Answers to Your 5 Most Common Home Insurance Questions
As a homeowner, you likely have tons of home insurance questions. Sometimes your policy doesn’t always make sense, especially when you’re getting insurance for the first time.
Whether you’re buying a home for the first time, or looking to switch insurance companies, it’s important to fully understand what you need.
Our team at Duliban Insurance Brokers receives many questions on a regular basis from our concerned customers. We want to make sure that everyone understands what they’re signing up for, and as your broker, we’re on your side.
These are the 5 most common questions we get as local insurance brokers. If you have more questions, our lines are always open to you, so contact us for more information.
1. I Have a Septic Tank, so why do I Need Sewer Backup Coverage?
Sewer backup coverage is the short form name used by insurance companies to describe coverage for sewer, septic, sump pump, and drain backup. It is important for everyone, especially if you live in a higher risk area.
Even if your house isn’t hooked up to a sewer system, you’re still at risk for flooding and possible system malfunction, so always be prepared.
There are many different types of water damage that could happen to your home, and your septic tank won’t always protect you against them. Floods can happen unexpectedly, and you might not think it’s important to have sewer backup coverage until it’s too late.
2. I’ve Been With my Company for a Long Time and Have Never Filed a Claim. Why is my Home Insurance Premium Always Increasing?
Many factors affect your home insurance premium, not just how many claims you’ve made in the past or how long you’ve been a loyal customer.
A large part of this is due to extreme weather conditions and your location. If you live in a high-risk area, your premium will increase.
Since the 1980s, insurance payouts from extreme weather damage have doubled every 5 years. These extreme conditions have begun to happen more often in the last few decades, which makes insurance premiums go up.
In addition, the cost of home repairs and materials are increasing with the current economy. This also affects your insurance policy. For example, the average home has a high-definition television and newer homes are made of different materials than older homes.
3. Why is my Detached Structures and Personal Contents Insurance Coverage so High When I Don’t Even own That Much?
Detached structures and personal contents insurance is part of every home insurance policy. It generally comes standard, regardless of whether you own a detached structure or not.
It also depends on the structures you’re talking about.
When you think of detached structures, you might be thinking about garages. But the reality is that this term can be applied to many different things, like sheds and pool houses. The cost of these coverages is based off of the value of your home.
Personal contents insurance is tricky, because you might not realize how much your personal belongings are worth.
If you have concerns about your home insurance premium, talk to your local insurance broker. They will go over your policy with you and make sure that you understand what you’re paying for.
4. Why is my Home Replacement Cost so Much Higher Than I Would Ever get if I Sold it?
Your home insurance premium is based on how much it would cost to replace your house, not how much it would sell for on the market. And while the housing markets change, especially in Ontario, the cost of rebuilding your home doesn’t work the same way.
Housing markets are based on a lot of factors, but a lot of the selling price of your home has to do with location, proximity to neighbours, amount of land, and its age.
Sometimes, the renovation projects you do can increase your home replacement cost, depending on what materials you use. Certain materials are more valuable than others, which means they are more expensive to replace.
Additionally, some of the features of your home wouldn’t necessarily drive up the selling price of your home, but would still cost money to replace. For example, a porch would be costly to replace but isn’t a big factor when it comes to resale value.
5. Why Does it Matter When I Update my Roof, Heating, Electrical, or Plumbing?
When you update your roof, heating, electrical, plumbing, or any other household services, you need to let your insurance company know. In many cases, this could actually lower your home insurance premiums.
The more updated these services are, the more your home is up to the newest codes. If they are outdated, they pose a higher risk of causing fires or other household emergencies that could require you to make a claim.
Upgrades can change the value of your home, which makes a difference on your home insurance policy. It can change your policy classification as well, depending on what those upgrades are.
Renovations or remodeling projects in your home can also affect your home insurance policy. That’s because this alters your home, and sometimes it can change the size, which means your policy is now covering a larger building.
Your Local Insurance Broker at Duliban Can Answer all of Your Questions
At Duliban Insurance Brokers, our team of friendly hometown brokers are ready to assist you with any questions you may have.
We’ll compare home insurance quotes across the 18 different companies we work with to find the best deal for you. As a broker, we don’t work for the insurance companies- we work for you, so you can trust us to take the best care of you.
Trust Duliban as your hometown broker and you’ll be in touch with someone who will treat you like their own family. We’ll find you the best home insurance policy at the most affordable price.
Get your free home insurance quote now to get in touch with one of our brokers. We’re waiting to help you now!
