If you've ever opened your homeowners policy, found a line that says "Coverage A — Dwelling," and wondered what exactly that number is doing there, you're in the right place. Dwelling Compass is a small reference site about one corner of home insurance: the dwelling coverage that sits at the top of nearly every homeowners policy, what it applies to, how the amount gets set, and how it relates to the rest of the policy.
The quickest way to get oriented is the coverage-at-a-glance table on this page. It lays out the six standard parts of a homeowners policy — Coverage A through Coverage F — side by side, so you can see in one look what belongs to the dwelling, what belongs to your stuff, and what belongs to liability.
From there, the guides answer the questions people actually ask: what dwelling coverage is, what counts as the dwelling in the first place, how the coverage amount is determined, and what vacant dwelling coverage means when nobody's living in the house.
Everything here is reference material, written the way a well-informed neighbor would explain it — plainly, without a sales pitch. Your own policy's language always controls, and decisions about your coverage belong in a conversation with a licensed agent. Our job is to make sure you walk into that conversation already knowing what the words mean.