Home insurance makes you feel secured with your belongings. Once your possessions get damaged or stolen, it is time for you to decide whether to file for an insurance claim or not. However, this process is not easy. It requires a lot of paperwork, visit with some insurance adjusters, estimates, deductibles, and more. You have to take several things into consideration before getting into such an insurance maze.
Familiarize yourself with your home insurance policy. Be sure that you understand what it covers and what are excluded. Sometimes, items with high value such as art collections and jewelry have low limits; unless you have purchases an endorsement covering these things, the policy would generally give it a low limit. For water damage, find out in your insurance policy what type of damages are excluded. Sometimes, water damage from a hurricane is not covered.
Be sure that you understand well your insurance deductible. When you are filing an insurance claim, you must pay an insurance deductible before the insurance enters the scene. A lot of homeowners prefer a higher deductible for lower annual premiums. The amount of insurance deductibles varies in some types of damages.
It is really advisable to determine whether your insurance rate will increase. Sometimes, a single claim will not increase your rates, but there are certain claims that involve high expenses such a dog bites, slip injuries, or water damage.
Deciding on filing insurance claim or not is not just a personal decision, but more of something that requires weighing of advantages and disadvantages. For example, if you think you will be sued for a dog bite, you might want to choose the insurance claim even if your rate will increase in the future. But if the dog bite is not really serious and your neighbor considers your offer to pay the medical bills, then you need not file an insurance claim anymore.
When it comes to home insurance, same thing applies. Choose wisely the items you want the insurance to cover additionally so to be prepared for the future.
Routing through the insurance maze is really confusing so you have to understand your insurance cover very well. You can learn more by browsing through your state’s insurance department’s website.
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