There are many factors insurance companies consider when determining a home’s replacement cost, how much it takes to rebuild a home in the event of a total loss (see http://50.87.248.161/~wiseinsu/home-insurance-replacement-cost-actual-cash-value). Kitchens and bathrooms are two room types which have a significant impact on a home’s replacement cost.
I’ve been working with two general contractors this week. One is a custom home builder and remodeler in Dallas, and the other is a roofing company in Frisco. Both are getting general liability policies with a blanket coverage option for additional insured’s, and both wanted to understand what an additional insured is and why it matters to them.
I’ve been driving for 40 years which sounds a lot longer than it actually feels. I’ve seen a lot of interesting driving scenarios during that time; people making turns from the wrong lane, cars driving the wrong way on a one way street, people moving across 4 lanes of traffic to make an exit, others who stopped on an entrance ramp, deer crossing a highway, people drifting into my lane, and much more. It continues to amaze me how fast a driving situation can change and how equally fast I’ve had to respond to what’s happening around me.
Roofs are one of those things that keeps coming up when I talk with people about home insurance in Texas. This is because roofs impact homeowners and home buyers in so many ways: they can cause the home insurance to cost more, cost less, or impact it in how a weather related claim is paid (see http://50.87.248.161/~wiseinsu/home-insurance-roofs-impact/).
Discovering you’re going to have a baby is one of the most exciting things ever experienced. It may seem like the day will never arrive, but the time passes very quickly in getting the nursery ready, picking out names, getting clothing, finding the right stroller, and beginning to plan what hopes and dreams you have for your son or daughter.
Texans have paid among the highest rates for home insurance for at least the last ten years. Jockeying with Texas for the state with the highest rates have been Florida and Louisiana, while Oklahoma and Washington D.C. have rounded out the top five.
There are two broad types of coverage which can be included in a car insurance policy. Coverage is available to protect you from financial loss if you’re involved in an accident and it’s your fault. Coverage is also available when you’re involved in an accident and it’s not your fault. The first is required by Texas state law, the second is strictly an option.
Last week was National Fire Prevention Week. While the number of structure fires is down by 10% from 2013, there were still over 1.3 million fires reported, or one every 65 seconds. Every 2 hours and 42 minutes, a person dies from a fire, which is up by 13.5% in 2013. There were over 3,200 fire deaths last year, of which, 3 out 5 may have been averted had there been a working smoke alarm in the home. Even where smoke alarms were present, 23% of all home fire deaths were attributed to smoke alarms that didn’t make a peep.
Two huge data breaches made front page news in the past two weeks. Home Depot discovered its systems were compromised in September exposing the data of 56 million credit and debit card holders. The good news, at least for now, is there’s no evidence the personal identification numbers for customer debit cards were compromised.
The straight line winds that struck Dallas last week sheared limbs from trees and blew a lot of trees over. Some had their trunks snapped while others were simply pushed over exposing their roots by the 75 plus mile per hour winds. When the trees fell, they landed harmlessly on a person’s yard, or they landed on the homes they shaded, cars parked in the driveway, or other structures. Seeing the destruction a tree can cause, I was reminded of a claim I saw early in my career.
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