I’m Renewing/Not Renewing My Homeowners Insurance Cover This Year

February 26th, 2011

Should I take a chance and save some money?
I can’t remember when money was as tight as it is right now and I’m going to great lengths to save wherever I can. I did not renew our subscription to the Philharmonic concerts, I did not renew my membership at the country club and now I am wavering about not renewing my Homeowners insurance policy. I have to say that I’m nervous about this saving.

What if…
Not having insurance cover means that one is carrying the risk oneself and when it comes to property and construction these can be heavy items. If your house is damaged by fire, it’s a pretty sure bet that your homeowners insurance policy will cover the cost to repair it. On the other hand, if the damage results from something less common, such as mold or a meteor falling from the sky, are you still covered? Homeowners insurance policies vary, as do state laws, but typical policies cover many atypical claims. Here’s a look at five of the more unusual things for which your homeowners insurance should foot the bill.

Insuring your home
Actually, I was never sure if my house was properly insured or not, meaning that if I did claim I may end up paying some of it from my own pocket. Then there are the other items included in the policy, such as dog bites. More than 4.7 million people are bitten by dogs each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, resulting in around 800,000 injuries that require medical attention. More than 50 percent of the bites occur on a dog owner’s property. “Dog bites are probably the single most common cause of liability claims on a homeowner’s policy,” says Bill Wilson of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America. The Insurance Information Institute (III) estimates that dog bites account for one-third of all liability claims. The III says the average dog bite claim totals about $25,000.

Mold
For many homeowners, mold is a four-letter word that conjures up fears of illness and expensive cleanup. Indeed, the cost of mold remediation can run into the thousands of dollars. Whether your homeowners insurance policy will cover mold damage largely depends on the underlying cause of the mold.

Terrorism
Homeowners insurance typically excludes acts of war. The same blanket exclusion doesn’t hold true for acts of terrorism, which are more akin to a criminal act than an armed conflict. Wilson says insurers should cover damage due to explosion, fire and smoke resulting from a terrorist attack, even if terrorism isn’t specifically referenced in your homeowners policy.

9/11
Take the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Residences near New York’s World Trade Center suffered blown windows and smoke damage. In that instance, those repairs were covered. Insured property losses from the 9/11 attacks totaled nearly $23 billion in 2009 dollars, estimates the III. But coverage of a terrorist attack isn’t guaranteed since there’s little precedent in the United States save for 9/11. In the unlikely event that you ever need to file a terrorism-related claim, figure your home insurer will treat it on a case-by-case basis. Besides acts of war, typical homeowners policies don’t consider nuclear accidents a covered peril.

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 26th, 2011 at 4:55 am and is filed under Assurance / Insurance, Economy, Employment, Finance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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