Is Your Home Properly Insured?

Is Your Home Properly Insured?, With the spate of recent storms and disastrous lightning strikes, it’s a good time to review your coverage. Are You Properly Insured for Your Real Estate?, In the aftermath of this season’s storms, lightning strikes, wildfires and other disasters, it’s sad to note that many of those whose homes have been destroyed simply didn’t have enough insurance coverage in place. The same could be said of property owners whose homes were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina or even a singular home fire started by bad wiring.

The truth is, most homeowners pay little attention to their property insurance until disaster strikes. And then, it’s too late.

Purchasing the right type and amount of insurance coverage for your home or rental is not difficult. Do some research, call a reputable agent and get it done. These basics will arm you with the knowledge you need to start:

Review coverages
Take a close look at your Insurance Coverage Binder Agreement. This thick packet of documents is a binder of terms and coverage limits. Flip through the pages until you get to one labeled “maximum coverage limits” (see example below). While all the categories are important, pay special attention to your dwelling and liability coverages.

Determine dwelling coverage needs
Dwelling/building covers the building structure if it is damaged by a covered peril (fire, windstorm, flood due to broken pipe, etc.) Find the dwelling/building coverage amount listed on your policy and divide it by your home’s square footage. Talk to your insurance agent and, perhaps, a contractor to determine whether the coverage your policy allows per square foot is enough. In California, for example, $200 to $400 per square foot is a good range, depending on the quality of construction materials and characteristics of your lot (condominiums are a little different, and we will cover that below).