Recently, a situation came up with an insured that in the end is not going to be happy.  They have reached their policy limit with their personal property coverage.  Now, in retrospect everybody played a part in the displeasure of the client.  The agent, adjuster and restoration contractor all played a role in the communication breakdown.  How can we avoid this happening again?

Usually personal property coverage is only an issue when the insured has reached their policy limit.  Sure, some are annoyed by the process of replacing their contents.  They only get Actual Cash Value for their contents and then will recieve the depreciation that was applied when they actually buy and replace the lossed item.  But things really hit the fan when they are approaching or hit their limit of coverage.  Typically, this happens when the damage to their property was heartbreakingly bad.

Insurance Tips for your Personal Property Coverage:

1. Review your contents coverage every year when you renew your policy.  You can buy and store up a lot of new personal property in a year.  Did you buy some high ticket items?  Did you buy anything that might need to be additionally insured?  It may be time to increase your coverage.  Call you agent and discuss your options.
2. Stay in direct communication with your restoration contractor through out the process.  Things cost money.  The restoration contractor has huge costs they incur when managing your contents restoration.  Their bill is going to be higher that what you will expect.  They are trained professionals and have the technology to restore your property the right way.  Decide on your contractor and have them start the work.  Ask them before they clean anything to go over the bill personally.  This way you will understand exactly how much it is going to cost.  This cost comes out of your personal property coverage.
3. Storage charges add up.  Your contents are stored until your house his ready to be moved back in.  This cost is dependent on your whoever is repairing your home.  The longer they take to repair your home, the higher your storage charges are going to be.  This will decrease our available funds to replace your damaged contents.  Have a plan with your restoration contractor.  You need to know exactly how long the repairs are going to take and stick to the plan.
4. Keep a running total yourself.  It takes extra paperwork but you should know where you are in comparison to your limit.  Sometimes the adjuster is hard to get a hold of.  Some don’t want to give you information until they have everything turned in from you and the restoration contractor.  This will leave you in limbo.  Keeping track of the totals from all parties will help you make educated decisions.

We hope with these tips you can go through your claim with a little more knowledge to properly prepare yourself.  Decisions are going to be difficult but going in with out the proper knowledge will only make matters worse for you.