Greetings!
Does My Policy Cover That? This is the question that we were asked quite often this past year. Our area had some rare meteorological occurrences this year, so we decided to review what is covered and what is not covered on your insurance policies. |
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Earthquake | |
 Did you feel the earthquake in August 2011? Fortunately they don't happen very often around here and we are also fortunate that the one that did occur was very mild. There was not much damage done to any existing buildings. Did you know that you need to add earthquake coverage to your home policy to have coverage for any damage from an earthquake? An unendorsed home policy provides no coverage for earth movement. The cost for this coverage varies from policy to policy, but generally runs less than $100 a year. We can add earthquake coverage onto your policy at anytime, but we cannot add it until 7 days after a tremor or aftershocks have occurred. |
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Flood | |
 Devastating floods occur throughout the U.S. every year and we sure had our share this year. Many of our clients had flooding issues and while we could help those that had flood insurance, there were many that we had to tell that they had no coverage, since they chose not to purchase flood insurance. Your home insurance policy does not provide any type of flood coverage. You must purchase a flood policy through the National Flood Insurance Program. Many people think they can't get flood insurance because they don't live in a flood zone, but in reality we all live in a flood zone. If you don't live in a special hazard flood zone, you can usually purchase a flood policy for around $300-$400 a year, depending on how much coverage is wanted. During the heavy rains in September, we also had many clients with water in their basements, some that have never seen water in their basements before. Any surface water seeping through walls, doors, floors or windows is not covered from your home policy. Your unendorsed policy also does not cover if your drain backs up or your sump pump quits or backs up. However, you can purchase sewer and drain back up coverage, which would provide coverage if a drain backs up or your sump pump quits working or backs up. Any resulting damage from the back up could then be covered up to the limit chosen on the policy. This coverage though would still not give you any coverage for surface water that soley comes through the walls, doors, windows, and floors and does not come from any type of back up problem. If you have any portion of your basement finished and have a sump pump or drain we recommend this endorsement be added to your policy. The cost for this coverage is generally around $55 a year for up to $10,000 of coverage..
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Hail & Tornado/Windstorm | |
 There were also some severe hail storms this year. Most home policies provide coverage for losses resulting from hail. Most home policies also provide coverage for losses due to tornadoes or a severe windstorm without any extra endorsement on the policy.
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You can now make your insurance policy payments online. Simply go to our website, 
