I received a call last month from an investment property owner. He’d bought a duplex in Houston earlier this year as a rental property and had a question about the insurance he’d originally purchased from another agent. Even though he had only bought one side of the duplex, he’d been told most carriers required both sides be covered in order to write a duplex insurance policy. He wanted to know if that was correct.
Home insurance companies provide a number of discounts. There are discounts for married couples, retired couples, homeowners with monitored alarms, new roofs, newer homes, updates to plumbing, electrical, and cooling systems, and for placing your car insurance with the same company too. In most cases, these discounts are given for something you do or have, not for giving something up. The home insurance discount Dave wrote about though was for something a policyholder gives up.
Most Texas homeowners never have to think about wind insurance, it’s included with their home policy. When you see the wind / hail deductible listed with an amount or percentage next to it, this indicates your home policy covers it. Those Texans who own homes along our Gulf Coast, however, do need to think about wind insurance. Many home insurance companies don’t include wind coverage so those homeowners have to look elsewhere for this coverage.
Tropical Storm Colin serves as a great reminder for Texas homeowners to take a few minutes to perform an insurance review that’s focused on hurricanes and the type of claims that occur. To help with that, let’s delineate who and what needs to be reviewed by tiers and the type of coverage.
The 2016 hurricane season starts tomorrow. It runs from June 1 through the end of November. Some forecasters are predicting the 2016 season could be the biggest since 2012 with 10 to 16 tropical storms and 4 to 8 hurricanes with 1 to 4 reaching major storm status.
Last week’s home post outlined some of the questions I’ve been asked about flood insurance and the answers I’ve given (see https://wiseinsurancegroup.com/questions-answers-flood-insurance/). This week, I want to answer one more question, and that is, “Who needs flood insurance?” I don’t believe everyone needs it, however, there are some who do whose home may not even be in a flood zone.
You open the front door to your home only to step into water. There’s a leak. Who repairs the damage caused by the leak? Or you’re in an accident and need a body shop to repair your car. Who do you take your car to for the repair work? I get these questions from clients before or after the insurance claim is filed whether it’s a home or car claim.
Over the last 8 weeks, Texas has been struck by four major hail storms, three in the Dallas / Fort Worth area and one in San Antonio. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, initial estimates for the two hail storms that struck north Texas were a combined $1.3 billion in damages to homes, vehicles, and businesses. The estimated total number of vehicles struck by hail in those two storms alone was 80,000. The storm that hit in early April should push the damage totals for all three north Texas storms close to $2 billion.
There’s an adage that says, “Lightening doesn’t strike the same place twice.” That may or may not be true for lightening, but hail, it appears, isn’t that selective. The storm that raked across north Texas last week struck many of the same communities and homes that were struck on March 23. One of the first calls I received from clients was from a couple who were hit by both storms. I think this is a good backdrop to address the question of how insurance companies respond to multiple hail claims for the same client.
As I write this, I’ve answered several calls and text message from clients about the latest hail storm that hit Denton and Colling counties Monday evening. The hail started out the size of golf balls and grew to baseball and softball size as it traveled east. Last week, I outlined the first step I recommend most clients take, which is to have a local roofer survey your roof for damage. The next step is to file the home insurance claim by calling the claim number for the carrier.
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