Homeowner's Insurance

or Being a Grownup

Ward and I have a list of things that we're working on that we're not particularly excited about doing, but things we should do if we are going to be responsible adults. The latest task we've been doing is reevaluating our homeowner's insurance. It's been something that has been on the list for several years (we're not always good with this grownup stuff) and a recent article in Money magazine finally prompted us into action.  While the article gives a few tips about shopping for insurance, this discussion is mostly about what your insurance may or may not cover. Apparently things have changed a lot over the last 10 years and if you haven't been paying attention, you may not be aware of them.

Here are a few highlights from the article:

Homeowners insurance is one of the least profitable kinds of insurance these days. One of the reasons is there have more damaging weather events so there have been a lot more payouts. Therefore, some of the coverage has become more restrictive. 

A burst pipe might be covered, but a leaky pipe may not be. Mold caused by either may not be covered and probably not if it came from a leaky pipe.

Wind coverage may be limited or have a much higher deductible than other coverage. You may need a rider for this to be adequately covered.

The amount of extra money it takes to rebuild an older home to meet current building standards may not be covered.

Flood insurance is an extra policy purchased from the government. If any of your house is below ground level (even an inch) and gets water in it, that is considered a flood and must be covered by flood insurance.

These are just a sampling of things Money magazine gave us to think about. Insurance rates and policies vary by region and state and of course individually. So insurance coverage is something that needs to be researched and discussed by each person with their agent.

How did we do with our latest review? Pretty good with no major changes needed. Now I'm going to play a little before I have to be a grownup again by tackling the next thing on the list.