Can I add or remove coverages in the middle of my policy?

Buying a new home is an incredibly exciting endeavor, but once you’ve begun this process, you’ll most likely find yourself asking a lot of questions like, “Will I be able to contact my home insurance company to add or remove coverages whenever I need to?” If you’re afraid that your policy will be set in stone once you’ve purchased it, don’t worry. You can reach out to your insurance company and update your policy whenever the need arises.

In this day and age, most insurance companies encourage clients to make necessary changes to their policies by calling into an all-hours customer service line or through the company’s website. So if you’re already online looking up the top ten family attractions in Florida, you can quickly remove or purchase additional coverage insurance while you’re at it.

Now, if you want affordable home insurance, add or remove coverages on quotes while you shop for the best policy to see how which insurance companies can get you the best rates. This may sound exhausting, but if you shop online you can accomplish this easily.

For example, if you request home insurance quotes online, add or remove coverages in real-time from a variety of free insurance quotes. This way you’ll have all the information you need to make the best choice for your coverage needs.

Enter your ZIP code to get free home insurance quotes and add or remove coverages so you can determine which one is the best for you.

How often should a home insurance policy be changed?

There are some weird laws in Florida, so whenever you experience a major life change, make sure that you set aside time to review your insurance policy, not only to make sure that you are still in keeping with Florida law but also to verify that your coverage limits still meet your needs.

But counts as a major life change? Well, if you are getting married, purchasing a new home, having a friend move in with you, starting a home business, or building an extension onto the pre-existing structure of your home, you’re going through a major change and should therefore review your policy.

You’ll need to take a look at your policy, because after experiencing such a change, your old coverage limits may no longer provide you with adequate protection. If you’re anxious to update your policy now, pause for a moment.

You should be sure that you understand the differences between the coverages that your policy contains, like additional coverages vs. coverage extensions, and what these coverages offer protect you from before you make any permanent decisions regarding your policy.

So what are additional coverages exactly, and what do they mean for you?

Well, if you have decided to add additional coverage to your policy, you will be able to turn to your insurance company for any indirect losses that you wouldn’t originally have been protected by your policy; however, with coverage extensions, you will have additional coverage to protect losses that would have been covered by your policy at a lower limit.

How much does home insurance cost per year?

No two homeowners will pay the same annual insurance rate as every policy is unique, but knowledge is power so knowing what you may pay for your insurance can help you better plan your budget. Below are the average annual rates offered by five major insurance companies for home insurance:

• United Property and Casualty – $1,359
• Allstate – $1,278
• Chubb – $1,272
• State Farm – $710
  
• Security First – $519

On average, homeowners pay about $1,028 per year for their insurance in Florida, but it’s important to remember that each homeowner is different and their insurance rates will reflect that. You may have know that your credit score has a bit impact insurance rates, but that alone doesn’t determine your annual rate.

Insurance companies require quite a bit more information about you in order to properly calculate a insurance rate that’s right for you. Let’s examine how insurance companies determine an applicant’s rates.

How Homeowner Insurance Rates Are Calculated

When you apply for an insurance policy, you will be put through your insurance company’s underwriting process. The underwriting process inputs your personal information into an in-house formula that determines how much of a risk you pose to the insurance company.

In order to find your proper insurance rate, you will be asked to provide certain bits of information about yourself like:

• Your full name
• Your address
• Your marital status
• Your gender
• Your age
• The construction style of your home
• Your claims history
• Your coverage limits

Bearing this in mind, you should be very thorough when you review the offers you receive from insurance companies when shopping online. For example, in order to see how drastically your home insurance rates change, add or remove coverages on the quotes so you can verify that you’ve found a company that will fit your needs no matter how your coverage needs change throughout your life.

When can a homeowner find a new insurance company?