Every Texan is tired of hearing about and seeing the effects of inflation. And Miguel was no different when he came to us last fall. He felt like the insurance company was ripping him off with a sky high premium, and his insurance agent wasn't answering his phone calls when he started trying to get answers to questions that he had about his homeowners insurance policy. Miguel had bought what he thought was a standard policy when he purchased his house three years ago, but the process was moving so fast that he didn't ask a ton of questions and was doing what his mortgage lender instructed him to do so that he could move in to his dream home. This is not a crazy story by any stretch.
Where the story becomes crazy and definitely a problem came when Miguel suffered that all to frequent hail storm and his roof instructed him to file a homeowners insurance claim to get his roof replaced. Hail claims are by far the most frequent type of insurance claim in Texas, and you would like to think the process for getting a roof replaced should be smooth and easy if you have a standard homeowners policy.
Unfortunately, too many Texans are educated the hard way about insurance, AFTER something goes wrong with an insurance adjuster. This is not a good time to find out you didn't have comprehensive coverage to repair and/or replace a roof or extensive water damage. It's also not a good time to find out you'll pay a lot more out of pocket than you'd like, even if you did sign the papers. Our friend Miguel was stuck with an actual cash value roof claim that is one of the common mistakes we see Texas homeowners make.
Most Texas homeowners have been trained to focus closely on their wind and hail deductible for good reason. It's important and our friend Miguel knew he had a one-percent deductible for roof claims, which was a great thing. But this is where the insurance providers have pulled some tricks on standard home insurance policies over the last few years in an effort to save on how much they will pay towards repair costs. They are trying to save money to help keep the homeowners insurance rates lower, which most feel is a needed thing. But not all of it has been good for Miguel or you.
When we use the words actual cash value with claims for damage against your homeowner insurance policy, most Texans get sideways real fast. They all know it's a giant load of bull. So the insurance companies have started using a word called roof payment schedule instead. Guess what. Roof payment schedule means you have actual cash value insurance coverage. This is where we see the biggest insurance claim mistakes, and it's not always your fault. The insurance carriers don't want you to know upfront, and many insurance agents are more worried about making a sale than whether or not you understand the difference.
With that in mind, make sure that you have replacement cost on your roof coverage. Also make sure that you have matching of siding and roof materials so that you do not get stuck with a denial for a future claim if your shingle is no longer manufactured. You do not want a zero pay hail claim on your claims history report that makes it harder for you to get coverage later!
Let's face it, a catastrophe causing you to have to rebuild your home is stressful enough without having to navigate around not having enough funding to do so. Whether it is a tornado, a fire, or a tornado full of fire or an equivalent nightmare that completely demolished your home, you don't want to hear from your insurance carrier that replacing your home won't go as expected. No one wants a second mortgage just to rebuild their home!
The calculation of how much dwelling coverage you need feels like a somewhat arbitrary math equation. And we would like to remind you that it is an estimate and not entirely dependent upon the real estate market. The resale value of your home does not necessarily equate to the cost to rebuild it. But let's consider that your life gets turned upside down in a big way due to one of those natural disasters we listed. When that happens, you want to know you have some "normal" to look forward to. And knowing you'll be able to rebuild your home while you rebuild your life, possessions, and memories is part of why home insurance exists.
Make sure that you do not listen to a real estate agent that your rebuild is too high unless they deal with new build construction. The cost of everything has exploded and having enough dwelling coverage and extended replacement cost is a small amount of extra cost on your insurance premiums that will allow you to focus on putting a life back together when disaster strikes.
While wind and hail claims are prominent in Texas, we also see a lot of claims for water damage. It's important to know what is covered since water damage can occur in many different forms. The insurance companies also like to make this part of property damage difficult to understand sometimes. First things first, if water damage comes from the outside in, say rising water from a flood, you'll need to have a separate policy covering that specific event.
Usually on a standard home policy, or what we call within the industry and H03, sudden discharge of water or steam is treated as a covered event. Think of these events along the lines of pipes bursting, exploding water heaters, or dishwashers that decide to burst their seals and leak out. Appliance-related water damage claims almost always fall under this standard coverage.
But what people forget to think about is water that is not considered sudden discharge. Which will require extra coverage on your base insurance policy. Think a slow leak over time, say from a drip pan below the attic air conditioning unit that suddenly shows up as a wet spot on your ceiling. Or maybe your sewer line backs up into your house causing all of the ick. Both of these would most likely not be a covered event. Make sure that you discuss water backup and slow leak coverage with your agent to avoid these common mistakes!
As the G.I. Joe animated series used to tell us, "Knowing is half the battle." We're all about education here at Insurance For Texans. As an independent insurance agency, we've take a lot of time to educate ourselves on why insurance doesn't have to be one-size-fits-all, because in reality, it doesn't.
We are a unique state with unique regions and cities with unique people getting more unique every day. Chances are your needs in Ft Worth aren't the exact needs of your friend in Austin or Lubbock. That is why we created TRUE Texas Home Insurance. It's a comprehensive coverage for your home and life that allows you to understand what you have for all of that money so that you can sleep at night. It works regardless of insurance providers since we work with many across the insurance marketplace.
If you're ready to get a fair deal on home insurance, give us a call or text at 469.789.0220 and we'll talk it over. Otherwise, click the button below to get TRUE Texas Home Insurance today!