INDUSTRY INSIGHT
INSURANCE
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Making Renovations?
Insurance Coverage Concerns that you may not know about
With spring just around the corner many of us are thinking about doing some home improvement or remodeling, However few consider how important it is to make sure that they have the right amount and type of insurance coverage during the project and after. Here are the basics to keep yourself protected whether it’ s a DIY job or one being done by a hired contractor.
Before starting any major projects at your home consult your home insurance agent first.
Based on what you are doing your agent can advise you on what you may need to update your policy and if you need any additional coverage during the project. If you are going to do the work yourself with help from friends be aware of your liability in case one of them is injured. You may want to discuss raising the medical protection on your policy that will directly pay for injuries sustained by friends working on your property. That way injuries can be paid for immediately and can reduce the risk of you being sued.
If you are taking on a large project by yourself that will involve a good bit of new construction on the home, you may need a builder’ s risk policy which would be a separate policy or in the case of some homeowner’ s policies coverage can be added to the policy as an endorsement. This type of coverage will take into account the additional risks of construction including purchased building materials that may be stolen. It is extremely important to discuss with your agent what your homeowner’ s will and will not cover and what coverage may be need to be added when you take on new construction by yourself. any additional square footage to your home. The larger living space in the home will increase the cost to rebuild and this will need to be reflected in the dwelling amount on your policy. In fact some policies require your dwelling coverage to be at 100 % of reconstruction cost so it is important to have this reviewed once your job is complete.
If your addition happened to be a swimming pool, hot tub or somethimng more elaborate such as a small tennis or basketball court, you may want to look at increasing your liability on your home. Additionally consider purchasing an umbrella policy that provides a million dollars of liability on top of your homeowner’ s liability for a very affordable cost.
Remember, when planning your next big project to include your insurance agent. We at the Bill Flinn Agency are here to advise and protect you for all major changes in your life. Whether it be home improvements, marriage, kids or even starting your own contracting business; we are here to help.
If you are interested in our home improvement coverage checklist go to www. Billflinnagency. com / renovate or give us a call at 412-833-5351.
This Industry Insight was provided by Jason Flinn at The Bill Flinn Agency.
For over 40 years The Bill Flinn Agency has been serving the Bethel Park and South Hills communities. Since opening our doors in 1972 our mission has been to treat our customers by the golden rule. Learn more about us at www. billflinnagency. com, or stop by our o�ce on South Park Road in the heart of Bethel.
Having a contractor do the work? Make sure they are properly insured.
If you are having a professional come in to do the work don’ t assume that your insurance responsibilities end there. Your home is your most important possession and if anyone is going to be working on it they need to have the coverage to take care of damage from a job gone wrong. It is very important to verify that anyone working on your home be properly insured and to not just take their word for it. Ask your contractor to have his or her agent send you a certificate of insurance for their company, and be sure it comes directly from the agent. The certificate will show you the types and amounts of liability coverage they currently have. What you want to see is a general liability with at least a million in liability coverage and if they have employees, a workers’ compensation policy. If they don’ t have employees and use subcontractors or“ trade contractors” make sure that you obtain certificates for them as they are independent contractors as well and need their own insurance coverage.
If a contractor will not provide a certificate for you no matter how small the job it is in your best interest to find another contractor. One mis-wired switch could burn your entire house down so be sure that anyone working in your home has the proper coverage to protect you.
Update your valuation on your insurance once the job is done.
Once the job is finished be sure to have your agent run a reconstruction cost estimator for you, based on the changes you have made. This will make sure that the coverage for your home is accurate. This is especially important if your renovations added
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