You may have had home insurance in Burleson for years, a few months, or may be brand new to Tarrant County and Johnson County border. No matter which bucket you fall into, it is easy to realize that home insurance is complicated and tends to be expensive. The goal of Insurance For Texans is to simplify the process and help you to focus on the parts of your home insurance that really matter to Burleson. So what are the three big things you need to worry about?
1. How is your roof claim going to be settled?
We see this all the time. People think that they have something that they don't and get really mad when it comes claim time. The most frequent claim in North Texas on homeowners insurance is a roof destroyed by hail. Period. End of story. Do you know if your claim will be fully replaced or will you be given a check for actual cash value?
Here's a dirty insurance secret. Some home insurance policies will only give you the value of your roof minus depreciation. You think you have a great policy with a great deductible. Read that fine print. We can help you determine which end is up with this as we've seen them all. Make sure you that you can get your roof replaced!
2. What are your deductibles?
Since Texas is a coastal state, you have what is known as split deductibles on your home insurance policy. There is one for hurricanes, one for wind & hail, and one for everything else. In Burleson and Cleburne, the hurricane deductible doesn't matter so much. If we have a named storm blowing up Johnson County, we've got bigger fish to fry. So let's focus on the other two.
Wind & Hail deductibles have all pretty much moved to a percent basis. The holy grail is a 1% deductible. That means you will be responsible for an amount equal to 1% of the dwelling amount when it's claim time and we are replacing your roof. Some companies will force you to take a minimum higher amount than that like 2% or more. Make sure you understand what your out of pocket cost will be.
All Other Perils deductibles will cover everything else that is not hurricane or wind & hail related. There is much greater flexibility in this deductible as the claims are fewer in frequency. You will generally have the option between flat dollar or percentage of dwelling amount. The key here is that the lower the deductible, the higher the premium. It's a balancing act that an independent insurance agent can help you sort out.
3. Do I have enough dwelling coverage to rebuild my home in a total loss?
Ultimately, the purpose of insurance is to make sure you can put your life back together when the stuff hits the fan. The biggest stuff is a total loss situation like a fire or tornado. We don't like to think about it either, but that's our job. The first thing we do when looking at a home insurance policy is to determine how much money is needed to rebuild in that major event. It's called a dwelling amount and ultimately it drives a lot of other details on an insurance policy for your home. While we want to keep it as low as possible to keep your premium and deductibles down, we have to make sure that you can rebuild. That's why we want to know about your home and how it is constructed. A 1920's home with plaster walls is going to be a bit different to rebuild than an early 2000's tract home made by a major builder.
Insurance for Texans is here to help you find the right coverage at the right price. As an independent broker we have various options to deal with the scenarios described here to make sure that you've got the right coverage. Let us know how we can help you make sure you will be taken care of when the time comes to use what you purchase.
