Top 4 Mistakes to Avoid When Buying a Homeowners Insurance Policy
Buying homeowners insurance for the first time (or even the 10th time) can be confusing. Unfortunately, it is very important that you get it right as homeowners insurance can be a financial lifesaver if your home is severely damaged or destroyed by a covered peril. If this is your first time buying homeowners insurance or you just need a short refresher, here are four mistake to avoid when buying a homeowners insurance policy.
Being Underinsured
It never pays to purchase the minimum amount of coverage that your mortgage lender requires. This is particularly important now as inflation, supply chain issues and a nationwide labor shortage have pushed up the cost of repairs and rebuilding across the country.
Be sure that your policy is a replacement value policy and not an actual cash value one that takes deprecation into account when determining a claim value for your home and possessions. If you carry the minimum amount of coverage you could end up on the hook for a major portion of your rebuilding costs.
Consider adding extended replacement cost coverage to your policy which is an endorsement that extends your dwelling coverage by 10% to 50% of the cost to rebuild your home. This ensures you will have enough coverage to rebuild your home even if building costs have gone up.
Not Shopping Your Coverage
Insurance companies rate risk differently which can result in dramatic differences in premium quotes. Shop at least five insurance companies and make sure you are comparing apples to apples when it comes to deductibles and coverage levels. Going with the first insurance company you call will almost always result in overpaying for your coverage. At HomeInsuranceKing.com we shop and review up to 12 carriers and coverage options for you, let us help you review multiple home insurance options, compare homeowners insurance quotes today!
Leaving Discounts on the Table
Insurers offer a wide variety of discounts which can dramatically lower your insurance costs, so it is important to make sure all available discounts that you qualify for are being applied to your policy. Bundling your homeowners insurance with your auto insurance can result in a major discount as can installing a monitored alarm system.
You can also receive discounts for being claim free, a long-term customer, replacing your roof with wind or hail resistant materials, and if you live in a gated community. Check with your insurer to make sure that all available discounts are being applied to your policy.
While bundling is usually the most cost-effective strategy, there can be times when it actually cheaper to keep your coverage with two different insurers so always explore all of your options when it comes to insurance coverage.
Not Understanding Your Coverage
Unfortunately, many new homeowners don’t fully understand what is covered and more importantly, what is excluded from coverage.
A standard homeowners policy will almost always exclude damage caused by floods or earthquakes. If you live in an area that is prone to either one of these perils, you will need to carry a separate flood or earthquake policy to be fully covered.
Another area of confusion can be coverage for expensive personal property. High end jewelry, artwork, electronics and even collectibles can have a coverage cap of around $1,500 so if you have high value items you may need to add additional coverages to your policy to fully protect your property.