Home Insurance Changes

Is It Time to Update Your Home Insurance Policy?

I don't know many people who enjoy talking to their insurance agent. There are few out there, but most of the time people want to put a policy in place and not have to deal with the process again. This is great. Low maintenance clients are our favorite kind! But there are conversations we need to have with you. Many people do not realize how changes in their lifestyle or their home can affect their home insurance policy. 

Marital Status

Did you get married? or are you now single? These changes can affect your rates. If you got married, you will want to put your spouse on your policy. If something happens to you and you are incapacitated, if your spouse is not on your policy, they cannot file claims or make decisions about the policy. If you are now single, you will want to remove your (previous) spouse from the policy so they may not make changes or decisions about the policy. Being married will usually lower your rate a little bit. Most carriers consider married couples to be a more stable risk. I know we all know people that would not be true of, but carriers compile several types of statistics to determine risk. 

High End Purchases

You have a certain amount of coverage for your Personal Property on your policy. If you buy a large screen TV or a high end computer system, this can eat into that coverage amount. Most carriers will offer options on the personal property amount.  It is a good idea to keep receipts and take photos of any high end purchase for verification in case you file a claim. Home policies also cap the amount of coverage for jewelry, so if you buy a new piece of jewelry, you may need to change your coverage. You can add a "Schedule Personal Property" endorsement that will cover a specific piece of jewelry. You need to get a certified appraisal, including a photo to verify the value of the jewelry so the carrier can write the additional coverage for the exact amount of the piece. It is not subject to  the policy deductible and will ensure you are fully covered.

Home Improvement

Remodeling/adding onto your home can increase the Replacement Cost on your Dwelling

value. The dwelling value is what the carrier determines it would cost to rebuild your home from the ground up in the case of a catastrophic loss. This can includes remodeling the kitchen or bathrooms, adding a pool, changing out plumbing. Not everything will affect your dwelling value, but talk to your agent about any changes you are planning. 

Pet Changes

Have you adopted a dog recently? Some dog breeds are prohibited by carriers (think Pit Bulls and German Shepherds). I know your dog is not a problem, but again, statistics show that certain breeds are more aggressive and carriers don't want to pay out those claims so they make them ineligible. If you have an ineligible dog breed, your carrier may cancel your policy outright or they may exclude liability coverage for anything that has to do with the dog. If you do not disclose the dog, they may deny a claim because of fraudulent information on the policy.

Home Security Systems

Have you added a monitored alarm system? Turned your home into a "Smart Home"? These can save you money on your policy. Now I believe having a monitored alarm system is a very good idea, but it will not save you the same money you will spend installing and maintaining the system. You add a security system for one reason- security. And no, the system that notifies you on your iphone is not a monitored alarm. It must be monitored by a certified alarm company that notifies the police and/or fire department. 


When you are coming up on your insurance renewal it is a good idea to keep these things in 
mind. If you have made any of these changes, be sure to let your agent know so that you will be sufficiently covered. Also let them know any contact information changes. We have had people move, change phone numbers and email addresses and then act completely shocked when we don't know about the changes. Agents do not know you have made these changes unless you tell them! You can email or call into your agent; just let them know!

There are three ways to request a quote for your insurance needs: 

* Visit our website

* Email us

* Call Brockman Premier Insurance at 877-987-8683  

Windows

Does Residential Glass Cover Your Windows?  

Bay Window

Like everything else these days, there are more choices in windows than I could possibly list here.

But here are a few:

Single Sash Window: two panels set vertically. The bottom panel moves up to open the window. The top panel generally stays in one fixed position.
Casement Window: The panel is operable, hanging on a hinge that allows the window to be opened like a door.
Awning Window: It is mounted vertically with a hinge at the top so the panel is pushed out to open. It allows air flow, but keeps out debris such as falling leaves or light rain.
Bay Window: They are not usually operable. They are useful for allowing maximum light into a room as the sun travels from one end of the sky to the other throughout the day.
Palladian Window: This is a large panel, consisting of several small panels with a curved top and usually two smaller side panels.Double Hung Window: Two panels arranged vertically and both the top and the bottom panel move all the way up and all the way down. Most popular type. 

Single Sash

Jalousie Window: This is very American. It consists of thin, staggered strips of glass that open and close at the same time, similar to a Venetian blind. 

The list is much much longer, but I'm getting bored and you are wondering when I will get to something you can use.

Do you need window coverage on your home insurance policy?

That would be useful to know- right?

Most policies will include "Residential glass" coverage for about $10 annually. This generally will cover up to $100 per pane to replace broken glass. The most common claims are a tree falling into your window or maybe a baseball hit into your window. Although I think that is less common these days thanks to shatter resistance glass technology. This will not cover leaking windows, rotting frames, worn old seals or breakage caused by fire, war or nuclear reaction.

How expensive are windows?

Specialty

Generally windows can run from $250 for basic windows to thousands of dollars for Specialty windows. The pricing varies greatly due to the different types of windows (see the partial list above) and the quality of the product and the contractor installing the windows. The more inexpensive windows will not last as long, look as nice or be as soundproof or energy-efficient as some of the more expensive options. This doesn't mean the more expensive the better. Get an experienced, certified contractor and preferably someone referred by a relative or friend you trust. 

Replacing windows can increase the aesthetic value of your home. You also want them to be functional and productive. Know your options before
making repairs. If you have the residential glass coverage, know when you can use it as well as when the coverage will not apply. If you don't have it, ask your agent if it is an option on your home insurance policy. It is a very inexpensive coverage that can save you a good bit of money!

There are three ways to request a quote for your insurance needs: 

* Visit our website

* Email us

* Call Brockman Premier Insurance at 877-987-8683 

Home additions

Additions Need Additional Insurance

Are you thinking of adding onto your home? Or upgrading/ remodeling what you already have? Talk to your insurance agent first and see if you need additional coverage.

Remodeling

If you are doing a minor remodel including paint, cabinet and new appliances or a mid-grade remodel, adding new flooring, lights, furniture also, you shouldn't need to increase your coverage. But if you are doing a high end remodel that includes floor plan changes, window installments, granite counter tops, among the other changes listed, you will need reevaluate the dwelling value for your home. The difference between the value of a "Builders Grade" bathroom (a very basic bathroom) and a "Designer" bathroom is over $21,000. The difference in value of a "Builders Grade" and a "Designer" kitchen is almost $150,000. You want to make sure you have enough coverage to rebuild your home to its current standard. 

Building Additions

If you are building an addition to your home, such as another bedroom or a sun room, you will need to a Builders Risk policy while building the addition. If you hire a contractor, this should be included in their General Liability coverage. (Get verification!) The value of the addition needs to be added to your home insurance policy from the start. Take into consideration there will be additional square footage as well as fixturing, plumbing and electrical work that will add value. Consider how much coverage you have for your personal property for the additional furniture also. You should be able to increase the coverage amount if you need to. 

Building Other Structures

If you are building a Detached garage or a swimming pool, these would be covered under "Other Structures". This is usually a predetermined percentage of the Dwelling amount, usually 1-% - 20%. Some policies will let you increase/decrease this coverage. The average cost to build/replace a basic detached garage is between $9,000 and $12,000. The average cost to build a pool is $22,000. Of course these costs will increase with higher end materials and more square footage.


With all projects, take before and after pictures and keep your receipts. If you hire a contractor, ask for verification of their General Liability insurance up front and keep a copy of the signed contract and invoices. If you have friends/family help you with the project, make sure your home insurance policy has enough guest medical and liability coverage for any possible injuries. Take a look at your insurance coverage as you make your plans. There may be an additional cost associated with increasing the coverage and you want to include this in your budget. Please don't wait until your renewal to talk to your agent about your coverage. Weather and fire will not wait for your renewal, so please make sure you are covered correctly from the start!

There are three ways to request a quote for your insurance needs: 

* Visit our website

* Email us

* Call Brockman Premier Insurance at 877-987-8683  

Insurance Reports

Can I Lie About My Driving History?

You can try. Technically it is considered "soft fraud". It won't matter anyway. All carriers run your history reports before (or sometimes after) they write your policy. Most run the reports before they will bind the policy. Your reports largely determine your rates so they can be very significant in your pricing.

Bad history means higher rates    

 or worse. 

 Some carriers will not insure you at all!

Carriers will run two main types of reports for an Auto policy.


The CLUE report provides a 7 year history of claims associated with the driver/car. It will show the date of the loss, the type of loss, the amount paid out and the driver and car associated with the claim. Your agent can send you your CLUE and you can dispute any claims that are on your report in error. 

The Motor Vehicle Report (MVR) provides your driving history, including your drivers license history (including suspension/cancellations), your traffic violations/citations and DUI convictions. The time frame of the MVR varies by state. 

Auto insurance carriers use these reports to decide what the risk is to insuring you.  The greater the risk (bad history), the higher the rates. So a clean driving history will earn you better rates. Most carriers will look back 5 years, but some go back only 3 years. 

Your driving history is very important to your rates (and to job opportunities if they involve driving!) You can lie all you want. We have had people tell us they have not accidents or tickets and then we find out they have both. "Oh I forgot about that" seems to be the common retort.  The reports will show your history, whether you have revealed it yourself or not. 

There are three ways to request a quote for your insurance needs: 

* Visit our website

* Email us

* Call Brockman Premier Insurance at 877-987-8683  

Home-Based business

Do You Need Insurance for Your Home Based 
Business?

 You are considering starting a Home- Based business. Dog walker, free lance writer, personal concierge. There are so many options. Do you need insurance from the start? Do you need insurance at all? What if you only do this part time?

Yes!   Yes!  and  Yes!

Many home-based business owners believe their Home Owners policy will cover their business. But homeowner's policies EXCLUDE business coverage. Commercial risk is different from personal risk, so the policies contain different types of coverage. You want an insurance policy built for your business needs. You want a policy built for your protection. 

The Business Owners Policy

There are many policy options in commercial insurance (too many to list in one blog post.) So I am going to start with the most common type of policy for small businesses.

The Business Owners Policy (BOP) includes 3 main types of coverage.

General Liability:  This covers your company's legal responsibility for any harm it may cause to others. What you and your employees do or fail to do in your business operations may cause bodily injury or property damage due to defects in products, faulty installations and the errors in service you provide.  

Business Property:  This covers two types of business property.  It covers the buildings themselves (which you won't need much of if yours is a home-based business) and the contents owned by the company (Business Personal Property). This would be furniture, laptop and supplies, as well as other equipment you may use in your business. 

Business Interruption: This covers the loss of income if your business operations are interrupted by a covered claim. It includes the extra expense of operating out of another space temporarily if your building is uninhabitable. 

There are many other types coverage in a BOP, some included and some optional. But these three are the main concerns for small business owners. Most BOPs are a minimum of $500 annually. They can be much more expensive depending on the business and the limits of coverage. But for a small home-based business that doesn't have high risk or high amounts of business personal property, they are generally inexpensive.

Other than BOP

Other Commercial policy types include Commercial Auto, Worker's Compensation and Professional Liability (Errors and Omissions). You can also get a General Liability or Commercial Property policy as a separate policy. They don't only come in the combination form of a BOP.

   Business owners looking for the the most cost effective way to protect their business should work with agents with access to multiple insurance carriers. You can go through your area Chamber of Commerce or the Small Business Administration to find an agent near you. Or you can call us!

There are three ways to request a quote for your insurance needs: 

* Visit our website

* Email us

* Call Brockman Premier Insurance at 877-987-8683  

 

Roofs

What's on top of the house?

Why is your roof important?  Why does it matter what type of roof you have? How long should they last? 

Roofs! Who would think there would be so much to know? 

Let's start with the basics.

Common Roof Shapes

Gable: This is the most common, least expensive and easily built. It is recognized by it's Triangular shape. It is efficient for water/snow run off. The downside is they are prone to more damage during high wind storms. There are several styles of Gable roofs; Side, Crossed, Front and Dutch Gable.
Hip: This is very common also.  It is recognized by the slopes on all four sides of equal length that meet at the top like a slope. Hip is more stable than Gable and are also efficient for water/snow run off. The downside is they are more expensive and are prone to leaks if they are not built correctly. There are several styles of hip roof; Simple, Crossed and, Half Hipped.
Flat: Flat roofs have a very slight pitch for water run-off. They are generally used in industrial and commercial buildings, but they can be used in residential building also. (Although some carriers will not insure a flat roof.) They offer additional living space on the roof for patios or gardens also. 

Common Roof Types

Asphalt/Composite Shingle: These are the most common type of roof. Usually made of fiberglass and asphalt, they have a shorter lifespan than other choices. They claim to last up to 30 years, but in Texas, few composite roofs will last longer than 10 years without incurring significant weather damage.
Clay Tile: This is considered to be the most durable of roofing materials. There are many colors and shapes, giving the homeowner more options on the look of their roof. It stands up well to mold and rot and hurricane winds. The main disadvantages are the cost and the weight of the tiles. You may need to install additional support beams if you are adding a tile roof. But the length of life for tile roofs can offset that cost.
Metal Roof: This is another durable option for roofing. You can get up to 50 years of life, with very little maintenance. Now you can also get metal roofing that looks like shingle or clay tiles. They can be painted also, giving you many choices for the look of your roof. the main disadvantage is the upfront cost, but you would make it up in the lack of maintenance costs. 

There is much more to roofs than I have listed, but the basics are enough for now. Your roof age, shape and type make a difference in the cost of your insurance. Carriers can decide to not insure you because of your roof age, type, shape and/or condition. Why? Because it can cost anywhere from $7,000 to $30,000 to replace a residential roof, depending on the size, shape and materials. You have insurance so you do not have to pay that full amount. But the carrier does (minus your deductible), so they will inspect and discern if your roof is a risk they are willing to take on. 

"We had a pre-sale inspection and they said the roof was fine so your carrier is wrong." (We hear this often from upset clients.) A pre-sale inspection stating the roof is fine does not override a carrier's decision not to insure the roof. They will send their own inspector out to look at the house, including the roof.  Keep in mind, the carrier is the one who will pay out the cost to replace the roof, not you. They do have every right to decide if a roof is or is not in insurable condition. You can get upset, but it won't change their decision. Also keep in mind different carriers evaluate the condition of a home differently. One carrier may reject a roof while a different carrier will insure the same roof. 
(So don't get too upset- there is a fix!)

Texas has some of the most volatile weather in the US. We have hail, hurricanes and tornadoes, often multiple times per year. Hurricane Harvey paid out 670,000 claims last year to the amount of $4.5 billion. A large part of that payout was flooding, but another large part was for roof claims for wind damage. Then there was Hurricane Irma in Florida. Why would that affect Texas rates? Because many carriers write in multiple states. So if there are $10 billion paid out in claims, as there was for Irma, it will affect entire company, not just Texas branches. Over $5 billion was paid out in hail claims last year in Texas. Those high amounts in claims have carriers scrutinizing roofs even more closely this year. They simply are not going to pay to repair or replace a damaged roof unless the damage happened on their watch. Plus material costs are rising each year. If the materials cost more, the cost to replace/repair will cost more and insurance pricing will increase. This is the nature of the business. This is another reason why it is a great idea to go through an independent agency. If your pricing goes up, independent agents can re-shop your rates. 
Your roof can make a big difference in your rates, so take care when you look at when and how you replace or repair. Always use a licensed roofer. It is a good idea to get referrals from people you trust. Get multiple estimates and choose who you are comfortable with!

There are three ways to request a quote for your insurance needs: 

* Visit our website

* Email us

* Call Brockman Premier Insurance at 877-987-8683  

Dogs and Insurance

The Dog Days of Insurance

"What do you mean, they won't insure me because of my dog?" 
We hear that one often. It's my dog. I take care of him/her. 
What business is it of the carrier? 

Why does my insurance carrier care what type of dog I have?

Dog Bites

Dog bites are why your carrier cares and why they get to decide what breeds they will/will not insure. 

These statistics might surprise you:
* Over 18,000 people are bitten by dogs in the US each year.
* The average cost per claim is $37,051.
* There were 39 dog bite fatalities in the US in 2017.
* Dog bites and other dog-related injuries accounted for more than 1/3 of all homeowners insurance liability claim dollars in 2017,  $686 million.   (Insurance information Institute)

Some dog breeds are considers higher risk dogs, such as Pit bulls and Rottweilers. This doesn't mean all Pit Bulls and Rottweilers are aggressive, risky dogs. But statistics show they are more likely to be aggressive than other breeds. Most Home insurance carriers have a list of "Aggressive" breeds they will not insure. Some carriers will not insure the home at all if there is an ineligible dog breed living in the residence. Others will exclude Liability on the dog. So if the dog bites someone, the carrier will not cover any of the claim payout. Most of us don't believe our dog could bite someone. And chances are your dog won't bite anyone. But these are dogs and they are never fully rational or tame. So you need to plan accordingly. So do the carriers.

Personal Experience

Years ago, our next door neighbor had a Great Dane, Duke. Duke was an awesome dog. He got out one time and I went to pick him up for my neighbor. He walked straight up to me and laid his head on my shoulder. (Yes he was that tall and I am that short!) My point is, he was the sweetest dog. A gentle giant. One day their ten year old son was playing video games with a friend. The friend leaned down in front of Duke and Duke bit him. The child's head fit all the way in Duke's mouth. There were bite marks on his face and on the back of his head. The insurance carrier immediately put $100,000 in claims reserves in case the child needed surgery. The child didn't require surgery and the bites were taken care of with a few stitches and glue. Now the child is fine- no permanent damage, thank God. And we found out a little later than he had been taunting Duke by taking his chew toy away from him. The lesson here is that even the sweetest dog will defend himself (and his toys!). You never know what might set a dog off.  The Doctors said he had to be a very gentle dog who was not trying to hurt the child because a dog that size could have easily killed the child had he intended to hurt him.  It didn't cost our neighbors any money because they had the right coverage. But they had to get rid of Duke which broke all of our hearts. 

The Dog Owner is Responsible

As the home and dog owner, you are responsible. You can also be brought up on civil and criminal charges if your dog attacks someone and you are found to be liable.
If you look at the medical and court costs, the carrier can payout out thousands of dollars for a single claim. Be sure to let your insurance agent know about your dog. You want the dog listed on your policy so if there is ever a claim, you will be covered. Now if you have an "ineligible" dog breed, you may not be able to get liability coverage for your dog. But there are different options you should be able to discuss with your agent.

And that is why your carrier cares what type of dog you have.

There are three ways to request a quote for your insurance needs: 

* Visit our website

* Email us

* Call Brockman Premier Insurance at 877-987-8683