Often referred to as hazard insurance by attorneys and real estate agents, a dwelling fire insurance policy provides protection for damage to your house and contents that result from fire, lightning, smoke, windstorm, vandalism and other named perils. If your house is less than 20 years old the policy will be written on a DP-2 Form. The DP-2 Form provides replacement cost protection on your house. Your contents coverage is written on an actual cash value basis. This means if you have a loss on contents, the loss will be adjusted using depreciation. If your house is more than 20 years old and the roofing, wiring, heating and plumbing have been updated, you may be eligible for replacement cost coverage. The majority of these policies are written by the North Carolina Insurance Underwriting Association (Beach Plan).

Floods can occur anytime and anywhere ... and the Outer Banks is vulnerable for many reasons. Losses from flooding are not covered by a dwelling fire or homeowners policy. You can, however, purchase a flood insurance policy to protect you from losses to your house and contents caused by flood.

Liability coverage protects you when someone is injured on your property. This coverage is not included in the dwelling fire policy. You may be able to add this coverage to your homeowners policy or purchase a separate liability policy that we can provide for you.

Coverage for theft is not covered in the dwelling fire insurance policy. You can purchase up to $10,000 of coverage for theft. It is inexpensive but there are protective device requirements. In order for a claim to be covered there must be signs of forceable entry.