Gone are the days when the people would simply reject the idea of home insurance by considering it a waste of money. Today’s homeowners are smart and informed, and they want the best home insurance covers for their prized real estate. If you are taking a home loan, then most lenders would also require you to get insurance to minimize the risks on their end.
If you have home insurance, then you want to use it properly and get the most out of it. The question is, how do you know all the features that come with your insurance, or exactly what’s covered under the policy? Don’t worry if you don’t the answers as will discuss all the important points in this blog.
Home Insurance Standard Cover
The majority of home insurance schemes cover damages from fire, leaky roofs, natural disasters, vandalism, etc. However, you may or may not qualify for certain claims depending on the nature of the damage. For instance, water damage is usually covered when it’s sudden and accidental, like when a pipe bursts open on its own to cause flooding. However, if the damage is due to corrosive pipes that haven’t been replaced for a long time, then the insurers may not cover the cost of damage as they may hold you accountable for the damage.
Since there are all kinds of conditions surrounding home insurance policies, it’s best to ask the insurance provider all the important questions yourself. For instance, you would want to know when mold is covered and when it’s not depending on the conditions or the situations in which you can get reimbursements for the items that have been stolen from your home, etc.
Keeping Records
It’s really important that you document all the major events related to your insurance claims in advance as failing to do that can lead to easy claim rejections.
Insurance experts suggest that you should record the details of everything that takes place during property damage or loss. You should write down the measures that you have taken to mitigate the loss and keep receipts, appraisals, etc. with you as well. If all these records are too much to manage in their physical form, you can also consider scanning the receipts and storing them in digital format.
Home Remodeling
Whether home remodeling is really an investment or not is debatable, but if you are to go for it for any reason, then it is strongly recommended that you check your insurance policy first. The following are two main things that you want to look into:
Additional Cover
In most cases, whatever new architectural elements you are installing in your building won’t be covered in your existing insurance policy. You need to contact your insurer and add these areas to the policy. Only then you can claim compensation if this new area is damaged. Naturally, you should expect a small boost in the insurance premium.
Personal Liability
If the contractor you have hired for the remodeling work doesn’t offer insurance to their workers themselves, then you may end up covering the medical expenses if a worker gets injured during the project. So, it’s better to ask your insurance provider if you are eligible for personal liability insurance under your basic home insurance policy.
Premium Reduction
If you think you are paying a really high premium for your home insurance, then you will be happy to know that there are various steps that you can take to bring it down. Some of these are:
Installing Home Upgrades
Home insurance premium increases with the amount of risk that the insurance provider has to take. So, by lowering the risk you can lower the premium. For instance, you can reinforce the roof, bolster utilities etc. Installing one of the best smart home security systems can also go a long way in reducing the premium cost.
Bundling Multiple Policies
By bundling various insurance policies together, you can get a discount from your insurer. For instance, if you have a life insurance policy and a car insurance policy, then you can transfer them to your home insurance provider. Many insurers offer financial rewards and perks to those who buy multiple policies from them.
Removing Less Important Areas
If you have a large property with a few buildings in a single group, then your insurer may include of these buildings in the cover which can increase the premium considerably. However, you can take a few areas out of the cover to lower the premium. These may include a second garage that you don’t use or an old and dilapidated shed, etc.
Get Informed, Save Money
When you are paying a decent amount of money every year for your home insurance, then you deserve the maximum benefits. Unfortunately, you can’t do that unless you know the fundamentals of the system and the various features that are available to you. So, make it a point to go over your policy in detail to understand exactly what kinds of benefits can you avail under the same. You should also learn about the things that you are expected to avoid if you don’t want to void these benefits.
