If you plan to remodel your home in Portland, Beaverton, Oregon or elsewhere, make sure that the house, the contractor and the subcontractors have adequate insurance coverage.

Don’t make the mistake of waiting until an addition or extra room is completed to increase the insurance coverage on the structure of your home. If the new addition is destroyed or damaged before insurance coverage has been increased, you may be responsible for the cost of repairing or rebuilding the addition.

Contact your insurance agents at Fox Insurance Agency - 503-277-2300 before—or shortly after—construction begins in order to increase the insurance coverage on your house to an amount that reflects the higher value of the rebuilt structure.

When hiring a general contractor, find out if the contractor has workers compensation and ask to see a copy of the policy. Workers compensation pays for medical and rehabilitation expenses and covers lost wages if the workers sustain injuries on the job. Injured workers may sue you if the contractor does not have proper insurance.

In most home improvement projects, the contractor subcontracts the builders, electricians and plumbers. The workers hired may not be full-time employees of the contractor and therefore not covered under the contractor's workers compensation policy. While some independent builders, electricians and plumbers may carry their own workers compensation coverage, others may not.

You should verify the insurance coverage of the contractor and the subcontractors. If the coverage is insufficient, you may need to fill in the gaps by extending the limits of the liability portion of your homeowners policy.

If you purchase additional items, such as furniture, exercise equipment or electronics, you may need to increase the amount of insurance you have on your personal possessions. Keep receipts and add them to your home inventory.

Contact Us!

At Fox Insurance Agency, we can work with you to make sure you’ve got the coverage you need, while at the same time using all possible credits and discounts to make that coverage affordable. Just give us a call at 503-277-2300, visit our insurance website 24/7 for more information about us or any of the insurance products we sell like auto insurance or earthquake insurance, or send us a note at info [at] foxinsure [dot] com. We want to help you meet your goals, and make sure what’s important to you is protected!

Information by the Insurance Information Institute.