Illinois Homeowners Insurance

Whether you’ve just put roots down near the Mississippi River or have been living in your Chicago suburb for many years, you do what you can to protect the place you call home. That includes having the best homeowners insurance in Illinois.

At American Family Insurance, we’ll help protect your home and everything in it from unexpected events like theft, fire, natural disasters and so much more. When you work with our dedicated expert agents, they’ll help build you a policy customized to fit your unique needs. They’ll be there to answer all your questions, ensure you’re getting the discounts you deserve and provide service you can count on.

Having the right homeowners coverage in place is key to recovering from the unexpected. Here are some common events a homeowners policy in Illinois covers:

• Fire
• Falling objects
• Frozen interior plumbing
• Hail
• Lightning
• Smoke
• Theft
• Vandalism
• Water damage from plumbing, heating or cooling system
• Weight of ice, snow or sleet
• Wildfires
• Windstorm/Tornado

Finding the best coverage to protect your home starts with understanding your options. Here are some common coverages to get familiar with:

Coverage A: Dwelling

Pays to rebuild or repair your home.

Coverage B: Other Structures

Pays for damage to other, detached structures on your property such as garages, gazebos, sheds and fences.

Coverage C: Personal Property

Covers your personal belongings, including furniture, clothing and appliances, if they are stolen, damaged or destroyed.

Coverage D: Loss of Use

Pays for additional living expenses if your home is uninhabitable due to a covered loss.

Coverage E: Personal Liability

Protects you against financial loss if you are sued and found legally responsible for someone else’s injury or property damage.

Coverage F: Medical Expense

Covers medical payments to others, injured on or off your property, regardless of your legal responsibility.

Optional Coverages for Illinois

We also offer a variety of optional coverages you can purchase to better protect your home — often at an affordable price. For instance, if you live in Illinois you might want to consider adding coverage for the following.

Illinois Home Insurance for Flooding

Your standard homeowners policy doesn’t cover damage to the structure of your home or your personal property if damaged by flooding. American Family offers flood insurance from the National Flood Insurance Program. This coverage will protect your home and its foundation, your personal belongings and everything else that makes your house a home. Whether you live in a flood zone or not, it’s a good idea to have this coverage.

Sump Pump Failure and Water Backup Coverage

Illinois experiences all four seasons, meaning lots of rainfall in the spring and summer and plenty of snowfall in the winter. And all that water can cause some unexpected damage. While your homeowners policy typically covers certain types of water damage, you’re only covered if the damage is sudden or unexpected — and it’s only up to a certain limit. Adding sump pump failure and water backup coverage should be a no-brainer, since you’ll not only have coverage for more types of damage but higher coverage limits as well.

Illinois Home Insurance for Matching Vinyl or Metal Siding Coverage

Whether denting the metal siding or blowing the siding right off your home, wind and hail damage is common in Illinois and can cause severe damage to your home. While your homeowners insurance replaces siding damage from specific types of losses, it only covers the parts of your home that are damaged — which can be a bigger deal than you’d think. Particularly if your original siding was discontinued by the siding manufacturer.

Here’s how matching vinyl or metal siding coverage works: Your homeowners policy will begin by covering the cost of replacing the damaged sections. And then if you have undamaged siding coverage, it’ll reimburse you for up to $20,000 of the costs for replacing the remaining undamaged siding so everything matches.

Illinois Home Insurance for Earthquakes

Even though the seismic hazard is low, people with homes in Illinois should consider adding earthquake coverage, since damage from earthquakes isn’t covered by your homeowners policy.

Properly Protect Your Personal Property

Scheduled personal property coverage, or itemized personal property, is an optional coverage you can add to your homeowners policy that not only provides higher levels of coverage for your higher valued items, but also provides protection against a great number of risks than listed on your policy.

While your homeowners insurance policy provides coverage for your personal property, it’s important to understand there are limits to certain types of belongings. For example, jewelry has a limit of $2,000 for all your jewelry. If the total value of your jewelry is above that amount you may want to itemize your individual jewelry items. Other common personal items that people itemize include collectibles, cameras, art, bicycles, golf equipment and musical instruments.

Ensure that your personal property is properly covered by creating a room by room inventory. Then connect with your agent to discuss what categories you might want to itemize.

Find Your Local Agent Today

Our agents understand there’s more to insurance than just a policy. They’ll be by your side through it all as trusted, caring advisors — helping you gain confidence in your coverage.

Ready to find an agent near you? We have expert agents throughout Illinois who are ready to guide you to find the best coverage for your home. Find your agent today.