Are There Gaps in Your Homeowners Insurance Coverage?

If, like many of our clients, you're wondering whether there are any gaps in your Greensboro homeowners insurance coverage, we've put together the following information to help answer your questions. It's not a bad idea to take some time every two years or so to get together with your insurance agent to review your homeowners coverage, since your home's value and your personal property situation may have changed during that time. Here, we'll discuss some common homeowners insurance gaps you'll want to try to avoid.

Most Common and Costly Claims

According to statistics found on the Insurance Information Institute (III) website, 6% of insured homes had a claim filed in 2017. Property damage, including theft, accounted for 98.1% of those loss claims.

In a study done by The Travelers Insurance Company, it was determined that the five most common causes of home insurance claims are:

• Wind damage – 25% of all claims
• Non-weather related water damage – 19% of all claims
• Hail – 15% of all claims
• Weather-related water damage (rain, snow, ice dams, etc. Doesn't include floods) – 11% of all claims
• Theft – 6% of all claims

While the five above listed claim causes account for the greatest number of claims, fires are responsible for the most expensive claims, accounting for approximately one-fourth of homeowners insurance claims costs. Typical causes for residential fire losses include misuse or failure of machinery or equipment, electrical issues such as faulty wiring or outlets and kitchen fires associated with cooking.

Filling the Gaps

With theft being one of the main causes for which policyholders file claims against their Greensboro homeowners insurance policies (fifth most common cause), you should pay attention to any cap limits on your coverage. Most policies have fairly low limits on valuables such as artwork, expensive electronics, jewelry, furs, antiques and collectibles. If you own expensive items like these you should look into getting higher coverages through a rider or endorsement to your policy.

If the coverage on your home isn't enough to allow you to rebuild it if it's totally destroyed (as in a house fire), you should revisit your policy limits. Building costs may have increased significantly since you took out your homeowners policy and the amount needed to rebuild may be much higher than it was when you bought the home. Make sure your policy limits are high enough to pay for a complete rebuild.

3 Benefits of Working With an Independent Insurance Agent

When shopping for good, quality insurance, whether it's life, health, auto, homeowners, business or some type of specialty coverage, consumers face the initial decision as to what type of agent they choose to use – direct writers or independent agents.   

    

Direct insurance writers are agents who work for a single insurer, offering only their companies' specific insurance products. Independent insurance agents are those representing an array of insurance companies and, as a result, they're beholden to no one, single provider.

When Buying Direct Isn't Necessarily Less Expensive

Ordinarily, you might think buying direct and bypassing any middleman (agent) would save you some money. When buying insurance, though, it's usually the independent insurance agents that have the best deals and can offer you the best prices.

In addition to the ability to often obtain better rates on your coverage, working with an independent insurance agent can provide you with several other benefits you may want to consider.

• Independent insurance agents work for their clients, not for a single carrier as do direct-writing insurance company representatives. As a client, your independent agent is your legal representative to the insurers with whom you take out coverage. They simply work to fulfill your specific needs as the insured.
• Since independent insurance agents rarely write only one or two types of coverage, your agent can bring you one-stop-shopping for a wide range of insurance products such as homeowners, auto, life, health and more. In addition to offering many various types of insurance, your independent agent has access to dozens (or maybe hundreds) of companies whose policies he or she can write. A qualified and competent independent agent can become a long-term advisor as your insurance needs change throughout your lifetime.
• An independent agent is licensed, insured and regulated to only act on your best behalf, as is his or her fiduciary responsibility. Just as medical doctors are insured against malpractice liability, independent insurance agents are insured against insurance sales malpractice. This gives you added protection that direct writers may not provide.

When choosing an independent insurance agent, select someone that provides dedicated, personalized service and who has access to the very best insurance providers in the industry. A good independent agent should be able to get you better coverage than you could find yourself and save you both time and effort while doing it.