Understanding the Parts of Your Insurance Policy

An insurance policy can look complicated if you’re not well versed on what exactly it entails. But it’s actually pretty easy to navigate once you have some insight on what its contents are! We’re firm believers that it’s important for every policy holder to have some familiarity with this document because it holds the details of your coverage, premium and other pieces of your policy.

Our team at J. Hoffman Insurance values the opportunity to walk our clients through their coverage and encourages people to ask us questions about how to understand their policy.

If you’d like a crash course on the architecture of an insurance policy, read on! This easy-to-follow breakdown of what an insurance policy is comprised of will give you some insight on what you’re reading when you look at a copy of your home, auto or business insurance policy.

*Declarations Page

Also known as the Dec Page, this is typically the first page or two of a policy. The Declarations serves as a summary of the pages to follow in a policy and outlines the policy holder’s name, address, policy period, coverage details, limits of insurance, deductibles, endorsements and premium.

*Insuring Agreement

Simply put, this is a statement which, in very broad terms, describes the coverage provided by the insurance contract. Think of it as the overview of your entire policy.

*Conditions

This sets forth the rights, duties, and responsibilities of both parties to the agreement.

*Exclusions

This is a limitation, or restriction, of the coverage granted by the insuring agreement.

*Definitions

This portion of the policy does exactly what its name implies. It explains terms used in the policy.

We hope this has helped you get a little more comfortable with understanding the pieces of your insurance policy. If you have any questions, or would like a review of your existing coverages, don’t hesitate to reach out to us!

(845) 239-4787 or vicki@jhoffmaninsurance.com