Dwelling Coverage: Insurers may refer to this as coverage A. The basic amount of fire insurance that a person has.

Replacement Coverage: A replacement cost policy help pay for the repairs without deducting for depreciation. It doesn’t take into consideration that a home might have been old and worn out. It just replaces the home like new. Most all of the policies are like this.

Replacement Coverage Extension: Many insurers now automatically include an extra amount of coverage for the replacement of the dwelling. Most insurers include a 25% extension of coverage A, the dwelling amount. The extension can be up to 100%.

Landscape and Fencing: Some insurance companies combine these two items together and some put fencing in the Other Structures category. It’s important to find out how your customer’s insurance categorizes each of these items into what bucket and for how much.

Ancillary/Other Structures: Insurers may refer to this as coverage B. This usually encompasses all storage shed ect.. on the property. However some insurance companies put fencing into this category. Some put covered patios and arbors into this category. Again you will need to find out how your customers insurance categorizes these structures. Again which bucket and how much. ( Typically if a garage, or other structure, is attached to the home by a breezeway, roof line, etc, it is all considered part of the dwelling, coverage A)

Debris Removal: This is the coverage to remove all the fire debris off the property, meeting all rules for disposal including the foundation if it was damaged in the fire. In my experience if the floor joists are all burned then the foundation was damaged and needs to come out.

Code Upgrade: Insurers may refer to this as Ordinance and Law coverage. This is coverage allows for the replacing of an older home back to current code status. So if portal framing of the garage wasn’t required but now it is, then that costs can come out of this bucket and not the replacement dwelling bucket. This amount is usually around 10% of the entire coverage. So it is a substantial amount. It just requires a lot of documenting and breaking down various costs. I’m going to reach out to the State Contractors Board to see if they can help with document when there were various substantial upgrades to the State building codes. Here in Oregon I hired a retired inspector to go back through the codes for various decades.

Coverage for Housing: Insurers may refer to this as coverage D. This is the coverage for a place to live while their home is being rebuilt. They can live anywhere they want it just has to come out of this budget. Asking about both the amount and time frame is important so they know how much and how long they have. (This coverage should have the same time limit for any homeowners policy as it is governed by State laws. In Oregon, the mandated length after our fires was increased to 24 months. This pays for costs up and above normal living expenses. In Oregon, the limit is based on the value of the insured dwelling, typically 30%.

Coverage for Personal Property: Insurers may refer to this as coverage C. This is the amount of coverage for all of their personal belongings. Most insurance companies will pay around 75%, but some only cover 50% of the insured dwelling value. But in order to get that last percent they make the customer itemize every single item in the home. How many forks, how many socks, its crazy what they will put your customer through.

Any other coverages that are not mentioned above: Usually the above items covers everything but I have them ask this question just to cover all the basis. Ask your customer to get a copy of their policy from their insurance agent or insurer. Within the policy there is a section called “other coverages” that itemizes how much is available to shrubbery, etc. They should also review this amount with their agent (not their adjuster) if there are any questions as to how this works.