GREENSBORO, N.C. — Whenever damaging storms come through our area, I always ask myself, 'would I be prepared to deal with this?' I think of the numbers I would need, like phone numbers and also policy numbers.
Like many of you, I have all that stuff in a file cabinet. It's neatly labeled and all, but what if it's all in a room, that is smashed in by a tree and I can't get to it? Here’s my thought for me and for you. It's not earth-shattering, but if you haven't done it, you'll want to pull out a camera.
Take pictures of insurance documents. Make sure it has your policy number, and your agent's number, and you get the gist. It wouldn't hurt to add your medical insurance, car insurance, mortgage info, and car loan info too.
This way, if your roof blows off and all your documents go with it you have all the info in one place. You can save all the pics into an album for easy reference.
Also, with your phone, turn the video on and do a quick home inventory. This helps you figure out what really needs to be replaced and have evidence to back it up.
This brings me to this. If your home is insured for $200,000 it's not enough. The inflation guard of 25% that is built into the policy, makes the total insurance coverage about $250,000.
Problem is, that the cost of materials and labor has outpaced this by 25%, which means today it might cost $400,000 to rebuild your home. What happens then? Well, you're only insured for $250,000, and that's how much insurance is going to pay.
“You need to re-evaluate how much your home is insured for in reconstruction. Raising it will make your premium go up, but we want to pay your claim when you have one and we want to pay it right,” said Christopher Cook of Alliance Insurance Services.