There are several dog breeds home insurance carriers will decline to write a home or renter’s policy for. These breeds may also result in the insurance company canceling or not renewing the policy if they are acquired after the policy goes into effect.
Over the past two weeks we’ve examined how you and your home impacts what you pay for home insurance. Your home policy also impacts what you’ll pay, so let’s delve into four common areas that lower or raise your rate.
Last week we looked at how you, the buyer and homeowner, impact your home insurance rate. The second broad category impacting your home insurance premium is your home itself. There are several factors and none of them include your home’s purchase price, what you could sell it for, nor what the local appraisal district sets the value at. Let’s look at what does count.
Most people don’t realize there are many factors which impact their home insurance rate; some are related to the home and some are not. In fact, you may have as much to do with what your home insurance rate is as your home does. There are three broad areas which impact your home insurance rate including you, your home, and the insurance policy itself. This week, we’ll examine four ways how you, the homeowner, impact the rate and examine the other two areas over the next two weeks.
I am occasionally asked by a new or existing client whether their home insurance policy covers an air conditioning compressor or water heater that’s going bad. In most cases, the answer is no, unless it’s caused by an event justifying a claim such as a lightning strike, a tree limb that fell on it, etc. Two home insurance carriers offer a coverage option worth considering for their policy holders called Equipment Breakdown coverage and it may provide an attractive option worth adding to your policy.
You’ve found your new home. It has great bones, hasn’t been updated, and you can make it into something special! All it needs is a little, or maybe a lot, of remodeling love to go with your vision of how to bring it up to date and make it uniquely yours. If you’re planning something like this, don’t let home insurance derail your vision.
I reviewed Sheri’s and my home insurance in March. It had gone up again and we’d been with the same company for several years, so it was time. I was very pleased with the rates I found with a couple of my other carriers and decided to call the underwriter to discuss our home since it was built in the mid 1950’s. She told me it would require an interior inspection, in addition to the exterior inspection. I was curious what they’d review and the criteria they’d use to determine whether to write my home insurance or cancel it. What I found out caused me to go to the next option on my list!
I sat in a meeting with one of our carriers last week and heard an interesting statistic. On average, insurance companies who wrote Texas home policies in 2016 paid $1.30 out in storm related claims last year for every $1.00 of premium they received. That doesn’t include non-storm related claims such as fire, theft, water damage, etc. The issue facing all home insurance companies is how to remain profitable without raising rates astronomically. One method carriers are examining is roof depreciation schedules.
A client called me Monday morning after receiving the estimate to replace his roof from the March hail storm which struck north Texas. Before calling, he’d emailed me a copy of the claim estimate to help guide our conversation. He had a couple of questions about the estimate and payment structure, however, his biggest concern centered on one issue. If his home insurance policy is a replacement cost policy, why does the repair estimate refer to the depreciated value of his roof.
I’ve had several conversations with clients and home buyers about roofs and home insurance since the March 26th hail storm which struck north Texas. Hail, ranging in size from golf ball to softball, fell on Justin eastward to McKinney. Thousands of roofs were damaged or destroyed by the hail resulting in the roofing industry spinning into high gear. Let’s examine some of the questions I’ve addressed in the past week pertaining to replacing roofs and its impact on home insurance.
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