Have you ever looked at your Grapevine home insurance policy and come across a line items that you had no idea about?
It's not uncommon. Home insurance can be confusing. What exactly is a separate or other structure on your property, anyway?
If you need to rebuild your home after a catastrophe, you know what dwelling amount is, but you will want to know about those other structures that could have received a brunt of the damage as well.
Though the dwelling amount on your home policy will cover the need of rebuilding your main home structure, your property may be more complex. Do you have a garage not attached to the main home? Do you have a barn for keeping animals? Is there a small wood-working shop where you and your family build furniture? Is there a she-shed?
Since these items are not part of your main home, these structures would not be covered by your dwelling amount.
You guessed it, these are the separate structures we've mentioned.
The line item for separate structures will cover these.
So Do I Have Enough Separate Structure Coverage?
For a standard Grapevine home insurance policy, the separate structures line items is usually calculated as 10% of the dwelling coverage line item. So, if you have a $400K home, $40K will be available for these other separate structures.
Of course, this can be modified to fit your needs. Sometimes those structures get pretty pricey and would cost a lot more to rebuild. Knowing the value of what the construction would cost to rebuild will help determine the right amount of coverage you'll need.
I Don't Have A Shop, Barn, or Extra Garage Though
Covering separate structures can get complicated as we take a deeper dive into what to include for coverage.
One rule of thumb, if the structures do not share a common roof line with your main dwelling, they are categorized as separate.
Fences, pergolas and other patio coverings can lend more confusion.
Since these items are attached to your home, you would think they'd be covered by the dwelling amount.
Au contraire, mon frere!
Insurance adjusters at claim time will categorize these as separate structures.
However, if your detached garage is connected via breezeway to your main home, the common roofline establishes it as a dwelling amount coverage item.
As for a pool, you could use the separate structure coverage for resurfacing if the pool surface is damaged during a tornado or other major event.
We get it, this wacky coverage is hardly common knowledge.
What Else Should I Know?
It is standard for home insurance policies in Texas to include separate structures.
While this amount could be adjusted up and down, it can't be eliminated entirely, even if you have nothing covered by it.
One other item worth mentioning, if that fence is damaged by an event, the claim could be settled as actual cash value instead of replacement cost.
You will want to know which situation it is before filing a claim.
We long to educate here at Insurance For Texans while also keeping to our mission to provide great coverage you need at the best value.
As a local, independent insurance agency, we can do that.
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