Perhaps because I spent most of my years as a Realtor on the Gulf Coast, a long time ago I was forced to learn the ins and outs of property insurance. Now representing Dallas homeowners, sellers and buyers, I'm especially glad I have a good deal of insurance knowledge.
Oddly, I find most homeowners have a limited knowledge of their coverage and what is available for a few bucks extra. And while all real estate agents dance all around property insurance everyday, only a small percentage seem to know much about it.
There are three very important things everyone ought to know:
- Your homeowners policy probably does not cover floods (even if only a smidgen of water seeps in), earthquakes and war.
- And without special endorsements to your homeowners policy, it probably has special limits on what it will pay for damage, loss or theft of jewelry, furs, cash, collectibles, antiques and expensive musical instruments. And I can assure you it won't be very much.
- Damage caused by small leaks that go undetected for a long time - and we're talking about fresh water as well as sewerage leaks - are not typically covered, so that means the removal of mold, mildew and spores aren't covered either.
And then there's the poor guy who either buys less coverage than it will take to replace the house if there's a big loss, or whose policy doesn't have a provision that makes certain the replacement value keeps up with inflation.
If your homeowners agent isn't calling you at least every two years to take you through the rigor necessary to make sure your property is properly covered, it's time to change agents.
The agent Patty and I use, we've used for years. They've written the policies for our cars, home, my big grand piano, Patty's harp, and her jewelry, plus all of our furnishings. They've even written several of our life insurance policies. And their office is 300 miles from Dallas!
Why change? They've got serving us down pat!
But the service has been perfect. They remind us about updates, quiz us about lifestyle changes, and when it's time to pay a claim, the adjuster is here in a heartbeat, and writes a check for most or all of the claim before he leaves.
You deserve that same service from your carrier. If you're not getting it, it's time to survey other general insurance agents.
There's more interesting facts about insurance and how claims are calculated and paid. We'll continue this discussion tomorrow.
In the meantime, if you would like to know the name of our general insurance carrier, email me and I'll be glad to share it with you.
Copyright 2007 - William S. Cherry
All Rights Reserved
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We had to add extra coverage for all the computer equipment at one time. It is important to understand what your insurance covers.