Upload your declarations page. We check the six things that decide what you get paid at claim time: roof settlement basis, wind and hail deductible, water backup, liability limit, contents basis, and ordinance or law.
The declarations page is the summary your carrier sends at renewal. It lists your coverage limits and deductibles, and it is usually the first page of the packet.
Almost every tool that reviews an insurance policy checks conformance: does this policy match what was ordered. That is a useful question for a broker and a useless one for a homeowner, because a policy can match the order exactly and still leave you exposed. This checks adequacy instead. Is the coverage on this page enough for this house, in this state, at this claim.
The findings come from the values printed on your declarations page, not from a model's opinion. Each one quotes the line it came from, so you can hold the finding against the page and see for yourself.
| What we check | Why it matters in Illinois |
|---|---|
| Roof settlement basis | Actual cash value pays the depreciated roof. Hail is the state's dominant claim. |
| Wind and hail deductible | A 2% deductible on a $400,000 dwelling is $8,000, not the $1,000 on the front page. |
| Water and sewer backup | Excluded by default. Chicago-area finished basements are the most common loss there is. |
| Personal liability (Coverage E) | Under $300,000 also blocks you from buying an umbrella policy. |
| Contents settlement basis | Actual cash value on contents costs a furnished house tens of thousands. |
| Ordinance or law | Older housing stock rebuilt to current code costs more than the old house did. |
Check six things on your declarations page: whether your roof settles at replacement cost or actual cash value, whether you have a separate percentage deductible for wind and hail, whether water and sewer backup is included, whether personal liability is at least $300,000, whether personal property settles at replacement cost, and whether you have ordinance or law coverage. Most Illinois policies are thin on at least two of those, and the price difference between a strong policy and a weak one is usually smaller than people expect.
The declarations page is the summary your insurance carrier sends at every renewal. It lists your coverage limits, your deductibles, and the endorsements attached to the policy. It is usually the first page of the renewal packet and is titled Declarations or Policy Declarations. It is the single most useful document for judging whether coverage is adequate.
It means the carrier pays the depreciated value of your roof rather than what it costs to replace. On a 15-year-old roof, a claim that costs $20,000 to repair might settle for a few thousand dollars. Hail and wind are the dominant claims in Illinois, so this endorsement is the most expensive fine print on a typical Illinois home policy. It is often added at renewal without the homeowner noticing.
A percentage deductible is calculated against your dwelling limit rather than being a flat dollar amount. A 2% wind and hail deductible on a $400,000 dwelling limit is $8,000 out of pocket before the carrier pays anything on a hail claim, even though the all-perils deductible printed above it might say $1,000. Many Illinois homeowners do not know they have one.
Not by default. A standard homeowners policy excludes water that backs up through sewers and drains, and it has to be added by endorsement. In older Chicago-area housing with finished basements this is one of the most common losses there is. Where the endorsement exists it is often capped at $5,000 or $10,000, which a finished basement can exceed on a single event.
Yes. Upload a declarations page and the check is free with no obligation. A licensed Illinois producer at Lakeshore Risk Advisors reviews the result and calls to go through it. Carriers pay Lakeshore Risk Advisors a commission only if you choose to move a policy.
Related: how much umbrella insurance do I need, home insurance in Illinois, and the home savings calculator.
The policy checker reads the declarations page you upload and compares it against common coverage standards for Illinois personal lines. It cannot see coverage that was not on the page you sent, it is not a policy review, and it is not legal advice. Findings are confirmed by a licensed producer at Lakeshore Risk Advisors LLC, an independent Illinois brokerage, before anything is acted on. RateShield is an insurance technology company and is not an insurance agency or broker.