The whole process of buying a home is such a long and complicated process that it is no wonder that things like your buildings and contents insurance policy does not get the attention that it should. It is usually on the big list of things that have to get done before the closing, as it is a requirement for most mortgage holders. There is the tendency that, once things settle down, your homeowner's insurance becomes just another bill that you need to get paid each month and renew the same old policy each year that you had when you bought the property. However, now would be a good time to sit down with your agent and take a good hard look at what your policy covers, and even more important, what is not covered. It is time to make your buildings and contents insurance work for you.
Your home is the biggest investment you are likely to make, and considering the cost and the value that families place on their place of residence, it just makes sense to want to want the buildings, as well as what is inside them, to be covered adequately by insurance. The list of possible calamities that could happen to your property is long and impressive, but here are a few things: fire, flood, storm, lightening strike, falling trees, and tornados. Your need to file a claim could be for just something minor, or it could be a claim to have to rebuild or replace everything on your property from the ground up. You will certainly want to make sure that your policy covers the replacement cost of your house and the contents inside, and also any other structures on your property such as the garage, storage buildings, barns, tennis courts, swimming pools, and fences as well as the contents they hold.
The rebuild or replacement value of your buildings and their contents will change quite often, sometimes as much as several times a year. That is why a consistent schedule of checking your buildings and contents insurance policy is well worth the time invested to do so. It is possible to have an automatic adjustment for inflation included with the policy, which will definitely help keep things current, but even that is not a substitute for checking it and updating the policy yourself.
Current statistics in the insurance industry show that the average person who owns a home is insured for the value of the contents that is considerably less than the amount it would take to replace them. Under estimating the value of your buildings and their contents is the number one mistake homeowners are making these days. You must make sure that the amount of coverage you have is enough to actually rebuild or replace your home, surrounding structures and all the contents in the event that the need arise.
Now is the time to make sure you and your family are protected with the right coverage in your buildings and contents insurance policy, because once something happens it is too late. Plan your policy review and update into your long range planning and get it done at least once a year, or whenever you have a major change in value of contents or property. Do it now and be prepared because can save a lot of heartache, and money, and will put your buildings and contents insurance policy to work for you.