Losing a home to a fire or tornado is a devastating life-changing event. If your home were destroyed, would you have enough coverage on your homeowner’s policy? Many policies provide a specific percentage of coverage based on the value of your home’s contents (clothes, TVs, appliances, etc.), other structures (garages and sheds), and additional living expenses (expenses like rent you must temporarily pay because your home isn’t livable). It's hard to know what coverage amount is right for you. Nick Unger, personal lines senior underwriter, will explain the benefits of blanket coverage.
Most of us acquire our clothes, furniture, sports equipment, and other personal items over a long period of time. They’re often received as gifts or purchased at sale prices. Unfortunately, after a home loss, there’s not much time to shop for sales because you need to replace these items as soon as you can. When that happens, people typically discover their contents cost more than they thought.
Fortunately, West Bend can relieve the worry associated with not having enough coverage. How? With blanket coverage for other structures, contents, and additional living expense. West Bend uses 2.5 times the home’s replacement value (or coverage A on your homeowner’s policy) to determine that amount. The minimum is $300,000. This means that if your home has a replacement value of $250,000, your blanket limit would be $625,000.
Rather than specifying dollar amounts for each area of coverage (home, contents, other structures, and living expenses), that amount is used as a blanket to cover all four of those areas. This allows us to place coverage where it’s needed at the time of loss. For instance, let’s say there are no other structures on the premises. Money that would have been used to rebuild the structure(s) can be used for contents or additional living expenses to help get you back to where you were before the tragedy.
To make sure you have the right coverage, talk to your independent insurance agent.
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This article is intended for general educational and illustrative purposes only and should not be construed to communicate legal or professional advice. Further, this article is not an offer to sell insurance. Please consult with your licensed insurance agent for specific coverage details and your insurance eligibility. All policies are subject to the terms, conditions, limitations, definitions, and exclusions contained therein.
