What is an insurance declarations page?

A “declarations page,” or “dec” page, is a policy document in your insurance policy that provides an overview or snapshot of your coverage. The declarations page is an important component of your insurance policy because it contains important information regarding certain aspects of your insurance contract, which may vary by insurance company.

It can be found in the front of your policy, and summarizes your policy and coverages, limits and deductibles, and the dates your policy is effective. Your declarations page is only a summary of your policy, it doesn’t include everything within your policy. Any discounts you have may be listed on the dec page. You can ask your agent to see if you’re eligible for any additional discounts.

Each separate insurance policy (homeowners insurance policy, auto insurance policy, etc) will have a separate declarations page.

What’s included on the dec page?

Below is basic policy information that should be found on most insurance declaration pages:

– The name of the insurer who holds your policy and the company who sold it to you (if they are not the same), along with related contact information.

For example, you may have received a policy from an independent insurance agent, whose information would be listed on the insurance contract.

In addition, the information of the company who issued your policy and who will ultimately be responsible for paying any insurance claims.

– The named insured is almost always listed next.

This outlines the person or people who are insured to drive the vehicle.

Typically this includes the spouse if the policyholder is married. The named insured driver can be any number of individuals or groups, depending on your policy.

– The policy period or effective dates.

It may read, ”beginning January 1, 2019 through July 1, 2019 at 12:01 a.m. standard time” for a six-month policy term.

Your insurance company will deny any claims that occurred before the inception date or after the policy ends.

Note that insurers typically go by the date an accident occurred, not the date it was reported.

– The insured vehicles under the policy are also listed on the dec page.

There are multiple pieces of data that may be listed on the auto insurance declarations page, however it is most common to see the year, make, model and VIN number of the vehicle(s).

– The type of policy and coverage you purchased, including liability limits and physical damage coverage.

Handy to quickly see if you’re covered or not for specific incidents.

Although not as common, a declarations page may also include:

• Any endorsements to your policy
• Lienholders or loss payees
• Garaging address
• Rating information, such as the discounts (good student, good driver) you received for your policy.

Finally, a signature of the person who sold or issued your policy is included somewhere on the dec page to make it official.

As always, you should get an online rate quote to ensure you are getting the best rate and coverage available.

It is recommend that you purchase as much insurance as you can reasonably afford.

You will get the insurance declarations page once your policy is issued since it follows after the binder of insurance. It should have the same data as the binder on insurance. You will receive a new insurance declaration page after renewal which is usually every six months. (For more information, read our “What is an insurance binder?“).

Common issues that may be found on insurance dec page include: error such as a typo in the address, the wrong type of coverage, incorrect deductible, missing riders, missing discounts, incorrect coverage amounts. Any errors will make it difficult to file a claim, so you should contact you independent insurance agent to get them fixed as soon as possible.

If you have a loan on any insured property, the lender may require a copy of the declarations page because this document indicates what and how much coverage you need. Your insurance card will not.