Makeover Your Homeowners Insurance
By Bradley Steffens
Your kitchen cabinets are in, your granite countertops are gleaming, and your stainless steel appliances are humming with computer-controlled efficiency. You're done with your home makeover at last. Or are you?
If you're like most people taking part in home makeover craze, you're enjoying not only how much you have increased your home's beauty, but also how much you have boosted its value. According to the nineteenth annual "Cost vs. Value Report" prepared by Remodeling magazine in cooperation with REALTOR® Magazine, the cost of a major kitchen remodel averages $54,241 nationwide. Depending on where you live, a kitchen remodel can raise the resale value of your home anywhere between $38,884 and $58,004, with the national average being $43,603. If you have purchased new appliances, furniture, window treatments, or electronics, the value of your personal property has gone up, too. Your home value has increased, but what about your homeowners insurance? It may need a makeover, too.
Renovations and updates can cause you to be underinsured in two areas: dwelling protection and personal property protection. You will want to notify your insurance agent of changes that affect your dwelling, such as new windows and doors, kitchen cabinets, custom countertops, islands, flooring, and lighting--anything attached to the structure. You also will want mention new personal property, such as major appliances, furniture, and window treatments.
When insuring personal property, be sure your policy covers replacement value, not actual cash value. The actual cash value is the cost of replacing an item minus the amount it has depreciated. Many items--especially appliances and electronics--depreciate over time. The depreciated amount will not be enough to replace a lost item with a new one.
It's always a good idea to keep your insurance agent up to date about your home, but a remodel or renovation should trigger an immediate call. If disaster strikes, you always can get another home makeover, but you can't get an insurance do-over.
About the Author
Bradley Steffens is the author of twenty books, coauthor of seven, and editor of the 2004 anthology, The Free Speech Movement. His Censorship (1996) was included in the 1997 edition of Best Books for Young Adult Readers. Several of his books, including Ibn al-Haytham: First Scientist (2006), have been selected by California Readers to be part of
|
