In the hustle and bustle of 21st-century life, it can be hard enough to stay ahead even when things are going well. Between work, kids, and normal daily responsibilities, many of us have become pros at juggling a litany of tasks.
Unfortunately, this means that times of disaster can absolutely throw off our flow, especially if our insurance company isn’t exactly cooperating.
In our latest blog, we discuss how you can prepare for a disaster and interact with your insurance company to receive the help you need.
Disaster Prevention
While insurance is an absolutely crucial piece of coverage to have, the best coverage for your home is simple prevention. If you can put a protocol in place to allow for the smallest chance of disaster, that could go a long way.
To do this, make sure that everyone in your household is on the same page regarding fire and water safety. If your appliances have weird or quirky issues, make sure that everyone is aware of them to reduce the chance of a mishap.
For home fires, the following causes are the most common:
Cooking fires
Candles
Smoking
Children playing with fire
Faulty wiring
Heating equipment (e.g. space heater)
For floods, the common reasons are the following:
Broken pipes
Clogged gutters
Poor drainage
Extreme weather
Malfunctioning appliances
By keeping an eye on all of these factors and making sure everyone is on the same page, you can keep a dangerous fire or flood from even occurring. However, in the event that you do still experience an emergency, you’ll want your coverage to be correct.
Insurance To Have For Fire/Water Emergencies
Before you have a potential emergency, you should ensure that your insurance will actually cover any damages and restoration that is needed.
For fire damage, fire insurance is most often covered in standard homeowners insurance policies. Even if your fire is caused by human error, it should still be covered by basic fire insurance. Since most fires are actually human-caused, this is normally factored into the insurance policy. To be sure, try to ask your insurance agency about potential scenarios and if they will be covered.
Water damage, on the other hand, is more complicated. Standard home insurance policies normally require water damage to be “sudden and internal”. This water is often required to have never “touched the outside ground”.
This actually will cover many of the common reasons that water damage occurs, like the following:
An accidental appliance or fixture overflow
Plumbing issues (accidental overflow, faulty plumbing, etc.)
A leaking roof (covering home interior, not the roof)
Rain or snowstorm
Mold (in most cases)
This list does not contain all situations covered by standard water damage coverage, so it’s best to check with your insurance company for a more comprehensive overview.
For some situations, though, the regular water damage insurance will not be beneficial. The following are examples of events that are not often covered:
Ground seepage
Flooding
Poorly-maintained pipes leaking
Water or sewer pipe backups
Hidden water damage
In these instances, you will need additional coverage so you are covered. If you expect that you may be susceptible to any of these water emergencies, it would be wise to purchase the appropriate insurance beforehand.
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