1935tb-11 - Posted - 09/05/2025:  10:14:35

does it seem that insurance companies are over insuring housing today ?

i mean if i own my home i should have some say so over the limits it has on it .... right ? not only did my taxes go up 36 percent... my home owners went up 39 percent. i made a call and we are working on it now.

they have my house covered for 266,000 bucks. thats 76,000 more then the tax man has it. that would put my house at 242 dollars a square foot.

now if i had hardwood floors and egyptian tile and crown molding with gold faucets maybe it would be close to that. but we don't. this is a plain jane house that 40 years old. i just don't get it......

Edited by - 1935tb-11 on 09/05/2025 10:16:11

reubenstump - Posted - 09/05/2025:  10:20:14

You have to remember that they're not really insuring against any damage, replacement cost, or any such thing which you may incur. They're insuring against the possibility that they will have to pay to cover such costs.

They're insuring themselves, not you.

banjo bill-e - Posted - 09/05/2025:  10:28:57

Yep, they are not concerned with market value; they are concerned with material and labor costs, which will keep going up and up and up.

1935tb-11 - Posted - 09/05/2025:  10:44:38

if i was to get a contractor to drive up to the house and i ask him to build me another house just like this one for 266,000 dollars ,, he would be grinning like a mule eatin briars. why yes sir we can get started today !

banjoy - Posted - 09/05/2025:  11:02:42

Yeah it's a racket, legalized extortion in my humble opinion. They insure for "replacement value" which they explain, they will rebuild the house in the same style and materials as what you have. My last house they had it listed as plaster walls, when I had that changed to sheetrock walls that alone dropped the insurance cost $100 per year. "Replacement value" is waaaaay above market value, and they only honor that if you choose to rebuild the same house in the same spot. If you don't, well that bet is off and then suddenly you're insured for a lot less.

Currently I can't even buy insurance because I don't yet have the certificate of occupancy. Until then, all risk is on me.

One of the most consumer hostile industries I'm forced / required to deal with. In my opinion, of course.

Bill Rogers - Posted - 09/05/2025:  12:34:52

My niece is a construction contractor, and I check my insurance value with her every year. So far, no egregious over insurance, nor under insurance. I’m no lover of insurance companies, but their current rates have to cover anticipated construction-materials cost increases from new tariffs (among other anticipated cost increases). Luckily I live where neither flood nor wildfire is a high risk. Insurance companies are in business to make money. The big problem is when they bail out because they won’t accept a certain level of risk. More and more, it’s becoming a political question. I won’t live to see it, but the day may come when the federal and state governments are the major, if not only, home and auto insurance providers.

Texasbanjo - Posted - 09/05/2025:  14:28:39

I don't know the laws in every state, but here in Texas you can insure for less than replacement value. Your insurance agent may give you a problem, but it can be done. If you do that and have a complete loss, that's your problem that you don't have enough money to rebuild.

Now, what's the chances of a complete loss? Slim but it does happen. Are you willing to take the chance? That's where they get you .

banjonz - Posted - 09/05/2025:  15:34:55

Most, if not all insurance companies are here to make profit for their shareholders. This industry is based upon the premise of 'risk'. They gamble on you NOT making a claim for damage for whatever reason. Here in NZ, homeowners have watched their premiums climb higher and higher over the years. This usually happens when there is a big event which sees a lot of claims. The ones here have been major storms with flooding. When this happens in one particular area, that area is deemed a higher risk and thus the coverage cost goes up accordingly. However, insurance companies don't discriminate between areas of higher or lower risk but bump the premiums up even on properties that would not suffer that kind of storm. Those living on coastal places do often get wave damage in sever storms. However, I live on a hill 125 meters above sea level and far from a river or sea, yet my premiums go up because of damage on the coast. I contacted my insurance company asking them on what do they base the risk of a property. This was done via a face to face meeting in their local office with a staff member. They stated they would pass it on to the relevant dept and personnel. They never got back to me.

Edited by - banjonz on 09/05/2025 15:35:27

Buddur - Posted - 09/08/2025:  10:04:24

My county in PA is going through a property reassessment to update their records and to ahem have reason to raise property taxes.

In June I came home to a flyer on my door saying someone was here to assess and to please fill out and return the attached form regarding features of my home. I filled it out and sent it back soon after. Few weeks ago I received a tentative reassessment and wow was it wrong....the guy at my home obviously didn't walk around or take notes, nor did it reflect the information I provided in the returned flyer.

The tentative reassessment said I had gas forced air heat....there is no gas service on my road, no gas meter outside my home, nor do I even have ductwork...I have electric baseboard heat. It said for cooling I have an air conditioning unit....I do not have air conditioning for my home just a small window unit for the basement. It said I have a full unfinished basement....I have a finished half-basement. And those were the big items they had wrong, there was more. I revised their tentative reassessment in red pen and sent it back for revisions, that is, if they take my revisions into consideration. Ugh!

1935tb-11 - Posted - 09/09/2025:  08:35:37

its a racket,,for sure between property taxes and home owners insurance we are paying bout 288 dollars a month. A MONTH !

i looked on my county wide average for home owners rates. now there is a 1 large city and 1 smaller but expensive town in mt county.  but according to what i found is the average in m county is 2200 to 3800 a year for home owners.

so at 1750 i guess i am lucky ?

thats just stupid. i guess i could chance it and not carry any.



still waiting to hear back from my agent on seeing what she can do.

Edited by - 1935tb-11 on 09/09/2025 08:39:05

Buddur - Posted - 09/09/2025:  09:04:05

It's as if you really don't own your property, no matter if it's paid off or not.

Imo, either after you pay a specific amount of PT through the years, or after you turn a certain age after paying PT for a specific amount of years....you should not have to pay any more Property Taxes.

eagleisland - Posted - 09/09/2025:  09:35:01

Where I live on Cape Cod, we're subject to high winds (tropical storms, winter Nor'easters) and my house is technically in a flood zone (although it would take a prolonged storm surge of more than 19 feet to get the basement wet, and to the best of my knowledge there's no record of that ever happening.

Last year, our insurance agent - she's a gem - notified me that the replacement value on the house was being upped roughly 30% by the insurer, with rate increases to match. I asked why. Her answer was straightforward: materials costs and labor costs skyrocketed in response to the pandemic, and her view was that the value they calculated was within reason.

The deductible for wind damage is steep, but c'est la guerre. We carry flood insurance just in case, although that coverage is considerably less than the replacement value of the house. But it would likely cover any damage from any flood we could expect here.

I have had two major events requiring homeowners insurance - one in the 1980s, when a fire nearly (but not quite) destroyed my house in Maine, and about six years ago when a frozen pipe burst on the second floor of the current house. We can whine about insurance premiums all we want, but if and when we need it, it's a blessing to have.

1935tb-11 - Posted - 09/09/2025:  09:51:28

but property tax and insurance should not take 1/6th of your income.

donc - Posted - 09/11/2025:  22:00:46

We live on an earthquake belt. The insurance company upped my deductible on earthquake damage to $40,000 after paying an added earthquake premium of $2000. Most of us around here are not buying into it. All I can conclude is that if my house is totaled it will be one of thousands in the area. Collecting on insurance and getting a rebuild could take years. 80% of my real estate appraisal is currently on the land only. If we do have a major quake I'll use the $40k toward a trailer for the few good years we have left. If there is a major quake I predict the land value will tank for several years.

Texasbanjo - Posted - 09/12/2025:  04:22:10

I just got my proposed ad valorem taxes and my appraisal actually went down! About a thousand, but that's still down. No numbers yet as to what it's going to cost but I figure know they're going to up the city and school taxes because of new projects such as a new county courthouse, new library and 3 new schools.

As to the difference between taxes and what I'm being charged to insure the house, there's about $100,000!!!! difference. Taxes and less and insurance is more.

Our mayor is trying to ease the pain by telling us how the taxes are used. Doesn't work.

1935tb-11 - Posted - 09/12/2025:  08:15:01

i got them to drop mine 119.00 dollars by raising my deductible. it ain't much but it is some. its still nearly 1600.00 bucks.

Texasbanjo - Posted - 09/12/2025:  08:41:20

quote:

---

Originally posted by 1935tb-11

i got them to drop mine 119.00 dollars by raising my deductible. it ain't much but it is some. its still nearly 1600.00 bucks.

---

I did the same thing on both house and car and it did make a difference.   Everyone just be sure you have the additional dollars to cover any loss that the insurance now won't cover.

Bill Rogers - Posted - 09/12/2025:  10:05:15

Without naming companies…I insure (car and house) through an independent agent. I asked about changing companies for lower rates. He suggested not, saying that my current company tends to pay claims without niggling about amounts and dragging out the process forever. Having been through that with other insurers, I’m staying with my current one.

Texasbanjo - Posted - 09/12/2025:  11:13:01

quote:

---

Originally posted by Bill Rogers

Without naming companies…I insure (car and house) through an independent agent. I asked about changing companies for lower rates. He suggested not, saying that my current company tends to pay claims without niggling about amounts and dragging out the process forever. Having been through that with other insurers, I’m staying with my current one.

---

I've often heard that happens.  However, how often do you actually have a claim on house or car?   Maybe some have several claims, others haven't had one in years.  I figure I've saved more than enough in insurance costs to pay for most any claim unless it's a complete loss.   I balanced the cost of staying with my current insurer with the cost of going with another, less expensive one and unfortunately, my current one lost out.   Several hundred dollars difference means a lot to old folks living on SS and a small pension.

Old Hickory - Posted - 09/12/2025:  12:46:40

quote:

---

Originally posted by 1935tb-11

its a racket,,for sure between property taxes and home owners insurance we are paying bout 288 dollars a month. A MONTH !

---

You're paying $3,456 for property taxes and insurance, PER YEAR? Total?

I bet you wouldn't want to trade with me.

BanjoLink - Posted - 09/12/2025:  13:04:12

quote:

---

Originally posted by Old Hickory

quote:

---

Originally posted by 1935tb-11

its a racket,,for sure between property taxes and home owners insurance we are paying bout 288 dollars a month. A MONTH !

---

You're paying $3,456 for property taxes and insurance, PER YEAR? Total?

I bet you wouldn't want to trade with me.

---

The difference Ken, as you well know, is that you live in one of the most regulated counties (Montgomery) and cities in the country.  One of my best friends office was there and he eventually moved to Virginia (not northern Va) where he seems to have gotten some relief.

Bill Rogers - Posted - 09/12/2025:  13:45:19

Homeowners + prop tax total about $4,400 for me. That tax is limited to a 2% annual increase and 1% of assessed value, which is now below 50% of market. Construction costs on the lowest end are running about $260 sq.ft., but that’s not typical. So I can’t complain about property tax. Bought the house in 1986; long-time owners benefit by far the most from the limits. When my house eventually sells, it’s likely taxes will as much as triple, given the first full revaluation in at least 40-odd years. I would expect higher property taxes almost anywhere I might move.

Owen - Posted - 09/12/2025:  14:00:30

.. 

itsnotyou - Posted - 09/12/2025:  14:14:30

My house insurance went up this year. Talked my insurance company and they explained that the cost of building materials were up because of the CA wildfires and flooding in the east. Also building permits in CA are outrageous. Don't get caught without one. They do satellite maping and overlays to see if building size, grading or new buildings have been added. Getting caught without permits will cost you dearly. I have friends in SoCal that tell me their house insurance went to over $2,500 a month. Many others are scrambling to find insurance after they were canceled.

Old Hickory - Posted - 09/12/2025:  14:16:32

quote:

---

Originally posted by BanjoLink

The difference Ken, as you well know, is that you live in one of the most regulated counties (Montgomery) and cities in the country.  One of my best friends office was there and he eventually moved to Virginia (not northern Va) where he seems to have gotten some relief.

---

More than regulation as a cause, my taxes are high in part because both my city and county charge property tax. This county encompasses a range of urban, suburban, rural and agricultural areas. It's an expensive area to serve, with a population that expects and demands a lot.  Insurance is high in part because the whole DC area is expensive. I'm more concerned about being under insured than over insured.

I know the county has a reputation for not being hospitable to business. But I think recent reports show strong business growth and investment. We're home to the third-largest biotech cluster in the country and over 6,000 technology customers. The place clearly works for some businesses.

reubenstump - Posted - 09/12/2025:  14:43:00

Takoma Park declared itself the first nuclear free city or something like that way back in the 60s. When I was a kid and we lived in College Park we went to Takoma Park Baptist Church. I still remember the huge oak trees on both sides of the road by the church, which created an amazing canopy that completely spanned the road.



Also, the great John Fahey hailed from Takoma Park.

I believe that MoCo was a big biotech hub as far back as the 90s.

Edited by - reubenstump on 09/12/2025 14:46:45

itsnotyou - Posted - 09/12/2025:  14:51:55

quote:

---

Originally posted by Owen

.. 

---

It is possible in SoCal to get 1.5k to 2k a month for that. If it has a view maybe 3k

Edited by - itsnotyou on 09/12/2025 14:52:27

Eric A - Posted - 09/12/2025:  15:24:37

Complaining about property taxes and insurance is a position of privilege. I mean, I get it, I own, but just try renting once, eh? It's worse.

Bill Rogers - Posted - 09/12/2025:  17:20:15

One way or another, when there is demand for government services (and there is in many places), some way must be found to pay for them. Often that has come in the form of high fees for building permits and other bureaucratic requirements that decades ago were covered by annual increases in the now-limited property taxes. Sales tax hikes, regressive as they are, are also used, along with state income tax, to take up the property tax shortfall. But when you go to a state like Oregon, with no state income tax, property taxes are through the roof. As the cliché has it, there is no free lunch

steve davis - Posted - 09/12/2025:  17:31:42

My bank handles my insurance.It's attached to my mortgage payment and that payment is slowly reducing.

Old Hickory - Posted - 09/13/2025:  10:18:06

quote:

---

Originally posted by reubenstump

Takoma Park declared itself the first nuclear free city or something like that way back in the 60s. When I was a kid and we lived in College Park we went to Takoma Park Baptist Church. I still remember the huge oak trees on both sides of the road by the church, which created an amazing canopy that completely spanned the road.

---

It was a bit later. Takoma Park passed its nuclear-free ordinance in 1983. It's been the object of much derision. Mostly by people who think the very name is a joke, since it was never very likely that any businesses within the city would ever engage in the production, transportation, storage, disposal, or use of nuclear weapons or their components. And it was never It also prohibits the city from doing business with businesses engaged in any of those activities. The ordinance has a waiver provision, which I think has been invoked a couple of times over practicality. My recollection they involved the acquisition of new police cars and radios.



I've always wondered if any of the many work-at-home consultants here in town had Pentagon contracts. Never wondered enough to do anything about it.

As to the grand oaks, we lost both of ours to root rot years ago. Cost over $2,000 each to take them down. No idea what that would cost today. We miss the shade, but not the clogged gutters,  leaf raking or acorns bombing our cars.

steve davis - Posted - 09/13/2025:  14:15:16

In the 80s the property tax for 38 stone-walled,forested acres and new 24' saltbox was $150.
Now it's $1250.

1935tb-11 - Posted - 09/15/2025:  13:59:06

quote:

---

Originally posted by Old Hickory

quote:

---

Originally posted by 1935tb-11

its a racket,,for sure between property taxes and home owners insurance we are paying bout 288 dollars a month. A MONTH !

---

You're paying $3,456 for property taxes and insurance, PER YEAR? Total?

I bet you wouldn't want to trade with me.

---

is yours 1100 sq ft and in the county ?  91/100 of an acre . we do have county water of which i am not hooked up to. but no sewer service.  and a fire hydrant about 200 feet from the house.

Old Hickory - Posted - 09/15/2025:  15:10:28

quote:

---

Originally posted by 1935tb-11

is yours 1100 sq ft and in the county ?  91/100 of an acre . we do have county water of which i am not hooked up to. but no sewer service.  and a fire hydrant about 200 feet from the house.

---

Do you mean an 1100 SF house on .91 of an acre?

No. I have an approximate 2500 SF house on about 4/10 of an acre.

steve davis - Posted - 09/16/2025:  15:34:07

I have a 100' drilled well and a septic system that don't owe me anything and have been paid for for over 20 years.
I would have paid off my mortgage by 2007,but the only way for me to continue lobstering was to get a bigger boat and hire a sternman.
I didn't know at the time that I was going to have to sell my new boat at a loss 4 years after buying it.

I survived that.

Elmo_Smiley - Posted - 09/18/2025:  09:03:20

I use the cheapest insurance in my area, with full coverage and replacement costs. But I have noticed they insure my house for $30,000-$60,000 over the tax assessment. And that's their final answer. Tax assessments are only good for the year of reassessment, and then while value continues to rise, the assessment doesn't. And I know for a fact, they will never give me their insurance assessed value should I suffer a total loss. Not going to happen. The biggest problem in Tennessee is, people are moving here from northern and western States. By coming from areas with much more expensive cost of living, there have been bidding wars for homes, none being nearly as expensive as what they left. So you see, about two years ago, the State seeing this, came in and raised values across the board around $50K per every home, to keep up with the demand and bidding wars. You would think having a highly increased value would be great, but just think, if you sell, you will never be able to replace your property. Not to mention taxes, which so far have been adjusted down so there hasn't been an increase yet. It's a mad, mad, mad, mad, mad world.

1935tb-11 - Posted - 09/20/2025:  10:15:27

your right elmo...... i did a search on 300,000 dollar houses in my area of the county,,, all that showed up was some land plots. no houses. but brand new 1700 sq ft cookie cutter houses are priced at 310,000 on a half acre.

and ken if you have a 2500 sq ft house then NO NO NO i would not want to pay your taxes. or home owners .

eagleisland - Posted - 09/21/2025:  05:35:11

quote:

---

Originally posted by Elmo_Smiley

And I know for a fact, they will never give me their insurance assessed value should I suffer a total loss. Not going to happen. 

---

No, it isn't. First, there's the deductible. Second, there's depreciation - and they don't pay out for that, either.

Let me tell you a story, which might serve as something of a cautionary tale. About six years ago, we had a pipe burst on the second floor. Huge amount of water damage. Much of the first floor, mostly the kitchen/family area, had to be gutted and high-powered dehumidifies brought in to prevent mold. The second floor had to be totally stripped of furniture and carpeting, and the sheetrock was cut up to about 18" so things could be dried/dehumidified.

At the recommendation of the owner best flooring place in town (we went there because we were going to need new floors and what else were we going to do right then?) we hired an independent adjuster. It was a smart move. They take ten percent of the insurance payout for their service - and IMO that was money VERY well spent. Among other things, they do all the wrangling with the insurance company for you.

There were several things that really helped us make the house far better than it was before the damage. First was the kitchen cabinetry: when my late parents bought the house, the cabinetry was already there. As we were doing the demolition, I happened to notice that there was a brand badge on the sink unit. It turned out that the company was not only still in business - it was a super-premium brand, and the insurance company is responsible for matching value (once past deductible and, of course, with 10% knocked off for "depreciation." Even so, that allowed us to buy quality MIDRANGE cabinetry and bank the difference towards other improvements.

Second was the first-floor flooring. It was 7" white oak. That stuff is INCREDIBLY expensive. The settlement was based on the idea of replacing that in the kitchen/family area (about 60% of the floor area) and refinish the remainder to match. Instead, we opted to re-do the entire first floor (except carpeted areas) with 3" red oak - and that was pretty much a wash.

The third item was that a large part of the walls in the impacted area was painted judge's paneling -and truth to tell, it was NOT in great shape. But it was to be replaced, and the settlement value reflected that. Instead, we opted to replace it with sheet rock - which is MUCH cheaper.

Similarly, the bedrooms on the second floor were all wallpapered. Wall papering is a much more expensive process than painting (you need to remove the old wallpaper in both cases), and wallpaper is definitely a matter of taste. So we opted to paint the rooms instead. And we like them much better (as I said, wallpaper is a matter of taste, and the taste of the previous owners wasn't exactly the same as ours).

The lesson here is that you can make certain decisions based upon what was there before and what you'd like to have next. And that brings us to the one place where we got screwed.

The second floor carpeting was all soaked and needed to be jettisoned. It was pretty nice stuff! Unfortunately, the recovery company in on the first stage of things (demolition, de-humidification) didn't save a sample of that carpeting. Had they done so, we could have replaced the upstairs carpeting with something much nicer than we did; the insurance companies have par values for most things (cabinets, carpeting, etc.) and base their settlement offers off of that. We got lucky with the kitchen; we lost out on the second floor.

So here's my counsel. If you have a major loss, hire a quality independent adjuster. They know the game; they know how the insurance companies try to lowball, and they know the way the policies work. Some of the aesthetic decisions described above were based on what we wanted the house to be post-incident, but the money saved in that stuff made up for much of the 10% fee the adjuster charged. As said, it was money well spent.

Second: know what you've got, pre-incident, and have that information stored in such a manner that you can access it if you need to. The decisions with the wallpaper and judge's paneling were easy. But we saved a boatload in the kitchen because of the fortuitous discovery of the brand - which was purely luck. If only we'd had proof of the carpeting!

To finish the tale, the demolition in the immediate aftermath revealed some rather alarming structural deficits owing to projects done by the previous owner. I needn't get into those, other than to say that we were able to correct a lot of problems we had no idea existed, and do so, reasonably within the confines of the insurance settlement, thanks to decisions made along the way.

No, we didn't get full replacement value on anything. But we did end up with a stronger and more attractive house, without a huge amount out of pocket.

BanjoLink - Posted - 09/21/2025:  09:50:02

quote:

---

Originally posted by eagleisland

quote:

---

Originally posted by Elmo_Smiley

And I know for a fact, they will never give me their insurance assessed value should I suffer a total loss. Not going to happen. 

---

No, it isn't. First, there's the deductible. Second, there's depreciation - and they don't pay out for that, either.

Let me tell you a story, which might serve as something of a cautionary tale. About six years ago, we had a pipe burst on the second floor. Huge amount of water damage. Much of the first floor, mostly the kitchen/family area, had to be gutted and high-powered dehumidifies brought in to prevent mold. The second floor had to be totally stripped of furniture and carpeting, and the sheetrock was cut up to about 18" so things could be dried/dehumidified.

At the recommendation of the owner best flooring place in town (we went there because we were going to need new floors and what else were we going to do right then?) we hired an independent adjuster. It was a smart move. They take ten percent of the insurance payout for their service - and IMO that was money VERY well spent. Among other things, they do all the wrangling with the insurance company for you.

There were several things that really helped us make the house far better than it was before the damage. First was the kitchen cabinetry: when my late parents bought the house, the cabinetry was already there. As we were doing the demolition, I happened to notice that there was a brand badge on the sink unit. It turned out that the company was not only still in business - it was a super-premium brand, and the insurance company is responsible for matching value (once past deductible and, of course, with 10% knocked off for "depreciation." Even so, that allowed us to buy quality MIDRANGE cabinetry and bank the difference towards other improvements.

Second was the first-floor flooring. It was 7" white oak. That stuff is INCREDIBLY expensive. The settlement was based on the idea of replacing that in the kitchen/family area (about 60% of the floor area) and refinish the remainder to match. Instead, we opted to re-do the entire first floor (except carpeted areas) with 3" red oak - and that was pretty much a wash.

The third item was that a large part of the walls in the impacted area was painted judge's paneling -and truth to tell, it was NOT in great shape. But it was to be replaced, and the settlement value reflected that. Instead, we opted to replace it with sheet rock - which is MUCH cheaper.

Similarly, the bedrooms on the second floor were all wallpapered. Wall papering is a much more expensive process than painting (you need to remove the old wallpaper in both cases), and wallpaper is definitely a matter of taste. So we opted to paint the rooms instead. And we like them much better (as I said, wallpaper is a matter of taste, and the taste of the previous owners wasn't exactly the same as ours).

The lesson here is that you can make certain decisions based upon what was there before and what you'd like to have next. And that brings us to the one place where we got screwed.

The second floor carpeting was all soaked and needed to be jettisoned. It was pretty nice stuff! Unfortunately, the recovery company in on the first stage of things (demolition, de-humidification) didn't save a sample of that carpeting. Had they done so, we could have replaced the upstairs carpeting with something much nicer than we did; the insurance companies have par values for most things (cabinets, carpeting, etc.) and base their settlement offers off of that. We got lucky with the kitchen; we lost out on the second floor.

So here's my counsel. If you have a major loss, hire a quality independent adjuster. They know the game; they know how the insurance companies try to lowball, and they know the way the policies work. Some of the aesthetic decisions described above were based on what we wanted the house to be post-incident, but the money saved in that stuff made up for much of the 10% fee the adjuster charged. As said, it was money well spent.

Second: know what you've got, pre-incident, and have that information stored in such a manner that you can access it if you need to. The decisions with the wallpaper and judge's paneling were easy. But we saved a boatload in the kitchen because of the fortuitous discovery of the brand - which was purely luck. If only we'd had proof of the carpeting!

To finish the tale, the demolition in the immediate aftermath revealed some rather alarming structural deficits owing to projects done by the previous owner. I needn't get into those, other than to say that we were able to correct a lot of problems we had no idea existed, and do so, reasonably within the confines of the insurance settlement, thanks to decisions made along the way.

No, we didn't get full replacement value on anything. But we did end up with a stronger and more attractive house, without a huge amount out of pocket.

---

Great information!  Fortunately, I have a great insurance company, USAA, and have had several claims for water damage due to  broken pipe over the 50 plus year I have insured with them.  Fortunately they were in a finished basement, so the damage was limited.  In both cases of the water damage we were totally reimbursed the full value of the work, less the deductible.  I probably would not hire an independent adjuster to deal with them, but in most cases I think that is an excellent idea.