The Dangers of Underinsuring Your Home

You borrowed or saved and bought a home; that’s a great achievement. But one thing you must understand is that owning a home comes with other responsibilities, one of which is homeowners insurance. Though not mandatory, having homeowners insurance is for your benefit. For example, it is required for a mortgage and can also protect you against financial loss if your home gets damaged or broken into. To benefit fully from home insurance, you need to ensure all the items in your home because underinsuring a home can have adverse consequences.

Avoid Cheap Insurance Policies

There is great danger in choosing cheap insurance policies over your home value.

While choosing cheap insurance policies is tempting, there is great danger in choosing price over your home value. This is because a home insurance policy has what’s known as a coinsurance clause which allows your insurance provider to apply a penalty on the uninsured items. The coinsurance clause ensures you insure your property at its appropriate value and that the insurer gets a fair premium for the risks you’ve insured against. That explains why you need to disclose everything to your insurance agent.

Other Consequences of Underinsuring Home

As already mentioned, cheap insurance policies aren’t adequate. You may enjoy paying a lower premium now, but you’ll have to bear much of the repair costs when a calamity strikes because your insurance company will only take care of the items you disclosed to the agent. Furthermore, if the damages are extensive, you may lose your home if you can’t afford the repair costs. So, before going for home insurance, have your home evaluated to provide the insurance company with the correct information. And if you make any updates or changes to your home, let your insurance broker know about them.

Getting your home insured at its correct value will give you peace of mind because should anything happen, the insurance company will bear the cost. Contact Prince Insurance if you aren’t sure about anything concerning underinsuring your home.