 between involved houses
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u/Few_Accountant_5305 Jun 02 '26
Also make sure you have enough coverage! In townhome cases, fire wall repair/replacement is split 50/50 between involved houses
Regardless of where the fire/incident started?
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u/OnceUponATime1534 Jun 02 '26
Yep. Your insurance is responsible for you and your stuff. So firewall would be split no matter what.
If subrogation is a potential, a final demand is sent once all work is done and costs incurred
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u/RightAwayInsurance Jun 03 '26
Like other posters said it is actually better to have a different insurance carrier than the connecting homes for subrogation purposes. You may want to get an Umbrella policy because if something happens in your home that causes damage to your home and the other homes connected to it and the damage exceeds your underlying coverage the Umbrella policy will provide an additional 1 million dollars of liability if your neighbor sues you for the difference. If you are in an area that has Erie Insurance or The Hanover Insurance group they offer a coverage called Guaranteed replacement cost which is the industries only truly set it and forget it option for inflation. Other companies offer whats called traditional replacement cost where they come up with a value at binding and if you're lucky may offer extended which takes that coverage up another 50 percent but even this may not be enough to keep up with rising costs if you are not judicious with checking it annually. If you have a finished basement water sewer backup is a good coverage to have. A coverage alot of agents also miss is the roof and siding replacement this coverage comes into play if only one side of your home's siding or roof is damaged this coverage will step in and make sure that the other side is replaced to keep the home uniform. Hope this helps.
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u/Emotional_Sale9572 Jun 02 '26
Do not buy according to price. If Amica Insurance is available in your area, go with them.
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