Home Insurance Daily

If you’re a smoker, chances are you’ll get higher premiums for your home insurance policies simply due to the fact that you light up.

But you must understand this. Smoking increases the chance of accidental fire. Thousands of fires have been recorded throughout the years which have stemmed from irresponsible smokers leaving their cigarettes lying around. You know what they say - all it takes is a spark. And even though you may not consider yourself to be an irresponsible smoker, the mere fact that you make it a habit to start fires (even though it’s only a small one) anywhere inside the house is enough for many insurance companies to jack up you premiums.

However you are sincerely planning to quit, you can apply for lowered premiums. If you;re denied, then maybe you should try shopping around for better premiums elsewhere.

Minor damage to a home may seem costly but be careful when you do decide to file for claims. WHY? Well as it turns out, you may just be jacking up your own risk factor hence the amount you pay for your home’s insurance policy. Most homeowners would contradict this but say you live in a high tornado risk area like Tornado Alley, and your home gets wrecked once every few years yet stubbornly fail to consider relocation. Most will relocate and rebuild their home somewhere else but for some, there’s no place like home and they stay put to again face the gauntlet. This is a good example of driving up your home insurance costs for the higher the risk factor your home is in, the more the insurance company would ask for a policy.
This is what happened when Katrina struck with many insurance firms either rescinding policies undeclared or opting not to renew policies as they expire for the risks to them are simply too great and that the same even can happen year after year. Consider a rebuild at least once and take into consideration the trauma you suffer from such an event. It is good to rebuild but with today’s recession, that may not be an option.

The idea might sound irrelevant but some of the biggest names in the insurance industry have begun to take a serious look at the effects climate change has on your property and home. Extreme weather to other natural phenomenon have become wilder and wilder affecting the insurance industry costing billions of dollars in claims payments. Revisions to provisions and contract clauses are done to allow home insurance providers to adapt and thus maintain affordability allowing them to continue doing business.
There are also a lot of issues regarding areas such as Tornado Alley for the extreme weather there has providers thinking twice before issuing policies that would surely be used in no time.
Mother nature can only take so much that today we are feeling the effects of our deeds during the beginning of the Industrial Revolution where mighty industries made countries famous and world power. In today’s recession, more and more homes are falling victim to foreclosures as owners fail to make payments due to lost jobs. Life goes on and hopefully the economic conditions improve in the near future.

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Twisters can inflict a horrendous amount of destruction in a community. If a hurricane warning is given out, the most homeowners can do is board up their homes and try their best to minimize the damage. A standard homeowners-3 policy or HO-3 covers the destruction caused by a hurricane with some of the limitations inherent in it. For instance, insurance companies normally do not cover damages caused by floods due to a hurricane. So it pays to read first your policy and know exactly what is and is not covered. Ask your insurance agent all the necessary questions before a hurricane hits to avoid surprises later on.

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A house is by need, the most important investment for the vast majority. You resort to acquiring loans and spending on your life savings just to be able to support that investment. Which is why it is vital to PROTECT your investment. Thats where Home Insurance comes in. You can choose from so many different providers within your local area. But choosing is not quite an easy task. You must go over various companies’ terms to fully understand what the insurer is capable of providing you in times when it is mostly needed. Standard coverage spans through damage to your house and the items and appliances inside. The policy covers damages caused by fire, smoke, lightning, snow, frozen pipes, theft and many others. The standard liability for the damages range from $100,000 to as high as $1 Million. You should take note and list all the valuable items that may be kept inside the house. These tings arent covered by Home Insurance policies but you can certainly scout for insurers for these special type of valuables. Special endorsements are provided for calamities like flood and earthquakes because these are typically not included in the standard home insurance coverage.

If you are a homeowner, or you own any piece of property, chances are you need to have homeowner’s insurance. If you want to understand the factors that determine your premiums, here are some of them:
1.Location – if you live in high-risk or high-crime areas, the risk that your home will be damaged or stolen from is significantly higher. This results in higher premiums. Also premiums in highly congested cities are generally higher compared to suburbs. Another factor that can affect your premium is your location’s propensity to be hit by natural disasters. If you’re house is lying on a fault line, or in locations that are prone to storms, this may cause your premium to increase.
2.Construction costs - some insurers will look at the construction costs in your area to see how much it would cost to rebuild your home if it were destroyed. The higher the construction costs are in your area, the higher the likelihood that you’ll pay for it in your home insurance rates.
3.Building materials – the materials you used to construct your home play a large part towards your home’s vulnerability. If you used brick or stone that is more durable and better able to withstand natural disasters such as fire, tornadoes or hurricanes, you’ll get a lower premium.

Image Source: aboutfirehazardinsurance.com

The fire insurance policy has been changed to Standard Fire and Special Perils Policy. The risks covered are as follows:

Dwellings, Offices, Shops, Hospitals(Located outer the compounds of industrial/manufacturing risks) Industrial / Manufacturing Risks Utilities positioned outside industrial/manufacturing risks Machinery and Accessories Storage Risks outside the compound of industrial risks Tank farms / Gas holders located outside the compound of industrial risks

Perils Covered- Cause of Loss

Fire Lightning Explosion/Implosion Aircraft damage Riot, Strike, Terrorism, Storm, Flood, inundation Impact damage Subsidence , landslide Bursting or overflowing of tanks Bush fire etc.
Claims In the event of a fire loss covered under the fire insurance policy, the Insured shall immediately give notice there of to the insurance company. Within 15 days of the occurrence of such loss the Insured should present a claim in writing giving the details of damages and their predictable values. Details of other insurances on the same property should also be declared.

by: Christine Zafra

The III or the Insurance Information Institute said that they have received a lot of queries from policy holders regarding the current state of their insurance coverage. Since storms and tornadoes are common nowadays, some people ask if insurance companies will cover damages concerned with trees. Yes, Good ol’ trees.

So, what is III’s answer to that? Of course, insurance companies do cover these. Even though the cause is not due to a storm or any kind of turbulent phenomenon, insurance companies will cover houses or even detached buildings (provided that it is insured) if a tree hits it. It doesn’t even matter whether the tree is located at your backyard; As long as it damaged any part of your house, you can file for repair costs.

It is also called hazard or homeowners insurance (HOI). It is a type of insurance that combines protection of various personal insurance and private homes. It provides protection coverage for losses of one’s home contents, personal possessions of the owner and other accidents that may happen at the home.

Coverage of home insurance varies depending on the amount of premium pain and type of coverage desired. The cost of replacement of house and additional items that would be insured is attached to the policy and helps determines the actual cost of the premium. Home insurance policy is a term contract in effect for a specific period

Cottages, camps and other properties used for vacation are no different from your regular homes. They are also considered valuable assets and investments that need to be protected. One way of protecting them is getting them insured. However, you must be aware that vacation properties are insured not in the same way that your main home is insured. The type of insurance coverage is dependent on how the property is used and the number of times it is being occupied. Many insurance companies will insure your vacation property provided they also insure your primary home. You can insure both properties separately or the vacation property will be listed as secondary location.