Check your house insurance

Check your house insurance – does it still cover you?

It may be worth looking into the finer details of your house insurance; after all, you may find that a change to a new policy such as Castle Cover home and contents insurance may not only save you money, but could actually be necessary to get in order to make sure your home is protected at all.

That’s because it was recently reported in a nationwide survey carried out by Angie Hicks – founder of Angie’s List – that people weren’t checking their policies at all. In fact, the national poll of the website’s members discovered that many homeowners simply aren’t making sure they are still covered. In fact, close to one-third of those interviewed said they had not reviewed their policy in two years or more – a financially-suicidal move if they have had renovations, extensions or other itions made to their home.

If you don’t update your policy with these changes – or announce such things as electronics and jewelry, or even a new dog or alarm system – you could be harming or invalidating your policy, according to the report.

Commenting on the issue to the Indianapolis Star, Brian May of May Insurance and Financial Services Corporation said: “Most people don’t realize that they’re not covered for a stone falling out of their jewelry, or for water backing up into their basement or the main level of their home. Any time you make a major purchase, are building an addition or remodeling, you should call your agent. Some policies require the insured to notify the company to retain guaranteed replacement cost on the dwelling coverage.”

Meanwhile, Aaron Steffey of Steffey Insurance Agency in Indianapolis, also speaking to the newspaper, noted that neighborhoods will change with time and every year could see the base dwelling amount rising slowly or even markedly, effectively forcing people to change their cover with each year. It could work the other way too, Mr Steffey asserted, so you could be paying too much – overinsuring yourself in the process. “You (want) to run a new cost estimator to make sure your home is insured for the right value,” he added.

Make sure you check your own policy – you could find yourself saving money, or simply your possessions, if the worst eventually happens.