Why it’s Important to Review Your Home Insurance Policy Every Year by Adam Costello
Why It’s Important to Review Your Home Insurance Policy Every Year
There is no doubt that most people would rather watch paint dry than to read their current home insurance policy…something I completely understand! Most insureds believe they have coverage for pretty much anything that could happen to their home until they call their current agent in a time of need only to hear “You have no coverage for that”. As an agent, it is something you hope you never have to say to your client yet it is something that inevitably will happen. So what can the insured do to help prevent this unsettling conversation from ever happening? The simplest thing is to contact your insurance agent and review things with him/her. One of the coverages I always try to make sure my clients have is sewer/water backup coverage. Sewer/Water Back-Up coverage is exactly what it sounds like…it gives the insured protection against water and sewage back-up into a person’s home caused by things such as blockage of a city sanitary main, aging sewer systems, tree roots not to mention countless other reasons. It’s a situation that stinks…bad joke was intentional. Without this coverage, you can be in some serious trouble when it comes time to hire an approved contractor to remove and mitigate all of the water/sewage damage done to the home. The price of this coverage is minimal, sometimes maybe only 80-90 dollars a year but in return gives you thousands of dollars to repair your home and replace damaged items(furniture, electronics, clothing, ECT) after a back-up has happened.
Have you looked at your insurance deductibles lately?
Other things I advise my insureds to look at are their deductibles. More and more companies have started to use a percentage deductible and have eliminated a fixed dollar amount deductible (such as a $500 or $1000 deductible). Someone may look over the policy and notice that they have a 2 or 3 percent deductible and not think anything of it. Once an event has happened and they need to turn in a claim they realize that the 2 or 3 percent is based on what the coverage amount is for the home. An example of this would be someone that has a 3 percent deductible that lives in a home that has a replacement cost of $200,000 would, in fact, have a deductible of $6,000!! These are things that can be extremely damaging to someone’s savings accounts or even worse the person is unable to fix or repair the damaged portion of their home.
In wrapping up what I have no doubt is one of the most boring things you will read this week I would like to stress how critical and important it is that if you do unfortunately experience something that causes a claim that you use only insured, bonded and qualified contractors such as LM Companies. LM Companies and their staff work 24/7 to make sure they quickly and effectively repair and or replace the damaged portions people’s homes, businesses and whatever else needs to be corrected. The equipment they use is cutting edge and the experience they have is second to none. Our agency has been in operation for 97 years and it is because of companies such as LM Companies that have kept us at the top. If anyone has any further questions, comments or concerns or would like a free second opinion on their current insurance policy please feel free to contact me anytime. For those of you who are still awake, I would like to thank you for reading this article.
About the Author Adam Costello, CIC
Adam Costello is the Vice President at James & Sons Insurance James & Sons Insurance is a local, family-owned insurance agency established in 1921 to serve our community. Our goal is to help you protect yourself, your family, your business and your property by advising you about the insurance products best suited to your requirements — and then design a comprehensive insurance program tailored to your specific needs.
Contact:
Adam Costello
4444 Market Street, Youngstown, Ohio 44512
330.788.5051 | Fax 330.782.4663 | acostello@jamesandsonsins.com
