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Old houses ask harder questions.
Homes, condos, and rentals across Massachusetts. New England housing stock brings roofs, wiring, water, and wind that a national quote form has no idea how to ask about.
Homeowners, condo, renters, and second properties.
Shrewsbury · Massachusetts
The rebuild number is the whole game
If one thing on a homeowners policy is wrong, it is usually the dwelling limit, and it is usually wrong in the same direction.
It gets set when the policy is written, and then construction costs move while the number sits still. Years later the figure on the declarations page is a description of a house that could be built in the year it was set, not the one you own now.
Nobody finds this out gently. They find out standing in front of a burnt kitchen while an adjuster explains what the limit will and will not do. Checking that number is a fifteen minute job at review time and an unrecoverable one afterwards.
What we check
What we look at on a home policy.
Every year, on every home we write, not only on the year you bought it.
- 01
Whether the dwelling limit would rebuild the house
This is the number that matters most and the one that ages worst. It is not what the house would sell for and it is not what you paid. It is what it would cost to build the house again, at current labor and material prices, in your town.
- 02
What the age of the house does to your options
New England housing stock brings roofs, wiring, plumbing, and heating systems that some companies will not touch and others price sensibly. Knowing which is which is most of the job here.
- 03
Water, and which kind
A burst pipe, a backed up drain, an ice dam, and a flood are four different things to a policy, and only some of them are covered by default. Flood is never included in a standard homeowners policy and has to be written separately.
- 04
Your deductibles, including the separate ones
Many policies carry a different deductible for wind or storm damage than for everything else, often as a percentage rather than a flat amount. Nearer the coast, that distinction can be the largest number on the page.
- 05
What is actually inside the house
Jewelry, instruments, tools, collections, and anything valuable enough to be capped by the standard limits. These are the claims where people find out about sub-limits for the first time.
- 06
Whether you would have somewhere to live
If the house is uninhabitable, the policy should be paying for where you stay. Owners rarely check that limit until they need it.
Straight answers
About home coverage
How much coverage should I have on the house?
Enough to rebuild it, which is a different figure from what you paid and a different figure from what it would sell for. Market value includes the land; a rebuild does not. In some neighborhoods rebuilding costs more than the house would fetch, and in others it is the reverse.
Because construction costs move, this is one of the numbers we re-check at every annual review rather than setting once.
Is flood damage covered?
No. A standard homeowners policy does not cover flood, and that is true regardless of the company. Flood coverage is a separate policy, written either through the National Flood Insurance Program or through a private flood market.
It matters more than people expect, because flood zones get redrawn and because water that arrives from outside is treated very differently from water that arrives from a pipe.
What about ice dams?
A New England question, and the answer depends on the policy. Damage caused by water backing up under shingles is commonly covered, while the cost of removing the ice usually is not, and repeated claims can affect your standing with a company.
This is worth reading in your specific policy rather than assuming, and it’s one of the things we check.
I own a condo. Is that different?
Yes, substantially. The association carries a master policy, and where that policy stops is defined by the association documents rather than by any universal rule. Your own policy has to pick up from that line: interior finishes, improvements, your belongings, your liability, and your share of the association deductible.
We read the master policy and the association documents rather than guessing where the boundary sits.
I rent. Do I need anything?
Your landlord insures the building, not your belongings and not your liability. Renters coverage is usually inexpensive, and it also covers you if you cause damage that reaches the rest of the building, which is the part people underestimate.
The Never-Overpay Review
Send us the declarations page.
It is the first page of your policy, and it tells us most of what we need. We will read it and tell you where your rebuild number and your deductibles actually stand.