[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome to Home Story with Veronica, where we help you make sense of the big and small decisions that protect your home and family. I'm your host, Veronica Dicz and today we are talking about a subject that affects every homeowner. Insurance. Joining us is Matthew Johnson, an insurance Advisor with over 10 years of experience. And after obtaining a risk and management and insurance degree, he began his career in the wholesale commercial space with a passion for connecting and helping within his community. He decided to switch to the agency side where he can help individuals and families protect their assets and future. He values the opportunity to meet new people and be a resource for all questions regarding personal and commercial insurance. Matthew, welcome to the show.
[00:00:47] Speaker B: It's a pleasure to be here.
[00:00:48] Speaker A: Thank you. So good to have you.
[00:00:49] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:00:49] Speaker A: So before we get to today's discussion, Matthew, what inspired you to leave the wholesale side of insurance and move into working directly with homeowners?
[00:00:58] Speaker B: Yeah, so coming out of college, I was kind of just chasing the shiny object. And in the wholesale commercial space, while it can be absolutely lucrative and a lot of different aspects to it, that is very appealing to a young person getting into a field and kind of chasing, like I said, the shiny object.
It was really exciting and I really enjoyed that time with it.
[00:01:21] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:01:21] Speaker B: But at the end of the day, it just felt like you're just chasing money and not really anything else. And so, you know, years later into my career, I just felt really just kind of a hole within me. Felt like there was something more that I wanted to come home and feel like, man, I really did something today versus, you know, just, you know, putting money into my pocket.
[00:01:46] Speaker A: Right.
[00:01:46] Speaker B: There's nothing wrong with putting money in your pocket.
[00:01:48] Speaker A: Yeah, that's great.
[00:01:49] Speaker B: But just the way I'm wired, I just really wanted to have that connection. Especially when you hear so many horror stories revolving around insurance and so many, many, many, many. And so really after a lot of discussion with my wife and just a lot of soul searching myself, I really thought, you know what, I think if I'm going to do this, I really think going to the agency side, helping people directly, that's awesome. And really kind of seeing the fruits of your labor and how you can help people is the right space for me.
[00:02:16] Speaker A: That's awesome. So it's more, it's a calling, right? It's more of a passion to help people as well and not just bank it.
[00:02:22] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, money is still nice.
[00:02:24] Speaker A: Of course. Of course. We all work for money. Who doesn't?
[00:02:27] Speaker B: Cor, like I said, to be able to see and hear and talk with people and really help them understand what it is one they're purchasing or what they might be missing out on. And to know that at the end of the day I'm putting something good out there.
[00:02:40] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:02:41] Speaker B: That maybe they're not getting from someone else is.
[00:02:43] Speaker A: You're making a difference in people's lives. When a tragedy happens like we had in North Carolina in the mountains, people who didn't have good coverage, they're suffering right now, right?
[00:02:51] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:02:52] Speaker A: Have they had a good homeowners insurance representative? They would have been guided a lot better. So.
[00:02:57] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:02:58] Speaker A: Prime example.
[00:02:58] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:02:59] Speaker A: Okay. So, Matthew, many homeowners assume that they'll. That they're fully protected. What we were talking about. Right. Oh, I have insurance. I'm good to go. But only to discover there are exclusions after it's too late. Understanding what's covered and what is not is critical.
So a question for you would be what does a standard homeowner's insurance policy typically cover?
[00:03:20] Speaker B: So when you're looking at the standard homeowners policy, it's called the HO3 policy form.
Pretty much when you're purchasing home insurance, almost every company is going to be on the same ISO form as what it's called.
[00:03:32] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:03:33] Speaker B: And so what's interesting, what people probably won't realize is that it's technically a broad form or special form policy, meaning everything is covered unless it's specifically excluded.
[00:03:43] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:03:44] Speaker B: So even in a lot of crazy scenarios that you might not think of, like for example, a fish tank gets broken and the water spills, that would actually be covered.
But the main.
[00:03:55] Speaker A: A flood. That's interesting.
[00:03:57] Speaker B: Well, as water damage.
[00:03:58] Speaker A: As water damage.
[00:03:59] Speaker B: Okay. So something crazy like that that you wouldn't think would be covered would. But the other items like you mentioned, flood insurance is a completely separate policy that is not covered. That a lot of people think is.
[00:04:11] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:04:12] Speaker B: Mudslide, landslide, earthquake excluded.
Natural wear and tear is excluded.
[00:04:19] Speaker A: Interesting.
[00:04:20] Speaker B: Right. And so you're expected to upkeep your home and not just let something wear down.
[00:04:25] Speaker A: Right.
[00:04:26] Speaker B: And then get paid for it and.
[00:04:27] Speaker A: Then it causes an issue. Right, Right.
[00:04:29] Speaker B: So there's a long list of other things of like war and acts of terror which hopefully don't come into play.
[00:04:35] Speaker A: Hopefully.
[00:04:37] Speaker B: But negligence is probably the biggest piece that will come into play for people. But like I said, you know, flavor and earthquake and things like that are absolutely excluded.
[00:04:46] Speaker A: So when you are helping somebody get insurance, for example, do you take the time to explain this to them and make sure that you show them all the coverages that are available for them so that they can either select to add it or not add it or how does that part work?
[00:04:59] Speaker B: Right, absolutely. So maybe we'll get into it later. But you know, as far as, like I said, that basic broad form is on there, but one thing that is excluded that most people think is, is already included is water backup coverage.
[00:05:14] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:05:14] Speaker B: And so it essentially is what it sounds like. So imagine your dishwasher gets build up from detergent or whatever else, and water spills out and floods on the floor, damages carpet, flooring, whatever else.
[00:05:29] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:05:30] Speaker B: I would say almost everybody would assume that's going to be covered under your homeowner's policy.
[00:05:34] Speaker A: Right.
[00:05:34] Speaker B: But that's actually excluded.
[00:05:36] Speaker A: That is excluded. Okay.
[00:05:37] Speaker B: And so I pretty much will not sell a policy without adding the water backup endorsement.
And so there are different pieces. Like I said, most is going to be covered. I do explain what you're looking at, what might be not included. But then, hey, I would really recommend adding this on here. And then once you explain that in the scenarios, like I just said, it's like, oh, my gosh, yes, of course.
[00:06:03] Speaker A: It opens your eyes. Exactly.
[00:06:05] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:06:05] Speaker A: And I mean, let's be real. The majority of us are not going to read the policy. Right. We're not going to look at the fine print. We're not going to. We're just trusting on the person that's helping us get the insurance, tell us all the information. So that's why I love working with Matthew. He's. He's really good at that. Another question for you would be what are some of the most common exclusions that catch homeowners by surprise? That one caught me by surprise.
[00:06:24] Speaker B: Right.
[00:06:25] Speaker A: The water backup. Is there anything else you can think that it's always a whoa, that's not covered. The negligence one.
[00:06:31] Speaker B: The negligence one would be, absolutely. And I can maybe share a few scenarios, but another one would be in terms of like water damage or mold.
I think a lot of people assume that is automatically covered and it is not.
[00:06:44] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:06:45] Speaker B: And so the reason why is if you're looking at insurance and what is meant to set insurance into place is a sudden or catastrophic loss.
[00:06:54] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:06:55] Speaker B: And when you're thinking of mold, it takes a while for mold to grow. You know, there has to be, there has to be moisture that is going to build up over time. And so that's looked at as negligence because you're just ignoring.
[00:07:06] Speaker A: You just let it be.
[00:07:07] Speaker B: Right.
[00:07:08] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:07:08] Speaker B: There's a lot of different scenarios where I have seen mold paid out a lot of Times it's a sublimate because the remediation or somebody might have to be moved out of their home for an indefinite amount of time. You know, it can lead to a lot of other stuff, but sometimes there's a spirit specific limit as the highest they'll pay out for it.
[00:07:26] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:07:26] Speaker B: Or completely excluded.
Another one actually would be dog breeds.
[00:07:32] Speaker A: So really.
[00:07:33] Speaker B: Right. And so don't discriminate against dogs.
[00:07:38] Speaker A: You don't decide that. I know, I know. I'm a dog lover, so I had to say that I am too.
[00:07:41] Speaker B: And so, you know, and typically if I, you know, I'm talking to a person. Okay. Do you have any pets? Yes, we have two dogs. Okay. What kind of dogs are they?
[00:07:50] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:07:51] Speaker B: You know, and then if they say a mutt, we're great, we're good to go. If they say a Doberman or pit bull, a lot of companies will either put an animal exclusion on there.
[00:08:01] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:08:01] Speaker B: So anything arising out of an animal situation, biting a delivery driver or something, nothing will be paid out.
[00:08:08] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:08:09] Speaker B: Some companies have no restrictions on it. And but the beautiful thing is that if I hear that they have that type of dog. Well, I know these companies can't do it, but these companies can't.
[00:08:19] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:08:20] Speaker B: And so I'm still going to be able to provide an option. But it's something that.
[00:08:24] Speaker A: But you should know. Right. Because if you don't know what breed they are and then you get them the insurance and then later on, unfortunately if something happens, then. Oh, wait a minute. That dog is not included. Yeah, that breed is not included. Okay. Anything else that you can think of or any other stories you want to tell us about the exclusions?
[00:08:44] Speaker B: There's a lot of different things, like I said. I mean, another one is just like water leaks that kind of goes along with the mold.
[00:08:49] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:08:50] Speaker B: And because a water leak is not a sudden event, it's something that's been dripping.
[00:08:54] Speaker A: That's a good way to think about it. If it's not sudden, if it takes time. So people take care of your homes is what we're trying to say.
[00:09:00] Speaker B: Right, right.
[00:09:01] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:09:02] Speaker B: Trampolines would be a big one.
[00:09:04] Speaker A: Trampolines. That's not covered.
[00:09:06] Speaker B: Well, for the most part, no, it is not. Or they will cancel you if they see a trampoline on your property.
[00:09:14] Speaker A: Well, I mean, I did almost break an ankle on a trampoline, so I understand that that one.
[00:09:19] Speaker B: I understand my nephew is currently with a broken leg from a trampoline.
[00:09:23] Speaker A: Trampolines are.
[00:09:25] Speaker B: I don't insure them.
[00:09:27] Speaker A: Yes. Okay. That makes sense. So that is good to know, because that is not just common knowledge that everybody would know that. That's how it works.
[00:09:34] Speaker B: Right.
[00:09:35] Speaker A: And another question we had for you is, can you share an example of when someone thought they were covered but weren't? Has that ever happened to you?
[00:09:43] Speaker B: So going back to kind of the negligence thing, a roof, again, as a homeowner, you're expected to be a good steward of it and upkeep it, take care of it. So one thing that I do every year is I have a tree company come out and I trim back the trees around my house. That's important because if you have a tree that is overhanging a branch, overhanging your home, it's in contact with the roof, which can cause mildew or other things like that. Or if, you know it's just overhanging it, a storm comes and that branch falls directly on it. Well, that would be looked at as.
[00:10:20] Speaker A: Negligence because you let the tree be on top of the house.
[00:10:23] Speaker B: Because you should be taking care of your home and safeguarding it, essentially, you should be protecting your asset. And if you're not taking those measures, then, you know, that would be something that would not be paid out.
[00:10:37] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:10:38] Speaker B: So I don't like writing the check to the guys to come and cut back my trees, but I do it because I would rather be covered than not.
[00:10:44] Speaker A: You have to take care of what you own.
[00:10:46] Speaker B: Right.
[00:10:46] Speaker A: You know, it's. We take care of our bodies, we need. We take care of our cars and we need to take care of our homes. Because.
[00:10:51] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:10:52] Speaker A: I think that's one thing that a lot of people don't realize, that if it's not sudden, like you said, now, now that's stuck in my head. If it's something that just progressively happened and it's something you could have taken care of, but you did, and then obviously. And it makes sense, Right. The insurance will say, listen, you've had that growing. You have that mole growing for months now. You haven't done anything about it. Now it's an issue. So. Right, okay, that makes sense. Thank you so much for that information. We are actually going to be back, and up next, we are going to tackle the question on everyone's mind, how much insurance do you really need? And how to choose your coverage and limits wisely. I think that is one of the most common questions that we get.
Especially, you know, I used to live in Florida, so we get the fun hurricanes and the floods and everything. So that's a question that we always had asking the whoever was helping us with the insurance was what coverage do I need? What is going to help me if anything like that were to happen? And hopefully, you know, we're not expecting any natural disasters to happen to you, but I think that if you are in an area that could be susceptible to that, that would be something, something interesting to talk about with your representative. So we'll be right back.
Welcome back to Home Story with Veronica. Want more of what you're watching? Stay connected to Home Story and every NOW Media TV favorite live or on demand, anytime you like. Download the free Now Media TV app on Roku or iOS and unlock nonstop bilingual programming in English and Spanish on the move. You can also catch the podcast version right from our website at www.nowmedia.tv. from business and news to lifestyle culture and beyond, Now Media TV is streaming around the clock. Ready whenever you are. I am here with Matthew Johnson. And in this segment we are diving into how to figure out how much insurance you actually need. Many people underinsure or misunderstand what enough coverage looks like. So let's break that down. The problem is that many homeowners underestimate their needs, leaving themselves vulnerable if disaster strikes.
Choosing coverage and limits wisely ensures financial protection. Matthew, how should homeowners think about rebuilding cost versus market value when setting a coverage?
[00:13:06] Speaker B: Yeah, well, this is something that comes up all the time. As I'm sure you're aware in the real estate space, yes, market value can vary wildly just depending on a school district, zip code, a neighborhood and things like that.
And so when you're looking at insurance, you know, there are so many different factors that go into it. So the easiest way to look at it is a 2,000 square foot home.
[00:13:31] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:13:31] Speaker B: You know, square footage is a huge thing that they base it on the number of bathrooms, even just the roof shape, the different materials. Is it vinyl siding? Is it brick? You know, the costs associated with what is going, what it would be to rebound, rebuild this home in like kind and quality.
[00:13:49] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:13:49] Speaker B: And so as far as market value goes, you know, you can have a home in the Charlotte area in a desirable neighborhood school district, and that price can be $300,000 more to purchase than what the insurance value is because of.
[00:14:07] Speaker A: The location and how popular it is and that. Okay, that makes sense.
[00:14:10] Speaker B: So historically in insurance it's been rated around $150 per square foot.
[00:14:15] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:14:16] Speaker B: Obviously purchase prices in Charlotte can go $350, $400 per square foot.
[00:14:19] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:14:20] Speaker B: In today's world, as the cost of materials are going up, labor costs are going up. You're looking more around the $200 per square foot, if not even a little higher. So in my example, a 2,000 square foot home here in Charlotte, you know, you might insure that at $450,000.
Market value might be $750,000.
[00:14:40] Speaker A: Makes sense.
[00:14:41] Speaker B: But it's all based on the home details. And so if there's a porch, is it a screened in porch or is it just open area? Is it a concrete porch? Is it a treated deck?
[00:14:51] Speaker A: All that matters.
[00:14:52] Speaker B: All of that matters. Right.
One that I think gets overlooked sometimes is the height of the ceiling.
True. If you're somebody that's building a home, that adds on a lot of home if you have higher ceilings. So a lot of different factors in there.
And I do that. When I'm quoting a home. I am looking at everything, trying to get as accurate as I possibly can. Because worst thing you can do is be underinsured and not protecting yourself enough.
[00:15:20] Speaker A: Exactly. Yeah.
[00:15:21] Speaker B: Another piece of market value that I didn't mention is land.
[00:15:25] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:15:25] Speaker B: And so a lot of people, if my dwelling limit is lower than the purchase price, I say, well, if you just took the home off of here and you're selling the piece of land, how much would you sell that for? Yeah, 80,000, $100,000. Insurance is not doing anything about that.
[00:15:41] Speaker A: Yes, true.
[00:15:42] Speaker B: So so many different factors. But I mean, I always want to err on the safer side.
[00:15:47] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:15:47] Speaker B: You know, especially in this day and age.
So, you know, there are again, certain endorsements that you can add that give you that added protection.
[00:15:56] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:15:56] Speaker B: That will extend what they would pay out. My best example is during COVID a sheet of plywood was $80.
Suddenly your house just got a lot more expensive to rebuild. And so the insurance company isn't going to penalize you for that as long as they know that you were truthful when putting that information in.
[00:16:17] Speaker A: Okay, that makes sense.
[00:16:18] Speaker B: You know, and so I've even had people before try to. Oh, can you try to get that dwelling limit down? I want to hit a certain price.
No, I'm sorry, I'm not going to do that.
[00:16:26] Speaker A: It's not going to. No, it's not going to do you any favors by saving a little bit and then something happens and.
[00:16:31] Speaker B: Right.
[00:16:32] Speaker A: You are out of luck. Yeah. So question for you. If somebody, for example, buys a house and they completely renovate it, do they call you again after they've renovated and say, you know, I want to update my insurance? Cause now the cost of my house is definitely Higher. Because we've done everything to it, right?
[00:16:48] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:16:49] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:16:49] Speaker B: Okay. Not always. Cause it's kind of on the client.
However, I just recently helped somebody closing on a home, and we had this exact discussion.
[00:16:59] Speaker A: Okay, so.
[00:17:00] Speaker B: So had him insured at, I think, $210 per square foot. And I went over that with them. This is what we're looking at.
And I said, okay, well, we plan on doing a bunch of renovations after we move in. Should we call you after to go over everything? Said, yes, absolutely.
[00:17:15] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:17:15] Speaker B: Because when I'm putting this information in for the kitchen, one of the questions is countertops.
[00:17:23] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:17:23] Speaker B: Are these laminate countertops or quartz? Or quartz.
[00:17:27] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:17:27] Speaker B: You know, what are the cabinets?
Is it vinyl floors? Is it hardwood floors? What's the percentages of all of it? And so those play a factor.
[00:17:36] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:17:37] Speaker B: And so I told her, I said, yes, absolutely. Keep me updated on the progress, because we want to make sure that you are properly covered. And she was somebody clearly very smart and wanted to make sure that she was protecting her asset. And I really valued that.
[00:17:52] Speaker A: So that is a tip for all of you who are watching. If you got insurance when you got your home and you've done significant work to it and you've done. Done upgrades, and now the cost of replacing your home is a lot higher than it was when you purchased your home, make sure you contact your insurance agent or Matthew so that they can help you update that coverage. Because when we bought our home. I'm talking about my own. I need to review my coverage. Because when we bought our home, we renovated everything, and I don't think we've updated our insurance accordingly. So this is a conversation that I needed to hear as well. And I think it's very important because again, we never know. We never thought the mountains would get the disaster that they got with the hurricanes and everything. And now these poor people, you know, never. I think in a hundred years, nothing had ever happened like that. So it's important. So make sure you call.
Oh, my gosh. Your insurance agent, or we are going to give you Matthew's contact as well. But before we do that, I want to ask you more questions. What is the difference between replacement cost and actual cash value? And why does it matter in a policy?
[00:18:52] Speaker B: Well, as we are talking about, you know, protecting yourself and making sure you have the right values on your home.
Replacement costs and actual cash value play a huge part in that. Okay, so starting with actual cash value, something everybody's familiar with is car insurance. And what's the classic saying, if you buy a new car, drive it off the lot, and you lose $10,000 immediately.
[00:19:14] Speaker A: Literally.
[00:19:15] Speaker B: And yes, quite literally. And a huge factor of that is because your car is always going to be on an actual cash value basis, okay? And so it immediately lost that value driving off the lot. If you got hit right there, you're not going to get paid out what you just shelled out, right? And so that is taking depreciation into account, you know, when you're selling a car, how many miles is on it and stuff, and all that starts dwindling down the value.
Now, in insurance, you want to be on a replacement cost basis, okay? Because what that means is that they are not going to. If you have a home from 1980.
[00:19:55] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:19:56] Speaker B: Well, that doesn't mean that the home is bad by any means. And so that thing I said earlier, like kind and quality, so they have to make you whole to today's materials and everything to get you as close to what that home was.
And so if it was an actual cash value basis, those numbers were talking about $450,000.
That wouldn't even play a part into it because they would depreciate it so greatly.
Now a homeowner's policy is automatically going to be on a replacement cost basis.
[00:20:28] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:20:29] Speaker B: However, just like we're saying, you want to be truthful and accurate with the numbers that you're putting in, because if you are under insuring, and this is to protect insurance companies, if people are trying to just cut the price down, right? If you're underinsured by 80% of their calculated value of the home, you're now on an actual cash value basis. So if you have a loss, you're going to get paid out significantly less than what you should be.
[00:20:55] Speaker A: I hope you all caught that because I think that's important. Can you repeat that very. In a very simple way?
[00:21:00] Speaker B: Okay, so our example of the. I guess we can do $500,000, okay?
[00:21:07] Speaker A: Easy number.
[00:21:08] Speaker B: So based on today's materials to rebuild that, because that's what they're going to do is pay out to rebuild you to the same specs and everything of the home.
They can't get materials from 1980, but maybe those materials were nicer then. So you're going to get nice materials now.
As long as you're properly insured, you're going to get paid out to build that back up to make you whole. That's what the insurance is for.
[00:21:30] Speaker A: Okay?
[00:21:31] Speaker B: But if your home is underinsured by 80% or less than the corrected value, okay? And they have these. You know how they can determine it.
[00:21:41] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:21:42] Speaker B: And so what would that be? 400,000, if it's comfortable with math.
[00:21:46] Speaker A: So I'll trust you on that.
[00:21:47] Speaker B: I think that's right.
So if it's under 400,000, so if you're at 375, you should be at 500,000. You have a total loss and go, well, you were underpaying because.
[00:21:56] Speaker A: Oh, I see what you're saying. Exactly right.
[00:21:59] Speaker B: And so they're trying to get away with something to save money.
[00:22:01] Speaker A: You try to take a shortcut.
[00:22:02] Speaker B: Right.
They will still get paid out, but everything is going to be depreciated.
[00:22:07] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:22:08] Speaker B: And so suddenly that value is dropped.
[00:22:10] Speaker A: Significantly and that makes a big difference. And do you really save that much more money if you try to. Because I want to put that into perspective.
Do you really save that much more money by saying, hey, yeah, my house is worth 500, but insure it for 300?
[00:22:25] Speaker B: No. I mean, in my opinion, everybody's case is different. I mean, $500 for the year.
[00:22:32] Speaker A: For the year. I mean, you know, I mean, if anything happens.
[00:22:35] Speaker B: Right.
[00:22:35] Speaker A: We're talking about thousands.
[00:22:37] Speaker B: Oh, tens of thousands.
[00:22:39] Speaker A: Tens of thousands, yes. Yes. Okay. Don't take the shortcut on this.
[00:22:43] Speaker B: Right. So it's not worth it.
[00:22:45] Speaker A: It's your home, it's where you live.
[00:22:46] Speaker B: So again, replacement cost is mean. They're gonna make you whole and like kind and quality.
[00:22:52] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:22:52] Speaker B: And so it's vitally important.
And even homes from like 1950, 1960, those are actually going to be valued at a higher level than newer homes because those materials, one are harder to find.
[00:23:08] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:23:08] Speaker B: And tend to be a little nicer from back then. They probably used more wood in the home and stuff like that. And so those values are actually much higher. But it still might rate better because they think that home is probably built a little more sturdy. So lots of different factors that go into it.
[00:23:23] Speaker A: Yes. Again, this is where you live. You don't wanna underinsure where you live. I mean, you don't do it to your car. Cause they force us. Right.
Especially if you have a lease or if you're paying your car. But it's your home, make sure that you get good insurance. Don't try to get shortcuts. Now, Matthew, for anyone watching who wants a personalized review of their policy, where can they reach you and your team?
[00:23:45] Speaker B: Yeah, so you can find us
[email protected].
[00:23:49] Speaker A: Okay, that's community1. Spell it out. Right. Community o n e insurance.com.
[00:23:55] Speaker B: That'S right. And if you're interested in us having a conversation with you directly on the front page, you can hit get in touch or get a quote. And it just takes name, number, email, and then we will reach out right away. If you wanted to talk to me personally, you can email me at Matthew Johnson at. @community1insurance.com Perfect.
[00:24:16] Speaker A: And we are going to come back and we're going to talk about one of the biggest frustrations homeowners have, why premiums cost what they do, and how to save without sacrificing protection. We'll be right back.
Welcome back to Home Story with Veronica. We've talked about what your policy covers and how much you might need. Now let's tackle the topic that frustrates so many homeowners. Premiums. Why do they cost what they do? And how can you keep those costs manageable without cutting corners on protection like we just talked about? The problem is that homeowners often feel confused or frustrated by rising premiums. Understanding what drives costs helps people make smarter choices. Matthew, what are the biggest factors that influence the cost of a homeowner's insurance premium?
[00:25:02] Speaker B: Well, biggest factors that are going to go into the premium are the home details. You know, what is it that they are insuring and potentially going to pay out? So, I mean, a bigger house is going to cost more to insure.
[00:25:15] Speaker A: Right.
[00:25:16] Speaker B: You know, and so, you know, that's kind of an easy answer to go there. But other factors that come into play that people might not think about location being one.
[00:25:26] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:25:27] Speaker B: And actually a big thing right now is insurance companies are taking aerial imagery and, and seeing if there are a lot of trees around a home.
[00:25:35] Speaker A: Interesting.
[00:25:36] Speaker B: And so like we talked about earlier, tree limbs hanging over your home. Well, they don't want a part of that, right?
[00:25:42] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:25:43] Speaker B: And so some companies will just even flag it and say, not available for a quote.
[00:25:47] Speaker A: Oh, wow.
[00:25:48] Speaker B: But, you know, so location is a piece of that.
And I would say everybody knows that whenever you start talking about going out towards the coast or Florida. Right. Well, of course, the location here, you know, it's really susceptible to storms or something like that, but that's true everywhere. And so even different, there are different pockets all around Charlotte or different areas that, you know, have a higher storm grade compared to other areas. And so those are different factors.
Materials of the home are different factors. The roof type, the roof shape. So all of those home details.
Another one that has come up for me a couple times recently is each home has a protection class associated with it. Okay, what the protection class is is rated on the fire department and the distance to a fire hydrant.
[00:26:43] Speaker A: So if anything were to happen, how long would it take for them to get to the.
[00:26:46] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:26:47] Speaker A: Oh, that makes sense. Okay.
[00:26:48] Speaker B: Right. And so if you're in a home out in the country and you're. So protection class goes from one to ten.
[00:26:56] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:26:56] Speaker B: Really? Really. To nine. But if you're a protection class one, they'll be there in 30 seconds. If you're protection class nine, maybe it takes seven, eight, ten minutes.
[00:27:06] Speaker A: Which can make a big difference in.
[00:27:08] Speaker B: The name of a fire.
[00:27:09] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:27:09] Speaker B: You know, that can go from a $10,000 claim to a $200,000 claim.
[00:27:14] Speaker A: Wow, that's interesting. Okay.
[00:27:16] Speaker B: Right. And so that plays a big factor in it.
[00:27:19] Speaker A: Yeah, that is very interesting. I never thought about that.
[00:27:23] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:27:23] Speaker A: So there's a lot of things that you all look at when you're insuring a home that we are just not aware of, because that's all done.
You know, not behind the curtains, necessarily, but there's a lot of things that factor into what would it take for your house to be rebuilt, and if anything were to happen, how long would it take for the firefighters to go put out that fire.
[00:27:42] Speaker B: Right. And you know, for me, like, I understand. I don't like high premiums either.
[00:27:46] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:27:47] Speaker B: You know, and, like, that's not something that I enjoy or try to tackle or anything like that. But these insurance companies, as much as people might hate them, it's all data driven. You know, I mean, for years, they know exactly what the amount of claims or what this area performed, as some companies for a stint might pull out of a radius.
[00:28:09] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:28:10] Speaker B: We're not going to insure anybody in this area because our losses have been so bad.
[00:28:14] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:28:15] Speaker B: And so there's different factors. Like, there, obviously plenty of companies won't ride on the coast, but inland. Oh, they're fine here. But that doesn't mean anything can go.
[00:28:23] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:28:24] Speaker B: And so there's a lot of things that are below the surface that we don't think about.
[00:28:30] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:28:30] Speaker B: I think the number one thing to really think about when you're frustrated with the premium or something like that is think of, okay, what you pay per year, let's say $2,000. You pay that for 10 years. Well, that's a lot of money. And you don't like seeing that go out.
But the, like, the average fire claim in homeowners insurance last year was almost $90,000. Whoo.
[00:28:56] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:28:57] Speaker B: I mean, so immediately. So immediately. Right there.
[00:29:00] Speaker A: It's already.
[00:29:00] Speaker B: Right.
[00:29:01] Speaker A: Yeah. So, I mean, think about it like health insurance, we don't know if we're going to use it. But if anything were to happen and you end up in the hospital, if you don't have it, that's going to be a mess. Same with car insurance.
You know, they force us to have it if we're paying for the car, but if not, if anything were to happen, then it's just a necessary evil that we have to deal with. And it's not an evil. That's just an expression that I'm using. Truly. Think about it. If anything were to happen to your home and you don't have insurance unless you have tons of cash just sitting in a bank, that you can just buy another home, and I'm sure you wouldn't want to do that anyways, then it's where are you going to be? Right? That's your home, that's where you live, that's where your family lives. Okay? So talking about the premiums, what role do credit history and past claims play in determining rates?
[00:29:46] Speaker B: They actually play a bigger role than people might think.
[00:29:50] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:29:50] Speaker B: And so an insurance, it's not necessarily credit history.
Instead it's called an insurance score. So, you know, if you're buying a home and you're having a mortgage, that's a hard pull on your credit.
[00:30:02] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:30:03] Speaker B: In insurance, it's a soft pool. So it doesn't show up on any reports or change anything for you. So you're free to do whatever.
But it is going to look at your auto loss history, home history.
[00:30:16] Speaker A: So if you're a risk taker and you're a daredevil, pretty much.
[00:30:19] Speaker B: Right? And so at insurance, what they look at is considered frequency and severity.
[00:30:25] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:30:26] Speaker B: And so frequency is what it sounds like. Are they filing a lot of claims? You know, like you think, well, my windshield was chipped. But if you do that, a lot of times I get, well, where's this person driving? Or what are they doing?
[00:30:39] Speaker A: What is happening?
[00:30:40] Speaker B: Right, and will that lead to something else?
If you look at severity, well, maybe they've just had one claim and it was severe, it paid out a lot of money, but that is what the insurance is for.
And so that might not carry as much weight as a bunch of little claims that pop up here and there. So I know somebody that had three claims, I think within three years, and they were all smaller payouts, they're all legitimate claims. They got paid out all from wind, but that really hurt him.
And so you think, I'm going to get paid now for this?
And so, you know, you get that 3, 4, $5,000 in your pocket now, but moving forward for the next five years, you're going to be surcharged.
[00:31:25] Speaker A: Gotcha.
[00:31:25] Speaker B: And so you're actually still paying that back over those years. And so that's why the severity might not be as bad because, well, I literally didn't have another option. I don't have $25,000 to just pay out. But if you're able to, you know, do like I said, 3, 4, $5,000 and not file that claim.
[00:31:46] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:31:46] Speaker B: And just save it for the larger loss, well, then, you know, that can help you in the long run.
[00:31:52] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:31:53] Speaker B: That's not to scare anybody away from filing a claim. I mean, my number one thing is talk to your agent, you know.
[00:31:58] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:31:59] Speaker B: If it's an emergency, go right away, you know.
[00:32:02] Speaker A: Definitely, definitely.
[00:32:03] Speaker B: But if it's on the fence or you're not sure, would this be covered? Honestly, those are some of my favorite conversations. Because we get to educate you.
[00:32:12] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:32:13] Speaker B: And then, you know, there are times where go through it and go, hey, yeah, I think we should file and.
[00:32:17] Speaker A: Help us make a better decision. Right? Yeah, exactly. Okay. I think if you compare it to whenever you get car insurance, when, when you try to get the insurance and they want to make sure you didn't get a bunch of tickets and you're not, you know, reckless driving and things like that, it does definitely make a big difference. So what when somebody wants to put a claim in and it's not a big deal, what is the recommendation that you have for them to call their insurance representative to make sure they go over it? When you said your comment was if they're on the fence, if they're not sure if this should be a claim or not, what should they do?
[00:32:52] Speaker B: So my advice is always, you know, if. If something happens, give me a call. Let's go ahead and walk through it together.
[00:32:58] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:32:59] Speaker B: And one, I'm generally already going to know your policy for the most part, but you're always going to be subject to your deductible. So already have that in mind. Because if it's $2,000 of damage, you have $1,000 deductible, you're going to get paid out a thousand. I would do that out of pocket.
[00:33:14] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:33:14] Speaker B: But usually for me, my next steps are hearing about the damage, what's going on, and I'll say, okay, I think we should call in a plumber.
[00:33:22] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:33:23] Speaker B: Or a roofer or a restoration company.
[00:33:25] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:33:25] Speaker B: You know, those are going to be your big three, really, that are going to come out, let them assess the damage, see what the source is, see what the extent is, what it's going to cost to rebuild, replace, or, you know, things like that.
[00:33:38] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:33:39] Speaker B: And then I say document everything. Keep all receipts. You know, make sure you have that paper trail. Because just because the claim happened on this date doesn't mean. Oh, if I don't file it on this date, I got nothing.
[00:33:52] Speaker A: You can do your due diligence and.
[00:33:53] Speaker B: Then file a claim, and that's the wise thing to do.
[00:33:56] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:33:56] Speaker B: So like I said, in those scenarios, and these restoration companies, these plumbers, these roofers, they deal with insurance all the time.
[00:34:03] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:34:03] Speaker B: And so they are also able to give input. I've had one recently that came through and said, here's the damage, here's what this came from. He said, I've never seen insurance pay this out.
[00:34:14] Speaker A: So there you go.
[00:34:15] Speaker B: Right.
[00:34:15] Speaker A: So that's a red flag right there not to put a claim on your history and.
[00:34:20] Speaker B: Right.
[00:34:20] Speaker A: Because do they look at that when you put a claim and it doesn't pay out?
[00:34:23] Speaker B: Yeah, that shows up on. On your history. That's why one, so important to have an agent. And two, there are plenty of times where I have the scenario. I'm thinking, okay, I think we have a good case here.
[00:34:35] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:34:36] Speaker B: But I'm going to call the underwriter and I'm going to talk to him. I'm not going to give a policy number, not going to give a name. Hey, here's a scenario. There's a lightning strike that hit an H vac and caused all this other stuff.
Everything I was pointing towards being covered.
[00:34:50] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:34:51] Speaker B: But I wanted to make sure. So. Hey, hey. Want to run through a scenario with you?
[00:34:55] Speaker A: Run through it hypothetically.
[00:34:56] Speaker B: Right, right.
[00:34:57] Speaker A: That's what happened.
[00:34:58] Speaker B: But if the homeowner were to call.
[00:35:03] Speaker A: Then you have to. Yes.
[00:35:04] Speaker B: Just immediately you start the claim. Zero dollar payout. Yeah.
[00:35:08] Speaker A: So he's asking for a friend. So make sure that you call your insurance agent and they go, I'm asking for a friend.
[00:35:13] Speaker B: And so that can protect you from the frequency issue.
[00:35:16] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:35:17] Speaker B: Because plenty of times I've seen zero payout. Zero payout, $20,000 payout. But just because it made it look like they kept trying to get.
[00:35:25] Speaker A: That. They kept trying to get the. Oh, I see what you're saying. Okay. And briefly, can you tell us high deductible, low deductible, does it make a big difference on the premium?
[00:35:36] Speaker B: It does make a difference.
[00:35:37] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:35:38] Speaker B: I would say not maybe as much as you would expect it to.
[00:35:41] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:35:42] Speaker B: You know but it can definitely do four or five, maybe even to $700.
[00:35:46] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:35:47] Speaker B: But that's where you have a conversation. What is your financial situation? What are you able to eat yourself and willing to pay out?
And so there are times where you just have to save. And I've even had that conversation. This year you're going to go high deductible. We're doing everything we can to avoid a claim.
Next year we can revisit. And so it doesn't make a huge difference. But in this economy it might.
[00:36:14] Speaker A: In this economy it might. And you never know, like you said, what the financial situation would be for a person. And if tragedy strikes and you're struggling with money and you have a high deductible because you wanted to save a little bit then, now you have to come up with a lot more money up front to be able to take care of the issue.
Talk to your insurance agent. I think that's the answer for everything. To make sure that you get the right answer to your questions. And don't go away. We're going to be right back to cover home insurance in special situations, from detached garages to home businesses and everything in between.
Welcome back to Home Story with Veronica. Don't miss a second of this show or any of your NOW Media TV favorites. Streaming live and on demand whenever and wherever you want. Grab the free Now Media TV app on Roku or iOS on your phone and enjoy instant access to our lineup of bilingual programs and in both English and espanol. Prefer podcasts? Listen to Home story anytime on Now Media TV website at www.nowmedia.tv covering business, breaking news, lifestyle culture and more. Now Media TV is available 24, 7. So the stories you care about are always within reach. In this final segment, we are talking about special situations, detached structures, home business, renovations.
These don't always fall neatly under a standard homeowner's policy. So, Matthew, let's dive into what people usually forget about those kind of things. The problem is that unique situations or changes to the home often aren't automatically covered without updating a policy. Homeowners risk gaps, that could be costly.
How are detached structures like garages or sheds covered under a standard policy?
[00:37:57] Speaker B: So again, when you're going back to the standard HO3 form, like I was talking about, other structures and your personal property, loss of use, all of that is going to be a percentage of your dwelling limit.
[00:38:10] Speaker A: Okay?
[00:38:11] Speaker B: And so on, every form, $500,000 dwelling limit, 10% of that is going to other structures. So that's 50,000 okay. 50% is going to personal property or loss of use is 20%. So it's just a built in number there. And so I'll even have people say, well, I don't have any other structures. Can we remove that to save money? No, because it's just a built in automatic thing.
[00:38:35] Speaker A: It's already how it's designed.
[00:38:36] Speaker B: Right, right.
Even if we removed it, it wouldn't change anything for you.
And so in this scenario here where we're talking about detached structures, that's something that I look at quite a bit because $500,000 is great on this home.
But you have a two car garage that's separate, that has a living space above it.
[00:39:00] Speaker A: Well, I actually have a client with that exact scenario.
[00:39:02] Speaker B: Really?
[00:39:03] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:39:03] Speaker B: It's going to cost much more than $50,000 to rebuild that.
[00:39:06] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:39:07] Speaker B: And so what you're going to do on that is add an endorsement, increase coverage b other structures. And then, you know, it's kind of the conversation, what do we think this is going to cost to rebuild? Or if somebody added it on, they might know exactly. It cost me 120,000 if they added themselves.
[00:39:24] Speaker A: Right, right. They know. Yeah.
[00:39:25] Speaker B: And so you increase that limit and it's not going to be very expensive, you know, but you want to make sure.
Yes, that's in there. And also going back to our insurance values that we were talking about, if it's a detached garage, you know, that dwelling limit might sound really low to somebody. It's like, well, that's because that doesn't include the garage. So that's why we had to increase this portion of it here.
[00:39:49] Speaker A: Okay, that makes sense.
[00:39:50] Speaker B: Right. And so all of the other structures coverage is essentially what's on your property not attached to the home.
So a fence goes along with that. Fences are expensive. I hated adding mine.
[00:40:02] Speaker A: Yes, they are.
[00:40:03] Speaker B: Like you said, a shed detached garage, a dock for boat actually would fall under that right now.
[00:40:10] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:40:10] Speaker B: So I have a client right now, they just moved to the lake, very excited.
And they're adding in a dock right now. Said it's going to be around 40 to $50,000.
[00:40:19] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:40:20] Speaker B: Home is I think 550. So he has $55,000 in other structures coverage. And so we had the conversation. Well, you already have 50,000 in other structures coverage, which technically would be enough to cover the dock. But one thing happens to dock then and everything else that's not enough. So we had the conversation going back and forth. What number do we think is adequate for.
[00:40:42] Speaker A: For all of the detached.
[00:40:43] Speaker B: For all of the Detached structures. Right. And so a common one, a pool.
[00:40:50] Speaker A: Okay, a pool. That's interesting.
[00:40:51] Speaker B: Right?
[00:40:52] Speaker A: How does that work?
[00:40:53] Speaker B: Well, say, I mean, imagine that excavating and digging out a pool and laying down the concrete and stuff, that's considered a detached structure.
[00:41:00] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:41:01] Speaker B: So it adds value to the home and it increases everything, but it doesn't fall under that dwelling limit. And so especially if they have a separate pool house or something like that. And so, you know, I automatically, when I'm quoting a home, if. If I'm looking and I automatically see that, yeah, I will increase that other structure's limit based on just, you know, my.
[00:41:22] Speaker A: The knowledge that was there, you know. Yeah.
[00:41:24] Speaker B: And then when I present it to the client and call them and say, hey, you know, I baked this in here for you. I saw that, you know, you have the detached garage, and I put it at this limit, you know, what do you think?
Okay. And so, you know, it's not a standard thing or something that people think about that often, but it can be something that becomes pricey.
[00:41:44] Speaker A: Absolutely. So if somebody has had a home and they only had one detached structure and the coverage was enough, but then they added something else, like you said, they decided to add that living space on top of the garage or in law suite or however you want to call it, that's a good time to call your insurance agent again to say, hey, now my detached structures have more value.
[00:42:04] Speaker B: Right.
[00:42:05] Speaker A: Do we need to talk about adding an endorsement or an extra amount on that coverage?
[00:42:10] Speaker B: Yeah, right. Yeah, absolutely. And you know, again, you can say, well, you're defaulted to this amount, $50,000. Okay, well, if you only need to say increase it by $20,000 or so. Well, that's actually not going to be that much to increase it overall, you know, to increase it. For this boat dock I was talking about, I think it was $80 for the entire year.
[00:42:30] Speaker A: I mean.
[00:42:31] Speaker B: Yeah, but now, now you don't have to worry about this $40,000 boat dog, you know, so what's going to cost.
[00:42:37] Speaker A: You more if anything happens? 40,000 or just $80 a year.
[00:42:40] Speaker B: Yeah, right. And so adding anything, like I said, a fence is a big one. Yes. You know, especially if you're doing the whole yard, what type of fence and things like that. Those are, Those are important things to look at.
[00:42:52] Speaker A: Okay, that's very good information.
What do homeowners need to know? Changing the subject a little bit about coverage for home businesses or home offices. Like, we've had people work from home, sometimes they do their hairdressing business at Home or they have a little shop where people bring them their cars and they fix them. What do they need to know about insurance for that part?
[00:43:12] Speaker B: Yeah. So especially in this day and age, like you're saying, you know, work from home is a very common thing. Yes, I love it. I do it sometimes.
And so when you're, when you're somebody like us, where most of our work can just be done from our laptop, you know, and we just might have a small setup, we don't have a true. In home business, you're just working from home. You know, that's no problem.
You know, there's no. We don't have third parties regularly coming for a consultation or anything like that. You know, the exposure, there's isn't anything that would fall outside of what your home policy would do.
[00:43:52] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:43:53] Speaker B: Now if you have a true, you know, business tied to your home and you're say, making a product and you have some equipment and things that create this product and you store it in your home.
Even small scale, though.
[00:44:07] Speaker A: Yeah.
So people make candles to sell them.
[00:44:11] Speaker B: Right.
[00:44:11] Speaker A: They have everything that they need there. People who make like for us realtors, we have people who make our closing gift.
[00:44:17] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:44:17] Speaker A: So they have a whole workshop and they do the names and the engraving and everything. That would be what you're talking about right now.
[00:44:23] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:44:24] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:44:24] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. You know, like you're saying candles, people on Etsy are making a lot of things.
[00:44:28] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:44:28] Speaker B: If you have an inventory of items, you know, your homeowners policy will actually cover a little bit, but it's very limited, like $1,500 max.
[00:44:39] Speaker A: Oh, wow. That's nothing.
Especially. Okay.
[00:44:41] Speaker B: Right. And so that separation there is, is going to be a gap in your coverage. And so what you're going to want to do if you're that business, and again, if you're smaller scale just starting out, that's totally fine. But as things start to grow and maybe your inventory, you have a little bit more, you're going to really want to look at taking out a business owner's policy.
[00:45:01] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:45:02] Speaker B: They're not expensive, you know, especially a startup or something. You know, maybe it's $500 for the year.
[00:45:06] Speaker A: Okay. That's not bad.
[00:45:07] Speaker B: But that's going to protect your business, personal property, it's going to protect that inventory.
[00:45:12] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:45:12] Speaker B: And then especially if you have people coming to pick up items at the home, you know, that's not a regular homeowner's exposure, you know. And so that business owner's policy is also going to protect you in that aspect of it.
[00:45:24] Speaker A: So liability. If they fall and they break their leg while they were going up the stairs to go pick up the items, and that would fall under the business one.
[00:45:31] Speaker B: Yep, exactly.
[00:45:32] Speaker A: Because it's not a typical. That's okay, that makes sense. It's not a typical visitor that would just go, see you at your house. They're going there for business.
[00:45:38] Speaker B: Right, exactly.
[00:45:39] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:45:39] Speaker B: And so, you know, the homeowner's policy, again, it's broad form. It takes a lot of stuff into account.
[00:45:45] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:45:45] Speaker B: But when you add a truly separate exposure that is not homeowners activity, then that's when you have to start looking at it differently.
[00:45:53] Speaker A: Okay, can they do that with you as well, the business policy?
[00:45:56] Speaker B: Yes. Okay, absolutely.
[00:45:57] Speaker A: All right. And when they.
Does it cover, for example, the example that I gave you, the people who actually have tools to make whatever products they're making, does it cover the tools as well or. As well or just the inventory?
[00:46:12] Speaker B: It.
Yeah, oh, yeah. It would cover the tools as well. You were talking about for the business owners. Yes, yes, absolutely.
[00:46:18] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:46:19] Speaker B: On the homeowner's policy, it probably would as well.
[00:46:22] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:46:23] Speaker B: Again, if you're looking at smaller scale and stuff like that, but especially if you have, you know, very specialized tools or, you know, kind of a large quantity of things, that separation, you're really going to want to pull away from it because.
[00:46:37] Speaker A: Okay, so I'm asking for a friend. I'm actually asking for a friend this time. I have a friend who started a staging company and she stores all of her furniture in her garage.
What do you recommend for that? Because if anything were to happen to all of the furniture that she uses for business, for staging homes.
What do you recommend for that?
[00:46:57] Speaker B: Yeah, I would absolutely look at taking out a commercial policy for it.
[00:47:01] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:47:02] Speaker B: And really, it is a gray area which does make it tough because, well, that's just furniture that is under the homeowner's policy.
But in the event of a claim, say, well, why do you have all this extra stuff?
[00:47:14] Speaker A: Right. You don't need 25 couches and 10 dining tables for a 2,000 square feet home.
[00:47:20] Speaker B: Right. And so then if you're able to take out, like I said, a business owner's policy that's going to cover all that equipment liability and other items like that, which, you know, away from the premise as well.
[00:47:30] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:47:31] Speaker B: Contracts, things like that for $500 for the entire year.
[00:47:35] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:47:36] Speaker B: That's really gonna be worth it.
[00:47:37] Speaker A: All right, My friend's gonna call you soon. I'm gonna tell her to call You. How do renovations, additions or roof changes affect insurance coverage?
Briefly, if you can.
[00:47:47] Speaker B: Yeah. So we'll talk about. Roofs are the huge thing in insurance right now because people in Florida are trying to get paid out for things that shouldn't be paid out. Contractors, really kind of nasty thing right now. But for me, if somebody reaches out and says, hey, got a roof replaced, the first thing I do, well, one, I update their policy, which lowers their premium.
[00:48:10] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:48:10] Speaker B: But then after that, I go and I reshop with all my markets.
[00:48:14] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:48:14] Speaker B: Because there's a chance that they could save a thousand dollars just because they updated their roof.
[00:48:19] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, that happened to us when we got our home in Florida. They. They literally told us, if you put one more nail on the roof, a three nail, something, I can't remember what it was, you will save like $2,000 a year just because it protects the roof from flying off easily.
So just things like that, make sure that you check with your insurance agent, because our insurance agent at that time, this was a long time ago, he told us exactly what to do. So I think that's very important. Matthew, this has been such an important conversation. Where can people follow you or connect with you and Community One Insurance to review their own coverage?
[00:48:55] Speaker B: Yeah. So like I mentioned on our website, communityone insurance.com.
[00:48:58] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:48:58] Speaker B: All spelled out.
And then we're on Instagram, we're on LinkedIn, we're on Facebook as well. CommunityOne Insurance.
I'm on Instagram as well. So if you want to follow me, reach out directly. I'd be happy to.
[00:49:13] Speaker A: Awesome. Matthew, thank you so much for joining us and for breaking down the complexities of homeowners insurance. Today we've learned what's really covered in a policy. How much insurance people actually need, why premiums cost, what they do, and how to plan for special situations that homeowners often overlook. For our viewers, Remember, understanding your insurance is just as important as having it. So take the time to review your policy, ask questions, and protect what matters the most. I'm Veronica Diquez and this has been Home Story with Veronica, where every home has a story worth protecting. Thank you for watching and we'll see you next time.
