Homeowners insurance is an insurance policy which can cover the loss of one's home. This is not limited to the structure itself but can include possessions inside the house as well as accidents that may occur in the house. Homeowners insurance will usually not help in recovering losses from natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, hurricanes and "Acts of God". There are separate policies for those types of occurrences. The monetary cost for the policy is dependent upon how much the house is worth and the monetary values of the belongings inside the house are worth.
Like most insurances this policy is for a fixed period of time, like perpetual insurance. The insured individual would pay the premium which varies in size by such things as proximity to a fire station or other fire deterrents. Most homeowners borrow money to purchase their homes and these lenders require that homeowners insurance be purchased to obtain that loan.