Owning a home is a major responsibility, and part of that responsibility is making sure your home is adequately insured. However, sometimes bad things happen, and you have to make an insurance claim.
Knowing what types of home insurance claims you can make will help you better prepare for any potential disasters that may occur around the house. Read on to learn more.
Water Damage Claims
Water damage is one of the most common types of insurance claims. Water damage happens when there's a plumbing issue or when heavy rains or snow melts cause flooding. This flooding can cause a lot of damage, from ruined furniture and carpets to rot in your walls.
Fortunately, most home insurance policies cover water damage, so it's important to make sure that you are adequately insured. You can take a few preventative measures to help reduce the risk of damage, such as making sure your pipes are in good condition and installing a sump pump in case of flooding.
These extra measures will go a long way to help you lower your home insurance premiums. Insurers typically look for evidence of extra measures taken to protect your home from water damage when setting premiums. They will view you as less of a risk and may offer you discounts on your coverage if you have preventative measures in place.
Fire Damage Claims
Fire damage claims are also quite common and can be caused by anything from electrical issues to careless smoking habits. Unfortunately, fires can cause a lot of damage, and it's important to make sure you are adequately insured in case something like this happens.
Your home insurance policy should cover the cost of repairs and replacements for any items damaged or destroyed in a fire. However, some policies only cover the replacement or repair of items to their pre-damaged state, so it's important to read the fine print before making a claim. You don't want to be surprised by a policy that doesn't cover everything you think it should.
In some cases, if a fire completely damages your home, your policy might only cover the market value of the property or structure. In other words, you may not be able to rebuild your home to its original condition since the cost of materials and labor have changed since the time of construction.
You should consider this when deciding how much coverage you need for your home insurance policy. Make sure you are adequately covered for any potential disasters.
Make sure you perform regular maintenance on all appliances in your home. Check smoke detector batteries every few months to help prevent fires from occurring in the first place. Make sure to always keep flammable items like lighters away from children as well to help prevent fires.
Reach out to a home insurance agent near you to learn more.
