April 2013

Water damage claims: What a homeowner should do

Water, water, everywhere and not a phone to call the agent. If water invades your home, find a phone. Making that call probably shouldn’t be the first act after discovering the water, but it shouldn’t be delayed past the end of the day. The quicker an agent knows of the crisis, the quicker he or she is able to respond to a water damage claim.

How to make the most out of your home insurance claim

Insurance agents sometimes are treated like doctors: The assumption is made that what they say is the last word on the subject. In fact, insurance agents—like doctors—are only human and are wrong sometimes in the conclusions they reach. Homeowners should not take what an agent says as gospel and should persevere to make the most out of a home insurance claim.

Can you insure your home against hurricane damage?

If your home is located in a region visited now and then by hurricanes, it is vital that homeowners do what they can protect their properties against the storms. The first thing is to acknowledge that hurricane insurance is needed. Playing the wishful thinking card is not the right mindset to be in when considering the need for the insurance.

Does homeowner insurance cover meteor hits?

Anyone who follows current events saw the news in February about a meteor shower causing damage and injuring hundreds of Russians in the Ural Mountains region. Switchboards lit up—an anachronistic expression meaning people were calling each other—with the general question, if a meteor or many meteors landed in my back yard and damaged my house, would my homeowner insurance cover the meteor hit?