Guides
Your annual homeowners insurance review
Compare this year's renewal declarations page with last year's, recheck your rebuild cost and discounts, and decide whether to shop. A step-by-step review.
Once a year, about 45 to 60 days before your policy renews, put the new declarations page next to last year's and answer four questions: is the dwelling limit still enough to rebuild, did anything change in your house or household that your coverage should reflect, are your discounts and rating details correct, and is the price still competitive. The review takes an hour or two. It finds more problems than a claim ever should, because renewal is when limits, deductibles and endorsements can shift quietly along with the premium.
A policy that was right on the day you bought it drifts out of date: construction costs move, you finish a basement, a child leaves for college, a roof ages, and the insurer changes its own forms. None of that announces itself.
When to start
Renewal offers usually arrive 30 to 60 days before the policy expires, and some states set the minimum notice. Florida, for example, requires at least 45 days' written notice of the renewal premium under Fla. Stat. 627.4133; see Florida. Mark the expiration date on your calendar, and begin the review the day the renewal notice arrives or 60 days out, whichever is first. That leaves room to get quotes elsewhere without a lapse, and room to correct an error before the new term starts. If you wait until the week of expiration, you will probably just pay.
If you have a mortgage, your servicer typically pays the premium from escrow. Freddie Mac's Guide Bulletin 2026-C says servicers must, starting January 1, 2027 (and are encouraged to start sooner), confirm at least annually that your coverage meets minimums and send an annual reminder to review your insurance, per its bulletin. Do not wait for the reminder.
Step 1: Compare the two declarations pages
Lay out the expiring and renewal dec pages. Go line by line, using your declarations page explained, line by line if you need to translate a label.
| Item | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Premium and fees | The change in dollars and percent, and whether a surcharge or fee appeared |
| Coverage A (dwelling) | Did it rise with construction costs, or stay flat? Is an inflation guard percentage listed? |
| Coverages B, C and D | Dollar amounts or percentages of A; did any shrink? |
| Coverages E and F | Liability and medical payments limits; did they hold? |
| Deductibles | All-other-perils, wind, hail or hurricane; a dollar deductible converted to a percentage is a big change |
| Endorsements and forms | Any form added, dropped or re-edition-dated; a new roof schedule or ACV roof endorsement matters most |
| Rating information | Year built, roof age or material, square footage, protection class, alarm, number of claims |
| Mortgagee | The right lender and loan servicer, after any refinance or servicing transfer |
| Discounts | Every credit you earned still shows up |
The insurer may enclose a separate notice describing changes to the policy. Read it, because that is where a new exclusion, a water-damage limit or a changed roof settlement usually lives. If something you do not understand has changed, ask your agent in writing which line changed and why.
Step 2: Recheck the dwelling limit
The most expensive mistake in homeowners insurance is a Coverage A limit that no longer covers the cost to rebuild. Build costs are not the same as the market value of your house, and your insurer's automatic increase may not keep up with local labor and materials. See replacement cost vs market value: why your home's price is the wrong number and inflation, rebuilding costs and underinsurance.
Ask your agent for the insurer's current replacement cost estimate, run the home replacement cost estimator, and compare. If you have made improvements, such as a finished basement, a new kitchen or an addition, those should be in the estimate.
Policy language gives the stakes. In the ISO HO-3 (HO 00 03 05 11; newer editions and insurers' own forms differ), buildings are settled at replacement cost without depreciation only if you are insured for 80% or more of the full replacement cost immediately before the loss. Below that, the insurer pays the greater of actual cash value or the proportion of the repair cost that your limit bears to 80% of replacement cost.
Say your dwelling limit is $320,000, but rebuilding the house would now cost $420,000. Eighty percent of $420,000 is $336,000, so you are under the line. On a $50,000 partial loss, the proportion is $320,000 divided by $336,000, about 95%, so the insurer would owe roughly $47,600 before your deductible rather than $50,000. On a total loss, you simply have $320,000 toward a $420,000 rebuild. Many insurers use endorsements, extended replacement cost or guaranteed replacement cost that change this math, so read your own forms; see extended and guaranteed replacement cost coverage and How much dwelling coverage do I need?.
Step 3: Walk through what changed in your life
Insurers rate the house you described on the application. Any change that adds value or risk belongs in this review.
| What changed | Why it matters | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Renovation or addition | Raises rebuild cost; may need builder's risk during work | Update Coverage A; see insuring a home during a renovation |
| New roof, wiring, plumbing | Can lower the premium or change roof terms | Send invoices and permits, and ask for the credit |
| New valuables (jewelry, art, instruments) | Special limits cap theft of jewelry at $1,500 in the HO 00 03 05 11 form | Schedule them; see scheduling jewelry, art and valuables |
| Home business or rental income | The standard policy limits business property and excludes most business liability | Ask about a home business endorsement or a separate policy |
| Pool, trampoline, dog | Liability exposure | Tell the insurer; consider an umbrella |
| Solar panels, EV charger, battery | Not always covered the way you assume | Ask how each is covered and whether a limit applies |
| Mortgage paid off or refinanced | The mortgagee line must change | Remove or replace the mortgagee line |
| Adult child moved out, relative moved in | Who counts as an insured | Check who now qualifies as an insured |
| Marriage, divorce or death | Named insured changes | Update the named insured and ownership |
ISO's newer 2022 forms raise several of these limits (jewelry theft to $2,000 and money to $300, for example), but they are only starting to reach policyholders: North Carolina's version takes effect June 1, 2027. Your declarations page and policy jacket show which edition you have.
Step 4: Check deductibles and liability
A deductible you could afford three years ago might not be affordable after a bad year, or you might now be able to take a higher one for a lower premium. Weigh it with should you raise your deductible to lower your premium?, and watch percentage deductibles tied to Coverage A, because they rise whenever the dwelling limit does.
On liability, limits generally start at about $100,000, according to Triple-I, and many households carry more. Your savings and income, a pool, a dog and frequent guests all argue for a higher limit or an umbrella; see umbrella insurance for homeowners: what it adds and where it stops.
Step 5: Audit the rating data and the discounts
Wrong rating data costs money. If the policy says your roof is 22 years old and you replaced it in 2021, say so and send the invoice. Confirm square footage, number of stories, protective devices and bundle credits. Ask directly about each discount in homeowners insurance discounts to ask about. Review your own claims history too: LexisNexis says it provides one free C.L.U.E. report every 12 months on request, and you can dispute entries that are wrong.
Step 6: Decide whether to shop
Price is only one test, but it is a legitimate one. Average approved homeowners rate increases nationwide were 13.5% in 2024, about 8% in 2025 and 4.3% in the first half of 2026, according to AM Best as reported by Reinsurance News in September 2026. Those are averages; your own renewal may differ by a lot. Shop if the premium rose sharply, if the insurer cut coverage or added a restrictive endorsement, if you have gone three years without comparing, or if your circumstances changed.
To compare fairly, get quotes with the same dwelling limit, deductibles, endorsements and liability limit, using the quote comparison worksheet, and check the renewal change with the renewal increase checker. A cheaper quote that drops water backup or switches your roof to an actual-cash-value schedule is a different product. More in shopping your policy at renewal: how often and how. If you switch, bind the new policy before the old one ends so there is no gap.
Step 7: Tidy up the paperwork
- Update your photos, video and inventory after major purchases or renovations.
- Store the new declarations page, the full policy and your agent's contact with your records.
- If your premium rose and you pay through escrow, expect a payment change.
- Write down the date and a note on what you changed, so next year's review starts faster.
Key takeaways
- Review at renewal, 45 to 60 days before expiration, by comparing the new declarations page with the old one line by line.
- Recheck the dwelling limit against current rebuild cost; under the ISO 80% rule, a limit that lags can reduce even partial-loss payments.
- Tell the insurer about renovations, new valuables, a home business or a changed mortgage, and ask for every discount you earned.
- Make sure rating data such as roof age and square footage is correct, and review your claims history each year.
- Shop when the premium jumps or coverage shrinks, and compare identical coverage rather than prices alone.