Why is a statement of values important? Well, honestly, it’s because it’s the way the insurance company knows how much stuff you have and what it’s worth.
Is a Statement of Values Important?
See, we talked to you in a prior post about co-insurance, what co-insurance is, and how it works. A statement of values is one way you prove the value of the things you have. Suppose you don’t have a statement of values on file with the carrier. What could possibly happen if you don’t have a recent statement of values on file with the carrier? In that case, the policy says they can go back to whichever one is the most recent on file. That could be a problem, especially if you’re in a growing business, which’s made some acquisitions of assets over the last several years. Your property values have probably gone up quite a bit, and if you’ve not adjusted those and put it on file with the carrier, that’s a problem because that co-insurance will come back to bite you. So you have to make sure you have that on file because that’s the point of reference that the carrier uses. God forbid you to have a claim.
Do it Right the First Time
Take the time. It’s a one-shot deal. Every year after this, you don’t have to spend a whole ton of time doing it. You update the numbers, but the first exercise can be a little daunting, and listen, if you’ve never written one before, it’s okay. We’ve got a template that you can use that makes it pretty much fill in the blank. So if you’d like that, you can click down below and request it, and I’ll happily send it to you. And I promise we’re not going to hammer you to try and get you to buy anything. It’s just our way of helping out. So if you don’t have a statement of values on file, it’s paramount that you do. It’s time that you do that today.