Property insurance

Property Insurance is insurance on real property for protection against most risks, hazards, and perils, such as fire, theft, and some storm and weather damage. Property insurance can also include specialized forms of insurance such as flood and earthquake insurance. Property is generally insured in the manner of open perils, which covers all causes of loss not specifically excluded in a policy, or named perils, which covers only causes of loss listed in a policy. Property can be valued through loss of use, replacement value, and market value methods. Commercial property insurance is often bundled with liability insurance, which protects your business assets if the business is sued for bodily injury or property damage.

Property casualty insurance has become increasingly more expensive and more difficult to obtain. in the conventional and government assisted housing and the commercial markets. A number of factors account for this problem. These issues include natural disasters, mold, terrorism, market share competition and the slumping value of insurance investment portfolios. In an effort to retrench, insurers are declining to write new policies, refusing to renew existing policies, and increasing premiums on existing policies.

The availability and affordability of property and casualty insurance is essential to the real estate market’s functioning. Property casualty coverage is an underwriting requirement for conventional, government-assisted and commercial mortgages. Without insurance, lenders will not lend; without mortgages the great majority of sales transactions cannot be consummated. Without continuing insurance coverage, existing homeowners cannot remain current on their mortgage obligations and may find themselves subject to expensive lender forced-place coverage or possibly foreclosure.