Making Your Homeowners Insurance Easier

Feb 13, 2019, 4:18 PM

Even though “The Golden Girls” has been off the air for decades, it’s still popular today. In the classic TV sitcom, widow Blanche Devereaux lives with three women: Rose Nylund, Dorothy Zbornak, and Sophia Petrillo. Sophia is Dorothy’s mother, but the others are just friends. You can probably find reruns on TV somewhere right now, but what’s most important isn’t the jokes or the acting. It’s the situation: non-related people living together. If Blanche had a Hastings Mutual Homeowners policy, Rose, Dorothy, or Sophia could be covered by her insurance.

That is, if she has Other Members of Your Household non-premium endorsements — one for each of them. While a Homeowners policy applies to family, the endorsement is for others who live with you. It’s designed for a situation where two unmarried or unrelated people live together and want coverage under one policy.

A Homeowners policy covers:

• You
• Your spouse
• Your parents
• Your children
• All other relatives
• It also covers someone under the age of 21 who’s in the (legal) care of any person named on the policy

An Other Members of Your Household endorsement is for non-relatives. One example is a boyfriend and girlfriend who live together, while their house or apartment is in just one of their names. Without this endorsement, the boyfriend or girlfriend has to get their own insurance policy while living in the same residence. Could a boyfriend and girlfriend have two separate policies? Sure, but managing two policies when there could just be one makes things more complicated, with no obvious benefit.

At the same time, the Other Members of Your Household endorsement is not for everyone under your roof. It doesn’t apply to people who are guests, “residence employees,” tenants, roomers, boarders, or “home-sharing occupants.” It’s for someone who is a long-term resident along with you, just like Blanche, Rose, Dorothy, and Sophia.

If the Other Members of Your Household endorsement sounds right for you, talk with your local independent insurance agent (you can find a list here).