Home Insurance Daily Guide

by: Christine Zafra

When getting a new insurance policy for your personal belongings, make sure that you do not undervalue your things. You have to declare the true value of the objects found inside your home like expensive jewelry, china wares and others, because if hypothetically, it gets destroyed in a fire or gets stolen, your insurance company can cover the real value of it. You also have to invest on door locks and other security system so as not to keep the burglars coming back. Your windows and doors should have the proper locks because if the insurance catches you with a not so secure entry pathway, you might have a hard time claiming your lost belongings (in case of burglary).

Photo taken from http://www.dasecurity.co.uk

by: Christine Zafra

How will you not get fooled by insurance companies? That is the big question everyone has on their minds right now. Everyone is in a state of economic set-back and not all are open to the idea of splurging money on insurance policies that are not needed. But what do policy holders have to do so as not to expend on damages in their homes not covered by their policies? They have to make sure that their houses are maintained well. Repair damaged walls or parts of the house instantly because this will come out cheaper in the long run. Some insurance companies only cover those that are damaged by fire, storm etc. Also, for those who do not have insurances, you have to remember that if your house is situated in a flooded area, you will definitely have a hard time getting one.

Photo taken from http://www.galvininsurance.com

g)Don’t take the first offer. Even if it seems tempting what with everything that has just happened, think carefully if the offer is not. If you are not satisfied, go higher. A company doesn’t want state insurance department people breathing own on their necks after a disaster filed report.

h)Consider alternatives. It may be that you do not wish to stay in the same place in the same exact house. Many policies offer different routes. Fish out.

i)Get help. Hire a public licensed adjuster to help you with any other paperwork for a commission of 10% of the claim.

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4. List down all the items that you suspect are missing or damaged. Inspect one room after another and remember every single item that was in there before. If your insurance policy includes replacement coverage on personal items, a whole lot of your personal property must be replaced anew, regardless if the old item cost less than the new one.

5. Be patient in waiting for our claim. If there was a disaster that hit your area and the area is in total wreck, families experiencing more damage will most probably be attended first. Just keep the communication line open between you and your insurance agent.

Here is list of guidelines in interviewing a prospect agent, just be cautious that you don’t interview agents coming from the same insurance company:

• Ask how long the prospect agent has been in the insurance company. Young agents with little experience do not always mean they are not valuable. But they can focus their time on you.
• Know the agent’s list-price-to-sales-price average ratio. A good agent of a buyer can negotiate sales price lower than the list price.
• Ask how much the agent will charge. Never ask if it is negotiable. All fees regarding real estate transactions are negotiable.

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When making the move from renting to buying a home or moving to a different neighborhood, there are a lot of considerations that have to be taken into account. Important decisions like price, features, location are just some of them, you also may need to consider decisions about your home insurance.

Here are some considerations to take into account when thinking of home insurance:
• How much would it currently cost to rebuild your home?
• How can you save money by making your home safer?
• Do you need flood insurance protection?
• What is the cost of replacing my home’s contents?
• Do I have photographs and inventory of my home’s contents?
• What is my protection from liability claims?

There are different levels of protection provided by home insurance which protects property owners or renters in cased of theft or other man-made events. There are some specialized types of home insurance but the following are the most common you can avail of:
1.Homeowners – important aspect is coverage for both structure and contents. Oftentimes there is shared insurance policy for condominium owners in the same building.
2.Tenants – the structure is not part usually of the responsibility of the tenant, so most of the time, contents only policy will do.
3.Landlords – often building and contents coverage is needed but sometimes it also extends to coverage for legal fees, emergency assistance and rent guarantees.
4.Holiday Homes – mostly for property and structures outside their country of residence.

An intelligent and wise investor is the one who interview potential agents first before jumping into business with them. Because you are hiring a person that you will entrust a great deal of investment, you sure want the best that can do the job.

Also, you must be aware that a smart agent will most likely to interview you too. You should be glad about that. A quite agent who do not ask for questions are not good enough. Be glad about agents who have the initiative and the interest to explore your motivation because smart agents are also selective of prospect clients, too.

We’re talking about home insurance premiums.

Home insurance companies tend to give higher premiums to people who are habitual / heavy smokers, because of the effect smoking has on the home itself.

For one, cigarettes are always a fire hazard, and regardless of how much of a “responsible” smoker a person is, there is always the off chance that the house suffers a fire or burns down completely because of a cigarette that wasn’t put out properly. As they say, it all starts from something as small as a spark.

Smoking also damages interiors, and cause marks on the walls over time and ceiling if habitual smokers smoke in the house frequently. This causes the value f the property to go down, as well as incurring needed repairs or repainting when needed.

Standard homeowners insurance policies rarely cover earthquake coverage though they are offered as options to boost or expand the protection umbrella homeowner’s insurance provides. Property owners are required to get such coverage for their purchased homes, buildings and other property expecially in the state of California where the famed San Andreas fault, sleeping to release the Big One. Though limited to that part of the America’s, there has been notable damage to almost all 50 states due to earthquakes in the past few decades due to crowded urban developments. The amount of damage for rural areas used to be smaller but as they are developed into major cities to accommodate the growing population, so does the risk of damage from earthquakes.
Earthquakes may have a lot of immediate effects but unbeknown to many, they also exhibit hidden problems that manifest themselves a few years after a major quake. Settling of the ground, a disruption of the water table and many more hidden dangers that progress quite slow. Remember the crack in the wall that wasn;t there a few years back. That might be the result of an earthquake causing the ground to settle a bit that happened a few years back. Get earthquake protection for your home and your family, so you can recover swiftly in case of the Big One.