You would be surprised to find out how much funding an affordable insurance broker can save you money on your home insurance. If you have ever tried to figure out the answers to this pressing question ‘Why do we need home insurance?’, it means that you need this useful guide to give you more information. This is why you should keep on reading to find out so much more about the 6 times that home insurance can be a lifesaver for you.
Debris Falling From the Sky
Imagine yourself sitting in your lounge enjoying some quality time with your loved ones. Then, out of nowhere, you hear a massive thud on your roof. When you take a peek from your window to assess what the problem is, you see someone’s skydiving equipment sprawled all over your lawn. If you have never heard of sky debris, you would think that you have been pranked by your scallywag neighbor, Jimmy. You would be surprised to find that according to the U.S. Space Surveillance Network (USSN), there are approximately 27 000 pieces of space junk that are orbiting the earth.
At any point in time, this sky debris can fall and crash onto your roof on a typical Sunday afternoon while you catch up with your favorite TV programs with your family. It sounds scary, right? It does, but according to research, it is highly unlikely that this junk can hit you or your loved ones. In fact, the only widely reported of such incident happened in 1997. While you don’t need to worry too much about meteors and satellites crash landing on your lawn, you do, however, have to worry about something far worse in your backyard, your trees. If you have been asking yourself, ‘why do we need home insurance?’, you might find that this is a good enough reason. Trees falling on your roof can cause a lot of damage to your home. This is when having home insurance is important. If you have ever had your roof damaged from hail, you should have an idea of the expenses that may arise following such an incident. You are lucky if your tree falling doesn’t damage all your roofing materials.
So, why do we need home insurance? To know that should a tree fall on your roof you are covered for any damage. You don’t need to worry about filling out separate forms to get this type of coverage. It will come as a standard option and it will list the open and named perils to tell you what is covered. In addition, it also includes the limitations to your coverage.
When There’s a Natural Disaster
When do we need home insurance? Do you remember how many hurricanes were recorded in 2020? There were so many. The World Meteorological Association even ran out of names for them. According to research, storm damage is one of the most significant consequences of natural disasters in America. If there are strong winds you should not worry about what you can do to fix any damage. Your home insurance can take care of this damage on your behalf.
But, you should ensure that you have added your separate dwellings in your coverage option. If you don’t, then you might not be covered to do your garage door repairs after any wind damage. These types of dwellings are generally regulated by different rules. To save yourself the trouble of going back and forth with your insurance attorney, you should get acquainted with the specifics in your policy. There is a long list of open perils that your home insurance covers. However, the following are the disasters that your home insurance won’t cover.
Floods
If you live in an area that is prone to flood damage, you should know that your home insurance generally excludes flood damage as part of your policy. This is also important if you live in a rented home. But, the good news is that you can get a separate policy available at the National Flood Insurance Program. Alternatively, you can go to a private insurer to get one. The thing is, water restoration can be expensive if you have to cover the costs. So, supplementing your home insurance can save you a lot of money in case of such an unfortunate event.
Earthquakes
Living in a city that experiences earthquakes should be worrisome for you. If you have ever asked yourself ‘why do we need home insurance?’, you should know that the damage from earthquakes should be a good enough reason. Even though earthquakes are not covered by your standard home insurance policy, you can get a separate insurance policy to protect your home. Plus, your standard home insurance policy will provide you with cover for any damage caused by a fire after an earthquake. But there’s more. You can also get your vehicles covered for earthquake damage.
Maintenance Related Damage
Maintaining your home is your job. If you experience any issues with damage that you should have avoided by conducting scheduled maintenance on your home, your home insurance will not cover it. You should ensure that you take good care of your home and take precautions. This means that you should sort out that mold that keeps on growing and fumigate that infestation of termites.
Sewer Backups
If you want to avoid any problems that can arise from a deterioration lateral, you should invest in a separate policy to cover your sewer backups. If you have ever wondered ‘Why do we need home insurance?’, a backed up sewer should make you reach a conclusive decision.
To Cover Your Visitor’s Bodily Injury Liability
Why do we need home insurance? If this question has been in your mind, you are not alone. In fact, it is highly likely that 85% of homeowners with home insurance policies have asked themselves this question at least once in their lives. You don’t have to ask ‘Why do we need home insurance?’ any longer. If you take out a home insurance with personal liability coverage, you can rest assured knowing that you are covered should the worst happen. What would you do if you were hosting a group of friends and somebody fell and died immediately? This is not something that you want to think about, but it can happen to anyone. The good thing about taking out this type of liability coverage is that it can cover various things. For instance, if by some luck your friend is not killed by her fall, her medical expenses can be covered. However, if you decide to dispute the claim she would need to provide evidence that her accident was a result of your negligence. The following are other common types of coverage that you can expect should you be liable for any of your visitors’ accidents.
Pain and suffering.
Any lost wages resulting from an accident in your home.
Your legal costs in case you are sued.
Damage that you cause when you are not at home. For instance, if you are spending the weekend in a hotel.
However, like with any other type of coverage, there are exclusions that are not covered. It is best to speak to your insurance agent to find out more about what your insurance needs. Additionally, you can run a search for ‘why do we need home insurance’ on the internet.
When Your Pet Swallows Your Diamonds
Have you ever asked yourself ‘Why do we need home insurance?’. If you have a pet in your home, in particular a furry best friend who likes to put your personal belongings in their mouth, then you will be amazed when you find out why. Home insurance can surprisingly help you claim for your diamonds if your dog accidentally swallows them whole. In a matter reported, after much reluctance by the insurance company, they eventually paid the claim for the price of the jewelry that the homeowners dog had swallowed.
However, there are many clauses that may be confusing for you when you try to file a claim for your jewelry. It is essential to know what your policy states about such incidents. You don’t want to end up signing over your dog for the safe return of your diamonds.
When Your Personal Belongings are Damaged or Stolen
Why do we need home insurance? Home insurance does not only protect your home from financial damage, but it can also protect your personal property. This includes all the things that you own currently in your home that can be filed if you were to go through bankruptcy. From your furniture to your art collection. You name it, if it’s in your home and you are covered, then it’s covered. It doesn’t matter if you own your home or if you are renting it. If you incur a loss of your personal property because of theft or damage, this type of coverage should help you to repair or replace any of your lost or damaged personal property. Generally, there are two types of options that you can choose from.
A replacement cost policy which generally pays the dollar amount of your property, and;
An actual cash value will reimburse you according to the depreciated value of your personal property.
Both these options have limits that you cannot go over to cover your belongings. However, you should know under which peril your coverage extends. For instance, the most common type of damage to your belongings that are covered is fire damage. If you are not home and your house catches fire, your personal belongings can be repaired or replaced depending on the type of option that you have.
However, there are certain exclusions on when you can claim for the loss of your belongings. Let’s say you were having a party in your home, and you negligently left your diamond ring for anyone to take. If your insurance company can prove that you lost your ring because you were negligent, it will not be covered. Nor will you receive any reimbursements for it.
If You Need To Do Renovations
Let’s say that you are planning on doing major home additions over the summer. You would be surprised to find that your standard home insurance policy covers renovations. However, before you do anything, you should inform your home insurance agent about these renovations that you are planning on doing. The main reason why it is important to speak to your agent is that when you do any remodeling to your home, there is a likelihood that it will increase its value. As a result, your home can be underinsured when the project starts.
If your enlisted home construction services were to cause damage to your home while they are still remodeling, your home may not be completely covered from such damage, and you may be required to pay out-of-pocket for these costs. Moreover, if someone were to get injured during your remodeling process, the type of bodily injury liability coverage that you have may not be sufficient anymore. If you want to avoid any peculiar surprises, you should inform your insurance agent as soon as you plan your renovations.
The Bottom Line
Having home insurance can save you from a lot of surprising and unfortunate events. It doesn’t matter whether you have lost your personal property or if you have suffered damage after home remodeling services. The type of home insurance coverage that you have should protect you from most perils that you face. In addition, you should have a good idea of what is excluded from your coverage.
The good news is that if there is anything that is excluded, you can still take out a separate policy to cover it. In addition, you can use a private insurer of your choice when you take out a supplementary policy for your standard one. There are many other surprising things that your home insurance can save you from. Who knew that you can even claim for your jewelry that was swallowed by your dog?