If your home has increased in value due to the real estate market should you increase the coverage amount?

You should only have coverage on your homeowners insurance policy to cover the REPLACEMENT COST of the house. Market value incudes inflation as well as the land. These items are not covered in the policy.

AnswerWe own two houses, one in a small town in western Kansas and the other in a small city in central Kansas. If they were both in the same location, they would probably be valued approximately equally, but in the small town that would be $45 - 50 thousand while in the city either would bring almost twice as much. However, the insurance on each is about $75 thousand, which is the insurance company's estimated cost to rebuild a similar home.

Yes you should increase your your insurance coverage for replacement value at least. Some policies have platinum policies which are 110% of replacement value. The coverage is for the physical home. Most homeowners insurance policies include an escalation clause that will increase the coverage on your home periodically. This will occur due to rising supply building costs as well as labor. Both contribute to home costs that must be considered.