The mortgage is paid off!

If you're one of the lucky ones who has paid off your mortgage, congratulations!

We have been asked if people still need homeowners insurance once they've paid their house off. The reason for the question is that there is no longer a mortgage company "demanding" you have insurance.

My answer is an emphatic "Yes, you still need insurance." When your car is paid off, you still need insurance. The same goes for your house.

The reason you should continue to insure your home is that you need to protect your investment. I'm confident that a tornado, hurricane, flood or fire will not only choose houses and businesses that have insurance!

The other part of the your homeowners policy is insuring the contents inside your home. You'll want that covered, too. And as you're deciding to keep your insurance, think about how much you are insuring. Don't have any idea what that dollar amount should be? An inventory will help you know so you aren't over- or under-insured. An inventory will also help you remember and prove ownership of your belongings if you do have that disaster.

As one of our customers says, "Without and inventory, your insurance premium is just another bill." Think about that for a moment. Makes sense, doesn't it?

With a contents inventory, you will be able to remember what you own(ed), prove the high end items, have serial numbers available, and ultimately maximize your claim, and recoup what you've lost. And you'll do it in a much shorter time than if you didn't have that information readily available.