Avoid a Co-Insurance Headache – By Asking the Right Questions

The public plans and data don’t always match the current reality.

We have lots of technology tools available today that weren’t available in the past – real-time lookup of tax records to get the square footage of a home as it has been reported to the county, automatic replacement cost estimates based on those tax records, etc.

But all that technology is only as good as the information it’s been fed – so it’s critical that you make sure that they have the right information so that your client is adequately covered.

If you are selling a replacement cost coverage policy (TDP1+, TDP3, HOA+, HOB), be sure to ask the client if:

• The square footage is correct as shown on the county’s rolls,
• Any major additions or renovations have been done, and
• They are comfortable that they could find a contractor to rebuild the same house on the same property for the coverage amount selected.

There’s no database in the world that can know what the client hasn’t told anyone – so only you can prevent an unnecessary co-insurance problem by getting those answers.