If a hurricane destroyed your home, would your insurance cover the cost to rebuild? Don’t wait until a storm is threatening offshore to find out.
If you’re like most people, you probably don’t have more than a vague idea about what your policy covers and what it doesn’t. The danger is that you may think you’re adequately protected when you are not. By some estimates, close to two-thirds of U.S. homes are underinsured.
How does it happen? Sometimes people make home improvements without telling their insurance agents. Or, policy limits simply haven’t kept up with rapidly escalating building costs. Sometimes policies have special exclusions or restrictions that homeowners don’t realize are there.
Florida law now mandates that insurance companies include an easy to understand coverage checklist with every homeowner’s insurance policy. Among other things, the list will show costs, coverage limits and exclusions. It will also detail how much the policyholder would receive [and for how long] if the home were destroyed. Some things to look over are:
- Overall insurance limit:
- Ideally, you want a limit high enough to cover the cost of rebuilding your house on the same site, not including the value of the land. If you have a mortgage on your home, your lender may require you to carry enough insurance to replace your home, but cannot require more than that even if your mortgage is for a higher amount.
- If your limit looks too low, ask your insurance agent to evaluate your situation.
- If you disagree with the agent’s estimation of replacement value, you can get a second opinion. There are valuation sites such as www.accucoverage.com or www.bluebook.net, where (for a nominal fee) you can obtain an online report. If you have an expensive home, with many custom features, it may be worthwhile to pay for a professional appraisal.
- Ideally, you want a limit high enough to cover the cost of rebuilding your house on the same site, not including the value of the land. If you have a mortgage on your home, your lender may require you to carry enough insurance to replace your home, but cannot require more than that even if your mortgage is for a higher amount.
- Policy’s limitations and exclusions:
- Peripheral structures such as pool sheds, detached garages, pool screens and fences may not be covered at all.
- Your policy also may limit or exclude coverage for items such as boats, cars, aircraft, cash, guns, silverware, jewelry, furs, antiques, electronics, business equipment and records. If you want adequate coverage for those items, you’ll probably need to buy extra coverage or a separate policy.
- Peripheral structures such as pool sheds, detached garages, pool screens and fences may not be covered at all.
- Flood damage:
- Has been a huge issue for homeowners in Louisiana and Mississippi whose homes were damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Even if wind drives the waves, homeowner policies won’t cover flood damage.
- If you live in a flood hazard zone, your mortgage lender will require flood insurance. If you own your home free and clear, or you live outside the hazard zone, flood coverage is optional, but flooding is still a real risk.
- Has been a huge issue for homeowners in Louisiana and Mississippi whose homes were damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Even if wind drives the waves, homeowner policies won’t cover flood damage.
- “Law and ordinance” coverage:
- Optional for everyone, but without it, your policy won’t pay the extra cost of rebuilding to meet current building codes.
- Non-hurricane coverage deductible:
- If you’re still at $500, raising it to $1,000 is a good idea. If you have an expensive house, you might want to opt for $2,000 or higher. The hurricane deductible – most likely 2 percent of the insured value – can also can be increased if you could afford to pay more out of pocket for storm damage.
Source: ABC Action News
