Get the Right Homeowner's Insurance For Your Region

From wild weather to intense droughts, a natural disaster can take its toll on your home. And if your home in New Mexico has insurance coverage best suited for a house in Ohio, environmental conditions can leave you unprotected.

Learn what to look for when buying homeowner's insurance to make sure you have the right coverage for your region.

Every year, extreme weather conditions across the country make national news. Whether it's a hurricane in the Gulf, snowstorms in the east or forest fires in the west, you can always count on Mother Nature to keep us on our toes.

To determine what type of insurance coverage your environment demands, ask yourself the following questions :

• Do weather conditions frequently damage homes in my community? If so, you will want to consider coverage for your dwelling or other structures like your garage, which protects you from damage caused by fire, wind and other unfortunate natural events.
• Could bad weather damage items inside my home? If this is a possibility, you should make sure your policy includes Personal Property Protection for your favorite items, including furniture and electronics.

Floods are the number one natural disaster in the United States. And even homes that are nowhere near a body of water are at risk for flood damage. In fact, nearly 25 percent of flood losses occur in low to moderate risk areas .Yet, many homeowners have insurance policies that don’t cover flooding.

Flood Insurance covers you from many water-related risks, such as:

• Overflow of inland or tidal waters;
• Unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source;
• Mudflow (a river of liquid and flowing mud on the surfaces of normally dry land areas); or
• Collapse or subsidence of land along the shore of a lake or similar body of water as a result of erosion or undermining caused by waves or currents of water exceeding anticipated cyclical levels that result in a flood as defined above.

You are eligible for flood insurance as long as your community participates in the National Flood Insurance Program. To find out if your community participates, visit the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Associations Community Status Book.

Moving to a new region of the country can be an exciting change. It may also mean a different weather profile. This can dramatically change the type of homeowner's insurance you will need. Allstate's Common & Costly Claims interactive tool, allows you to explore different insurance claims made in your area based on zip code. The tool also provides the average claim amount for these unfortunate events.

To learn more about how Allstate can protect where you hang your hat, get a fast, no-obligation quote online, agent near you or call us at 1-888-ALLSTATE.