Have You Ever Actually Gotten a Full Insurance Payout? 25 Years In, I Haven’t.

[Jorge Vazquez]

Been a landlord and investor in Florida for over 25 years now, and here’s what blows my mind — I’ve never once had an insurance claim come anywhere close to the “full replacement value” I’m supposedly paying for.

We’ve had roof leaks, fallen trees, a kitchen fire (caused by a tenant trying to dry clothes in the oven — long story), and even one hurricane claim that dragged out for months. Every single time, the payout was a fraction of what the policy claimed to cover.

So I’m curious — am I just cursed with bad luck or is this normal?

For those who’ve been in the game a while, have you ever actually gotten a full replacement payout? Or are we all just paying for peace of mind we’ll never fully collect on? I have been able to lower my premuims in half convering the minimum required.

[James Hamling]

@Jorge Vazquez I am very confused by your post and ask, because an insurance policy isn't something left to mystery, the policy states rather clearly what coverage will be. 

I have seen several, who didn't put in time and effort to be fully informed of their policy and just assumed, to find they had an ACV policy when things happened. I have found it weird how ACV policies tend to pay out around 50% of the market cost to complete the work. 

I only have RCV policies. 

In vast majority of my clients instances, they choose RCV as best policy for them as well. I have very literally 1 who didn't and he choose to self-insure, which means he keeps a capitol account of $___ liquid. 

I had a $47k'ish that was fully covered last year from hail damage. A client had a huge tree fall on house, in huge rain storm so there was also water damage, that got fully covered. Every instance where client had RCV, it's been fully covered. 

None of these were FL, so who knows, maybe it's a FL thing????? But I'd wonder, are you going with slightly cheaper ACV policies? If so, that would be why right there. Recoverable depreciation is a sizable amount in my experience.