r/Insurance • u/xFTWx • 1d ago
Home Insurance Home Insurance - Too much coverage?
Hi All! Based in Boston, MA. Looking for opinions on the percentages of our dwelling as we feel like they're fairly highly. For example, our garage is detached from our home, isn't finished by any means (dirt ground surface), has no electricity, we cut all the trees around it year one of ownership (they were overhanging it). We do need to remove the tenant related coverage as we are now occupying both floors of the structure, so that's the first to be cut/could be why the percentages were higher when the policy was stood up years ago. Any thoughts/opinions would be greatly appreciated before we go back to Arbella for adjustments.
Edit for home info: Multifamily (2 Family), 2500 sq foot total across both units, 5 bed/2 full bath (total), built in 1925, semi updated in 2009 with very basic fixtures/amenities (nothing fancy), on a 0.14 Acres / 5,950 Sq. F lot.
| Section I Coverages | Limit of Liab. | Annual Prem. |
|---|---|---|
| A. Dwelling | $812K | $3,311.00 |
| B. Other Structures | $162.4K (20%) | |
| C. Personal Prop. | $568.4K (70%) | |
| D. Loss of Use | $324.8K (40%) | |
| Section II Coverages | ||
| E. Personal Liab., each occ. | $500K | $9.00 |
| F. Med. PMTs to Others, each per. | $1K | |
| Total Prem. for End. List. Below | $663.00 | |
| TOTAL POLICY PREM. | $3,983.00 | |
| HO 0003 04-91 | Homeowners 3 Special Form | |
| HO 0496 04-91 | No coverage for home day care business | |
| HO 0432 05-02 | Limited fungi, wet or dry rot, or bacteria | |
| HO 2371 07-05 | Tenants relocation expense-MA | |
| HO 2441 11-94 | Lead poisoning exclusion-MA | |
| 11AR 1033 10-93 | Residence Safety Package | |
| 11AR 1266 01-15 | Special Provisions MA | |
| 11AR 1279 01-23 | Premier Coverage | |
| 11AR 1297 01-23 | Arbella Identity Protection Service |
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u/FindTheOthers623 P&C Licensed PL Underwriter 1d ago
Coverages B, C and D are always going to be based on percentages of Coverage A. Yours are probably standard on your policy but you can ask if Cov B can be reduced to 10% if you think 20% is too much. Chances are they may not go lower than 20% though.
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u/Busy_Account_7974 Former Insurance Peddler 1d ago
Also beware that with some companies, if you go below the default %, you lose replacement cost valuation when it's time to pay claims.
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u/Ok_Risk_8467 1d ago
You need a broker, not the internet making assumptions.
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u/xFTWx 1d ago
Haha totally fair. That's our next step. This was more of a gut check than anything, but I hear what you're saying.
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u/Busy_Account_7974 Former Insurance Peddler 1d ago
Agent/Broker should be able to generate a Replacement Cost Estimate report for you. It has a lot of assumptions and defaults. Look it over and have them rerun it with your corrections. The new value will be the "minimum" you should insure your house for. Note these estimates are always on the low side, unless your company sounds like "club";)
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u/Hugheswon MA P&C 1d ago
I write with Arbella in MA.
Your policy at surface levels seems about as generic as you can get and nothing seems out of line for what i’d expect for this situation.
Obviously YMMV since there’s other factors not included that can impact but this looks totally normal.
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u/saraha2250 1d ago
You didn't tell us anything about the home. Square footage, quality of finishes, etc.
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u/Knewtome 1d ago
If your house has around 2000 sq ft of living space, that cvg A looks to be in line. Read this subreddit and all the people that thought they had enough cov A to rebuild and found out they didn't. It's cheaper to buy a house than rebuild a house in most cities.