If you live in Southern Florida on the coastline, insurance is extremely important. After 2004, many insurers pulled out of Florida, but the past few years have seen a lot of new insurance companies entering the market. In addition, many homeowners are not pleased with their coastal property insurance policies from the state run insurance company. When it comes to insuring your home, you have many options and the best person to talk to is an independent insurance agent specializing in your needs. This can make all the difference, as explained in our example story.

Fred and Martha B owned a lovely home near Naples, Florida. Their beautiful home was located along the coastline and they enjoyed a spectacular view of the Gulf. Everyone living in the area was concerned about their coastal homeowners insurance policies, because costs had risen considerably over the years.

Saving money on home insurance is important but sometimes you may not have the coverage you think you do. For example, the couple's home was worth $685,000 and they were able to save money by going with an insurance company that promised the lowest premiums. However, they didn't realize lower coastal home insurance premiums could mean reduced coverage.

Fred did not take the time to read and study his policy. Plus, his agent was not very helpful. When they suffered a great deal of damage from high winds that suddenly hit their home, they were not worried because they had wind damage insurance. However, they did not realize the deductible was for five percent of their home's value. This might not sound like much, but five percent of $685,000 is $34,250. That is a large amount of damage cost to absorb.

Had Martha and Fred used an independent insurance specialist, he could have got them a policy with a two percent deductible ($13,700) and at an affordable cost. This is only one of the reasons why choosing the right insurance professional is so very important. In this case, the difference was over $20,000.

Coastal home coverage is specially designed for homes on the coastline. For example, your beautiful home in Fort Myers or Coral Springs faces different risk factors than inland homes in Orlando. As such, your home insurance should be quite different.

Do you live along the ocean? You need special insurance for your home. However, this also includes homes a few miles inland, because they face the some of the same risks like high winds and flooding. In fact, if a hurricane were to hit South Florida, storm surge could come in a long ways.

Not just houses need this kind of insurance. Other homes like condos and vacation homes also require this special protection.

When you insure a home on the Florida coast you need basic coverage like liability insurance. This ensures you are protected from lawsuits resulting from injuries on your property. Also, check with your insurer to see if you have coverage for dog bites, if you own a dog. You'll also need:

• Hazard insurance - protects you from a number of natural hazards that can occur to your house or property. It may also include damages from fire and theft.
  
• Flood insurance - homes on the coast in areas like Naples and Fort Lauderdale can become flooded from heavy rains associated with tropical storms and hurricanes. You also may have to deal with flooding due to storm surge. Although this coverage can be expensive it is essential.
  
• House contents - your policy should include the contents of your house, like furniture, flooring, and cabinets.
  
• Outbuildings - this will cover sheds, detached garages, workshops, gazebos, and other outdoor structures.

You may have many different options to explore and an experienced insurance specialist is there to show you all available options like:

• Additional flood coverage - if you are using the state run insurance company for flood insurance, you should be aware of its limitations. For instance, the maximum coverage for your house is $250K and contents are limited to $100K. If your home is worth much more than that, you need extra coverage or you could suffer major losses.
  
• Replacement cost coverage - this will pay to replace your home as opposed to paying the current market value.
  
• All hazard insurance - this is better than named hazard coverage because it is more extensive. It will cover everything unless it is mentioned in your policy.
  
• Additional liability protection - you may need more than a standard liability policy and you can add extra coverage to be safe.
  
• Hurricane deductible options - you may want to raise your hurricane deductible amount to save money
  
• Discounts with a wind mitigation inspection
  
• Disappearing deductibles

If you want to make sure you have the right coverage, come to Galt Insurance Group. Our agents are independent, which means they do not serve only one insurance company. Your independent agent works for you and helps you find the perfect coverage for your home.

Coastal homes have special needs when it comes to insurance and your independent agent is an insurance specialist, who is very familiar with all the risks you face. We can find you an affordable policy because we have several insurance companies to check with.

If your coastal home insurance is insufficient you and your family could be at risk, and you might never know until it is too late. To contact Galt Insurance Group today for a free quote, fill out the form below. You also may call our toll free number 1-844-BUY-GALT for more details.