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Your Homeowners Declarations Page: What You Need to Know
Let us be honest; insurance is complicated, and sometimes, we need a hand to help us understand the nitty-gritty of the agreement. And when you learn about one thing, something new comes up.
Today, we tackle a homeowner's policy declaration page. It may be for your home coverage, but we help you break it into simpler terms for easier understanding. But first, what is a declaration page?
What is a Declaration Page?
You can agree that an insurance policy is a contract. Like many contracts, it comes with all the information on the duties of each party involved. However, who has the time to read the whole document to determine if they want the policy or not? We can all agree that the insurance coverage document is long and complicated.
The declaration page summarizes the insurance homeowner's policy details for homeowners and other insurance takers. The declaration page, often called the dec page, provides all the vital information you need to understand the amount of your coverage, the type of endorsement you have on your policy, and any discounts you get or may be eligible for in the future. Need a Homeowner's Quote, we can get one for you in minutes!
Declarations Page Terminologies
- Premium: A premium is an amount you pay your insurance company monthly for your homeowner's insurance coverage. Your monthly premiums depend on the coverage of your policy.
- Maximum Amount: The maximum amount is the limit of your coverage. It is the highest amount you can get from your insurance when placing a claim within a year. For instance, if your house is responsible for someone's injury, and the medical bills and rehabilitation shoot to $150,000, but your maximum amount is $130,000, you can only receive $130,000 from the insurance company, minus any deductibles.
- Included: When a cost is "included" in your homeowner's coverage, it means that the price was part of the baseline in assessing your risk factor and is thus used to calculate your premiums. Included items decide your coverage.
- Dwelling Coverage: This is the amount you can receive to repair your home after destruction. This value reflects the cost of building your home from scratch and not the market value.
- Other Structures: A homeowner's policy essentially covers the house itself. 'Other structures' in this case refers to things like your fence, treehouse, shed, or driveway that could end up damaged alongside your house.
- Personal Insurance: This is a cover for your stuff. So, when you lose your collection of Jordans that you have been collecting since your youth days, or your bike goes missing when you lock it outside your office, the homeowner's coverage includes their replacement cost.
- Loss of use: This is the amount that your insurance company is willing to pay for your alternative accommodation should the damages to your house render it inhabitable.
- So, if a tree falls in the middle of the house and the roof is on the brink of collapse, the insurance company can pay for your hotel stay, laundry, and more, as you wait for the repairs on your home to end.
- Personal Liability: Personal liability is the amount your insurance company can pay for your legal issues, should you find yourself in court. The amount the company can pay for medical bills if someone ends up in the hospital due to injuries you are responsible for.
- Deductible: The money you pay out of your pocket before your insurance company can honor your claim is a deductible. The higher the deductible, the less the premiums you pay.
What Does the Homeowners' Declaration Page Contain?
On the dec page, you can expect to find the following information:
1. Basic and personal information
The information in this section includes the name of the insured and their address. It also includes when the insurance cover starts (effective from) and when it ends (expires on).
Ensure the information is accurate, or you may have a hard time proving your identity when filing a claim in the future.
2. The coverage summary
This is the section that outlines the amounts included in your coverage. Usually, the coverage summary will be as follows:
3. Extra Coverage
When the personal property coverage is not enough to cover your home and valuable personal belongings, you can take up extra coverage.
The dec page outlines the items you have included in your extra coverage and the amount each item is covered for. However, this means you pay little extra monthly premiums for extra coverage.
4. Discounts
If you implement safety measures, then the risk of an event happening reduces. Thanks to your efforts, you can earn a discount on your premiums.
So, if you install an alarm system, a smoke detector, or replace your roof, then your monthly premiums drop.
You can also see some endorsements and notices on your declaration page and the contact information of your insurance company. 
Botton Line.
Knowing what all of the terminology means, will help you review these pages, when you get your renewal, to see any changes. It is also helpful if someone like a bank needs your insurance information, you can offer them a copy of your declaration pages. Not sure if you fully understand your Homeowner's Policy, give us a call today!