When you choose an insurance company, if something happens and you need to file a claim you will be dealing with two primary people from your insurance company, your insurance agent and adjuster.
Insurance Agents are the people who sell policies to people with insurance or “insureds”. Typically, insurance agents do not adjust losses.
Insurance Adjusters “Investigate, interprets policy, pays claim for covered amount based upon negotiated amount or established pricing database (types-staff; independent; local; manager; general adjuster – G.A.; vendor reviewer; public adjuster – P.A.)” (Disaster Academy Manual, p. 14)
There are three common types of Insurance Policies:
1. ACV – Policy which pays a value arrived by calculating the replacement cost and deducting some portion of the value for depreciation.
2. RCV – endorsement to an ACV policy modifying it to pay the full cost of repair, or replacement of items damaged beyond economical repair. (Usually, this is payable only when damaged items are actually replaced).
3. Fire (named peril) – policy which pays only if certain “named” perils are the cause of loss, rather than “all risk” policy which would cover anything not specifically excluded in policy language. (In fire damage restoration there must be a ‘fire’ to be a covered loss – protein ‘fires’ have no combustion) (Disaster Academy Manual, p. 14)
Most Insurance Policies are Broken Down into Four Divisions:
1. Structure
2. Personal Property
– Personal Property is usually a part of Homeowner’s Insurance. However, in certain instances it may not be covered in it. This type of insurance covers the items or contents within a home that aren’t a physical attachment to the structure itself. Soft goods are also covered in this type of insurance. When sorting out personal insurance, the biggest differentiation is the Actual Cash Value of an item versus the Replacement Cost.
Actual Cash Value – is what something actually costs right now in today’s market or the price/value of something based on its usage
Replacement Cost – is the amount of money your insurance company would give you on an item to help replace it. More than likely many items in your home may be outdated, thereby would have depreciated in value. For instance, if you paid $500 for a new TV, a few years ago, now that TV may be worth half as much if that, meaning you would have to make up the difference in cost to replace that particular item.
It is worth noting that Actual Cash Value and Replacement Cost will vary from policy to policy and that you should check with your specific agent.
There are items that aren’t covered under Actual Cash Value or Replacement cost and those are usually antiques, jewelry, or other expensive items that can be found within a household such as art.
3. Additional Living Expense Insurance
– This type of Insurance takes care of all expenses incurred by an “insured” while they cannot live inside of their home.
4. Other Structures (exterior –unattached)
Every Homeowner’s Insurance Policy is different and as a homeowner you should familiarize yourself thoroughly with your policy so you’re already knowledgeable in the event something happens to your home.
If you have any type of Disaster Restoration and/or Trauma at your home ServiceMaster by Park-Ellis can help. Call 419-841-5575 anytime day or night.
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