Homeowner's Insurance: What Is the 80% Rule? (2024)

Homeowner's Insurance: What Is the 80% Rule? (1)

While not every homeowner’s insurance company adheres to what’s known as the “80% rule,” the majority do. So, if you are looking for a homeowner’s insurance policy, it’s a safe bet you’ll need to understand the 80% rule.

The 80% Rule

The 80% rule describes a policy in which insurers only cover the costs of damage to your house or property if you’ve purchased coverage that equals at least 80% of the property’s total replacement value.

Replacement Value

Replacement value describes the amount of money it costs to replace or repair something that is damaged, stolen, or lost.

For houses, replacement value is typically calculated by multiplying the average local per-foot rebuilding cost by the square footage of the house.

Keep in mind that replacement value is not synonymous with market value.

Suppose that you would expect your house to sell for $600,000 due to its location in a high-demand area. This is the market value of your home. However, the cost to rebuild your home after a fire would be only $400,000. That number is the replacement value.

Benefits of the 80% Rule

The 80% rule helps protect you and your assets in the event of damage to your house or property. If you’re not covered by the 80% rule, the insurer will only reimburse you a proportionate amount of the minimum coverage you’ve purchased. This could lead to high out-of-pocket costs.

An Example of the 80% Rule in Action

To better understand the 80% rule, here’s an example:

You’ve purchased a house with a replacement cost of $400,000. The insurance coverage you’ve purchased totals $300,000.

Then, a natural disaster causes $250,000 worth of damage to your home.

You might assume that since the cost of the damage is lower than the amount of coverage you’ve purchased, your insurance company should reimburse you the entire amount.

Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case.

To reach the 80% threshold for your home, you should have purchased insurance coverage of at least $320,000, or 80% of $400,000.

If you had purchased $320,000 in coverage instead of $300,000, the insurance company would have paid for all repairs to your home.

However, since you purchased less than 80% of your house’s replacement cost in insurance, the insurer will only pay for a proportion of the minimum coverage. This means you are saddled with out-of-pocket expenses to cover repair costs.

Stay Protected with the 80% Rule

The 80% rule offers some protections for homeowners, such as:

  • Better protection after extensive damage
  • Fewer out-of-pocket costs for you
  • Better peace of mind overall

Some areas are more prone to natural disasters than others. Florida is notorious for devastating natural disasters, and the capital of Tallahassee isn’t immune. Connecting with an insurance agency in Tallahassee, Florida, can help keep you and your property protected.

Get Homeowner’s Insurance in Tallahassee

When scouting for a reputable agency that offers homeowner’s insurance in Tallahassee, find out whether it follows the 80% rule. If it does, keep in regular contact with your broker to ensure that your coverage continues to meet the 80% threshold, especially if you make improvements to your home.

Homeowner's Insurance: What Is the 80% Rule? (2024)

FAQs

Homeowner's Insurance: What Is the 80% Rule? ›

To meet the 80% rule, if your home has a total replacement cost value of $400,000, you'd need to purchase $320,000 in coverage (80% of 400,000). If you fail to meet this rule, you won't be covered for the entirety of damages and instead will have to pay out-of-pocket to cover a portion of the expenses.

What is the 80% rule in homeowners insurance? ›

When it comes to insuring your home, the 80% rule is an important guideline to keep in mind. This rule suggests you should insure your home for at least 80% of its total replacement cost to avoid penalties for being underinsured.

What is 80 of the insurable value? ›

The 80% rule is adhered to by most insurance companies. According to the standard, an insurer will only cover the cost of damage to a house or property if the homeowner has purchased insurance coverage equal to at least 80% of the house's total replacement value.

What does 80% coinsurance mean for homeowners? ›

The coinsurance formula is applied when a property owner fails to maintain coverage of at least 80% of the home's replacement value. If a property owner insures for less than the amount required by the coinsurance clause, they are essentially agreeing to retain part of the risk.

What is the 80 20 rule in insurance? ›

The 80/20 Rule generally requires insurance companies to spend at least 80% of the money they take in from premiums on health care costs and quality improvement activities. The other 20% can go to administrative, overhead, and marketing costs.

What clause requires that the homeowner have insurance that is equal to 80% of the home's replacement value? ›

Coinsurance clause. A coinsurance clause is a provision that requires you to carry coverage equal to 80% of your home's value.

What type of clause requires that a homeowner have insurance that is equal to 80% of the home's replacement value? ›

A coinsurance clause generally requires the policyholder to maintain a limit of insurance that is equal to 80% of the property's replacement value (i.e. what it would cost to totally reconstruct, restore or replace the property at the time of a loss).

What is the rule of thumb for homeowners insurance? ›

The 80 percent rule in homeowners insurance means that you must insure your home for at least 80 percent of the replacement cost for an insurer to cover the damages.

How do you calculate 80 of a value? ›

For example, to find 80% of 4,500, multiply the 45 by 80 to get 3,600. Learn how to work out the percentage of something if you already have the value.

Is it better to have 80% or 100% coinsurance? ›

Common coinsurance is 80%, 90%, or 100% of the value of the insured property. The higher the percentage is, the worse it is for you. It is important to note, as a way of preventing frustration and confusion at the time of loss, coverage through the NREIG program has no coinsurance.

Should you insure your home to its full value? ›

Replacement cost is how much it would cost to reconstruct your home as it is now, and most homeowners policies offer replacement cost coverage. However, if you don't insure to the full value of your home, you may find yourself responsible for a significant portion of the rebuilding costs in the event of a loss.

Why is 80 coinsurance better than 90? ›

A typical 80% coinsurance clause leaves more leeway for undervaluation, and thus a lower chance of a penalty in a claim situation. Insuring a property on an agreed value basis may well be a better option for some insureds as it eliminates the possibility that a coinsurance penalty will be invoked.

What is the 80-20 rule for costs? ›

Financial Industry: Finance and economic businesses, such as accountancy firms, may use the 80-20 rule to find that 20% of costs led to 80% of their expenses for their clients. Using this Pareto Principle can help break down chunks of data so it is easier to understand.

How do you take advantage of the 80-20 rule? ›

How to use the 80/20 rule
  1. Examine all of your daily or weekly tasks.
  2. Prioritize your most important tasks.
  3. Identify the tasks that offer the greatest return.
  4. Brainstorm how to delegate or remove tasks that give less return.
  5. Make a plan that outlines time and resources versus prioritized tasks.
Feb 3, 2023

Which of the following is true the 80-20 rule? ›

The 80/20 concept, also known as the Pareto Principle, is an aphorism that states that for any given event, 80 percent of outcomes arise from 20 percent of all causes. The given statement 80/20 rule states that 80% of the instruction is executed and 20% of the instruction is generated is not correct as per 80/20 rule.

How does 80 20 insurance work with deductible? ›

You have an “80/20” plan. That means your insurance company pays for 80 percent of your costs after you've met your deductible. You pay for 20 percent. Coinsurance is different and separate from any copayment.

What is the rule of thumb for home insurance estimate? ›

A simple formula for estimating your dwelling coverage limit is to take the square footage of your home and multiply it by the per-square-foot building costs in your area to reflect the current cost of construction.

What is the rule of thumb for dwelling insurance? ›

This is known as the 80/20 rule. If you're underinsured, you'll get less money if you file a claim. Let's say your home is insured for $200,000 but would cost $300,000 to rebuild. If you file a claim for $100,000, the insurance company could prorate your settlement by the percentage that you're underinsured.

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