A home insurance policy is always a good investment. It assures you of the funds when you need them the most after your home survives a tragedy. If you have adequate coverage for your home, you can sleep a peaceful night knowing that your abode is protected against all calamities.
Often, we ignore the fine-prints of our policy contracts and fail to upgrade the policies when our property value rises due to renovations and improvements. Expensive electronic equipment, home appliances, new HVAC system, and any other goods can be added to our home insurance policy as contents. But, often we forget.
Winter is another reason, or season, whatever you say when you need to make some amendments to your home insurance policy. It’s undoubtedly the most damaging season for any home, and hence requires some adjustments to your existing home insurance policy to prepare for the unseen. Here are some tips to have your policy in sync with the risks that winter brings.
- Increase the coverage for the time being: During a season of added risk, it’s wise to pay a little extra for some additional peace of mind. It’s absolutely worth the money you pay. You won’t like to see some good amount of damage at the end of the season and find out that you don’t have the adequate coverage for fixtures.
- Check if winter-related damages are covered: Most standard home insurance policies cover a lot of winter-related damages - frozen water pipes, shingles ripped off by turbulent winds, harm to roofs and turrets from storm-tossed trees. Damages also include roof collapse due to excessive snow loads or porch overhangs after being weighed down by layers of ice. You need to know beforehand what is covered and what’s not so that you can prepare accordingly.
- See if hail is added: Often, hail is added as a default part of home insurance policies. However, sometimes, it’s not. You need to add it separately. Damages from hail are very expensive, although severe hail damages are rare. However, a mid-range hailstorm can ruin your roof, even your concrete driveway. If you care about those and repairing those (if required) can break your bank, investing on hail protection can be a better choice.
- Do you have HO-2 or HO-3? HO-2 policies cover you for 16 distinct disasters. While, an HO-3 policy is based on exclusions and does not cover damages due to power outages and water. During winter, it’s best to switch to an HO-2 policy if you’re not already having one in place.
- Ignore small claims: Small claims like broken pipes or leakage, drywall repair from small leaks, or damage in the downspout may save you a bit in the short run. But these will cost you havoc in the long run. Any claim you file that’s under $500 will end up costing more than you save. The very next year the insurance carrier will raise your premiums due to frequent claims though you didn’t make much of the claims. Hence, it’s better to save the claims for major damages, and you’ll make more in the long term.
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