Home owner insurance is supposed to give you a peace of mind that you will be protected in the event that anything damaging or disastrous happens to your home. However, you cannot just assume that if you have a home owner insurance policy that you will not be responsible for the repairs to your home if something does happen. It is very important that you are well aware of the obligations that you have as a homeowner to ensure that you and your home are covered against the most likely (and unlikely) problems. Here are some common things that some people overlook in their home owner insurance policies:

1. If you bought your home more than 2 or 3 years ago you may need to update your assessed value on your home owner insurance. Although you may have full replacement coverage, it usually only covers 100 to 125% of your home value when it was originally insured with home owner insurance. Home values in some areas have doubled and tripled within the past 5 years. Talk to your agent to update your home owner insurance coverage amount so that you will not be left with tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay out of pocket to rebuild your home.

2. You may not know this, but the insurance industry keeps a national database of claims and even inquiries about making claims. This was set up to prevent people from making a lot of fraudulent home owner insurance claims. But, in the recent past some insurance companies have been using it to deny coverage or drop coverage for people who make a single claim or even an inquiry about a claim. So, be cautious about making any claims. If you think that your expense will be less than the deductible do not make a claim.

3. Make sure that you have adequate liability coverage. It is not expensive to get full coverage, and it may prevent you from losing your home if you are ever sued-and lawsuits are becoming more and more common.

4. Keep up your home maintenance-especially plumbing. Mold and mildew damage are now excluded from coverage in many insurance policies. If you have had an undetected leak that has caused damage, mold, and/or mildew it could end up costing you dearly in out of pocket costs.

Educate yourself on what your home insurance policy does and does not cover for peace of mind.