Importance of Updated Property and Vehicle Schedules

Are your school district’s property values and automobile schedules up to date? 

Property 

According to industry standards, well over 50% of commercial insured properties are under-valued. Good news is that your school district’s insurance representative has the ability and resources to accurately value your buildings and contents. 

If property valuations are not calculated regularly, your property could be improperly insured, meaning that your coverage may be less than sufficient in the case of damage or disaster. Additionally, property undervaluation can sometimes result in coinsurance penalties. Maintaining an accurate valuation of property helps districts avoid gaps in coverage and financial hardship.  

What Causes Property Increases?

Historically, materials and labor costs tend to rise slowly over time. But while average construction costs increased less than 5% per year over the last decade, events beginning in 2020 have led to rapid cost increases.  These factors include: 

• record high inflation 

• supply chain issues 

• labor shortages 

• lingering impact of pandemic 

Recent severe weather has also been a reason for property value increases. With events like hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and wildfires, obtaining the right supplies to rebuild in a timely fashion can be costly. 

Underwriters are looking closely at property schedules comparing them to prior years.  If there is little to no increase in values, an underwriter may see this as a “red flag” that values may be under-valued.  There is a strong likelihood that the reported values are out of alignment and are not representative of the true exposure.  

This is the year to review your property schedule carefully.  Ask your broker when your property schedule values were last calculated? Let them help you keep your insured property values accurate. 

Automobiles 

Be sure to carefully check your automobile schedule each year. All vehicles should be listed on your school district automobile schedule to ensure liability and/or physical damage coverage. Remove vehicles that have been sold to prevent being charged a premium.  Make sure that your Transportation Department has provided you with the most recent vehicle list. No one wants to find out after an accident that there is no coverage because a vehicle was not listed on the schedule.

If you have any questions about your property or automobile schedule, please reach out to your North American Solutions Broker.

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