I recently encountered a situation that is all too common, and it continues to make me SMH.
A potential client from Yukon, Oklahoma showed me the declarations to their home insurance policy. $150,000 in dwelling coverage. There was one BIG problem: their home was right around 2,500 square feet. The potential customer says "Well, I insure it for that amount because that's all it is worth." OK. If I take my agent cap off and try to view this from an average consumer standpoint, that may sound reasonable.
But with the agent hat back on, I have to tell you that this puts you at significant financial risk.
Let's use the above as an example. You have a 2,500 square foot house insured for $150,000. One day, you're rocking out to the new Justin Timberlake album, but since that album is straight FIRE, your house is soon burning, and eventually there is nothing but coal and ashes where your house use to be.
You hire a contractor to create a plan to rebuild your home. You get the plans, and you realize, the new house is only going to be 1,450 square feet. You might ask the builder "Why is my new house going to be so small?"
"Well, my costs to rebuild a home on this lot are right around $105 per square foot. Unless you want to throw an extra $100,000 at the rebuild, this is all you're going to get with the insurance money alone."
Ouch.
So, sooner rather than later, check your home square footage (if you don't know, try the county assessor or Google your address for an old real estate listing) and compare it with Coverage A Dwelling on your home insurance policy. If the dwelling coverage divided by the square footage is less than $110/square foot give your agent a call and inquire about it. Don't fall into the coverage gap Oklahoma!