Make Your Home Insurance Work for You

Usually, cashing the check does not mean you agree to the offered settlement amount.

When to be cautious is if the words “full and final” are printed on the check or the insurance company made you sign a release before sending the payment.

This happens a lot. Insurance estimates are built using pricing databases that don’t always reflect real-world costs. If your contractor’s bid is higher, you can advocate for the difference to be issued in a supplement payment.

The short answer is that it depends on your policy and state regulations. Sometimes diagnostic and even destructive testing is covered. Other times the insurance may only pay for the work if the damage ends up being covered. In some instances the insurance company will try to selectively cover some types of testing and not others.

When you took out your loan, you agreed to name the mortgage company as a payee on your policy. It doesn’t mean they keep the money, but they do have control over when and how those funds are released to you.

No. You always have the right to choose your own contractor. Choose someone you trust, and know that Tugboat can help you compare scopes to be sure the repair plan is complete.

One exceedingly rare caveat to this is if your policy has a right to repair clause that the insurance company chooses to exercise.

Many policies with Replacement Cost coverage only pay the depreciated value upfront with the difference only paid after proof that the item has been replaced.

Tugboat isn’t an insurance company—and that’s exactly the point.

Insurance companies make big promises to earn your business—but those promises are often forgotten when it’s time to pay a claim.

Tugboat helps make sure the policy you bought lives up to the promises you were sold.

We help you spot weak points, document what matters, and get ahead of the issues that keep people from getting paid—so the safety net you’ve been paying for actually catches you when the time comes.

Your agent plays an important role in helping you choose the right coverage—but their expertise usually focuses on setting up the policy, not on how it performs in a real-world situation.

Tugboat helps you take the next step:

We review your policy through the lens of how claims actually work, helping you spot gaps or risks you might not have seen. We also help you document your home’s true value—giving you the tools you need to work with your agent to strengthen your coverage, fill exposures, and make sure your protection matches your real-world needs.

It’s not about replacing your agent. It’s about making sure your insurance is ready to deliver when it matters.

We hope you never have to file a claim, but if you do, being prepared can make all the difference.

One of the less obvious—but incredibly important—ways we help is by guiding you through that critical moment after damage happens, when you’re deciding whether to file a claim at all.

Claims, even withdrawn or denied ones, stay on your record and can have real consequences, so it’s not always the right move. We help you make that call with clarity, not guesswork.

Beyond that, your membership ensures you:

• Know your coverage
• Have complete documentation ready if the worst happens
• Get expert guidance when you’re hiring contractors—whether for repairs, renovations, or upgrades. We’ll review estimates, compare scopes of work, and help you manage projects with confidence.

Whether you’re using a trusted partner or someone new, we help you navigate the process from a position of strength.

Tugboat doesn’t take a cut of your claim. We don’t represent you.

We equip you.

That means you stay in charge of your claim, keep more of your money, and avoid unnecessary conflict unless it’s truly needed.

Plus, if your situation does require formal representation, we’ll help you figure that out.

We work closely with public adjusters and insurance attorneys, and Tugboat members are better prepared to hand off strong, well-documented files that get results faster.

We give you expert backup without slowing you down, so you get faster, smarter outcomes when every dollar matters.

Because an insurance policy is only as good as the claim it eventually covers.

We help make sure yours is set up to do that well. That means flagging coverage gaps, documenting your home and belongings before anything happens, and identifying red flags most people only discover after a loss.

We’ve seen how claims fall apart—from denied coverage on overlooked items, to people losing out on tens of thousands because they couldn’t prove what they owned. Tugboat helps you avoid those mistakes and make sure your insurance works the way you think it does.

It’s not about having a policy. It’s about making sure the policy holds up when it counts.