Many homeowners have a big insurance coverage gap — and don’t even know it

Many homeowners have a big gap in their insurance coverage — and they likely don’t know it, according to insurance experts.

That leaves policyholders financially exposed to damage, including from natural disasters that are becoming more frequent or costly, such as wildfires, hurricanes and flooding — potentially putting their biggest financial asset at risk, experts said.

Costs for consumers to keep their coverage have risen substantially in recent years amid soaring insurance premiums.

“A supermajority of homeowners want to fully and adequately insure their homes, are willing to pay for it, and think they have it,” Kenneth Klein, a law professor at California Western School of Law, wrote this year in a Lewis & Clark Law Review article. “But most of them are wrong and are short by a lot.” LEARN MORE...