Am I required to have homeowner's insurance?

Am I required to have homeowner's insurance?

Sam Friedman (Editor-in-Chief, National Underwriter, Property & Casualty Edition) gives expert video advice on: What does homeowner's insurance cover?; Am I required to have homeowner's insurance?; What does home insurance property protection cover? and more...

There's no law that I'm aware of that says a person has to have homeowner's insurance. However, when you apply for a mortgage, most banks will require you to have homeowner's insurance. This is because the bank is making the mortgage using the home itself as the collateral. So if you were to default on your mortgage, they can always resell the property. However, if you do not insure the property, and let's say that it's destroyed in a fire, you have no insurance and can't afford to rebuild it, the bank has lost its collateral. So quite frequently, as a term of getting the mortgage granted to you, you will be required to show proof of insurance.