Most homeowners benefit from having home insurance that covers the replacement cost of rebuilding a home and restoring its contents if it is completely destroyed by a major catastrophe. Talk with your agent at JC Demo Insurance Group, serving Matthews, NC, and the surrounding areas, to make sure your home insurance provides sufficient coverage. Here are some helpful things to understand about how to calculate the replacement cost of your home.

What is included in the replacement cost of a home?

The replacement cost should include the amount needed to rebuild the home back to the same quality and similar style of the home before the calamity. Replacement value is not the same as the market value of the home because the market value also includes the land. Replacement value is also not the same as the mortgage on the home either. The mortgage may be more or less than the replacement value.

An estimate of the replacement value of a home can be made by using public data about average construction costs along with special considerations for the neighborhood and the quality of the home. Insurers usually use these calculations, unless special circumstances apply.

Special Features and Personal Items

If the home has special features, these need to be considered as additional replacement costs. Personal items in the home can be valued by taking an inventory and checking the current prices for similar things. The replacement value is not what the things are worth as used items. Instead, it is what it costs to buy a similar new one. For example, a ten-year-old television may not be worth much, yet to buy a new one, of the same size, would cost a considerable amount more. The insured replacement value of personal items is the cost of new items.

Conclusion

Call your agent at JC Demo Insurance Group in Matthews, NC for a review of home insurance coverage to get help with the calculations of the replacement value and discuss any special considerations about your home that differ from the average homes in the same area.