This was originally published in the Lynn Haven Ledger as the second installment in The Rebecca Series for insurance
Rebecca couldn’t believe this was happening. First, her husband dies unexpectedly with no life insurance in place, and now she is going to lose their home. How can she tell Derek and Suzanne? It will break their hearts. This has been their home since they were born. Rebecca still remembers bringing them home from the hospital and placing them gently in their new cribs.
Nevertheless, reality was reality. She clicked through the emailed listings her real estate agent friend had sent her as her eyes filled with tears and spilled silently down her face. Some days her brain just seemed to spin around and around without going anywhere. She had a hard time focusing on everyday tasks.
The bills kept coming, but with just her income now, they were becoming too much for her to deal with. The last batch of overdue notices taunted her from their place on the corner of Roger’s desk. It didn’t matter how many times she looked at them, she still couldn’t pay them. At least not yet.
Rebecca took a deep breath and squared her shoulders.
There were three houses in the list that interested her. The houses were cute, but smaller than their current home, didn’t have a garage, and not much of a yard, but they looked affordable. That’s what mattered now.
Rebecca called her insurance agent and tearfully explained what was going on. Her agent was very helpful and understanding and gave her some excellent advice. So she and her real estate agent walked through the top three candidates and gave her insurance agent the addresses.
The first home was built in the nineteen fifties, but had tons of updates and was really cute! The second one was almost brand new, but it was pretty small and the yard was teeny tiny. The third house was bigger than the other two, but it was not really Rebecca’s style. She had never been a fan of those square box-like houses.
Armed with this basic information her insurance agent did a bit of investigative work and put together some quotes for Rebecca.
Wow, there was quite a big difference between them! Rebecca was so surprised. Her insurance agent explained the main reasons why the premiums varied so much.
Older homes are usually more expensive than newer ones
Hip roofs give you credits where gable roofs don’t
Concrete block will cost you less than a frame home
And newer roofs with permits pulled and at least hurricane clips will save you lots of money.
Then her insurance agent also talked to her about flood insurance. How that, no matter what flood zone you’re in, you should always have it because your homeowner’s policy doesn’t cover it.
“Your homeowner’s insurance covers wind and hurricane, but not flood, my dear. Flood is ‘rising water’ and you always need a separate policy for that”, her insurance agent informed her.
One of the homes on her short list was in a Special Flood Hazard Area, which meant her lender would require flood insurance, but with an Elevation Certificate, and depending on how high above the base flood elevation it was built, the premium might not be a lot.
Armed with all of this helpful information and insurance quotes, Rebecca, feeling stronger than she had for months, made her decision, put in her offer, and waited for it to be accepted.
Change, so often, is hard. And when it’s necessitated by the death of a loved one, it can seem like an insurmountable problem. But when you have professionals who not only know their industry and products well, but care about their customers, they can make the transition just a little less stressful.
