Your home is likely your largest investment, let’s be sure you adequately protect it.
Homeowner’s insurance covers losses and damages to your home and belongings and protects your assets from any liability claims. It is especially important to make sure you have the right type—and amount—of coverage.
A good time for review accuracy of coverage is during renewal. Your homeowner’s insurance renews annually; about 45 days prior to the policy end term, your insurance company should send you a renewal notice.
This window is an opportunity for you to review 3 important areas:
- Rates
- Coverage Needs
- Life Changes
Rates
First, check to see if the new policy premium has increased over the last year. Typical reasons for increases include:
- Your overall coverage amount went up. Since dwelling coverage is based on the rebuild value of your home, and let’s face it, rebuild costs don’t usually go down year over year, there’s a chance your rates increased because your dwelling coverage limit was adjusted for inflation.
- You have an older home, which usually costs more to rebuild than newer homes.
- Your credit score went down. Many companies use insurance scoring that factors in your credit score. A lower insurance score can affect eligibility and pricing.
- Claim history. If you recently filed a claim or have a long history of frequent filing, that could cause your rates to increase.
Coverage Needs
Take a moment to review your existing coverage. Have you finished any additions or improvements to your home, made major purchases, or completed renovations that would change the value of your house?
Life Changes
Have you experienced any lifestyle changes like additional household drivers, home businesses, retirement, or children moving away to college? These situations can impact your coverage needs.
It is important to review the current coverage to ensure it still aligns with your needs.
Key Takeaways regarding renewals:
- Evaluate deductibles to align with your comfort level of risk retention.
Make sure any high-value items are scheduled and appraised every 3-5 years to account for natural market fluctuations. - Ensure all household operators are listed as drivers on auto and umbrella policies. If you have children in college, are they away without a vehicle and/or would they qualify as a “good student”?
- Have there been any renovations or updates that may have increased the value of the home?
- Are all the appropriate protection credits being applied to your home; alarms, generators, water leak detection systems, etc.
If you see your policy premium has increased by more than 10%, call an Avery Agent to review conditions, claim history, and current coverage. We will help you compare options from multiple insurance companies and advocate for your unique situation.
Call today!
