7 Things Every Home Owner Should Know About Home Insurance

Home insurance is a necessity for every home owner to ensure their property and belongings are protected against natural disasters, accidents and burglaries. Although it’s a necessity, there are still lots of people that take the risk of going without and many that do have it don’t pay enough attention to the little details that outline exactly what they are covered for. Here are 7 things every home owner should know about their home insurance policies.

1. What it covers

Home insurance can cover a wide range of incidences including, but not limited to, damage to your home and possessions in the event of storms, fire, theft or vandalism. Some policies even cover expenses should someone get hurt on your property and decides to file a law suit against you. Some policies may cover all of these incidences or only a few. Make sure you know exactly what you’re protected against and covered for in your insurance policy.

2. What it doesn't cover

This one is just as important. People tend to hear a long list of areas that their insurance provides protection against and completely disregard important areas that may be a possible threat to their property. For example, some standard policies may exclude incidents like damages caused by power failure, faulty zoning, and defective maintenance. Some policies may only cover flooding and water damages under certain conditions.

3. Shop around

Key elements to compare when choosing a company to work with are protection plans, customer service and rates. You’d want to ensure the insurance company you choose offers the right amount of protection for you at an affordable price. Customer Service is just as important as price and coverage, because when you’re facing an emergency you’ll be dealing directly with the insurance company. Having great customer service personnel makes facing disasters a lot easier.

4. Ways to lower your rates

By ensuring safety measures are in place in your home can reduce the rate of your insurance premium. Simple household items like a smoke detector or burglar alarms can lower your rates. Insurance premiums are normally priced based on the amount of risk involved. By having these safety devices in place, your home is less susceptible to major damage from a fire or burglary.
Bundling policies for your different policies, like your home and auto insurance, may also reduce premiums.

5. Respond quickly to incidents

Most insurance companies have a time limit from the time and date of the incident in which you can file a claim to receive compensation for your damages. Report any issues promptly to ensure you receive proper compensation for damages to your home and to avoid the damages to worsen over time.

6. Keep an incident log

You should properly document everything that occurs during a loss. Create an incident log to write down what damages occurred, when it happened, what you’ve done to help mitigate damages, and when you reported the incident to the proper authorities and your insurance company.
In addition to this log, keep any receipts and contracts so that you have everything on hand when filing a claim with the insurance company. Your agent will require specific details, so it’s important to have a log of everything that happened and of what was done after the incident occurred so no detail is forgotten.

7. Know how much your jewelry is insured for

Jewelry is normally included in the possessions that are insured in your home insurance policy. However, it may only be insured up to a certain value. Always verify your limits with your agent to ensure your policy, or a supplemental policy, will cover 100% of the value.

If you’re buying a home in Belize or have already bought a home and need insurance, contact our Belize real estate agents for assistance on finding and insuring your home.