Property and Casualty Insurance

What is property and casualty insurance?

Property and casualty insurance refers to types of coverage that protect the things you own (like your home, car, and other belongings, or even your pets). These insurances also include liability coverage. This helps protect you if you’re found legally responsible for an accident that causes injuries to another person or damages to their property.

Types of P&C insurance are homeowners insurance, condo insurance, co-op insurance, HO4 insurance, liability insurance, pet insurance, and car insurance.

P&C insurance does not include other types of insurance coverage such as life insurance, health insurance, and fire insurance.

Let’s take a closer look at what you should know about property and casualty insurance.

What’s the difference between “property” and “casualty” insurance? 

Broadly speaking, property insurance refers to your personal belongings ie. stuff you own.  Casualty insurance, meanwhile, covers your legal responsibility for losses stemming from damage to another’s property or injury to another person. In homeowners and renters insurance, you’ll find this type of coverage in your liability coverage amounts of your policy.

Casualty insurance is a common insurance policy for small business owners since it protects a company from liabilities in the situation that a worker is hurt on company property. 

Types of property and casualty insurance

There are seven major categories of property and casualty insurance.

1. Homeowners insurance, which includes policies for single-family homes, condos, and co-ops, can help pay to repair damage to your home or your personal property in the aftermath of “perils” like fire, lightning, windstorms, hail, smoke, theft, and vandalism. That’s the “property” part of homeowners coverage. 
2. Renters insurance protects you and your personal property against covered perils, much like homeowners insurance. A key difference, however, is that because renters don’t own the places where they live, their property coverage doesn’t include their physical dwelling itself—that’s covered by landlord insurance. 
3. Standard homeowners and renters insurance policies include liability insurance to cover your legal liability for guests who are accidentally injured at your place, along with coverage for medical bills they might incur. This is the “casualty” part of a homeowners or renters policy.
4. Car insurance can cover physical damage to your car along with your liability in case your actions cause bodily injury or property damage to someone else.
5. Pet insurance helps cover your furry friends’ vet bills.
6. Flood insurance, which isn’t included with standard homeowners or renters policies, provides coverage for when your home or personal property are damaged or destroyed by floods. If you live in a flood-prone area, you’ll want to purchase a separate flood insurance policy.
7. Earthquake insurance reimburses you for damaged caused by earthquakes. Lemonade offers earthquake insurance for California policyholders. Just remember, a standard Lemonade homeowners insurance policy already covers losses caused by fires, explosions, theft, and other named perils in the aftermath of an earthquake.

Additionally, businesses rely on property and casualty insurance to protect business property against covered perils like vandalism, theft, and natural disasters. Businesses’ casualty coverage can help protect them from liabilities in case a worker is hurt on company property, and can help cover workers’ compensation expenses.

What does property and casualty insurance cover?

Depending on the type of insurance policy you hold, property insurance can be defined differently. For example, in a renters or homeowners insurance policy, your property is referred to as personal property. In the policy it’s referred to as Coverage C, and it applies to your stuff in the event of a covered loss. Homeowners policies also cover the cost of rebuilding your home of it’s destroyed by a covered loss.

Should your home become unlivable, your loss of use coverage will pay for extra expenses you incur while you’re staying away from home.

Finally, the “casualty” part of insurance can help cover your liability for others’ medical payments and legal fees if you’re sued by someone who gets injured on your property.

How much property and casualty insurance do I need?

The level of coverage you’ll need hinges on what type of policy you have and a range of factors unique to your individual circumstance.

If you’re a homeowner, for instance, you’ll want to make sure your reconstruction cost coverage is enough to rebuild your home. Homeowners and renters should select a personal property coverage amount that reflects the value of their personal belongings (furniture, clothes, keepsakes, and so on), and they may need to purchase Extra Coverage to protect especially valuable items, like jewelry, high-end art, bicycles, and more.

How much does property and casualty insurance cost?

What you’ll pay for property and casualty insurance depends on the specific policy you hold, where you live, your deductible, your claims history, larger economic trends, and more. That said, the average cost of a renters insurance policy in the U.S. is $15.50 per month, or $186 per year. Meanwhile, the average cost of a homeowners insurance policy is $140 per month, or $1,680 annually. 

Lemonade offers renters insurance starting as low as $5 per month and homeowners insurance starting at $25 monthly.

A few quick words, because we <3 our lawyers: This post is general in nature, and any statement in it doesn’t alter the terms, conditions, exclusions, or limitations of policies issued by Lemonade, which differ according to your state of residence. You’re encouraged to discuss your specific circumstances with your own professional advisors. The purpose of this post is merely to provide you with info and insights you can use to make such discussions more productive! Naturally, all comments by, or references to, third parties represent their own views, and Lemonade assumes no responsibility for them. Coverage and discounts may not be available in all states.