Home Changes That Need Reported To Your Homeowners Insurance Company

Changes to your home could mean changes to your homeowners insurance policy. Before you begin making changes to your home, it is important that you talk with your insurance agent. You may decide that the changes to your policy are not worth the changes to your home.

Here, you will learn about a few changes that could have an impact on your homeowners insurance.

Renting Out your Home

Your homeowners insurance policy will likely be terminated if you decide to rent out your home. If you are not the primary resident of the home and it burns to the ground while you are renting it out, the insurance company will not cover the claim.

Talk with your insurance provider about transferring your homeowners insurance claim to a policy that covers rental properties. You can actually save on the cost of the insurance by dropping the coverage to include structure-only coverage. This means that the contents of the home will not be covered, but that the house itself will be. This lowers the payout of the insurance company if the house is a total loss, so the rates of the policy will lower as well.

Construction Projects

Home construction can increase the risk of damage to the home. Instead of relying solely on the insurance of the contractor you have hired, you can protect your investment by adding a builder's risk policy to the account. This add-on will protect your home against accidents that could happen during construction, whether it is being done by a contractor or by you and some friends.

If the construction project is increasing the value of your home, you should also increase the amount of coverage that your insurance provides. Increasing the value of your home effects the cost of rebuilding after a disaster, so you should have the additional coverage.

Fireplace or Wood Burning Stove Addition

Adding a fireplace or wood burning stove can increase your insurance rates, but failing to report the addition of one of these elements to your insurance provider can cost you the payment of a claim for damage that has been caused. Always fully disclose the addition so that the insurance company will cover any fire damage that could be caused.

Also, talk with your homeowners insurance company about any discounts that you could receive for certain installation techniques. You could get a discount for having the chimney lined, the wood burning stove placed and surrounded by fire-proof materials, and having it all professionally installed.

Talk with your homeowners insurance agent about making changes to your home. The cost of your insurance may go up, or it may go down, but you will have the protection that your insurance is meant to provide. To learn more, or ask other questions, contact a company like Sean Hiller Allstate with your concerns.