What Does Title Insurance Cover?

August 28, 2025

Title insurance is one of the standard requirements that clients must fulfill before a closing. There's a reason why most Florida lenders ask for insurance before approval: its coverage protects their investment, on top of providing a welcome measure of security along the way.

Many unforeseen scenarios could cause problems later on if you haven't purchased the title insurance. Renters could unlawfully sell a property after pretending to be its rightful owner, lost heirs to a property or co-owners could appear out of the woodwork, or the seller may have purchased a house under an outdated will, making room to question the seller's rights to the property.

Any situation where someone else might have a stake in the house serves as an example of why title insurance is a good idea.

Understanding Title Insurance

Title insurance is meant to protect property owners and lenders from legal repercussions and financial loss. Title searches help rule out some of these issues in advance by identifying inaccuracies, but it still helps to have the right insurance policy in place as a form of long-term protection.

Basically, a property title represents ownership over a residential or commercial property. A title transfer happens once the old owner signs the property deed over to the buyer, passing along other guidelines and records to the new legal owner.

Title insurance protects you against risks that date back to previous owners.

What Does Title Insurance Cover?

Title insurance helps in many different scenarios, and this is important when we consider all the issues that might arise along the way. Here's a list of what's included in its coverage:

• Protection when a third party is revealed to have ownership rights over the property. For example, missing heirs who could claim ownership rights years after the purchase.


• A faulty title and/or flawed property records. This can include typos, missing information, inaccuracies, incorrect signatures, mistakes in filings, or more severe issues like forgery and identity theft.


• Errors in public records.


• Existing liens, generally caused by previous owners when they fail to pay for property taxes, utility bills, mortgages, contractor fees, and/or condominium charges.


• Encroachment issues.


• Other encumbrances or judgements against the property.

Keep in mind that there are two types of title insurance, and each provides a specific kind of protection. Lender's insurance only protects the institution lending the money to purchase a home. It doesn't provide any specific benefits to you as the buyer.

Meanwhile, owner's insurance protects the buyer by assuring that the property being purchased is free of any claims by any other party. If the new owner is affected by any of the issues outlined above, this type of insurance will cover the costs and protect the owner from any legal punishment.

How to Get Title Insurance

One of the most important services provided by title and escrow companies is the issuing of title insurance, with policies that are tailored to what the owner needs.

You can look for a title agency specifically for this purpose, but having its support throughout the entire real estate process can save you many headaches along the way. Companies like Key Title & Escrow will harness the latest technology to conduct title searches while also helping you secure title insurance with one of the state's best insurance providers.

To be clear on the distinction between these two tasks: The title search helps identify any issues that may arise with the sale of property. Title insurance is the insurance issued to protect you against those issues. Title insurance can also protect you from claims against the property that may not show up in the title search.

That's why we don't recommend stopping at the title search. The protection of title insurance can last as long as you are the property's legal owner, and its coverage can be passed along to potential heirs as long as they get the corresponding ownership rights.

Remember that you can always call (305) 235-4571 or toll-free at (800) 547-0006 to get high-quality assistance from Florida's top real estate experts. We can elaborate on all the nuances of title insurance and help you navigate all the other steps leading up to the closing. You can also use the contact form on this page to clear any doubts. Whatever you need to ensure a smooth real estate transaction, Key Title & Escrow is here to make it happen!