6 Things To Know About Your Homeowner’s Insurance Prior To A Disaster
Posted on August 7, 2007
Anyone living in the coastal Southeastern United States knows the importance of understanding your homeowner’s insurance prior to hurricane season (June through November). I can remember when the first hurricane of the 2004 season was approaching Central Florida, Hurricane Charley, calling my insurance company to fully understand the details of my coverage. That was a lesson for me as well as many others to have a better understanding of the intricacies of homeowner’s insurance. Here are six things to understand about your insurance:
- What is covered. Knowing what is covered and just as importantly, what is not covered will ensure you are purchasing the right type of coverage. Find out if your policy covers additional living expenses like hotel bills and restaurant meals.
- Deductibles. This caught many people off guard during the 2004 hurricane season when millions of claims were filed. Years early in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew, deductibles were raised from the standard $500, $1000, $2000 to 2% to 5% of home value. That made deductibles tens of thousands of dollars for many people. Knowing what you will have to pay out of pocket will ensure there are no surprises when you call to report a claim to the insurance company.
- Replacement cost of home’s contents. This is the part where you are suppose to take pictures, video, and have an inventory with receipts of all your home’s contents. Many people fall short of all of that, but just striving to take some quick pictures will help.
- Replacement cost to rebuild home. This is what your insurance is actually covering. You will want to know a solid figure of what it would cost to rebuild your home, which is not the same thing as the resale value of the home which includes the land. You do not want to over insure this portion because you could face higher deductible and out of pocket expenses if this is an inflated figure.
- Location of paper copy of policy. It is a good idea to keep a paper copy of your homeowner’s insurance policy in a waterproof safe to ensure you have the policy number and details readily available.
- Insurance company contact information. Keeping your agent and company’s name will ensure you can quickly and efficiently call after the disaster to report any claims.
If you are thinking of debt consolidation, make sure you do not get stuck in cash advance loans and prefer not to declare yourself bankrupt. This is important because your bankruptcy records may affect any insurance you have as well as your consideration for capital one card. Even your health insurance would not be covered that easily.
Other informative homeowner’s insurance blog posts:
- Homeowners Insurance by Jason Mook @ Generous People
- Homeowners Insurance: Offset Your Rising Mortgage By Saving On Homeowners Insurance by InsWeb Insurance Blog
- Five Important Homeowners Insurance Tips by Arizona Mortgage Guru
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2 Responses to “6 Things To Know About Your Homeowner’s Insurance Prior To A Disaster”
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Flood Damage is rarely covered in home owners policies so if your roof is ripped off your house now becomes “flooded”…therefore you now have to pay out pocket if you do not carry flood insurance as well…Let’s face it the insurance companies have a racket and will try to get you any way possible…as you alwyas state in you rwell written posts “look/shop/research the best deals possible”.
Not sure if this relates to the US but in England, due to major flood disasters this past summer, floods have lead to a drop in house prices as well as high insurance premiums for those in flood-risk areas.
If you live in such an area and can prove to your insurer that you have taken precautions such as having sand bags handy, a plan to plug sinks, turn off electricity and gas, etc. then you may be able to reduce your premium.
Your 6 suggestions are great and you should always read the fine print of any policy!