The best, easiest and most practical way to asses your homeowners (condo-, renters) insurance policy is to ask your insurance agent about it. We are trained to provide professional review and advise. We have access on special industry certified tools, that can calculate the replacement cost of your dwelling and personal property.
But, if that’s not enough or you prefer to be a solo warrior on the insurance field, the following should help to you asses your home insurance policy.
1. Rebuilding Your Home
The total cost to rebuild should include materials, like lumber, windows, kitchen appliances and bathroom fixtures, for example, and labor to tear out the debris and rebuild the structure anew. Depending on your location and the housing market (read Detroit), sometimes the rebuilding costs can be more than your home’s market value.
2. Replacing Your Possessions
There are different types of coverage for your possessions. Do an inventory what’s in your home, use smartphone applications to capture images and record notes. When you do have to make a claim, some companies will require you to itemize everything you had before they pay anything. Since remembering what you own can be difficult during what’s already a stressful time, experts suggest routinely doing an inventory of your home.
Usually, your HO policy provides you property coverage, being a percentage of your dwelling coverage, which can range from 50% to 75% of the dwelling value. If your dwelling coverage is $200,000, for example, you could have $100,000 to $150,000 worth of coverage for personal items, which would include your clothing, dishes, food, rugs, linens, jewelry and furniture.
Experts advise to check if you’ve replacement cost (RC) coverage, which is what you want and covers the total replacement cost, versus actual cash value (ACV), which is a depreciated amount.
3. Liability
Personal liability is an optional coverage, that you may have opt-out from. The claim example under a personal liability coverage, would be your pet biting a postman, or friend tripping and falling over the rug, while enjoying your favorite sport game over BBQ (read about BBQ safety tips).
Most companies start out with $100,000 of liability coverage in a plan. Homeowner’s generally have more risk than they realize, especially if they have a pool, trampoline, young drivers or pets that could bite someone.
In the end, we have doctors to take care of our health. We have insurance agents to take care of our insurance needs. Don’t be afraid to hire a professional to assist you with your needs. There is no upfront cost and your get a professional help. Call us 877-239- 0067 and our agents will be happy to assist you with your insurance questions. And if you are looking for a legal advice rendered by a licensed attorney – call the same number: 877-239-0067. Call now!