Home Insurance - The Importance of Building Ordinance Coverage

Have you every heard the saying, "you get what you pay for?" The saying holds true for many things in life and home insurance is one of them.

If you were to scroll through the phone book and gather home insurance quotes from every provider, you'll get many different pricing options. Every provider will have a different product and every consumer will price out differently with every provider. When shopping for insurance, going with the lowest cost provider is not recommended as there is usually a reason they are the lowest cost provider. If/when you have a claim and have to utilize your coverage, you may soon find out that you have "gotten what you paid for". The claim service may not be the best and, many times, low cost policies tend to not provide some of the same coverage that other, more comprehensive policies, will.

One example of something not included with many inexpensive policies is Building Ordinance Coverage. The International Risk Management Institute (www.irmi.com) will define Building Ordinance Coverage as coverage for loss caused by enforcement of ordinances or laws regulating construction and repair of damaged buildings.

Basically, if you have a claim and there are extra costs incurred due to the reconstruction of your home having to adhere to building codes or city ordinances Building Ordinance Coverage would be your saving grace to make sure the policy pays for the extra expense and not you...in addition to your already paid deductible!

REAL WORLD EXAMPLE:

In Kansas City, it is often said that it is not if, but when, the insurance company will buy you a new roof due to hail. However, what if the insurance company comes out after a hail storm and only authorizes a replacement of half the roof? Replacing half of a rood doesn't make a lot of sense. The homeowner would have some options of a re-inspection to possibly see if the decision of the insurance company could be changed but that may not happen. Replacing half of a roof doesn't look right cosmetically and it actually effects the longevity of the entire roof! Cities have become aware of this and have put codes in place that dictate if significant enough repairs are done to a roof, the whole roof has to be replaced. So, if you are replacing a large portion of the roof, the city may require you to do the full roof. If you don't have Building Ordinance Coverage on your policy, the cost of the rest of the roof is on YOU in addition to your already paid deductible.

There are many ways insurance companies cut costs to make the consumer think they are getting the best deal on their home insurance. More times than not though, it is these cut costs that lead to bad claims experiences and the consumer being more-so self insured than they may be aware of.

Educate yourself fully on your Home Insurance and whether or not it includes Building Ordinance Coverage, if not, it may be time to call the next provider from the phone book.