[CoachKandSportsguy]

My mom's MA home renewal up 25%. . Liberty Mutual
annual increase from a friend in Arizona was 40% . .

The personal property was set at 75% of the value of the house. .
round numbers, house is insured at replacement value of $500K,
personal property replacement is at almost $400K. .

one can furnish 3 houses for $400K with basic appliances at $15-20K
and basic furniture $60K max

reduced the coverage to 40% the minimum which is $200K,
which reduced the increase to about 12% . . .

always check your coverages and question whether you are overpaying
for excess coverage. .

good luck
still a finance guy

[tophcfa]

Originally Posted by CoachKandSportsguy

My mom's MA home renewal up 25%. . Liberty Mutual
annual increase from a friend in Arizona was 40% . .

The personal property was set at 75% of the value of the house. .
round numbers, house is insured at replacement value of $500K,
personal property replacement is at almost $400K. .

one can furnish 3 houses for $400K with basic appliances at $15-20K
and basic furniture $60K max

reduced the coverage to 40% the minimum which is $200K,
which reduced the increase to about 12% . . .

always check your coverages and question whether you are overpaying
for excess coverage. .

good luck
still a finance guy

We are having a hard time insuring our log home in Massachusetts despite never having a homeowners claim. There are only a couple companies willing to write a policy on log homes due to fire risk. Log homes tend to be in rural areas with volunteer fire departments (slow response time), no public water (people have wells) so no fire hydrants, and homeowners tend to heat with wood and/or pellet stoves. Couple that with the fact that the logs are all intertwined (each layer is overlapped), which means a small fire in part of the house requires the whole house to be rebuilt, not just the damaged area like a stick framed home. It’s going to make an otherwise beautiful property very difficult to sell when we finally get around to downsizing. Erggggg!

[CoachKandSportsguy]

Originally Posted by tophcfa

We are having a hard time insuring our log home in Massachusetts despite never having a homeowners claim. There are only a couple companies willing to write a policy on log homes due to fire risk. Log homes tend to be in rural areas with volunteer fire departments (slow response time), no public water (people have wells) so no fire hydrants, and homeowners tend to heat with wood and/or pellet stoves. Couple that with the fact that the logs are all intertwined (each layer is overlapped), which means a small fire in part of the house requires the whole house to be rebuilt, not just the damaged area like a stick framed home. It’s going to make an otherwise beautiful property very difficult to sell when we finally get around to downsizing. Erggggg!

Ouch! not good!

After i stop working and get back from a golf trip with my wife in July, will call you to meetup for a golf day in August.

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by CoachKandSportsguy

My mom's MA home renewal up 25%. . Liberty Mutual
annual increase from a friend in Arizona was 40% . .

The personal property was set at 75% of the value of the house. .
round numbers, house is insured at replacement value of $500K,
personal property replacement is at almost $400K. .

one can furnish 3 houses for $400K with basic appliances at $15-20K
and basic furniture $60K max

reduced the coverage to 40% the minimum which is $200K,
which reduced the increase to about 12% . . .

always check your coverages and question whether you are overpaying
for excess coverage. .

good luck
still a finance guy

Hopefully will never happen but why would you not want to insure home for replacement value? Obviously no mortgage on home so bank not involved

[CoachKandSportsguy]

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC

Hopefully will never happen but why would you not want to insure home for replacement value? Obviously no mortgage on home so bank not involved

Dropped the personal property replacement coverage to 40% from 75% of house replacement value. House replacement remains the same.

not sure if it was clear

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by CoachKandSportsguy

Dropped the personal property replacement coverage to 40% from 75% of house replacement value. House replacement remains the same.

not sure if it was clear

Confused. Say house is worth $ 100,000 equal to replacement cost.

If home is destroyed you get $ 40,000 down from 75,000.

Now what? Not enough proceeds to rebuild and person may or may not have funds to rebuild.

[CoachKandSportsguy]

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC

Confused. Say house is worth $ 100,000 equal to replacement cost.

If home is destroyed you get $ 40,000 down from 75,000.

Now what? Not enough proceeds to rebuild and person may or may not have funds to rebuild.

The house is insured to $500K to rebuild
the personal property is insured to 75% of $500K so about $380K for appliances and furniture (does't that seem alot for kitchen appliances, washer dryer, tv, dining room table, chairs, three beds, and three chest of drawers, and a couch?)

The house burns down, we get $500K to rebuild and
$380K to refurnish ( of which we would only use 100K?)

I changed the personal property from 75% to 40% of the house value $500K
which is $200K to refurnish all appliances and furniture.

So what am i missing?

If the insurance company estimates the value of the personal property as a percentage of the home value, its a simple relationship.
In normal conditions of general overall inflation that relationship should hold. but we just had a huge increase in the value of housing independent of furnishing, so the insurance relationship is now out of whack

with the electricity shut off except for outlets, no appliances electrified, no hot water / heat electrified, risk is still low, and i hope to sell it in the next year when interest rates drop again. .

[tophcfa]

Originally Posted by CoachKandSportsguy

Ouch! not good!

After i stop working and get back from a golf trip with my wife in July, will call you to meetup for a golf day in August.

Congratulations on your upcoming retirement, trust me, it’s not overrated. There are lots of nice golf courses between Worcester and the foothill of the Berkshires.

[TheWarriors]

Originally Posted by CoachKandSportsguy

My mom's MA home renewal up 25%. . Liberty Mutual
annual increase from a friend in Arizona was 40% . .

The personal property was set at 75% of the value of the house. .
round numbers, house is insured at replacement value of $500K,
personal property replacement is at almost $400K. .

one can furnish 3 houses for $400K with basic appliances at $15-20K
and basic furniture $60K max

reduced the coverage to 40% the minimum which is $200K,
which reduced the increase to about 12% . . .

always check your coverages and question whether you are overpaying
for excess coverage. .

good luck
still a finance guy

Guess that really depends on you personal belongings. Some people will be replacing more than just furniture.

[Marine1974]

Originally Posted by CoachKandSportsguy

My mom's MA home renewal up 25%. . Liberty Mutual
annual increase from a friend in Arizona was 40% . .

The personal property was set at 75% of the value of the house. .
round numbers, house is insured at replacement value of $500K,
personal property replacement is at almost $400K. .

one can furnish 3 houses for $400K with basic appliances at $15-20K
and basic furniture $60K max

reduced the coverage to 40% the minimum which is $200K,
which reduced the increase to about 12% . . .

always check your coverages and question whether you are overpaying
for excess coverage. .

good luck
still a finance guy

No way the insurance company will pay $400,000 for personal property unless you prove you had $400, 000 . It’s a fictitious number.

[Jazzman]

Originally Posted by Marine1974

No way the insurance company will pay $400,000 for personal property unless you prove you had $400, 000 . It’s a fictitious number.

Correct! The insured would have to provide validated proof such as recent (since last renewal) photos of contents and receipts if possible. The insurance company just doesn’t hand you a check for $400,000.

[Jazzman]

Originally Posted by CoachKandSportsguy

The house is insured to $500K to rebuild
the personal property is insured to 75% of $500K so about $380K for appliances and furniture (does't that seem alot for kitchen appliances, washer dryer, tv, dining room table, chairs, three beds, and three chest of drawers, and a couch?)

The house burns down, we get $500K to rebuild and
$380K to refurnish ( of which we would only use 100K?)

I changed the personal property from 75% to 40% of the house value $500K
which is $200K to refurnish all appliances and furniture.

So what am i missing?

If the insurance company estimates the value of the personal property as a percentage of the home value, its a simple relationship.
In normal conditions of general overall inflation that relationship should hold. but we just had a huge increase in the value of housing independent of furnishing, so the insurance relationship is now out of whack

with the electricity shut off except for outlets, no appliances electrified, no hot water / heat electrified, risk is still low, and i hope to sell it in the next year when interest rates drop again. .

You can save on the premium increase by examining your level of deductible for property and contents. Additionally, remember the original purchase of the home, you paid for the land it is built on and the surrounding property. Not the case if structure is destroyed, so when you look at current value that includes the land.

[Captainpd]

But but. It's those damn roofs that everyone put claims on that caused the insurance rates to go up.

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by CoachKandSportsguy

The house is insured to $500K to rebuild
the personal property is insured to 75% of $500K so about $380K for appliances and furniture (does't that seem alot for kitchen appliances, washer dryer, tv, dining room table, chairs, three beds, and three chest of drawers, and a couch?)

The house burns down, we get $500K to rebuild and
$380K to refurnish ( of which we would only use 100K?)

I changed the personal property from 75% to 40% of the house value $500K
which is $200K to refurnish all appliances and furniture.

So what am i missing?

If the insurance company estimates the value of the personal property as a percentage of the home value, its a simple relationship.
In normal conditions of general overall inflation that relationship should hold. but we just had a huge increase in the value of housing independent of furnishing, so the insurance relationship is now out of whack

with the electricity shut off except for outlets, no appliances electrified, no hot water / heat electrified, risk is still low, and i hope to sell it in the next year when interest rates drop again. .

Thanks understand now. I do not think you can get paid on personal property loss without tons of proof of original value.

[Karmanng]

Originally Posted by CoachKandSportsguy

My mom's MA home renewal up 25%. . Liberty Mutual
annual increase from a friend in Arizona was 40% . .

The personal property was set at 75% of the value of the house. .
round numbers, house is insured at replacement value of $500K,
personal property replacement is at almost $400K. .

one can furnish 3 houses for $400K with basic appliances at $15-20K
and basic furniture $60K max

reduced the coverage to 40% the minimum which is $200K,
which reduced the increase to about 12% . . .

always check your coverages and question whether you are overpaying
for excess coverage. .

good luck
still a finance guy

YUP I am in AZ and it went about 50% until I changed the deuctable to a higher amount