What a Lancaster home's build year means for coverage
Lancaster's housing spans generations. Of its housing units, 17.6% were built in 1939 or earlier and 34.1% before 1960, yet the median year built is 1978, so about half the town's housing dates to 1978 or later. Owners in that pre-1960 third should note when the roof, electrical, plumbing and heating were last updated, because carriers ask about all four. Census data puts the median owner-occupied value at $277,600. Home insurance should cover what the house would cost to rebuild, not its market price, and older homes can cost more to rebuild than their sale price.
Renters make up 20.9% of Lancaster's occupied homes, and while 68.6% of housing units are single-family detached houses, 14.5% are in buildings with 2 to 4 units. If you rent, your landlord's policy does not cover your belongings or your liability; renters insurance does. If you own a building with 2 to 4 units and live somewhere else, you need landlord coverage, also called rental property insurance, rather than a standard owner-occupant policy. Owners who keep one unit as their own home and rent the rest should ask us about coverage designed for owner-occupied multi-family buildings.
Auto coverage for Lancaster's solo commuters
Lancaster runs on cars: 80.2% of all workers drive to work alone. Few of those trips run long, with just 4.8% of workers who do not work from home spending 45 minutes or more getting there one way. New York requires every auto policy to carry at least 25/50/10 liability, $50,000 of no-fault (PIP) coverage and uninsured motorist coverage. Completing a DMV-approved defensive driving course (PIRP) cuts the base rate of your liability and collision premiums by 10% for three years. We compare auto insurance across 45+ companies.
Hitting a deer is generally covered under comprehensive, not collision, while sliding into another car or a guardrail is generally a collision claim. Not sure your Lancaster policy carries both comprehensive and collision? Phone 716-885-8100, where a real person picks up. Clients also get the Willoughby Guarantee: an automatic re-shop of the policy at every renewal.
Winter roofs and Lancaster's 2019 flood map
Lake-effect snow accounts for more than half of the area's yearly snowfall, according to the National Weather Service in Buffalo, and it is very localized, with prevailing winds sending much more of it to areas south of Buffalo than to places north. A standard homeowners policy generally covers a collapse caused by the weight of snow or ice, burst pipes and leaks from ice dams. Wear and slow leaks are generally excluded.
None of that extends to flooding, because no homeowners or renters policy covers flood; that takes a separate policy through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) or a private insurer. The Town of Lancaster (FEMA community 360249) participates in the NFIP. Lancaster has had a Flood Insurance Rate Map since December 1, 1981, and today's version is dated June 7, 2019. Because NFIP policies generally take 30 days to start, one bought after a storm shows up in the forecast is unlikely to be in force when it hits.