Homeowners Insurance - Basement?

[twogirlsmommy]

How much homeowners insurance do you have on your finished basement?

Standard - per what our agent is telling us - is $10,000 - we would have a $1000 deductible. It doesn't increase our premium too much to go to $20,000 but our deductible goes up.

We have a bedroom, bathroom, toy area, tv area down there. Plus storage area.....

[teeah22]

I had no idea you needed special insurance on a basement, we just finished ours. I don't know how big your space is but for mine I'd go up to 20k especially if it's not a huge premium difference.

[mrs.jacinthe]

I don't have a basement, but when we lived in Ohio, if the square footage was part of your homes calculated sqft, they just included it as a check box in the rate calculations.

Huh.

[dottyblue]

Did you just finish your basement and are adding it to an existing policy? If that's the case, you should know roughly how much it cost to finish it, and costs to repair/replace it in the event of damage would be around the same. Right?

Like the PPs, my finished basement was just included in the square footage of finished spaces. I would tend to go with the higher insurance amount knowing that most people are under-insured and "standard" may not be enough.

[twogirlsmommy]

We bought a house with a finished basement.

I don't know why it's insured separately?? But it is.

[twogirlsmommy]

Mar 20, 2017 12:45:59 GMT -5 dottyblue said:

Did you just finish your basement and are adding it to an existing policy? If that's the case, you should know roughly how much it cost to finish it, and costs to repair/replace it in the event of damage would be around the same. Right?

Like the PPs, my finished basement was just included in the square footage of finished spaces. I would tend to go with the higher insurance amount knowing that most people are under-insured and "standard" may not be enough.

I asked and have some clarification - it's the sewer and backup / flooding coverage. Trying to figure out coverage if we need to repair drywall, replace carpet etc but also replace our stuff. The standard $10,000 coverage doesn't seem like enough? We didn't finish the basement - it was finished when we bought the house son no idea what costs would be associated if there was damage.

[dottyblue]

Mar 23, 2017 12:40:16 GMT -5 twogirlsmommy said:

Mar 20, 2017 12:45:59 GMT -5 dottyblue said:

Did you just finish your basement and are adding it to an existing policy? If that's the case, you should know roughly how much it cost to finish it, and costs to repair/replace it in the event of damage would be around the same. Right?

Like the PPs, my finished basement was just included in the square footage of finished spaces. I would tend to go with the higher insurance amount knowing that most people are under-insured and "standard" may not be enough.

I asked and have some clarification - it's the sewer and backup / flooding coverage. Trying to figure out coverage if we need to repair drywall, replace carpet etc but also replace our stuff. The standard $10,000 coverage doesn't seem like enough? We didn't finish the basement - it was finished when we bought the house son no idea what costs would be associated if there was damage.

I would want confirmation on what the $10,000 coverage is actually for.  Is it for repairs only?  Or repairs AND replacement cost of posessions?

You said you have a bedroom, bathroom, TV and playroom/toys down there.  I would be really skeptical that $10k would be enough to cover posessions and repairs.

I would do a rough estimate of replacement cost of your posessions:  Bed frame, mattress/box spring, bedding, pillows, dresser(s), end tables, toys, electronics, and bathroom items.

Drywall, you can find rough estimates if you google:  "The cost to install drywall is about $1.50 per square foot. After material and labor are added in, the cost per panel can range from around $40.00 to $60.00. A typical 12x12 room, for example, will use 12 panels. "  Same for carpet and tile.

Good luck!
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