new addtion to home & effect on homeowner's insurance

Factual Questions
1

Hi,
I have a 3BR, 2 bath 1800 sq ft home. We recently converted the old, attached 2 car garage into a 480 sq foot room and constructed a new, attached 2 car garage.

I need to update my homeowner’s policy to include the sq footage of the new room and they want to know new garage sq footage.

State Farm asked about the flooring in the new man cave (it’s 60% carpet, 40% vinyl).They also asked what the new room is used for and I’m not sure how to answer b/c it has several uses. Will the purpose of the room affect my policy cost?

The new room is sort of a mancave but is multiuse. It has a main area with a loveseat & large drum set and some recording equipment. 1/3 of the room is dvd, vinyl records, CD, book storage (i.e. a library), toy collection and 55 sq ft of it is clothes closet/miscellaneous storage. I wouldn’t consider anything really valuable although we plan to do a video inventory of the entire house soon.

How would you answer? I want to be honest but I also don’t want to skew it to a higher premium.

2

I would describe it as a family room. I think that what they are looking out for is things like “home cinema” which implies expensive and desirable kit; the same might apply to a number of hobbies like woodworking for example. They would also be concerned about storage of flammable material like paint or cardboard.

3

I think if you’ve got expensive musical equipment in there you should probably tell them so. You want it all insured properly, right?

What good is a lower premium if it doesn’t, in the end, cover the things you value?

Drum set, recording equipment, cds, DVD, etc can cost a lot to replace.

Just be honest, is my suggestion.

4

Your house is worth more now … of course you should insure it for more money … and that means higher premiums … although not much more I wouldn’t think … “family room” is a good description for the structural part of your coverage … and do make sure the contents portion is adequate … and be real careful with fire around your house …

5

My guess is that they want to know if the room will be used as a bedroom, or even as an in-law unit/rental apartment.

6

I doubt it matters much what you tell them, other than if you do or don’t add any bathroom or kitchen facilities. They are simply trying to get to a new replacement cost using the added square footage and some idea of how the new space is built-out. Your coverage on contents is based on the building replacement cost. Most people have more than enough content coverage, because it is usually one-third of the building cost. And it isn’t on a room-by-room basis, so it doesn’t matter if you have expensive instruments or electrical equipment in this particular room. Notable exceptions are jewelry, firearms, antiques or art collections. Most policies have stated limits on these items apart from the overall contents coverage.

I second just telling them it is a family room. That’s reasonably accurate and gives them the information they need.

7

Correct. Occupancy could mean someone cooking in the area, which could significantly increase the liability and insurance rates.

8

They want to know if it’s going to be used as an office or for some other business purpose. If so, you’d need to get an endorsement and pay a little extra for that because your basic homeowner policy would exclude anything used for business purposes. I work from home one day a week and I have such a thing on my policy just to be on the safe side. Family/living room sounds right to me.