When people buy a home, they usually get insurance from a title company, as well as traditional home insurance. Title policies insure against completely different things than traditional homeowner’s policies.
Loss or damage to the home itself, any other structures on the property, personal contents of the home and third-party liabilities are covered by the traditional home insurance. Title policies, however, insure against the ownership itself. People get title insurance to ensure their definitive ownership of the home and property. A title company can guarantee that the homeowner has a marketable title to their property, and most lenders actually require title insurance.
A title insurance company stars their service to the homeowner by conducting a search to find out if there are any liens, encumbrances or defects present on the title before the buyer can obtain the loan. After obtaining the title insurance coverage, buyers can rest assured that they have a marketable title to their property as soon as the purchase goes through. Any liens, encumbrances and other defects to the title that occur during ownership are not covered, though – those are up to the homeowner to figure out.