Entries Tagged 'home insurance' ↓

This might sound strange to you if you have spent the money on putting an insurance policy in place, but there are times when you should consider not making a claim. It really can protect you from greater losses if your premium rates suddenly rocket up or, worse, the insurance company decides it would prefer you to take your business elsewhere. So let’s take it one step at a time. Almost every policy imposes a duty on homeowners to make claims either within a set time or a “reasonable” time. If you miss out on a time limit, you have no right to claim. When is a claim made on a “timely” basis? You will be expected to notify the insurer of a theft or vandalism within days. Reports of serious damage will be expected within two weeks and certainly never longer than 30 days. This can put you under pressure if the policy requires you to get estimates from local contractors, but no-one ever said a policy was going to be worded in your favor. So, if you have reliable estimates of the amount lost and/or costs of repair, now comes the big decision.

As a general rule, you should only make claims if the amount is greater than the deductible. If you are going to pay out of your own pocket in any event, silence will benefit you in most cases. However, be careful if there is a third party liability element involved. Suppose the wind lifts two or three roof tiles and one blows down into the street, hitting someone on the sidewalk. The cost of repairing the roof may be small but the risk of a major claim for personal injuries cannot be ignored. Always make a claim when you cannot put numbers on a possible third party claim. Now comes the difficult part. Every time you make a claim, it’s recorded in a national database called the Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange (CLUE). If you make multiple smaller claims, or one or two large claims, this will stay in CLUE for seven years and may deter other insurers from writing a policy for you or encourage them only to quote high premiums. You should therefore consider absorbing losses up to $3,000. You may be lucky – the insurer pays your claim in full and does not raise the premiums. But suppose you have a deductible of $1,000 and the insurer raises your premium for $500 for the next two years. You never know the real costs of the claim until after the event but setting a higher minimum amount for a claim gives you a margin of safety. You should at least break even on the smaller claims. Continue reading →

When you are looking around for a house to buy, the cost of home insurance is not always the most important thought on your mind. Even if you do think about it, the most common consideration is the state of repair and how easy it would be to repair or rebuild should there be a fire. This confidence continues when buying the insurance policy. You sign up for an all-perils policy and take the words at face value. If you are insured against all perils, that surely means you can sleep peacefully at night. Except that confidence is too often misplaced. Looking around the US right now, it’s one of the coldest winters on record with heavier snow fall than usual. When the weather warms, the melting snow will flood into the rivers… That’s a joy to come. So let’s list the most common events that damage your home: landslides, subsidence, floods, hurricanes and tornadoes. Live in the wrong states and we add earthquakes. Now take out your policy and check that exclusion clause. You will see some mysterious phrases like “surface water”. That excludes every possible source of water no matter whether it comes in as a high tide, wind surge, rain or local sewage drains backing up. When you add up everything not included, even the top-of-the-range policies from the supposedly best insurers often end up as covering rebuilding costs from fire and wind only – that’s wind and not tornadoes or hurricanes.

To protect yourself, you need to start early in the buying process. Start with simple questions: has there been any accidents in this area? Is there a heavy clay content in the soil? Is this an earthquake zone? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, you should get a geology report before going any further. Mining subsidence is a real problem in some areas. Soil that expands when wet and contracts when dry can wreck the foundations of your home – the Department of Agriculture estimates that up to 25% of properties in the US are at risk of damage. We all know about earthquakes. If your proposed property is on a slope, what’s the risk of a landslide or rock fall? When we move on to flood risks, every community is at risk – check out the addresses of potential properties through http://www.floodsmart.gov/ which is run by Homeland Security’s FEMA. It also gives you estimates of the likely premiums for areas at higher risk. Continue reading →

Are you planning of buying a home? Do you know you should have home owner insurance? Do you know what to include in this insurance policy? Getting the right coverage will protect you from financial disaster. Learn what you need to know about this insurance. Reading this article will give you a few ideas on how to purchase this insurance.

If you plan to buy a home or condo, you must have Home owner insurance. Not only does it protect your home investment, it is also a requirement when you buy a house and lot through mortgage.

Home insurance is a protection given to your house in case it is damaged or needs repair.

One effective way in buying a condo insurance, another term for home insurance is to inquire first at your existing insurance, whether it is life insurance or car insurance.

Some insurance companies have different types of insurance policies. Moreover, many insurance companies grant discounts if you buy several insurance policies with them.

There are many types of coverage to choose in buying home owner insurance. HO-1 is the basic type to protect your property from 11 threats which include fire, vandalism, lightning, theft, major breakage and overflow of water from plumbing. The HO-5 policy covers everything except flood, war and earthquakes.

If you need to insure your house from natural disasters, you need to buy a separate condo insurance. Another consideration before buying your home insurance policies is to make an estimate on how much it would cost for you to rebuild your house in case it is damaged or destroyed.

The insurance company has its own guidelines to estimate the replacement expenses together with the corresponding premiums. Of course, the higher the replacement expenses, the higher the premium.

The premiums for your home owner insurance also differ depending on where you live, the value of your house, your length of stay in your house, and the number of insurance claims in your neighborhood. So better to shop around and compare home insurance providers.

If you want to save on your condo insurance, look for ways that can help get lower premium. For example, you can install effective security system, fire protection system and maintaining a 100 feet around your home.

If your neighborhood is prone to flood, your basement and its furnishing are not covered unless you have a separate flood insurance. In other words, know your major risks and do something about it to make it disaster-resistant. Continue reading →