You can take an inventory of your property and assign a value of the property or you can do an estimate of what you think is appropriate to insure. With property insurance, you can’t receive more in a claim than what is insure.

Are we talking personal property, then Named peril vs open peril.  (see attached for differences) In short, Named Peril Coverage provides coverage for your personal property if the cause of loss falls into one of roughly 17 categories.  On the other hand, Special Personal property, or “open Peril” coverage is all inclusive in terms of cause of loss unless specifically excluded.  Attached is a list of typical exclusions. Its worth noting that the exclusions are typically uninsurable causes because of it’s mass catastrophic nature, a cause covered by another policy or endorsement, or other commonly excluded uninsurable event.

If this question pertains to Dwelling coverage, there are a multitude of property forms depending on the type of property.  Is it a condo, Owner occupied home, a rental or business property? Regardless of the type of property there are 3 main types of coverage forms:  the Basic fire form (HO-1), the broad form (HO-2) and Special form (HO-3).  There is also the HO-5 which is effectively a broaden HO-3 form with Open Peril contents included.  The seldom used HO-8 form is used only when a property has characteristics that make it uninsurable under the other forms.  Coverage under the HO-8 is highly tailored and generally lacking in common coverage found on a typical homeowners form.

Basic Form: fire, lightning, explosion, smoke, windstorm, hail, riot, civil commotion, aircraft, vehicles, vandalism, sprinkler leakage, sinkhole collapse, volcanic action, plus the following additional perils: falling objects; weight of snow, ice, or sleet; water damage (Such as leakage from an appliance) and collapse from a specified cause.

Broad Form: fire, lightning, explosion, smoke, windstorm, hail, riot, civil commotion, aircraft, vehicles, vandalism, sprinkler leakage, sinkhole collapse, volcanic action, plus the following additional perils: falling objects; weight of snow, ice, or sleet; water damage (such as leakage from an appliance) and collapse from a specified cause.

Special Form: provides what is referred to as all risks or open peril coverage: coverage for loss from any cause except those that are specifically excluded.

Is property insurance mandatory? Only if you have a mortgage or if required contractually.

The cost of property insurance will depend on the limit of insurance you are looking to insure and the safe guards you have in place to protect your property.

How do you estimate property insurance?

You can take an inventory of your property and assign a value of the property or you can do an estimate of what you think is appropriate to insure. With property insurance, you can’t receive more in a claim than what is insure.