How insurance agents request a property tax bill from clients
By Arthur Teboul, DokuTrak · Published
In short
Ask the homeowner for the latest property tax bill or assessment notice from the county. It gives you the parcel number, the owner names and the property address as the county records them. Use it to confirm property details for the homeowners quote, but never use the assessed value as the dwelling coverage amount: it is not replacement cost.
Why insurance agents need a property tax bill
Property details drive the homeowners quote, and the county record is a neutral source for them: owner names, parcel, lot, and in some counties the year built, square footage or construction class. The assessed or market value on the bill is set for taxation and can sit well above or below what it costs to rebuild, so dwelling coverage comes from a replacement cost estimate, not from the bill.
What exactly to ask for
The most recent annual bill, or the assessment notice if the county sends one separately, with every page. If the bill does not show year built or square footage, the county assessor’s online parcel record often does, and a screenshot of that page is just as useful.
What to check when it arrives
- The owner names on the bill match the named insureds on the application.
- The address and parcel number match the property you are quoting, especially on a lot with more than one building.
- Year built and square footage, where shown, agree with what the applicant told you.
Email to send your client
Replace the bracketed parts. The same text fits in the message of a DokuTrak request (up to 1,000 characters).
Subject: Your property tax bill for the homeowners quote
Hi [Client name],
To finish your homeowners quote I would like to check a few details about the house against the county’s records. Could you send me your most recent property tax bill?
The PDF from the county treasurer’s or tax collector’s website works well, or a clear scan of the paper bill with all pages.
Please send it by [date]. If you have just bought the home and no bill has come yet, let me know and I will look up the county record myself.
Thank you, [Your name]
Ask once. DokuTrak does the chasing.
- Your client uploads from one link, with no account and no password.
- Reminders go out on a schedule, by default 2, 5, 10 and 14 days after the request, until the file arrives.
- With AI review switched on in your workspace (it is off by default), each upload gets a first pass that flags a file that is not a property tax bill, an unreadable or blurry scan or a copy where one of these is missing or cut off: the taxpayer’s name, the property address. It says so when it is not sure.
- You accept every file or mark it for re-upload, and your client gets the note by email. The AI never accepts a file.