Hail storms are a frequent occurrence in Oklahoma. In 2019, multiple areas in the OKC metro were hit by roof-damaging hail. For many homeowners, those storms were an unfortunate wake up call, making them realize they didn’t know what their insurance policies actually covered.

Not that there was any trickery on the part of their insurance agents, of course. It was just a lack of understanding by those homeowners regarding the updates to their insurance policies over time.

Why is an insurance policy review important?

As a homeowner, you should ideally be aware of problems before they happen. The whole purpose of insurance is to cover future problems with your home so you don’t have to worry about them.

Some insurance policies auto-renew. But that may mean that changes happen without you knowing about it. Insurance policies are updated all the time, so if you don’t review those changes you may think everything is staying the same.

One huge example is the way your coverage pays out. If your home is insured for $300,000 and you have a deductible of 3%, then your deductible is $9,000. In that case, if the insurance claim for your storm damage is for $13,000, then the insurance company only cuts you a check for $4,000.

That can make a huge difference if your storm damage starts reaching into higher dollar amounts. If your shingles are damaged and the layers underneath are hurt, the attic might have some water damage as well. If the gutters, siding, and vents are damaged too, a percentage deductible just gets higher and higher.

Your insurance agent should be able to talk you through what your coverage really means and the risks involved with the different options.

Cheaper insurance isn’t better

Often people buy a product from one company because they offer it slightly cheaper than their competition. But at the same time, those people want a high-quality product. So how does that relate to your insurance?

Maybe you got the perfect insurance policy for your needs. But then you heard you can get it $20 cheaper by getting rid of your ‘wild animal damage’ coverage, just as an example.

If you live in Oklahoma, you know that nowhere is safe from wild animal damage, not even downtown OKC. Even small animals can cause a lot of damage! That’s why it’s important to understand the pros and cons of your insurance coverage options.

Talk to your insurance agent now so that when it’s time for us to help with your storm damage, we can give you good news as opposed to bad news about your claim.