Home insurance coverage protects your personal possessions as well as the home itself.
How do you know if you still have enough coverage? Will you have difficulty if you need to make a claim? Here's one way to find out.
Usually, the amount of coverage for your possessions is a percentage of your total protection.
While this is often enough, if you've purchased or received some expensive items your coverage may need to be updated.
What's more, if you ever need to make a claim about a loss on an item, such as stolen jewelry, it helps to have a record.
That's where a home inventory comes in.
In fact, according to the Insurance Information Institute a home inventory is one of the best ways to get the most value out of your home insurance.
What you want to do is go around each room and take photos and make a list of the items and their value.
Then, keep a copy of the photos and list in a safe place outside of your home in case of a disaster.
A safety deposit box is a good place.
After you've estimated the total value of your possessions, check to make sure your policy limits of coverage are enough.
Talk to your agent or company representative if you're not sure.
You can easily increase your limits, or get additional coverage for specialty items such as jewelry.
This usually happens by scheduling items through a separate policy, or "floater.
" This can cost you more on your premium, but may also provide additional protections.
You may have to have jewelry appraised for this.
If your premium increases because of the extra coverage, you may want to do some quick comparison shopping.
You can easily go online to a comparison Web site, have your current policy handy, and enter the coverage information for comparison quotes.
Home insurance rates can vary between companies so this could save you some money.
Get at least three quotes for a good comparison.