What Is an Insurance Declarations Page?

by COUNTRY Financial

An insurance declarations page (sometimes called a “dec page”) is a physical sheet that details nearly everything about the insurance you’re paying for. Think of it as a “receipt” of what you purchased—it lists who and what you’ve insured, coverages and coverage limits, and your deductibles and monthly premiums.

This article will focus on home insurance and car insurance, but any insurance you buy will include a declarations page.

When do I receive my declarations page?

Wondering how to get an insurance declarations page? It’s the first page of your policy document, which your insurance company will send you within a few business days of buying the insurance policy.

The policy document arrives via standard mail, email or sometimes fax, with most insurers giving you the choice. As we’ll discuss later, different parts of the policy document serve as proof of coverage in different scenarios, so make sure you save it somewhere safe.

Homeowners insurance and car insurance declarations pages

A home insurance declarations page will include a brief but detailed summary of the following:

• Policy number
• General policy information
• Your insurance premium
• Effective start and end dates of insurance coverage
• Any home insurance discounts applied
• Home insurance coverages purchased (e.g., dwelling coverage, other structures coverage, personal property coverage, etc.)
• Your home address and general info about your property
• Your agent’s information and mortgage lender

A car insurance declarations page includes all the above (including car insurance coverages and car insurance discounts), but with more auto-specific information:

• The year, make and model of all insured cars
• The names of all insured drivers, including yourself and any family members

Proof of insurance

It’s important to keep your insurance policy documents and declarations pages handy. Car insurance is required in most states, and for home insurance, declarations pages are required by lenders to have a mortgage.

In the case of home insurance, the declarations page alone serves as the proof of homeowners insurance coverage. You’ll need to provide the dec page when:

• Filing a home insurance claim
• Closing on a mortgage
• Refinancing a mortgage
• Updating home escrow 
• Demonstrating proof of coverage for a homeowners association (HOA)

For proof of auto insurance, neither a declarations page nor the auto insurance policy document may be sufficient. Instead, you’ll need to provide your auto insurance ID card when you’re pulled over or involved in an accident.

Final thoughts

The insurance declarations page is a detailed summary of your insurance coverage. It’s used to provide proof of coverage to third parties in some cases, but it’s mostly an important page to keep when you need to reference details about your insurance policies.

If you’d like to know more about insurance declarations pages, talk to your insurance agent today—they can help you determine how much coverage you need and answer any questions.

Updated 11-24-25