How much are your valuables worth?

As you look around your home, it may be difficult for you to accurately assess the value of the items you own. Therefore it could be difficult to choose the right limits for your homeowners insurance policy contents coverage. In order to more accurately assess the value of your property, follow these steps:

1. Determine whether your policy provides replacement or actual value: Your home insurance policy can pay for damages to contents in one of two ways. It may give you replacement value for your damaged property which means that you will be given an amount that should allow you to buy a comparable replacement item in a retail setting. Or your policy may pay actual value which means your insurer will attempt to put a value on the actual item lost, factoring in its age and depreciation, and reimburse you that amount. Replacement value will give you a higher dollar amount per item and may also result in higher insurance limits.
2. Review your receipts: Your receipts tell you how much you paid for each of the items in your home. While you might not have the receipts for every knick-knack ever purchased, look through your documents to see if you have the receipts for some of your big ticket purchases. Use them to help you identify what a comparable product price would be if you have replacement value or to help determine the starting point for the actual value of the item lost.
3. Get an appraisal: Some items aren't easy to value. This includes certain jewelry, art and antiques. Bring these items to a professional appraiser who can estimate the actual value at the time you bring them in and give you a certificate for that amount
4. Complete your home inventory: It’s impossible to properly value all your contents if you don’t even know what they are. Completing a home inventory consists of listing every item in every room of your home. This can be an invaluable tool for determining an appropriate limit for your policy and for later submitting claims.
5. Keep the emotions out of it: Your stuff may have a high emotional value to you, but an insurance company can never make you emotionally whole after an insurable incident. Their goal is to focus on something objective—financial value—and make you whole in that respect, so you must stay focused on dollars and cents when trying to find the right limit for your contents coverage.

Our agents are experienced in helping homeowners determine what their limits should be. Give us a call to get your Tulsa home insurance policy quotes today.

Tampa Boat Insurance Coverage Fundamentals

The freedom of being out on the Tampa Bay water is incomparable for boat owners.  Whether you’re boating in a bay or the deep blue ocean, it feels as there are boundless possibilities. Don’t let this freedom allow you to forget about boat insurance. You have an obligation to your family as well as to other boaters to carry insurance that protects you and them from financial liabilities.

Here are some coverage and policy options to consider for when you decide to buy boat insurance, as not all policies are created equal.
Some things to consider include:

1. What nautical area do you need your insurance to cover?
2. Should you get coverage for oil spills? If your watercraft leaks oil then you are responsible for the cleanup costs even if you don’t have coverage.
3. Do you need coverage for the personal items on board?
4. Do you need coverage for equipment such as anchors, water skis and other unattached tools and recreational toys?

Next you need to clarify what you want covered in terms of value.
There are two choices here,

i. agreed value which is the amount you agree on -stated in the insurance policy, or

ii. actual value which is the actual value of your watercraft and may not be enough to replace it if there has been some deterioration.

How to keep your boat insurance policy affordable
Lastly, bear in mind that there are ways to lower your monthly premiums of your boat insurance. Official boat safety program training and certificates for such can be very useful in reducing your premiums. Similarly you can have the coast guard perform boat safety checks to reduce costs. Installing safety devices like a GPS and choosing a proper marina for docking your boat can also help.

Your boat insurance policy guarantees that you and your family will remain financially secure even after an expensive claim. It will also allow you to continue boating after a natural disaster or other insurable incident. Having the right policy will enhance that feeling freedom while you’re out on the water. Call us today to discuss your options for Tampa Boat Insurance at (813) 933-6691.