Do You Know the ABCs of Homeowner's Insurance?

 By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy Pixabay

If you own a home, be it a house, a condo, or a mobile home, odds are you purchased home insurance to protect your investment.  Being that your home is undoubtedly one of your biggest investments, wouldn't it be nice to know what is and isn't covered by homeowner's insurance?  Wouldn't it also be helpful if you could discover ways to bolster your protection so you don't wind up having any of your claims denied in the future?  Below you'll find my alphabetized list of the 20 most common causes of damage to a home, as well as whether it's a covered under a standard policy.

When Attractive Nuisances Turn Ugly

 By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy Pixabay

We're all familiar with the old adage, "It's all fun until someone gets hurt."  While the saying is usually applied to kid's games, if a kid who isn't yours gets hurt while playing at your home, you could be held liable.  Even worse is if the child in question is injured while playing on what's later deemed an "attractive nuisance" on your property.  Since most homeowners with the exception of attorneys aren't all that familiar with the term or what it could mean to their wallet, I'd like to take the time to explore the topic in detail in today's blog.

Are You Covered if Your Dog Bites Someone?

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy Pixabay

Being a dog owner myself, I’m always ready to field questions about whether a dog bite is a covered claim on homeowner’s insurance.  Face it, any dog can bite, whether it’s a pit bull or a chihuahua.  If a dog feels its territory has been violated or if it senses fear or aggression on the part of a stranger, there’s always the potential for a bite to occur.  Depending on the severity of the attack and the breed of dog involved, a dog bite can come back to bite the owner if the victim decides to take the matter to court.  While it’s true that the personal liability and medical coverage contained in your homeowner’s policy can potentially pay for medical and legal expenses were your dog to bite someone, the fact is not all dog bites are a covered claim. The only way to know whether you’re covered is to either read your homeowner’s policy carefully or talk to your agent to find out for sure.  The four factors to be most concerned with are coverage, limits, location, and exclusions. Most don't have much liability coverage for agressive dogs!  If you would like to get a free instant competitive liability quote click here. 

10 Most Common Homeowner’s Insurance Claims

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy Pixabay

If you own a home, you probably have homeowner’s insurance.  That’s because you need to protect one of the biggest investments you’ll ever make.  While owning a home has its benefits, if storm, fire, or flood happens to hit your home, you could suddenly find yourself in dire straits.  That’s where homeowner’s insurance comes in handy to help you weather the storm and make your property whole again.  If you were wondering which homeowner’s insurance claims are the most common, here are the top-10.

How Does FEMA Help When Disaster Strikes?

 By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy Pixabay

If you’ve been reading the newsfeeds for the past few days, you’ve probably been following the trail of destruction that Hurricane IDA and the western wildfires have caused.  Being that all of us who live in Florida have had to deal with both these scenarios in the past couple decades, you might wonder if your home takes a direct hit, how much help can you expect from the federal government.  Below are some of the things I discovered about the Federal Emergency Management Agency, better known as FEMA.

How Much Personal Property Coverage Do You Need?

 By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy Pixabay

I just finished reading a newsfeed about a man in Tennessee who returned from work only to find that his home had washed away when 17-inches of rain fell in 24-hours.  The only good thing was that he wasn’t inside his home when the flood destroyed it.  I can only hope he had sufficient insurance to cover the loss of his property and belongings.  With that in mind, I thought I’d dedicate this week’s blog to helping everyone determine how much personal property coverage they need. 

What’s the Point of a 4-Point Inspection?

 By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy Pixabay

If you’ve ever purchased a home, you’re no doubt familiar with what’s deemed a home inspection.  That’s because before you can close the deal, your bank will require an in-depth inspection before you qualify for a mortgage.  A typical buyer’s inspection can take between two to three hours to complete.  It’s designed to home in on any structural, plumbing and/or electrical deficiencies in a home.  Once passed, you’re on your way to securing the financing needed to own a home.  A 4-point inspection, on the other hand, takes less than an hour to complete.  It can be required to insure older homes, particularly if they’re located in coastal areas that experience a lot of storms.  That means if you own or are looking to purchase a home that is more than three decades old, you could wind up being told by your insurance company that this kind of home inspection is going to be necessary to acquire or renew your homeowner’s policy.  Here’s what you need to know about 4-point home inspections.

Lightning the Load

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy Pixabay

It’s that time of year again in Florida when just about every afternoon you can expect a passing thunderstorm to make an appearance.  As well as the gusty winds and torrential showers, thunderheads also pack a wallop every time they unleash a lightning bolt that can discharge up to a billion volts n an earsplitting instant.  Like it or not, lightning isn’t only a hazard to life and limb. It can also do some serious damage to home.  Lightning strikes in the US cause more than $1 billion in property damage every year. To help you understand the kinds of hazards an electrical storm presents to your home and how to mitigate the danger, I’ve created a top-10 list of lightning hazards.

Is Basic Homeowner's Insurance Basically Inadequate?

 By Catherine Powell

Owning a home is for many of us the single biggest investment we’re likely to make.  Even if you only own a 1-bedroom condo or starter home, you probably want to make sure that it and everything contained therein is protected against any unforeseen calamity.  Should a fire, storm, flood, or other act of God damage or destroy your home, wouldn’t it be nice to know that your policy will be sufficient to repair or rebuild it to the current building codes?  You bet it would.  Wouldn’t it also be a blessing if you were able to replace all the furnishings as well as your possessions if you were the target of thieves or a pipe broke only to cause major damage inside your dwelling?  You better believe it.  If all you currently carry is basic homeowner’s insurance, you could find that you have less protection than you really need.

Water, Water Everywhere

 By Catherine Powell

As I write this blog, it’s raining cats and dogs outside.  Not that this is so unusual in Florida, where thunderstorms happen all year round.  The problem is when the wind is howling and the rain comes down in buckets, all that water has to go somewhere.  Sometimes too much precipitation can cause problems with homes, businesses, and vehicles.  Below are ten ways to keep water from raining on your parade.

What to Do When You Turn Your Clocks Back

 By Catherine Powell

In a little more than a week, it will be time for all of us to turn our clocks back an hour.  When you consider all the things that have clocks nowadays, that’s no simple matter.  To make the most of the time change, I thought I’d give you a checklist of things to do to get ready for the shorter hours of Fall and winter. 

Fall Back to Home Security Basics

 By Catherine Powell

There’s no question that a home is one of the biggest investments most of us will make in our lifetime.  That’s why most folks lavish so much time, energy and money on keeping their home picture perfect.  But this same need to feather one’s nest is exactly what makes a well-kept home a prime target for burglars and vandals.  Before you come home to find your home has been broken into or ransacked, there are a few things you need to know about home security.

How to Avoid the Top-10 Hurricane Hazards

By Catherine Powell

If you’ve taken a look at weather.com lately, you’ll notice that not only is there a tropical depression forming off the East coast, but nine tropical storms have already formed in the Atlantic so far this year.  Since Hurricane Season doesn’t officially end until November 30, I thought it best that I gave my readers a few helpful hints on what they need to beware of should a named storm head their way.

What Makes Replacement Cost Coverage Irreplaceable?

By Catherine Powell

The reason most people buy insurance is to make themselves whole again after disaster strikes.  Whether the disaster comes n the form of a fire, a theft, a broken pipe or an act of God is immaterial.  When something totals your car, a thief steals something you prize, or a fire burns your home or RV to the ground, most folks assume that their insurance will pay to replace what they lost with something of equal value, or give them the cash equivalent.  The problem is that it's not always how the story goes as you’ll discover in this week’s blog.

How to Deal with Animal Invaders

By Catherine Powell

The first sign of animal intruders could be the sound of tiny paws scurrying overhead.  Or, you 
may come to find their droppings in your home.  Perhaps, as it happened to me recently, you will come find that something other than your pets has been gnawing at the cardboard boxes stored in your garage.   Anyway you slice it, discovering that your home has been selected as a home for vermin can be disquieting to say the least.  It can also be the source of fleas and pathogens for you, your family and your pets.  An even more shocking discovery is that these pests aren’t always so easy to get rid of.

Perfecting Your Pool’s Protection

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy pxfuel

They say some like it hot.  But if that’s the case, then the people who say it probably weren’t in Florida in July and August.  Between the heat and the humidity, both of which hover in the mid-90’s for weeks on end, most of the residents and tourists brave enough to venture outdoors in the Sunshine State during the dog days only do so to go from the comfort of their air conditioned car or an air conditioned mall.  The only exception to this rule is when they dive into the surf or the cool comfort of a swimming pool.  If you own a pool or are considering adding one to your property, there are a few things you need to know if you want to keep your pool from becoming a bottomless pit for lawsuits.

It Isn't Easy Going Green

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy flickr

While everyone is still focused on the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, this week I thought I’d change the channel to something that could do the entire planet some good.  That’s because while the headlines have been screaming Coronavirus for the past month, many people missed the 50^th anniversary of Earth Day that occurred on April 22.  Started in 1970, Earth Day was used as a rallying cry for people from around the world to stem the degradation of the fragile planet upon which we all live.  In a strange way, the COVID-19 crisis has done its part to assist Earth Day 2020 by forcing the eight billion people who populate Planet Earth to drive less, which has noticeably improved the air quality globally.  Below are five milestones that Earth Day has achieved as well as a few ways in which we can all reduce our carbon footprint so our grandchildren will be able to enjoy the one 100^th anniversary of this perennial environmental movement.

All About Home Warranties

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy picpedia

Now that I’ve found myself working from home for the past few weeks, I have to admit I’m spending more time watching TV than usual.  While I try to tune out most commercials, one that caught my attention was for a home warranty company.  The ad makes the case that if you own your home, the last thing you want to do is wind up plunking down a big chunk of change when any of your major appliances go on the fritz.  When you consider the cost of washers, dryers, water heaters and dishwashers cost hundreds of dollars, refrigerators and ovens can cost $1,000 or more, and central air conditioning systems cost multiple thousands to replace, then insuring them might be a good idea.  Especially since your homeowner’s policy doesn’t cover these items for normal wear and tear.  So, I thought I’d look into the matter and provide my loyal readers with some food for thought.

How Does Your Roof Rate?

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy pikrepo

A roof is one of those things that most people take for granted until water starts dripping through their ceiling or a water stain appears like magic after a sudden storm.  Being out of sight and out of mind, hardly anybody ever thinks twice about their roof until it starts to leak.  And that’s a shame, since the roof over your head does a lot more than keep the rain off.  It literally protects you, your family, your furnishings and all your expensive electronics from wind, rain and the ravages of the sun.  It also keeps the wooden bones of your home from rotting.  If properly maintained, a roof should last between 20-30 years on average. 

Water Heater Woes

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy publocdomainfiles.com

Nothing like waking up on a crisp, cool morning only to discover that you have no hot water.  Even worse is to walk into your garage only to wind up wading through an inch of water after your water heater springs a leak.  Since the water heater is one household appliance that is not only a necessity, but it also consumes a good deal of your home’s resources, I thought I’d take the time to walk you through the ins and outs of water heater maintenance.