Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Why aren't they figuring that out for you? They should be plugging house size, material it's built out of etc into a formula to get the amount of insurance you need.
Status:
"Let this year be over..."
(set 23 days ago)
Location: Where my bills arrive
19,219 posts, read 17,095,590 times
Reputation: 15538
The insurance should do it than you can either agree or argue for a higher replacement cost. I did on mine pointing out details that would cost a premium to recreate. My agent agreed and the home was insured for a higher value...
Consider first, what you paid for your house and what it would take financially if you suffered a disaster, to break even. Look at real estate listings, what the asking price
may be for similar dwellings, and the current downtrend in the housing market. Like playing the stock market, you'll be speculating as to whether you will ever need to collect on the
policy or not, factor-in the most probable calamity, and cover your liabilities accordingly. Is the deductable so high that covering that number would be an impossibility in itself? Are
you in a flood zone, vulnerable to exhorbitant premiums, largely because of the recent toll that was taken by hurricane Irene? personally, I'd believe that a devastational event would
have many of us Long Islanders more worried about survival against the elements, than support from our insurance agents. Take a lesson from Katrina and how the insurers dragged
their heels in making good on many policies, situations not too unlike the mortgage crisis where so many people fell into the classical trap of neglecting to read the fine print in their
policies. Owning a home is a wonderful thing, but by the time a buyer or an existing owner is done being hornswoggled by contractional dogma, the smart owner would have to engage
a lawyer to delineate the policy. Insurance is not too different from playing the odds at a casino, hit or hold, it's all in the domain of fate and every day that goes by as you make those
policy payments, it's a gamble. Surely, your mortgage broker will be able to guide you, mandating a level of coverage that will range from minimal, to overloaded. Do a self assessment,
consider what it would take for you to "start over", look at your budget and be reasonable about the potential for filing a claim. We're truly in precarious times these days but a financial
disaster is just as plausible as a natural disaster and as for me, I'd put my trust in God, long before I'd be trusting a well commissioned broker.
Insurance companies use a replacement cost estimator which is based on square footage and materials in the house. Your insurance company or agent can ask the questions and get a replacement value based on the information provided.
Consider first, what you paid for your house and what it would take financially if you suffered a disaster, to break even. Look at real estate listings, what the asking price
may be for similar dwellings, and the current downtrend in the housing market. Like playing the stock market, you'll be speculating as to whether you will ever need to collect on the
policy or not, factor-in the most probable calamity, and cover your liabilities accordingly. Is the deductable so high that covering that number would be an impossibility in itself? Are
you in a flood zone, vulnerable to exhorbitant premiums, largely because of the recent toll that was taken by hurricane Irene? personally, I'd believe that a devastational event would
have many of us Long Islanders more worried about survival against the elements, than support from our insurance agents. Take a lesson from Katrina and how the insurers dragged
their heels in making good on many policies, situations not too unlike the mortgage crisis where so many people fell into the classical trap of neglecting to read the fine print in their
policies. Owning a home is a wonderful thing, but by the time a buyer or an existing owner is done being hornswoggled by contractional dogma, the smart owner would have to engage
a lawyer to delineate the policy. Insurance is not too different from playing the odds at a casino, hit or hold, it's all in the domain of fate and every day that goes by as you make those
policy payments, it's a gamble. Surely, your mortgage broker will be able to guide you, mandating a level of coverage that will range from minimal, to overloaded. Do a self assessment,
consider what it would take for you to "start over", look at your budget and be reasonable about the potential for filing a claim. We're truly in precarious times these days but a financial
disaster is just as plausible as a natural disaster and as for me, I'd put my trust in God, long before I'd be trusting a well commissioned broker.
Not to be insulting here but bear in mind that your land will always be your land even of there were an explosion that leveled you house. Often times people forget that part of the equation when calculating the replacement value and when told the number they are shocked it is so "low" (low being relative). The agent should be giving you that number but you can get better info from a company called Marshall Swift Boeckh book "Residential Cost Handbook", it may be available in your local library and it updates a myriad of costs for replacing homes and is considered the bible for insurance agencies. Please note every agency figures this slightly differently but all should be in the same ballpark.
no matter what you come up with they will tell you the value. I have a large house and they have told me it would take $750,000 to rebuild. Try as I might they don't care and will not budge from that replacement cost so that's what i go with.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Consider first, what you paid for your house and what it would take financially if you suffered a disaster, to break even. Look at real estate listings, what the asking price 
