raee- It's hard to comment since you don't say how much the house is supposedly worth. I live in an area where housing is horribly expensive and variations like that are in the noise level. You also have to remember that the replacement value of the house can be a lot less than what the total property is appraised for since the land itself is a part of the value, but is unaffected if your house burns down. Whether the amount of "replacement value" is adequate for the property is also a function of what the policy fine print calls out. Good companies recognize that replacement cost is a number that can vary over time. I review my coverage each year and try to keep my coverage at the amount that is an accurate reflection of replacement value. I have a 100% replacement value policy, and it will pay even more than the named amount if the reconstruction costs more, as long as the house was insured for at least 80% of what the actual replacement costs. Some policies will only cover you for up to the specified amount. It's also good to remember to get an automatic inflation adjusment clause in your policy. It's too easy to set an amount and not change it: 10 years later, when your house burns down, you're underinsured and you've got a huge loss. Yes, it costs a little more each year, but isn't it foolish to try to save a few bucks when you have this huge asset at risk? I'm not a gambler so I'm not willing to give up 10's or 100's of thousands of dollars of coverage in order to save a couple of hundred bucks a year. If you carry homeowner's insurance, my view is it should cover all imaginable perils, and that includes complete loss.

We shopped for insurance a year or so ago, and based on a similar thread like this, I got quotes from Amica, Anpac, AAA (the auto club), and USAA. Since we got married, we had been using Erie for our home and USAA for auto (oddly, it was cheaper that way, even with the discount you get for putting everything with one company), then about 5 years ago, Erie jacked up their homeowner rates statewide, so we moved everything over to AmEx through Costco - going through Costco got us a discount over the regular Amex rates and it was a significant savings (close to four digits) over the Erie/USAA combo. We were happy with the Costco coverage but decided to shop around a year ago because they cheesed me off when they started charging a $3/mo convenience fee to charge my premium to my credit card (it had been free for years and they didn't tell me they were going to start charging the fee - it just showed up one day). I didn't really expect to find anything cheaper since the Costco rates had thoroughly trounced everyone else when I went with them, and they hadn't really gone up that much. Anyhow, to make a long story short, Amica seemed to have good coverage, but there rates were MUCH higher than the Costco insurance. USAA was a bit higher than the Costco and AAA was right about even. We ended up going with Anpac (American Nattional Property and Casualty). They were a company that was recommended on the thread just like this one from someone who had filed a claim and been happy with the service. They have a local agent, their rates were fantastic (we saved almost $1K/year for the exact same coverage when we switched over from the Costco plan). Plus they have this thing where if you go claim free for 3 years, you start getting a percentage of your premium refunded to you at the end of each year. We're into our 2nd year now, so in another year and a half, we should start getting rebate checks from the insurance company - it's a significant percentage too -- something like 20%. I don't know how they're doing it since their premiums are already lower than all the competitors I checked. But I'm not going to complain, LOL! I (knock on wood) haven't needed to file a claim so I don't know how that will be, but the agent is very responsive and I have no reason to think the company would give me a hard time. We do have fairly high deductibles since we figure it would take a lot to get us to file a claim that would ruin our claim-free streak and cut off our rebate checks, LOL! Oh - for reference, we are in southeast PA - not a lot of significant weather stuff here, but we do get snow/ice/hail storms. We're in a fairly crime-free rural area and haven't filed a claim on either auto or home (other than a windshield chip or two) in about 10 years.

My jewelry is on my Homeowners Policy and I pay about $15.00 per thousand dollars of coverage. That might be a little higher than other policies but it also has a built in 5 % inflation rate annually. That way I have increased coverage and I don't have to have them reappraised unless I want to. My jeweler is G.I.A. certified so we submitted his appraisals to the insurance company. I was in a jewelry store recently and saw the sales person give the customer a brochure describing the insurance they sell. It only covers jewelry so it's seperate from homeowner's. My daughter was given a vintage fur and she insured it with the company that stores it in the summer. So perhaps you could call a local jeweler too ask if they sell insurance. Lindsay's point about the jewelry insurance costing more than the house insurance can easily happen. If you take out a rider for a piece of jewelry you normally receive full coverage, there isn't a deductible. However some insurance companies will allow a deductible if you request it and that will lower the annual cost.

Since this is what I do on a daily basis I will tell you it is always best to give your agent as much information as possible, it's the only way we can help you protect yourself and your belongings. Your agent should not make any changes your not in agreement to. Now having said that, the reason the roof question comes up and will continue to come up is because insurance companies are looking to reduce thier risk. Depending on where you live and I can only speak of the midwest area because that's where I live and sell, our biggest risk is wind and hail damage to roofs. Most of the big companies in this area are going to actual cash value on the roofs. What does that mean to you? Instead of replacing your roof minus your deductible they will instead take the age of the roof, subtract the depreciation and your deductible and pay the difference. In this year the magic number seems to be 16 - 17 years of age on the roof. Thats were the actual cash value will kick in with a percentage paid out, every year older and that percentage will continue to decrease. This is why an annual review as a consumer is very important, you want to make sure you have replacement. This is also an opportunity for your agent to endorse or re-write the policy to actual cash value, look like he's saving you money and unless it is discussed and agreed to, you might not be the wiser until a claim. As far as your personal belongings, that's very difficult for anyone to put a price on, think about your summer clothing that's all put away now, the Christmas decorations that are now being brought out, all those tools in the garage and how about the shed in the back. Then there is the basement if you have one, the attic if you don't. Instead of worrying about that number, your agent will give you an option for a percentage of your dwelling coverage. That number in this area is usually about 70%, for many that's not realistic. As for the "flood insurance in the basement" you have some sort of water sewer back up coverage, not flood insurance. By all means if you have had an issue with it, keep that coverage. If your insurance company suffers alot of those type of claims, they may increase the cost of that coverage or possibly reduce the amount of coverage. You need to be aware of that. Your deductible, way too low. If you have collision coverage on your auto I'll bet your homeowner's deductible is the same amount. You need to consider a $1,000 deductible. If you put in a claim for anything less you will pay more than that in the next few years. Your agent will be looking to do a replacement cost estimator with you to help you determine your coverage's. If you've replaced your furnace or central air conditioning make sure to let your agent know that. If you have a security system, let him know that as well. Be aware, if after your interview he suggest that he rewrite the policy they may order an inspection. An inspector will walk the outside of the property looking for things that affect the companies risk. Brush growing too close to the side of the home affecting the siding, soffits and roofs. Tree that over hang the roof or brush that sits on the roof and siding. Tripping hazards, splits in sidewalks or cement/asphalt driveways. Decks, rotten boards, low or missing rails. Chipped paint is also a big one. The roof, are there any missing shingles or curled shingles. The list can go on and if you don't pass the inspection depending on your state you will be given 45 days to repair the problems or the policy may be terminated. Then you could be up a creek especially if at the time the agent writes the new policy, he terminated the old policy. I hope this helps, I know it's alot of information but like I said, this is what I do.