Anyone who owns a car will know that it is illegal to take it out on the road without insurance. Logically, therefore, it would make sense if every homeowner were legally obliged to purchase home insurance. However, this is not the case. Homeowners are simply advised to take a policy but it is not a legal requirement. You may also not realise that your home and contents insurance documents are actually a legally binding agreement between yourself and the home insurance company. There are therefore many legal implications associated with home and contents insurance. Just a few of them are listed below.

1. Your mortgage and home and contents insurance – If, like the majority of home buyers, you have had to take a mortgage out in order to pay for your home then it is likely that your lender will stipulate that you have to take home and contents insurance or else forfeit the mortgage. They can legally do this because they are technically protecting their investment. Your home insurance company may even be linked to your mortgage lender.
2. Fraud – If you defraud your home insurance company by falsely claiming on your home and contents insurance then you are liable to be prosecuted. False claims cost home insurance companies millions of dollars every year and thus they are beginning to crack down on any false claims and are likely to push for legal action to be taken against you.
3. Applications for home and contents insurance – The one thing you must always remember from the start is to answer all questions that your home insurance company asks you completely honestly. Many homeowners have lied on their applications in the past and have later had their insurance revoked as a result. Again, this is a form of fraud, but has more serious implications for you than simply jail time. If your house is burgled, for example, and the home insurance company comes out to inspect the damage then they will discover that you don’t have the deadbolts on the doors that you claimed to have. You will forfeit any pay out and may just face prosecutions, thus causing you to lose your property and possessions as well as your freedom. That may sound a bit extreme, but you can see the trouble that one lie can get you into with home and contents insurance. So telling the truth may raise your premiums slightly, but they may work out far better in the long run.

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