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How to Prepare Emotionally and Financially for a Storm

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When you know that a storm or hurricane is heading to your locality, you can take immediate steps to prepare your family and home for any eventuality. Preparing means you have to ready yourself emotionally, physically and financially. Take your clue from the recent devastation in the U.S. when hurricane Sandy hit the east coast.

First up, be strong and brave for your family especially if you have kids. Stay calm and prepare the things you will need should the worst happens.

Focus on the basics first. Have cash ready and buy groceries in advance, fill up your gas tank and stock up water as well. For your communication devices such as mobile phones and other electronic items, make sure to fully charge them so you can reach out to others in case power is cut off in your place. Also, prepare your batteries for use in flashlights, mobile phones, digital cameras and radios.

If you have bills that need to be paid, pay them early while you still have time. You may opt to enroll in mobile or online banking at this time for your convenience.

The next most important step is to make an inventory of all your items at home. Every homeowner needs to do this even when no hurricane or any natural disaster is in sight. This is very helpful because in the event your home is damaged, you have a checklist ready to submit to your insurance agent and company.

In addition to listing your personal items, it is strongly recommended today to take photos of them as well as of your entire house. You will need these images in the claims processing stage to show your insurer the condition of your home and personal possessions before they were damaged.

Preparing an emergency kit is as vital. This should include your very important documents such as your insurance policies, tax information, inventory and personal papers. You should also put in here your cash and if possible, use a plastic envelope with a tight seal to prevent water from getting in.

If you want to make sure that your home is fully covered for damages, you may want to purchase additional cover specifically for flood and water damage. A basic home insurance would normally cover just wind and water damage caused by heavy rain that goes through your roof, holes in the walls, windows and doors. A flood policy is a separate one.

You may also want to ask your insurance agent in advance about the documents your insurer requires when filing a claim after your home gets badly affected by the storm or hurricane. This will save you time in filing your claim in case your house gets damaged. Do take photos of the damage as well so you can send them right away as you file your claim.

Remember to always learn about your home insurance coverage and the other plans available. Click here to find out more.

Photo via northjersey.com

Home Insurance Coverage While on Travel

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Image: sharpersafety

A traditional home insurance coverage includes protection of the home, its contents, loss of use, loss of the homeowner’s personal possession, and liability insurance for accidents that may happen within the vicinity of the home to the extent of the territory indicated in the policy.  For a home to be considered the primary home, one of the named insured must actually be living in it.  A home that is not occupied by its owner is considered a second home.  A second home  usually necessitates paying a higher cost for insurance coverage.

Home insurance is also known as hazard insurance.  It can be categorized as an All-risk Insurance which covers the home and all its contents unless otherwise specified in the policy or a Named Peril Insurance which covers the loss from specified causes as indicated in the policy.  Some of the usual perils that homeowners seek protection from include vandalism, theft, and some natural calamities.

The  Named Peril Insurance is something that can be considered by homeowners who are intending to travel and leave their house for a certain period of time.  For an additional premium, homeowners can get for themselves an Away From Home cover.  This type of insurance will provide homeowners protection except for those termed as uninsurable perils  or loss and damage that are incurred due to predictable events.

These exceptions seek to make the homeowners more responsible for their homes in preventing damages that can occur due to negligence.  This simply means that homeowners are expected to observe due diligence in eliminating preventable damages that may occur especially when they are away in travel.  One good example of this is when homeowners fail to take the necessary precautions against freezing of indoor plumbing.  Coverage usually includes personal properties that homeowners will temporary take way from their home since they will be brought in travel.

Even if a home is sufficiently insured, there are still some steps that need to be taken to secure the home while on travel.  One is to install timer switches for lights and radio to make it appear that the house is occupied.  The home must not manifest any obvious signs of non-occupancy such as uncut grass, as well as newspaper and mail deliveries piling up at the lawn.  Homeowners can ask a neighbor to look after the home or request neighbors to temporarily park in front of the house just to give a semblance of occupancy.  It should be noted that home insurance policies provide exclusions in coverage for extended non-occupancy of the house.

About the Guest Blogger:

Dante of HomeInsurance.com can offer home insurance packages for various purposes.