The floors in your home are something you see every day. Why not make them something that puts a smile on your face every time you open the front door?

Styron Flooring not only covers all your flooring needs, but they do bathroom and kitchen tile as well. No job is too big, or too small for Styron.

Call (336) 725-1841 for a free, no-obligation estimate today or visit their website at: www.styronfloorcovering.com today.

When it comes to kitchen cabinets, there is no better place in North Carolina than the Kitchen Center of Winston-Salem

For over 25 years the Kitchen Center has served the Piedmont with the finest products and services available. Why are we so excited about the Kitchen Center? Every morning we pull out a bowl and cereal out of their cabinets in our home.

When someone else tells you it can't be done, call the Kitchen Center of Winston-Salem at (336) 725-2343 for a free, no-obligation estimate or visit their website at: www.thekitchencenter.com today.

Tired of seeing the same furniture in every store in North Carolina?

Ever wonder when North Carolina Furniture will catch up with the rest of the world?

Then look no further! Nowell's Contemporary Furniture is the NUMBER ONE source for Contemporary Furniture in North Carolina.

For over 100 years the Nowell name has meant quality furniture in North Carolina, and it is no different today than when they started in 1905.

Drop by the showroom today in Cary, NC call (919) 467-9224, or visit their website at: www.nowellsfurniture.com today.

Homeowners Insurance: Call (909) 263-1835 for a free quote now

home insurance The first coverage you have is Coverage A. It’s sometimes called building coverage or dwelling amount. This is the number that actually covers the cost of REBUILDING YOUR HOUSE. Now, this number may be close to what you paid for your house, it might now.

How close those two numbers are does NOT matter. What is really important is whether or not you can rebuild your house for that amount of money. You want to be somewhere close to $100/sq foot depending on what area of the country you live in. It makes a big difference how “nice” your house is as well. If you have marble countertops and ceramic tile floors, then you’ll probably want closer to $125/square foot than $100. In California in the mid 2000s, before the bubble burst, you would have to spend $500,000 on a 1200-1300 square foot house. If you insured a 1200 square foot house for $500,000, then you’d be insured for $416/square foot (take the $500,000 and divide it by the square footage (500,000/1200=416.66666667). If the house is not “museum quality” then you are WAY over insured.

Just like life insurance, the company will gladly accept your money; but they will NOT pay you what you are covered for. You do not get a home-makeover if your house has to be replaced or repaired. Insurance is indemnification, meaning you get back exactly what you lost (no more, no less). The idea is that you cannot profit (or be better off) after the loss than you were before it (this is the definition of indemnification).

Back to Coverage A, make sure your coverage A is adequate. Take that number and divide it by the square footage of your house. If you come up with 65…then you need to talk to your agent. You are UNDER INSURED and YES it will cost you MORE to get the right coverage.

Insuring your house is not about saving money, it’s about making sure you’re covered. Now, if you can get a terrific agent, who puts you with a great company, and the price is competitive with other companies; then you’re in good shape. Make sure to do that calculation yourself OR, ask the agent how much per square foot they are covering you for. If they can’t answer the question, you should be concerned that they know what they are doing. Do NOT under insure your house or you will be asked to write a check for the difference before they begin repairs and unless you are independently wealthy, you cannot afford to write a check for $100,000 or $50,000 or even $20,000 to get your house fixed.

In fact, you should ask for EXTENDED DWELLING REPLACEMENT COST. That is an extra level of coverage that will account for errors in calculation, cost of inflation, and adjustments in the cost of supplies, materials, or labor. This will also keep you from having to review your coverage A every single year. You should be good for about 5 or 6 years without having to worry about whether you are under insured on your Dwelling Replacement Cost or Coverage A. The Extended Dwelling Replacement usually comes in either 25% increase or 50% increase, go for the 50% (should just be $10-$15 difference between the two for the WHOLE year).

Coverage B refers to OTHER STRUCTURES. This means if you have a shed, a detached garage, or other building on your property, it’s covered automatically up to 10% of Coverage A. So, if you have $175,000 on your house, you have $17,500 on your garage. If your garaged is attached, then your coverage A needs to cover that as well. If you have an older home or a bigger garage that’s a separate building, then you get Coverage B.

You CAN increase this if your separate garage is “bigger than usual”. I once had a client that had a 3 car garage with the doors 2 stories high where he had a workshop, full lift to work on cars, and stored his boat. His house was probably covered for 1,300,000; so his garage would be covered for 130,000. Just make sure that you don’t have a situation where your separate building is very unique and you’re only covered for 10% of the house.

Coverage C is your PERSONAL Property. This means all your “stuff”. It’s usually 70% of Coverage A. This probably means you’ll need a calculator to verify this one. To find out what you have without looking, say you’re covered for the $175,000 again. This means that your “stuff” is covered for $131,250 (175,000 x .70 = 131,250). It is important to understand what is NOT covered. Your Comic Book Collection is NOT covered.

Now, there are certain ways to cover it. One is to get specialty insurance to cover it. Something like Lloyds of London should cover something like that. The other way to get it covered is to SCHEDULE it. This means that you provide some form of pricing for it (a price guide, appraisal, etc.) for it and then send it and the pictures in to the insurance company and you will “agree” on a price to cover it for and a cost. It WILL BE EXTRA to do so. BUT, if you want it covered if your pipe bursts and gets everything wet or if your house burns down and you lose everything…MAKE SURE YOU’RE COVERED. Insurance isn’t about price remember, it’s about coverage.

THEFT does things to your coverage. What does that mean? If someone comes in a steals all your jewelry, your limits may change. I know, that sounds like a sneaky way for the insurance company to get out from covering your jewelry, but it’s in the contract, and you signed it. Don’t be a victim, be educated. Usually the limits drop down to something lower in the event of a theft, $1,000 or $5,000. CHECK YOUR POLICY or ask your agent to know what your particular policy does. If you have more than that. You can do one of two things.

First, you may be able to get a blanket endorsement to raise the limits covered so you don’t have to get an appraisal. IF YOU HAVE A SINGLE ITEM OVER $15,000 then you really need to get it appraised and scheduled. Really, if you have something over $5,000 you’ll probably want it appraised and scheduled. You can usually cover a $25,000-$30,000 ring for under $100/year. If you get a policy just for jewelry, you’re looking at probably two or three times that in cost, so your homeowners policy is a good way to cover things like guns, rugs, firs, jewelry, stamps, etc. JUST MAKE SURE THEY’RE SCHEDULED. Scheduled is just a fancy insurance term that means you make a list of specific items and you own and provide some sort of valuation (usually an appraisal).

The rest of your “stuff” is covered under the limit. Again, theft or TOTAL LOSS will be an issue. If you have someone back a U-Haul up to your house and it’s not your kids stealing your furniture, you have an issue. If you call the insurance company and tell them your couch was $25,000…you better have receipts or pictures of it IN YOUR HOUSE.

The insurance company will come and take a look at your house to determine if you might have owned such an item. If it is not clear that you had such expensive furniture…then you have a problem. I know it’s extra effort, but take the family video camera and walk through the house and talk about what you own or take pictures of each room. Take pictures of nicer items individually if you want them covered. Remember, you are not a victim in a loss. You have insurance for a reason, so you are protected. When a loss occurs, relax, if you did your homework you are covered.

Coverage D is your Liability coverage. This is what protects you if you neighbors kid comes over and jumps off your balcony into the pool with your son and missed the pool and has to go to the hospital. It doesn’t matter what a dumb idea that was…it happened on your dumb property so you get to pay the bill and the lawyers’ fees. Coverage D is your legal liability.

Really, for $20/year more you should be able to go from $300,000 to $500,000 and why would you NOT? This will cover you in the event you have a dog “issue” on your property (MAKE SURE YOU DON’T SIGN A DOG EXCLUSION). I don’t care if you own a dog or not. If you’ve seen a dog get walked in your neighborhood…don’t sign the DOG EXCLUSION. It’ll only save you $30 or so and I wouldn’t tempt fate for $30. Your legal liability will cover you whenever you are not in your car or at work. Your auto policy should cover you when you’re in a car and your employer should cover your actions at work. That is not a license to let loose in either of these situations, it just means your home owners will NOT COVER you.

Don’t assume that if YOU are not covering it that someone else is. You know what happens when you assume. J Also, don’t forget to tell your agent that you want PERSONAL INJURY covered. That means if you tell someone they’re fat or ugly, even if they are, the lawsuit you get for hurting their feelings is covered. Make sure your policy DOES NOT EXCLUDE Personal Injury. Anytime something is excluded that means it is NOT covered.

There are all sorts of other endorsements that can be helpful to have on your policy. Loss assessment, identity theft, medical payments, backup of sewer or drain, and ESPECIALLY Ordinance and Law are all VERY IMPORTANT. If your home is more than 12-15 years old you REALLY need to think about increasing your ordinance and law coverage. If your house was built before 1970 and you don’t increase your ordinance and law to over the 10% that comes with your policy, you WILL run into issues if you have a partial loss.

Ordinance and Law protects you when the undamaged portion of your house is NOT up to the current codes, ordinances, and laws of the city you live in. We had a pipe burst in our house and flood the first floor. But, when the house is rebuilt, ALL the electrical has to be UP TO CODE, the same as the insulation, plumbing, etc…so Ordinance and Law will cover the extra cost of updating these items without worrying about going over the 10% limit because I made 100% of Coverage A available for Ordinance and Law. We once had a house fire in a historic neighborhood I lived in years ago. I lived in the neighborhood for 3 years and the house down the street was in the process of rebuilding the house because they didn’t have ordinance and law and the house didn’t burn to the ground…so they had to pay out of pocket to bring the house to code.

Make sure to ask your agent about Ordinance and Law if your home is older than 12 years. To find out just what your contract does cover and/or COULD cover please ask your agent or contact us.

Don’t forget your deductible. Don’t make your deductible something you can’t afford! If you think the policy is cheap with a $5,000 deductible. You won’t think so if you lose your job and have a loss. When something major happens in your life, please make sure to review ALL your insurance policies. You will find that what works for you when you make $100,000/year does NOT work for you when you make $35,000/year. When you lose your job is NOT when you up your deductible to save money and hope something doesn’t happen.

When you lose your job is when you make sure you have something that still protects you. You don’t want to have a car wash to raise money to pay for your deductible. It’s always a good idea to save the money for your deductible in your EMERGENCY FUND. For more information on what an emergency fund is, check out that particular chapter of the book.