What to look at when updating your fire insurance

Salinas resident Bruce Pittenger says “there’s not much more I can do in terms of protecting my property.”

Pittenger lives in the rural Las Palmas neighborhood. He tells us aside from clearing vegetation around his home, he has fire insurance and updates his coverage needs every year.

Reevaluating your fire insurance is something Salinas State Farm agent Troy Anderson says is crucial. When disaster strikes, having enough insurance to cover repair costs could mean a new roof over your head. He says people undervaluing their replace and repair costs is the most common mistake for people rebuilding after a fire.

“Everyone, especially in this market, should be concerned with how much they insure their home for and how much it costs to rebuild,” Anderson tells KION.

And these repair costs change. Anderson says you can’t be comfortable with the coverage you purchased when first buying the property.

“The cost of rebuild goes up because electricians charge more, builders charge more, plumbers, everyone is charging more – even raw material like wood.”

And those costs can fluctuate year to year. Anderson says while repair cost and property value are not related, as your home’s value increases, it is a good bet the cost to fix it will also increase. He in the last 10 years we’ve seen constant changes in Salinas home values.

If you bought your home in the last four years, a better market now means it will cost more to repair.

“The same home was half the cost four years ago. Now it is not. That’s talking marketability, but the same holds true a lot of times for the cost to rebuild,” Anderson said.