Home Insurance Daily Digest

Most homeowners are very confident with their home insurance. While it does mean of protecting the value of home in hope of getting compensation when something happen to the property. The insurers would like to know what happen why the accident happens. And if the homeowners say they don’t know what really happen because his/her in out of town. Claim might be rips off.

Having a long vacation doesn’t exclude you from taking care of your property. Once you plan to get off your house for more than 30 days you can hire house sitter for the moment. Or you might inform your insurer that you will be gone for a long vacation. Check your insurance policy regarding claims if ever you will be gone for more than a month.

Sometimes knowing what is not covered is as important as knowing what is covered by your insurance policy. The best reference for this is your insurance policy; make sure that you read through it completely before you experience a loss that to your surprise is not covered by your insurance policy.

Majority of home insurance policies place a limit on the coverage for some high priced or hard to replace items like engagement rings, antiques, fur, watches and other valuables. There is a need for additional floater or endorsement to protect these items and you need to get the appraised individually for accurate pricing.

Insurance premiums of vacation homes are ordinarily higher because they are not occupied throughout the year. It can be said that vacation homes are considered “high risk” for fire and theft because people are not there most of the time. One strategic way to lower the out-of-pocket premiums of vacation homes without the hassle of doing improvements is by increasing the value of deductibles. Taking into consideration the location of your home is another way to save because homes located in secured areas definitely have lower premiums. Another way of lowering your cost in the process is by installing security systems.

One mistake you should avoid is getting under-insured. You should maintain sufficient insurance coverage so that in case of damage, done in whatever way, you will be covered in full. For example the replacement cost of your home is $100,000 and your policy coverage is only $60,000 the insurance company will only pay you $60,000 if and when your home is destroyed completely. You will be personally responsible for the $40,000 budget short. And the worse that can happen if you are under-insured and part of your home was damaged; it is possible that you will only receive partial reimbursement for the repair of the damaged part. The actual amount is dependent on how much under-insured you are.

This is what people call canvassing. It takes a generally large chunk of time but surely saves you a great deal of money. You can go asking friends, checking Yellow Pages, visiting real estate websites, or contacting insurance department in your state.

You can also check out the National Association of Insurance Commissioners website. The NAIC has necessary information that will help you effectively choose a state insurer. States make this information on rates charged by major state insurers, which are typically cheaper than other insurers.

But price is not the only thing to consider. The selected insurer should have a fair price offer and can still deliver a quality service you deserve.

Fraud is the deliberate deception that results in unfair or unlawful gain according to Webster�s dictionary. However, there are instances wherein one person�s definition does not actually match that of another. For insurance companies however, they have a clear and exact understanding of what constitutes home insurance fraud.

The following is a list of common frauds that are seen from the perspective of an insurance provider:
� Inflating the real amount of claim
� Staging a break-in or theft
� Commits arson
� Files a false claim
� Fakes an accident
� Asks contractor to include amount of deductible
� Re-files a claim previously paid by the insurance provider
� Receiving undeserved compensation

If you want to make a home inventory, you may want to start it now because it could be a tedious task especially if you have occupied your home for quite some time already. Actually, the best time to do your home inventory is when you have just started out in your first home or when you have just moved to your new home. But if you have lived in that home for years, your home inventory can still be done with flying colors. All you have to do is to be systematic and go from one room to another.