What standard policies cover

There are several types of residential insurance policies. The HO-4 policy is designed for renters, while the HO-6 policy is for condo owners. Both HO-4 and HO-6 cover losses to your personal property from 16 types of perils:

* Fire or lightning
* Windstorm or hail
* Explosion
* Riot or civil commotion
* Damage caused by aircraft
* Damage caused by vehicles
* Smoke
* Vandalism or malicious mischief
* Theft
* Volcanic eruption
* Falling objects
* Weight of ice, snow, or sleet
* Accidental discharge or overflow of water or steam from within a plumbing, heating, air conditioning, or automatic fire-protective sprinkler system, or from a household appliance
* Sudden and accidental tearing apart, cracking, burning, or bulging of a steam or hot water heating system, an air conditioning or automatic fire-protective system
* Freezing of a plumbing, heating, air conditioning or automatic, fire-protective sprinkler system, or of a household appliance
* Sudden and accidental damage from artificially generated electrical current (does not include loss to a tube, transistor or similar electronic component)

Floods and earthquakes aren't on the list. If you live in an area prone to either, you'll need to buy a separate policy or a rider. In some coastal regions, where hurricanes might pose a threat, you might also need to buy a separate rider to cover wind damage.