Do You Need to Update Your Homeowners Insurance?
If you’re like most homeowners, once you purchased your home, you didn’t think too much about the insurance policy or coverage after that point. It is common practice for homeowners to not review their policy on a regular basis, so don’t fret, you are not alone. But that doesn’t mean you can’t start doing it now and we can give you some pretty good reasons why you should as well.
We don’t know the exact reasons why people forego updating their policy, but we can tell you that if you don’t update with regard to changes to your home, it could affect or even cancel the policy. It’s important to make sure your home is covered by your insurance in any case possible, and keeping the policy up to date with improvements or expensive new items, can save you in the long run even if it might take some time to update it.
It’s a good idea to review your policy in detail with your agent at least once a year to make sure the damages that would cost you the most are being insured properly. If you decide you want to add a bedroom or remodel the kitchen, make sure you are getting in contact with your agent to discuss these changes and how they will affect your policy.
The most popular type of coverage is called guarantee replacement cost. This policy covers you in the event that you need to rebuild your home and will typically give you some leeway with the value of the home, if it happens to cost more to rebuild the home than when it was originally built.
A big reason to review your policy is to make sure your home is insured for the correct value. The housing market shifts and that means the value of the home will too depending on the other properties in the area and many other variables that your agent can discuss with you when estimating the value.
One of the major issues that homeowners deal with is water damage, and they are surprised to find out that their policy doesn’t cover those damages. If you live in an area when flooding tends to be an issue, make sure to discuss this with your agent so they can get you the proper coverage for your home for all possible scenarios.
When you are reviewing your policy, make sure you are clear on all the details before signing anything. If there’s a specific detail or circumstance that doesn’t have a clear cut outcome, make sure to discuss that with your agent so they can verify with the company that they are providing you the proper explanation for whatever the claim entails.
Give Us a Call
If it’s been a couple years since you looked at your homeowners insurance policy, now might be a good time to give it a review, and make sure everything is up to date. We would be happy to discuss your policy or any other insurance questions with you, so feel free to reach out today!