Prevent Water From Going Where it Shouldn’t

One of the most disheartening experiences is to find flooding or extreme water damage to your treasured home in Oxford or Cincinnati, OH.

 
At Fey Insurance we know you want to protect what’s important. That’s why we’re offering these tips to help you prevent many of the most common causes of water damage.

Just a little time and some effort can prevent a lot of heartache and hassle.

Ø  Make sure your water pressure is not set too high. For just $6 or so, you can purchase a gauge that will help you test your pressure for the appropriate level, which should be set between 60 and 80 PSI.

Ø  Standard hoses on new appliances are not as durable as they used to be. So check your appliances. If they’re rubber, either replace them with longer lasting stainless steel braided hoses or replace them every three years.

Ø  Keep water from leaking into the walls or floor of your bathroom by replacing cracked tiles and re-grouting when it’s needed.

Ø  Examine the shingles on your roof. Worn, curled or missing shingles allow water in, so replace them as soon as noticed.

Ø  Consider buying a water alarm, which can help you find leaks, or automatic shut-off mechanisms, which can help avoid bursts.

Ø  A lot of water damage occurs when you and your family are away from home.  Make a practice to avoid running the washing machine or dishwasher while you’re out.

Ø  When you leave for vacations, turn off the water supply to appliances.

Ø  Keep up maintenance on all appliance hoses, because slow leaks from worn out hoses can cause major damage (and they are not covered under Homeowners insurance).

At Fey Insurance we hope these pointers will ensure your house stays nice and dry this year! 

 

-Safeco Insurance Article

Insurance Tips Before and After A Disaster

“If only I knew.” Four words spoken after disasters by people who’ve learned they don’t have the insurance coverage they thought they had. In our agency, we never want you to be in that situation, so here are some tips to help.

Advice you need before a disaster

You might have purchased your insurance a long time ago. Do you remember the coverage choices you made and your deductibles, endorsements and exclusions? These details can make or break a family after a disaster, so take a few minutes to call us to see if your coverage fits your current needs. Be sure to report life changes and significant purchases or home improvements.

Do you know how much coverage you have if your home or possessions are damaged by rain, hail, lightning or tornadoes? If your roof was damaged in a storm, would it be repaired or replaced? How soon after a storm do you need to report a loss? Are you aware that most renters and homeowners policies don’t cover floods or earthquakes? Do you have loss-of-use coverage in case you have to vacate your home temporarily? If a tree falls on your car, do you have the right auto coverage?

If you don’t know the answers, it’s important to call us to learn what your policy specifies.  Another helpful tip is to create a home inventory every few years. It sounds like a headache, but anyone who has filed a claim will vouch for its value, and technology has made the process quick and easy. Videotape or photograph your possessions room by room. Get close-ups of valuable items, and keep receipts. Create an inventory by downloading an app or using a website like knowyourstuff.org, recommended by the Ohio Committee for Severe Weather Awareness (OCSWA). Store this inventory on the web or somewhere outside your home to keep it protected.

Insurance tips for after a disaster

Inspect your property and vehicles. Make a list of what is damaged and how. Take photos for documentation. And report your loss in a timely manner. Also take steps to protect possessions from further damage after the disaster.

If you need to move out of your residence temporarily, provide us with a phone number where we can call you. Find out the monetary limit your loss-of-use insurance covers before you choose a hotel. When you file a claim, back it up with written estimates and your home inventory information.  Prepare now, and your family will be grateful if there ever is a disaster.

Extended Dwelling Coverage on a Homeowner

Many moons ago all insurance companies used to have guaranteed replacement cost endorsement you could put on your homeowner policy. This endorsement would guarantee that the insurance company would rebuild your house exactly as it was prior to the claim even if your limit of insurance on the house was lower than the cost to rebuild. Today many insurance companies limit that endorsement to only homes that are considered high value (homes valued at $500,000 or more). The endorsements also require that the insurance companies send out professional reconstruction appraisers to figure out as best they can what it would cost to rebuild your home.

For those homeowner clients who have a house valued at less than $500,000 the endorsement that needs to be added to the homeowner policy is Extended Dwelling Coverage. What this endorsement does is give a percentage of the homeowner limit as extra coverage in case of a total loss on the home. For example, if you have 25% Extended Dwelling Coverage and your house is insured for $200,000 then you would actually have $250,000 if your home suffered a total loss ($200,000 X 1.25 = $250,000).

We feel this coverage is important for two reasons. One reason is we do not send out professional reconstruction appraisers to every house. Instead, insurance companies use in house software that helps determine reconstruction cost on your house using things like square footage, construction type, location, year built, etc. to come up with a value. These programs are usually very accurate but nothing replaces the accuracy of an in home visit with measuring tape and details of the type of amenities in the house. The Extended Dwelling Coverage endorsement helps make sure that if for some reason the calculations on the house are a little off, there is still enough insurance there to replace the house to its original state.

The second reason we encourage this endorsement is for catastrophe situations. Let’s say a tornado wipes out not only your house but two other neighborhoods worth of homes. Every builder and building supplier in town will be in demand. Economics 101 will tell you that if demand goes up and supply is the same, then prices are going to rise. That home that only cost $200,000 to rebuild just got a lot more expensive but if you have the Extended Dwelling Coverage on your homeowner you would be in a much better situation.

One thing to note about this endorsement, you can’t use it to underinsure your home. In our example above, you can’t insure the house for only $160,000 and add the 25% Extended Dwelling Coverage (which would put your total insurance at $200,000). That is not the intent of the coverage. The insure companies will use their software to figure out a good estimate of the cost to rebuild your house and you would have to have it insured for that amount in order to add the coverage.

Rental Car Coverage

The Holiday Season brings on a lot of travel.  People are either taking advantage of time off to go on vacation or they are traveling to see loved ones in other areas of the country.  Either way they often rent a vehicle during the Holiday Season so we thought it would be a good idea to post our thoughts on whether to buy or not buy rental car insurance.  

The first question we get from customers asking about rental cars is "does my insurance cover a rental car that I rent?"  Our answer is always a "gray" answer because it just depends on the coverage they selected on their personal insurance policy, what state they will be traveling in and what rental car company they are using.  Because of this "gray" response we always recommend at least take out Collision Damage Waiver from rental car companies.  Here are four reasons why this is always a safe option:

1.  Chance of claims is higher when traveling:  In our opinion the chance of a claim when you are driving around an unfamiliar city are much higher then when you are around your hometown.  You are not often sure of where you are going so you may spend more time looking at road signsor GPS devices instead of focusing on other vehicles.  

 

2. Claims paid out by your own policy can cause your rates to increase:  As mentioned in item 1, the chance of a claim is higher when in unfamiliar areas and if you were to have a claim and did not buy the Collision Damage Waiver than the payment of the claim would come from your personal auto policy.  This could cause your rates to increase.  If, however, you had purchased the Collision Damage Waiver from the rental car company the damages to the rental car would be paid by the rental car company and not your personal auto policy.  This would help preserve your claims history.

3.  Your auto insurance deductible would apply:  If you have a claim and need to go under your own insurance, often your auto policy deductible would apply.  If, however you take out the Collision Damage Waiver there would be no deductible.

 

4.  Dealing with out of state accidents is difficult:  If you were to cause an accident while on vacation you would have to work with the rental car company on getting their car fixed by your insurance company (again, assuming you didn't purchase the Collision Damage Waiver).  You also run the risk of them automatically charging the damages to your credit card which some rental car contracts let them do.  If you did have the Collision Damage Waiver, however, you would just simply turn the car over to the rental car company and they would then deal with all the repairs and not bother you with getting payment for the damages.

It is because of these four points that in Fey Insurance Service's opinion it is always good to purchase the Collision Damage Waiver from the rental car companies.  If anything it gives you peace of mind during your Holiday travels.