When your homeowner's insurance policy expires at the end of the year, most insurance companies will just send you a reminder to renew it. Many insurance companies will also automatically renew your policy unless you call and tell them you want to change or cancel it. This makes it easy for many homeowners to just start sending in the next set of payments for another year without reviewing the policy to make sure it fits their needs for the year.
There are many reasons to look over your home insurance policy every year to make sure it still meets your needs. For example, you may have added a deck to the back of the house, turned it into a rental property, or found out that flooding is a problem in your area.
Even if you just started a new home insurance policy, you should look over it as soon as you get it to make sure it has the right amount of coverage and meets the coverage needs you asked for. Don't forget that this policy will last for a whole year and will probably cost between $300 and $2,000, so make sure you get what you want.
If you asked for personal liability of others in the amount of $100,000 but the policy only shows $50,000, don't be afraid to call the insurance agent back to get this fixed. The problem can be easily fixed by making a new policy or making a change to an old one.
When your current policy's year is up and you're about to renew it, it's always a good idea to call your insurance agent and ask if the replacement cost value of your home or anything in it has gone up.
Keep in mind that the financial market is still going up, which means that the costs of building and replacing tools will also go up. It's okay to call and ask if your policy needs to be changed.
It's important to let the insurance company know about any changes you've made to your home in the last year, like replacing countertops or flooring or adding a deck. This keeps you from being underinsured if you get hurt or lose something.
If you bought a big piece of personal property, you should also talk to your insurance company about changing the amount of coverage on your interior items. This could be a big piece of electronics like an LCD TV, a personal computer or laptop, a piece of expensive jewellery or a fur coat, or even new furniture or a piece of art.
It's also important to look over your insurance policy every year to make sure you have enough coverage for risks and liability. Even though some basic plans cover certain types of natural disasters and others cover personal liability, if you live in an area with a high risk of flooding, hurricanes, or tornadoes, you may want to add on specific insurance clauses for those events.
If you started a plan with little or no hurricane insurance but then found out that your area was hit by major hurricanes the year before, you might want to change how much coverage you have. Also, some policies don't require homeowners to have personal liability insurance, but it's a good idea to do so if you plan to have a lot of people over.
This could be a babysitter or a person who works in construction who is remodelling a kitchen or bathroom. You may also want to change your rules if your kids are getting older and starting to invite friends over to play in the yard or spend the night. Personal liability insurance will pay for any accidents that happen in your home while other people are there.
One last reason to look over your insurance policy every year is to see if you can get any discounts or price quotes that are lower. When you bought the house, it might not have had a security system, fire sprinklers, or smoke and carbon monoxide detectors that were up to date.
But if you installed this equipment in the last year, you should call your insurance company to see if you can get a discount because of it. You might also be eligible for a discount if you started getting car insurance from the same company, turned a certain age, or joined a club or organisation that the insurance company regularly gives discounts to.
