Dear Cape Friends,
If you're new here, welcome. If you've been along for the ride, welcome back.
A few months ago, during one of those classic Cape Cod nor'easters, I found myself doing what many homeowners do during a storm: standing by the window -prayer beads in hand- on the edge of full scale panic while staring at the swaying trees and out across Ryder's Cove, waiting for a tidal wave to carry my house to Nantucket.
The wind was howling. Branches were swaying. And one particular pine tree seemed to be leaning just enough to capture my full attention.
As I stood there, a thought crossed my mind:
"If that friggin tree comes through my roof tonight... what exactly happens?"
More specifically, what is my deductible? Oddly enough, I wasn't entirely sure.
That realization led me to a conversation with Greg Ormon, a local insurance agent who came highly recommended by several friends. He specializes in reviewing homeowners' insurance policies. During our first meeting, he made a simple observation that immediately stuck with me:
"Not all policies are created equal."
Immediately, the diarrhea started to rise...It sounds obvious, but the more we talked, the more I realized how little most of us actually know about the details of our coverage.
Two topics, in particular, caught my attention.
1. Wind Deductibles
Many homeowners assume they have a standard deductible that applies to everything.
Not necessarily, muchacho
Depending on the policy, wind-related claims can sometimes be treated differently than other types of losses. In some cases, deductibles may be significantly higher than people expect.
For those of us living on Cape Cod - where storms are less a matter of if and more a matter of when- that's an important detail to understand before you need it.
2. Umbrella Policies
The second topic was umbrella insurance. I'll admit, I've always viewed umbrella policies as one of those things that sounded important but somehow never made it to the top of my to-do list.
What I hadn't fully appreciated is that insurance and financial planning are often closely connected. Protecting what you've spent decades building is part of the equation. The more I learned, the more I understood their purpose.
Most of us spend decades building a life: a home, savings, retirement accounts, investments, and other assets. An umbrella policy is designed to provide an additional layer of liability protection above and beyond the limits of your underlying policies.
Hopefully you'll never need it. But that's also the goal of every insurance policy we own.
The funny thing is that I suspect many of us know more about our coffee maker than we do about our homeowners insurance policy.
The Bigger Lesson
As a Realtor, I spend a great deal of time helping people buy and sell homes. We talk about pricing, inspections, septic systems, flood zones, renovations, mortgages, and closing costs. What surprises me, however, is how rarely we talk about what happens after the closing.
The lesson here isn't necessarily that you need more insurance. The lesson is that you should understand the insurance you already have.
Many of us spend more time researching a new television, smartphone, or kitchen appliance than we do reviewing the policies designed to protect our homes, families, and financial futures.
As for me, Nan and I are currently gathering our policies and putting together a full insurance review. I suspect I'll learn a few things along the way- and if I do, I'll happily share them in a future newsletter.
By the way, Greg is a great guy.
Does anyone remember the classic 1993 movie Groundhog Day? Remember the relentlessly cheerful insurance salesman sporting the fedora, Ned Ryerson?
Click here for a laugh - "Needlenose Ned. Ned the Head."
The cheesy insurance salesman - Relentless optimism. Relentless sales tactics. slight creep-factor meets annoying AF! Thankfully, Greg is NOT that guy. Not even close.. 😀 He simply takes complicated insurance topics and breaks them down into plain English.
Here is Gregs info - https://info.baldwin.com/ormon/
In the meantime, here's hoping the next time the wind starts howling outside your window, the only thing at risk is your supply of Dark 'n Stormys.
(If you're around Friday morning, I'll be holding court at Chatham Perk from 8:00–9:00 AM. As always, the coffee is on me. Feel free to stop by and say hello.)
See you around the elbow (and hopefully Friday morning),
Paul
P.S. If you're thinking about buying, selling, or simply keeping tabs on the market here on the elbow- or if you know someone who is - PaulBorde.com is a great place to start. You'll find listings, market updates, past newsletters, and enough reading material to get you through at least one rainy Cape Cod weekend. A few of the articles came dangerously close to Pulitzer Prize consideration. 😀