by: Christine Zafra

If your house is situated in a low area, I’m sure that you’ve experienced flood going inside your house. The lower part of you wallpapers peeling away, the legs of your wood furniture turning to white due to the waters and your appliances, yes, your precious appliances—all soaked in dirty flood water.

Insurance company experts advice everyone who live in flood zones to turn off their appliances and unplug it, before the flood accumulates. Raise their appliances to a higher level once hard rain hits your area. Chances of electric ground will be minimized (and perhaps, electric fire too).

Photo taken from http://www.sump-pump-info.com

by: Christine Zafra

If you feel that your kitchen is getting smaller with all the new appliances you buy every month (let’s say, Home TV Shopping is fun), and wish to expand it, don’t just rush to your local contractor and tell him or her to do this and that. Or better yet, there are some owners who wish to save on contractors and do the renovation by themselves (i.e. kitchen sink). Let’s take the kitchen sink for example. You want to replace your sink in the kitchen so you started whacking the sink edges and the underside. Now, you busted a pipe that wetted the floor and some of your appliances. You cannot file a claim to your insurance provider about the said damage because the SOP is for you to inform your insurance company before you do something to your house.

Photo taken from http://www.vcu.edu

by: Christine Zafra

If you already have an insurance or planning to get one, make sure you maintain your communication with your agent. Agents and/or brokers are useful when it comes to clearing up things. If your home have been damage due to a natural disaster, you can call your agent to find out if that damage will be covered by your insurance provider. Knowing things will also help you guard your house well (i.e. if the insurance company does not cover mudslide, you might want to build a sturdy wall at your backyard, between the muddy hill and your house). Keeping in contact with your insurance agent can also aid you in changing your policy from time to time depending on your needs.

Photo taken from http://www.lifeleadsystems.com

by: Christine Zafra

If you have a HO-3 or a HO-5 type of policy and you read or your agent told you that it is an “all risk” type of policy, behold—do not celebrate yet. You have to know whether what “all risks” covers. There are certain types of damages that are not covered by your insurance company such as mudslide, earthquakes and sometimes, flood. Before engaging with a certain insurance company you have to read the terms and conditions, or perhaps, the limitations of your insurance so that you’ll know whether damages incurred by some rather unconventional disasters are covered by your policy.

Photo taken from http://images.jupiterimages.com

by: Christine Zafra

Insurance companies offer clients and future clients a lot of options to choose from. They offer flexibility in terms of what insurance type they need, how much they can afford and so on. Here are the most common insurance types offered by today’s insurers:

1. HO-1: covers objects specifically mentioned under the policy (i.e. paintings and valuables).
2. HO-2: covers areas of the house and the things inside it (i.e. kitchen and the china cabinet that contains silverware).
3. HO-3: covers the whole house and the things inside but the liability is limited (i.e. fire, flood and earthquake ONLY).
4. HO-4: covers the apartments of the renters (i.e. any damage or injury within 150 feet).
5. HO-5: similar to HO-3 but the range of damage included is wider (i.e. riots, fallen objects etc.).
6. HO-6: similar to HO-4 but this policy is for condominium residents.
7. HO-7: policy for mobile home owners.
8. HO-8: covers old houses and the replacement costs that the owner will incur.

Photo taken from http://www.stoel.com

by: Christine Zafra

Take a look at your insurance policy. Your policy may seem to be easy to understand after you have glanced at it, but to tell you honestly, insurance policies are a lot trickier than you think. Take this for example.

If your policy includes flood insurance in it, do not rejoice yet. Some insurance companies are wiser than you think. If your house has been damage by mudslide due to the heavy rains that has been pouring for three days in a row, your insurance company might not consider it as something caused by “flood” per se. Most insurance companies consider that as the movement of tectonic plates and not flood related. Be wiser than them. Ask your insurance agent about things.

Photo taken from http://res.sys-con.com