How Much Insurance Coverage is Enough?
Dawn LoPresto
Although we at ConesusLake.com hope it never does, when disaster strikes, having the right amount of homeowners insurance on your home makes all the difference. Having enough money to rebuild, cover hotel fees if you are unable to live in the home and to replace all of your belongings is essential.
Most standard policies provide coverage for fire, explosions, hail and lightning. If you live in an area where there could be flooding or earthquakes, you will require extra coverage as well.
Having coverage based on your mortgage amount may not be enough to cover the cost of rebuilding your home in the event of a disaster. To quickly get an estimate of how much coverage you will need, take the square footage of your home and multiply it by your local, per square foot building costs. These can be determined by your insurance agent, builders association or by contacting your local insurance agent. You should also consider things like exterior wall materials, how many bathrooms, roof materials, garages, sheds, fireplaces and custom features such as wood carved moldings found in older homes.
Don't forget to do a home inventory of your personal items. A detailed list will help you and your insurance agent to figure out how much coverage is right for you. Having this list in the event of a disaster will make filing a claim easier. Replacement cost coverage is generally the way to go. This will pay to replace your items, not a depreciated value for older items.
Lastly, don't forget Liability coverage. This will cover you against lawsuits from other people in the event you, a family member or a pet cause bodily harm to other people. Your coverage should cover all of your assets. A policy of $300,000 to $500,000 worth of liability is recommended these days.
As with anything, contacting a professional in the field is always recommended when determining things such as homeowners policy coverage. However, if you need help finding an insurance agent in your area, please feel free to contact Dawn Lopresto at (585) 794-6887. If you would like to see a list of available homes in your area, click here.
