Property insurance is a broad term for a set of policies that protect property owners from most risks to property, such as fire, theft, and some weather damage. As a result, property insurance can cover a variety of policies, including homeowners insurance, renters insurance, flood insurance, and earthquake insurance. Property insurance compensates the owner or renter of a structure and its contents in the event of damage or theft, as well as a person other than the owner or renter who is injured on the property. There are two types of property insurance: open perils and named perils. Open perils cover all causes of loss that are not expressly excluded in the policy. Named perils necessitate the inclusion of the actual cause of loss in the policy in order for insurance to be provided.

Replacement cost, actual cash value, and extended replacement costs are the three types of property insurance coverage. Replacement cost coverage pays the cost of repairing or replacing property. Premiums for this type of coverage are calculated using replacement cost values rather than actual cash value. Actual cash value coverage pays for the cost of replacement minus depreciation. Extended replacement costs will pay more than the coverage limit if the costs for construction have gone up; however, this usually won't exceed 25% of the limit.