Homeowners Insurance

Serving Baton Rouge, New Orleans and surrounding areas since 1929

Louisiana’s food, music, scenery and religious cultures offers beautiful traditional and eclectic experiences that you can’t find in many other parts of the world. If you call the Bayou State home, chances are you’ll always be under its spell. Residents who want to get homeowners insurance from an agency that puts customer satisfaction first should come to McInnis Insurance Services, Inc.

Whether your Louisiana home is large or small, old or new, one thing's for certain: you should protect it with home insurance policy. This coverage can ease your financial burden if your home is vicitimized by a burglary, storm or other incident. It can also provide protection if a liability claim or lawsuit is filed against you.

McInnis Insurance Services, Inc. has more than 80 years of experience assisting Louisiana homeowners, as well as access to coverage options from a variety of carriers.

What Is Home Insurance?

Home insurance provides financial protection against disasters. A standard policy insures the home itself and the things you keep in it.

Homeowners insurance is a package policy. This means that it covers both damage to your property and your liability or legal responsibility for any injuries and property damage you or members of your family cause to other people. This includes damage caused by household pets.

Damage caused by most disasters is covered but there are exceptions. The most significant are damage caused by floods, earthquakes and poor maintenance. You must buy two separate policies for flood and earthquake coverage. Maintenance-related problems are the homeowners' responsibility.

What does homeowners insurance cover?

Residents of the Sportsman’s Paradise need to insure the precious things in their lives. Your home is probably at the top of this list.

Home repair and replacement bills can skyrocket following unfortunate mishaps. No one wants to have to struggle to afford these costs. You should therefore consider homeowners insurance critical to your overall solvency. Having a policy will mean you won’t have to pay for all of your home’s damage costs out of pocket. That’s a huge amount of protection at times when you need it most. 

Your Louisiana Home Insurance Policy Options

Within most homeowners policies, you can find:

• Structure protection: Coverage insures your house, garage and often detached buildings on the property. It can cover damage from fires, weather, break-ins, theft or other hazards.
• Possessions insurance: This coverage pays for your damaged belongings. It can cover furniture, clothing, electronics and other items if the damage comes from a covered peril, like a fire.
• Liability coverage: If you harm someone else or damage their property, you can use this coverage to compensate them. Coverage will often pay for incidents on or off your property. It can also often help you cover legal costs if this party sues you.
• Living expenses protection: Do you need to move out temporarily after an accident? Let this coverage reimburse you for expenses like dining or hotel bills.

Increasing Your Coverage

You can also enhance your coverage with items like:

• Scheduled items coverage
• Umbrella liability insurance
• Pet liability coverage
• Flood insurance
• Sewer backup coverage

Things To Consider And Questions To Ask Your Agent

Here are few things to discuss with your agent that will influence your decisions.

• How much will it cost to rebuild my house and replace my belongings if they are damaged or destroyed? At McInnis Insurance Services, Inc., we will sit with you and do a Comprehensive Replacement Cost Estimator to determine what it would cost to rebuild your house.
• Does the insurance company have a good reputation for customer service? Our agency does its own Customer Service and deals directly with our insured's instead of sending them to some call center.
• What discounts are available? We have several opportunities to save you money, our agents work with you to maximize your savings.
• What's the process for filing and settling a claim? We are one of the few agencies that have a dedicated employee that handles nothing but claims for us. As a McInnis Insurance Services customer you can call us and we will file the claim for you or if you have any problems/questions you can call Mary at 844.926.0860 and she will handle the issue and go to the Carriers on your behalf.

Understanding Costs and Payments of Your Louisiana Home Insurance Policy

• Do you have to have homeowners insurance if you don't have a mortgage? If you have a home mortgage, then the lender will usually require you to get homeowners insurance containing at least structure coverage. Once you pay off the loan, you might have the option to drop your coverage. However, we recommend that you keep it because of the protection it can still offer.
• What is the average cost of homeowners insurance? Louisiana’s statewide average homeowners insurance premium is about $1,945 per year.^[1] However, your exact premium will likely vary based on the numerous risk factors impacting your home. Keep in mind, your policy will likely include a deductible on damage. It’s often a good idea to take as high a deductible as you can manage. That might lower your premium cost.
• How much homeowners insurance do you need? Each element of your policy will offer different financial limits. You need to tailor yours.
• The amount of dwelling coverage you need is the cost it would take to rebuild the home in case of a total loss. Usually, you can obtain this value by appraising the home with a professional. The appraisal value is not the same thing as the cost you paid to buy the property. We also recommend you carry high liability coverage limits because of the significant costs that might arise in these cases.
• What is the difference between actual cash value and replacement cost? Policies might offer a couple of different payment structures when they cover your claims.
• Replacement cost value (RCV) usually is the amount you receive for structural damage. It will pay the full cost to rebuild the home using similar materials. You might periodically need to adjust this coverage in case construction or material costs increase.
• Some possessions policies will only pay the actual cash value (ACV) for the lost items. ACV is an item’s depreciated value at the time of an accident. For example, you might buy a TV for $500, but its actual cash value after a few years might only be $100. If the policy pays ACV for possessions damage, then you will receive $100 for the loss.

Home improvements can have an effect an your home insurance premiums. Click here for more information.

Contact us today!

Choosing the right homeowners insurance agency can make a big difference – in price, service, and value. Whether you live in Baton Rouge, St. Amant, Metairie or anywhere else in Louisiana, we can help you get covered. Contact us to get a quote on a personalized home insurance policy! 

Additional Resources

• Consumer's Guide to Homeowners Insurance
• Does Home Insurance Cover Damage from Appliance Fires?
• How Much is Home Insurance in New Orleans?
• Reduce Home Insurance Rates by Using Security Devices
• Read more Home Insurance articles here.