All Forum Posts by: Sean K.

Hi Erick,

I am an insurance agent in NJ and I sell flood insurance regularly. one thing that no one has mentioned yet is that FEMA is changing the way flood zones and rates are calculated. It will now basically be more of a distance from a hazard area vs. before a static line on a map. Suggestions below:

1-you will probably see changes to your NFIP policy at next renewal.  Assuming you have a NFIP policy.

2-In order to do any kind of appeal you will need an elevation certificate.  They usually run about $500. Surprised that you didn't get it before as it is only way to get accurate price.

3-You do not need a service to do the appeal for you once you have the elevation cert.  You can do it yourself or through the broker that sold you your policy.  That is part of what you are paying them for is service.

4-You should look into private flood options, not available in all areas, as you will not need an elevation cert.  Plus they can offer more areas of coverage that are not available on NFIP policies.

Hope that helps,

Sean

Hi Chris,

I'm an insurance agent in NJ but in general you are correct there is no way to ball park and insurance cost b/c every house is different.  there are a number of factors as you previously mentioned.  Area you are insuring in, sq. ft. of dwelling, type of coverage you want on dwelling, age of major house systems such as roof, plumbing, hvac, etc.  What you are doing with property and if you are living in it, your credit hx.

As suggested I would recommend an independent agent with multiple markets to access. 

Good luck.

Sean 

Loss assessment is just part of any condo policy sold.  It can be adjusted.  It's meant to cover losses assessed from the community/association due to larger losses spread between all owners that were not covered by the master policy.  

What you need to look at for condo insurance is the master policy and how it is covering you.  that will determine is you need a lot of dwelling coverage or very little.

As far as investing in condo I believe it is more b/c in order to make changes sometimes the condo assoc. has to approve anything and that can slow down your timeline.  time is money.

The STR market is tougher to insure than a LTR such as annual lease. I do not handle the Colorado market but do have Foremost. They are in general a good carrier. Like someone else had previously said I would call your broker and thy should be able to shop the coverage. You want the best value and not the cheapest price. If you have a policy that is cheap but doesn't cover you what good is it. I'd compare coverages and narrow down from there based on what you want and can get.

As far as trees go and insurance.

If a tree falls on your home the damage would be covered unless the cause of the tree falling was not a covered cause of loss.  Don't really see that often but an example would be an earthquake /flood which is not included in a "normal" insurance coverage scenario.

If a tree falls from the neighbors property it is your insurance that pays not theirs.

As far as roots and service lines to property a lot of companies now have a separate service line coverage specifically for instances like this.

You also would want to check our insurance policy as far as actual tree coverage.  If the tree falls on the ground and not the home, in general, land is not covered.  Most policies have some coverage for trees.  tree work is expensive though so you should cehck limits.

Hope that helped.

Shahbaz that's not correct. You should be able to get same/similar coverage as LLC as personally owned. I am insurance broker in NJ.

Allen while in general that is true, agents can help with the claims process but ultimately it is handled by the company, he should be able to read the policy and go over coverage as far as what is and is not excluded under the policy.  They should be able to give you guidance.

Allen the first question I would have is where is the property located as each state has differences.  You said hurricane in FL but your profile says investor in LA.  I'm an insurance agent in NJ and am not licensed in FL or LA so I can answer in generalities.  In general I know that FL has separate wind coverage because the standard home insurance in FL usually excludes wind I believe.  Assuming that as Jason Bott stated you have 2 claim events from what you've stated.  The first event per the contractors report would be filed under a wind claim assuming you have the wind coverage and it is not above your deductible.  The second claim may be denied entirely due to the fact that it seems you did not address the underlying issue of the roof damage when it occurred.  Like Jason Bott stated where is your agent in all this?  They should review your policy with you and confirm what coverage you have with you.  This is one of the reasons you should deal with an independent agent as they represent you and have a vested interest in you stating their customer vs. an 800 number or similar large direct insurance where you call into a call center.