Homestead mailing list

[Don Bowen <don.bowen AT earthlink.net>]

At 8/29/2004, you wrote:
> We just bought insurance for the new house.  We have a $250 deductible.  The
> value of the house was determined by a $$ amt./sq. ft for replacement value.
> That total is more than it would cost to replace this house.
>
> Now, this is different that the policy we had on the old house which stated
> they would replace the house, same sq. ft.
>
> are policies written differently in different parts of the country?

After last falls fires we are getting almost weekly articles in the paper 
about how most people are under covered.  The reasons are many and varied 
but the most common are people not wanting to pay for decent coverage, 
listening to agents, expecting too much, building additions and not 
changing the coverage, not reviewing the policy occasionally.  Many high 
end tract built homes have trouble rebuilding because the huge cost 
differential between tract and custom homes with the same materials.  Also 
some people think the tract home frame is built like a custom home when it 
was built just like any other tract built, cheap or expensive.

Another problem was the change in terms.  What used to be complete 
replacement has changed to complete replacement up to a limit.  Other terms 
changed slightly, all in all leaving some people with inadequate coverage.

I reviewed ours again after the fire and figured that if I did the 
contracting myself I could build the same thing or slightly better within 
the money allowed in the policy.  If I had to hire a contractor then we 
would build the same thing but it would require careful management.  As for 
the interior, we would be able to replace everything, mostly because we do 
not have anything fancy and most of it is old.  Now my shop is an entirely 
different matter.  There is no way I could replace that within the limits 
of the policy.  If we were to stay here I would have to put a rider on the 
policy.

I have gotten some fire related business.  My favorite was an oval frame 
for a stained glass window set into a door.  When first asked I bid high 
enough that I hoped they would not take it.  It shocked me when they took 
it and in the end I made no money on the project.  It was a 1 inch thick 
oval frame of Mahogany with a round over on the outside edge and a reverse 
ogee on the inside.  The oval was about 3 ft tall and 18 in wide.  I did 
not make any money because of the tooling and learning curve but I did not 
lose any and it was a fun project.  I have since built a round frame and 
will build some trim with the same tooling.

Don Bowen
Awl Knotted Up Woodworking
Valley Center, CA             http://www.braingarage.com