How To Protect Your Home And Reduce Your Premiums
Homeowners insurance coverage can provide financial protection against loss due to disasters, theft and accidents and other covered losses. Most traditional homeowner’s insurance policies include essential types of coverage.
- Coverage for the structure
- Personal property
- Liability coverage
- Coverage for additional living expenses
Coverage For The Structure
Your homeowner insurance policy pays to repair, replace or rebuild your home if is damaged or destroyed by a covered loss. The most common types of losses are, theft, fire, wind, hail and lightning damage. We recommend that your policy have replacement cost coverage to allow you to restore your property. Most home insurance policies do not cover flood or earthquake; these need to be added under a separate policy.
Coverage For Personal Property
Personal property can include; furniture, clothe, electronics, art, sports equipment, and tools. The best way to determine the full replacement cost of your personal property is to complete a home inventory. Some personal property is subject to limitations, such as guns, jewelry, and art. Your homeowner’s insurance will provide some basic coverage and can be adjusted to insure your total value. Your homeowner’s insurance does cover with limitations trees, and other landscape items.
Liability Coverage
Your liability coverage part insures you against bodily injury or property damage to other third parties that you are legally liable for. The liability coverage of your policy pays for both the cost of defending you in court and any court awards up to the policy limits. We generally recommend at least $1,000,000 of liability insurance protection. Your policy can also include no-fault medical payment coverage. Liability covers any guests that are injured on your poverty without regard to fault.
Additional Living Expenses
Additional living expenses provides financial resources for you to live at a temporary location while your home is being repaired. Coverage can include the cost of meals, hotel bills, and other related costs.
How To Make Your Home Safer And Easier To Insure
Believe it or not, there are many great ways to make your home a better risk to insure which will help lower your home insurance premiums. Fifty percent of all fires in the United States are caused in homes. In 2017, 6.3 percent of insured homes had a claim, according to ISO. Property damage, including theft, accounted for 97.1 percent of those claims, according to The Insurance Information Institute. Here are the tops causes of loss and their average loss amount, according to the Insurance Information Institute.
- Fire average loss, $50,315
- Bodily Injury average loss $23,010
- Water damage averages $, 9,633
- Theft and property damage $, 9,104
- Wind damages average $8,625
As you can see if you have a claim it can cost a lot of money. There are many things/actions you can do to reduce the likelihood of a claim and make your home safer in the process.
- Have working smoke detectors in every room.
- Store jewelry, electronics, and important documents in a safe at your house.
- Never leave hot irons or grills unattended.
- Purchase an alarm system.
- Make sure your garage door is always closed when you’re not at home.
- Keep all home cleaning products out of children’s reach.
- Never leave candles burning unattended.
- Water your Christmas tree.
- Lock your doors and windows at night and when you leave the home
- Install security lights.
California Wild Fires
California is considered the most fire-prone state. Humans cause over 90 percent of wildfires. It is important for homeowners to attempt to make their home more wildfire resistant.
- Use noncombustible materials for roofs and decks.
- Remove shrubs around trees, prune all dead branches that overhang your roof, thin trees, and remove vegetation from around your home.
- Plant lawns around your home as a fire barrier.
We Don’t Shop Your Insurance On Price Alone
The lowest cost insurance may not be the best insurance. You buy competitive home insurance to pay claims in the event of a loss. With cheap insurance, you may not actually have the insurance coverage you need. Is it worth saving $150 now not to have a $10,000 claim covered?
Other Ways To Reduce Your Home Or Renters Insurance
- Consider increasing your property deductible
- Combine more than one type of insurance policy with the same insurer.
- Make sure your home in valued at a replacement cost not at market value.
- Develop a home inventory.
- Consider the many other discounts offered by most insurers.
- Many insurers of loyalty discounts if you stay with them over a period of time.
When purchasing a home consider these points
- Location to a fire department, homes that are located near a highly rated, full-time fire departments may cost less to insure
- Is there a fire hydrant close to the home?
- Proximity to the cost where there might be high winds
- The older the home, generally the more it costs to insure.
- The condition of the roof is important in lowering your home insurance.
- Call our office, and we would be happy to provide you with pricing options.
Curious to know how much you could be saving!
Dial (619) 276-0492 and the Wayne McCormick Insurance team will help you get a comprehensive homeowners or renters policy that will meet your needs.