Re-Evaluating Your Auto & Home Insurance (Part I): Home Coverage

While it’s possible to amend your home and/or auto insurance coverage as needed, the best time to re-evaluate these policies is one to two months before your annual renewal. But many policyholders aren’t in the habit of performing this essential task at all, which means they could be dangerously under-insured in some ways and wastefully over-insured in others. Let’s take a look at important considerations in re-evaluating your coverage, starting with your home insurance in Austin, Texas.

If you’ve lived in Austin for a while, you may know that median Austin home prices rose to an all-time high in 2016. If your home were destroyed and you had to rebuild it from scratch, would the amount it’s currently insured cover the costs for the same size and quality of home at today’s Austin prices? Have you built additional rooms, added a pool or made other modifications that boosted your home’s value even more? Re-evaluating your coverage is critical if you want to avoid being forcibly “downsized” in the wake of a disaster.

Have you acquired valuable personal possessions since you last updated your home insurance coverage? If so, bear in mind that a standard replacement cost policy pays a relatively paltry coverage level for each category of items (jewelry, firearms, furnishings et cetera). You’d be well advised to purchase additional coverage so you can afford to replace these high-dollar belongings. On the other hand, if you just auctioned off your entire rare coin collection, maybe you no longer need the extended coverage you originally purchased to replace the value of that collection.

These are just a few of the many sound reasons to review your home insurance coverage once a year. If your coverage is due (or overdue) for a checkup, contact Brown Insurance Group in Austin, Texas, and let’s take a look at it!