House Renovation
When you plan a home renovation, you may have plans for designing a new floor or picking up paint colors. Although having a detailed insurance conversation with your home insurance carrier may not be one of your plans. But be advised, it should not be overlooked. A renovation can affect the value of your home and the liability issues. Anything which changes the structure of your house will bring changes to the policy. At times, house improvements, which add to your home’s value may render your home coverage inadequate and make you vulnerable to losses.
Increasing the Coverage
After a renovation in all likelihoods, the premium of your home insurance will go up because your home is worth more now. You will need more insurance to cover the new value of your home, if you do not increase the coverage, you may end up paying for the damages that may occur in the future, when you make a claim. When you have plans to remodel your home, ensure that your coverage is adequate to cover all the intended changes in the house.
Factors Influencing the Coverage
The best way to know what is covered and what is not is to contact the home insurance provider. The coverage mostly depends on the age of the roof, the area you live in, and several other factors. Sometimes, you may need to grow your home to accommodate an expanding family. This can mean adding more livable square footage, which did not exist before. In such cases, your home insurance will have to be altered to account for the value of the new space. You must let the insurer know about the addition, even before you make the addition.
The same holds true for kitchen and bathroom remodeling. Giving your home a better facelift with a kitchen or bathroom makeover means that you’ll need to get home insurance reassessed too. When you plan a renovation, your existing coverage may not be sufficient. You should not only call the insurer about the renovation, but also provide him with the photos and records to validate the changes you have brought.
Talk to Your Agent
Before you undertake a home renovation, make sure that you talk to your agent. The agent will be able to figure out exactly how much additional coverage you will need. Additionally, he/she will be able to work out a figure of how much liability coverage you will need during the construction process. If you hire a person from outside for the renovations, make sure the contractor has adequate information about your home insurance before the work begins.
Most Policies Provide Replacement Cost of Valuables
A home reflects the personalities of the home owners, when it is decorated with love and care. All the decorations have both monetary and sentimental value. These may include expensive appliances, furniture, and other valuables. When your home and the content is insured, a home insurance policy will provide you the value after depreciation and the replacement cost (which is the actual price) of the valuables.
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Key Takeaways
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Home insurance coverage must take improvements into account
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After remodeling, the value of your home will go up
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Home insurance will go up, as value of your home increases
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Necessary to find out factors on which coverage depends
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Speak to your agent before remodeling
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Provide him with photos that validate the change
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Ensure that the contractors you hire are insured
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Policy you opt for must provide replacement cost of valuables
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Written By: PolicyBazaar - Updated: 30 September 2021
