We're about to go into hurricane season here along the Gulf Coast, and you know what that means—potential damage to your home. Now's the time to be sure you know exactly what your homeowners' insurance covers. If you live in a storm-prone area, there's a good chance that a policy purchased from your lender doesn't cover everything, particularly if you have to buy wind or hail damage coverage because your regular homeowners' policy won't cover those things. Get that document out and read it to know exactly what's covered!
It's essential for you to understand your home's replacement value. Knowing your home's market value is helpful for setting a sales price, taking out a second mortgage, or disputing property taxes. However, this won't affect your homeowners' insurance. Insurance rates are based on the home's replacement cost or the amount it would cost to rebuild your home in the event of a total loss. Insurance will not consider the property's value – just the cost of construction materials and labor. In most cases, your home's market value is higher than a replacement cost. Therefore, you will need to make sure your home is quoted for its replacement value instead of market value.
Unfortunately, other outside issues can also affect this cost. Since the pandemic in 2020, prices of building materials may have skyrocketed. Costs have risen for many reasons: If products were manufactured abroad and have to be shipped, they might be harder to get to a domestic construction wholesaler. Even when industries in affected countries re-opened, they may not have been able to get all the labor they needed. So shipping, unloading, and distributing here in the U.S. may be delayed.
When you're facing a major catastrophe, like losing your home's roof to a storm, it's the worst time to realize your policy doesn't cover it. Don't give up, though! Get on schedule NOW, before a major catastrophe. Knowing the condition of your home's roof will play a factor in your homeowners' insurance rate because its condition affects the policy. New/newer roofs will typically see a reduced premium, while homes with older roofs will pay more. When you make any home improvement, like replacing or repairing your roof, let your insurance agent know and be sure you're covered.
With the recent spate of tornadoes hitting Alabama, it's a good time to consider replacing your roof with one built to withstand extreme weather conditions, like a FORTIFIED™ Roof. The Alabama Department of Insurance has mandated that all homes built to Fortified standards will be eligible for a discount on the homeowner's insurance rates. So if you're looking for a way to get a lower premium on your homeowners' insurance, this might be the solution you've been looking for!
Give us a call 251-655-1958 to get a free roof inspection before Hurricane Season and we can help you review your policy as well.
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