Homeowners Insurance

Typical coverage options on a homeowner's policy:

• Dwelling
• Other Structures
• Personal Property (contents)
• Loss of use (additional living expense)
• Personal Liability
• Medical Payments to Others

Coverage's that can be added and some are often included:

• Replacement coverage on personal property
• Additional replacement coverage on dwelling
• Identity Fraud coverage
• Loss Assessment coverage
• Scheduled items (jewelry, fine arts, camera, etc.)
• and many more...

Homeowners policies can have many pieces (coverage options). At Sage Insurance, we'll discuss all of them with you and, together, we'll pick the options that fit your current situation best. Then we'll shop all of our companies for you and get the best premium rate possible.

Call us now at 702-547-1900 or fill out our contact form for a complimentary consultation on your home.

Condo Insurance

If you live in a Condo or Townhouse you have an Association to deal with and that makes the insurance picture a little different that that of a single-family residence.

You need to consider such things as:

• How is the unit building insured by the Association?
• If I make improvements, are they insured by me or the Association?
• What if the entire building is destroyed? Where do I live while it’s being re-built?
• Am I personally liable if someone is hurt on “common area” property?

Call us at 702-547-1900 or read below for a more detailed description of coverage for your Condo/Townhouse. You can also fill out our contact form and someone will contact you!

Condo Insurance Facts

Condos/Townhouses are insured under a special homeowner's form (HO6). This assumes that your association insures the dwellings (buildings). The association's policy either insures the buildings so that if (1) a unit is damaged or destroyed they would build it back as originally built when it was new or (2) build back but stop at the unpainted drywall. Obviously, the first policy is the best and you should find out which type of policy your association has purchased.

Dwelling coverage - since you own the condo or townhouse, you may from time to time make improvements that are permanent in nature; i.e. install ceiling fans, upgrade flooring, wallpaper, etc. Even if your association has the best policy on your buildings, they never do more than build the unit back as it was originally built. Most HO6's come with $5,000 coverage on the dwelling and this can be increased to cover all your improvements. If your association has the policy that stops at the drywall, you need to cover everything attached to every wall or floor such as carpet, toilets, cabinets, light fixtures, rods in the closet, etc.

Personal Property - no one covers your personal belongings except you. If your unit was destroyed, the association may build only the unit and you would be left with nothing. You tell us the replacement value of your belongings and that's the basis of this policy. Remember - it is what it would cost to replace your items with new items of like kind and quality.

Loss of use - this is included in every homeowner's policy. The insurance company will pay the cost of living elsewhere while your unit is being rebuilt.

Personal liability - also included in every homeowner's policy for $100,000 - at Sage we always quote $300,000 or $500,000 for just a few dollars/year more. This is your personal liability ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. The insurance company provides your defense and would pay claims for which you are personally liable.

Medical payments - $1,000 coverage is provided in every policy and can be increased to, usually, $5,000. This would pay the medical bills for OTHERS injured on your property without regard to liability.

Loss Assessment - every home policy includes $1,000 loss assessment and can be increased to $5,000, $10,000 or more. If you are assessed by your association to pay for a claim (usually over and above their liability coverage) and the claim was for a loss for which your policy has coverage, your insurance company will pay your assessment up to the limit you have purchased. Example: someone is severely injured in your community pool because the self-locking gate was broken (liability issue). The judgment against the association is $1.5 million but the association only has $1mil coverage. If there are 100 units in your community, every homeowners will be assessed $5,000 to cover the $500,000 needed to pay the judgment. Since the claim was liability and your policy includes liability, your company will pay the $5,000 if you have increased your coverage to that amount.

And more - again, this is a homeowner's policy so you can add many coverages such as earthquake for your contents, add an endorsement (called scheduling) to cover specific items such as jewelry, cameras, fine arts, etc.

Manufactured / Mobile Home Insurance

Manufactured Homes / Mobile Homes insure much like a single-family residence, but there are some differences. We can help you with all the details.

• These type of residences usually depreciate in value and that affects the way you should insure it.
• There isn’t as much “automatic” coverage for personal belongings, but you can purchase more.
• Personal liability is often lower on a standard policy, but we will advise you to increase it. A friend or neighbor can get hurt just as easily here as they can in a single-family residence.

Call us at 702-547-1900 or read below for a more detailed description of coverage for your Mobile Home. You can also fill out our contact form and someone will contact you!

Manufactured / Mobile Home Insurance Facts

Mobile homes can be insured almost exactly like single family dwellings.  However, with single family dwellings, you always insure 100% of the replacement value.  If you own a mobile or manufactured home, you have 2 options:

1. You can insured to the value to buy a new home of like kind and quality.  The companies Sage uses to insure mobile homes then will give you an additional 20% if needed to buy a new home if yours is destroyed.
2. You can insured to the "depreciated" value of your home.  If, for example, you own a 1969 mobile home and feel the value is about $10,000, then that is the amount of insurance you would purchase.  If destroyed, that would be the maximum amount you would collect.

Other coverages automatically included are:

Personal belongings - typically a mobile home policy gives you 50% of the amount you have purchased on the mobile home.  We always add replacement coverage on your contents if you have a preferred mobile home policy so you could purchase new items for those destroyed or stolen.  If you've insured the mobile home for $80,000 you would have $40,000 coverage on contents automatically or if insured for $10,000, you would have $5,000 on contents.  The contents limits can be increased.

Loss of use - if the mobile home is damaged or destroyed, you have 20% of the coverage you selected on the mobile home to pay for you to live elsewhere while it is being repaired or a new one purchased if destroyed.

Personal liability - included in every mobile home policy for a limit of $50,000 - at Sage we always quote $300,000 or $500,000 for just a few dollars/year more.  This is your personal liability ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.  The insurance company provides your defense and would pay claims for which you are personally liable.

Rental Property Insurance

Do you own rental properties? If so, they need to be insured differently than the typical “homeowners’ policy. Why? Because you don’t live there. Basically, since you can only live in one home, you can only have one homeowners policy (with the exception of vacation homes). All your other property is insured as a “rental dwelling” even if it’s not rented.

• If you rent property, you probably don’t own many of the furnishings, so you don’t insure them.
• As a landlord, you might own some basic furnishings, so those are yours to insure.
• AND, you surely want to be protected for the possibility of someone being injured on your property.

Call us at 702-547-1900 or read below for a more detailed description of coverage for your Mobile Home. You can also fill out our contact form and someone will contact you!

Rental Property Insurance Facts

As a landlord of a single family or mobile home, you need a dwelling policy (called a DP3).   This policy has available all the coverages you need as a landlord without the coverages you would want if it is owner-occupied. The coverage on the dwelling, itself, is exactly like the coverage on an owner-occupied home.

If you are a landlord of a rental condo, you usually need a small amount of dwelling coverage  which would pay for improvements you (or a prior owner) made to the structure which are permanent.  You should also include a small amount of landlord contents and , most importantly, premises liability.  Please see the TAB under condo/townhouse for information on types of association policies.  You may need more dwelling coverage if your association has purchased a policy that doesn't rebuild anything attached to the walls.

The standard coverages under a landlords policy are:

Dwelling coverage - you insure the rental home 100% to the value to replacement the home if destroyed.

Contents - no coverage is included automatically.  However, you can select your contents limit to cover typical landlord contents such a stove, refrigerator, wash/dryer, drapes or blinds.   We usually recommend $5,000 coverage for these items but the limits is solely at your discretion.

Premises liability - as a landlord you absolutely want to be covered for a situation where you could be sued for injury that someone sustained on your property.  If you own a home, you have personal liability which covers YOU anywhere in the world; however, if something happens on your rental premise, you are thought of as the "deep pocket" and need protection if are sued.  Your insurance company provides your defense and would pay the claim if you are judged liable for injury.

Loss assessment coverage - $1,000 is automatically included in the policy.  Please see the TAB under Condos/Townhouses for explanation of this coverage. 

Renter Insurance

Renters insurance is probably the most under-used protection type in the industry. Renters just don’t think about it… until it’s too late.

If you rent, you need to consider several things:

• You still own all of your personal possessions like clothes, TV’s, furniture, decorations, etc., etc. AND they are not covered by your landlord’s insurance policy!
• Someone could still get injured while visiting you, and that liability is NOT covered by your landlord’s policy.
• The apartment or house you are renting could be destroyed and you could be out of a place to live with no compensation from your landlord.

Call us at 702-547-1900 or read below for a more detailed description of coverage for your Mobile Home. You can also fill out our contact form and someone will contact you!

Renter Insurance Facts

Renter's policies are homeowner's policies - you just don't insure the building.  Less than 20% of the people who rent their home or apartment purchase renter's insurance.  Please don't be one of those people you see on TV who are thankful to be alive but have lost everything they own due to an apartment/home fire.  Or come home one day and find your home has been vandalized and half your belongings were stolen.  The basic coverages are:
 
Personal belongings - you tell us the replacement value of your belongings and we will provide coverage for that amount.  Most people underestimate the worth of their personal property - it's everything from clothing, furniture, linens, dishes to tools and holiday decorations.  The important part is that you would be able to buy the items you lost with new items of like kind and quality. 
 
Loss of use - there is coverage to pay you to live elsewhere while you find another home or apartment to rent.
 
Personal liability - also included in every homeowner's policy for $100,000 - at Sage we always quote $300,000 or $500,000 for just a few dollars/year more.  This is your personal liability ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.  The insurance company provides your defense and would pay claims for which you are personally liable.
 
Medical payments - $1,000 coverage is provided in every policy and can be increased to, usually, $5,000.  This would pay the medical bills for OTHERS injured on your property without regard to liability.
 
And more - again, this is a homeowner's policy so you can add many coverages such as earthquake for your contents, add an endorsement (called scheduling) to cover specific items such as jewelry, cameras, fine arts, etc.