What Your Michiana Home Insurance Does For You.
If your neighbors tree falls and know one is around to see or hear it — does it sound make a sound when crashing unto your roof?
Trees can be a tricky thing. But, your home insurance policy shouldn’t be. One of the most essential responsibilities of home ownership is maintaining insurance, however, since it is not used on a daily basis, occasionally it is easy to forget what its purpose is and how to use it.
Your homeowners insurance policy is designed to protect you in ways you cannot imagine; helping you rebuild your home or repairing damage that results from the neighbors tree falling on your roof. You read that right, typically, you — the homeowner are responsible for what falls into their own yard. As a result, if your neighbor’s tree falls in your yard, or crashes unto your roof — your homeowners insurance NOT THEIRS would typically help cover the cost of removing the tree and remedying the damage it caused, after your deductible.
And, vicea versa, if a tree on your premise falls in your neighbor’s yard or unto their home, your neighbor — NOT YOU — should file a claim with his or her insurance company.
If there is confusion, Mahar Insurance is here to help. Hopefully, you have a reasonable neighbor and can wok together to resolve things out without too much trouble. If there is a major issue, you can simply let the insurance claims adjuster mediate and help square things away.
And, that is not all our home insurance policy can do for you. Here are a couple of scenarios to consider:
- What if the neighbor tries to sue you? With the right type of insurance you can cover most of the costs of a rochester tax lawyer lawsuit.
- What if the fallen tree acts as a catalyst causing other damage and making your home temporarily uninhabitable? You guessed it. The right homeowners insurance policy can help you pay for somewhere else to live while your home is being repaired.
Things to remember always take pictures:
In keeping with our example, if a tree happen to fall on your house, make sure to take several photos from various angles, if possible. Then, immediately call your claims adjuster, who will assess the damage and explain how your homeowners insurance coverage works in your current situation. At Mahar Insurance agency, we highly recommend that you call your insurance claims adjuster before you contract a tree removal service to have the tree removed.
Occasionally, trees fall on cars. If it is not possible to safely remove the tree from the vehicle yourself, you should call a professional to remove it. (Again, talk to a claims adjuster first and take a few photos of the fallen tree on your car.) Depending on the damage, both your homeowners insurance policy and the optional comprehensive coverage you may have under your auto policy could provide coverage for the loss. To learn more about this contact us.
Preventing tree damage
says preventative measures are important when it comes to maintain trees. You can start by looking for signs of distress on the tree. Somethings to look for are:
- Dead limbs,
- cracks in the trunk or major limbs,
- leaning to one side,
- branches that are close to a house or power line, and
- mushroom growth on the roots or bark.
“A Michiana homeowner should pay close attention to the health of their trees. Between the weight of Winter snow, the power of Spring and Fall winds, and the dryness of Summer tree in this region experience the fall impact of every season through out the year.”, says Walt Temple, owners of Temple Tree Services of South Bend.
What Your Michiana Home Insurance Policy Does Not Do For You.
Home insurance is normally very comprehensive, however, all policies have varying exclusions and coverage limitations. As a homeowner it is critical for you to understand your Michiana home insurance policy when trees fall, fires start, tornadoes destroy, theft occurs, and so on.
You need to know what is covered and what is not covered.
With this post is written as a guide to help you begin to understand what a typical Michigan home insurance policy covers. Just keep in mind that coverages vary from carrier brand to carrier brand, Indiana region to Michigan region and even Dowagiac homeowners policy to Dowagiac homeowners policy. Only your individual homeowners policy can tell you the coverages you have and which ones you do not have.
To have a complete and clear picture of your personal homeowners insurance policy and its individual coverages, please contact Mahar Insurance to schedule a review.
What The Typical Michiana / Indiana – Michigan Home Insurance Policy Covers
The typical homeowners insurance policy has six type of coverages. These coverages are commonly known as:
- Coverage A: Dwelling. This type of Michigan home insurance coverage is designed to address damage to your house which occurs due to covered losses, such as a fire or act of God. Following a covered loss, your home insurance dwelling coverage helps you pay for the cost of repair, or rebuild your home. Dwelling coverage typically includes structures attached to your Michiana home as well, such as a garage or a deck.
- Coverage B: Other Structures. This type of Michigan home insurance coverage is designed to address damage to detached building structures on your property that result from a covered loss, such as a heavy snow. Other Structures coverage may include a detached garage, a shed, or a fence.
- Coverage C: Personal Property. This type of Michigan home insurance coverage is designed to address damage to or loss, including theft, of your personal belongings, such as jewelry, furniture, collectibles and other valuables you own. Personal property coverage will help you replace items up to the defined dollar amount as designated in your homeowners policy. In some cases, your possessions might be of higher value than the typical home insurance policy covers. In these cases, you might be able to purchase additional coverage through a process known as “scheduling valuables.” We recommend you use the home inventory checklist from Safeco Insurance to track you belongings. Remember to keep the list updated, and in a safe place.
- Coverage D: Additional Living Expenses. This type of Michigan home insurance coverage is designed to address costs you incur up to your predetermined policy limit. Mahar Insurance would be more than happy to review your policy and tell you what is your policy limit. Additional Living Expense coverage helps you when you lose use of your home due to damaged which make your home unlivable and you need to live elsewhere. The purpose of Coverage D is to help you handle the costs of your temporary housing and other related expenses.
- Coverage E: Personal Liability. This type of Michigan home insurance coverage is designed to address damage to other people’s property for which you are responsible. Remember our, tree example at the beginning. Personal Liability coverage comes to the rescue offering to potentially help you handle legal costs and liability judgments resulting from a lawsuit. Coverage E has predetermined dollar limit stated within your Michiana home insurance policy. Need help finding it, contact Mahar — we can help.
- Coverage F: Medical Payments to Others. This type of Michigan home insurance coverage is designed to address bodily injuries to other people, such as a guest and visitor that occur in your home or on your property. Similar to Coverage E, Medical Payments to Others coverage helps with the costs of a potential lawsuit or legal decision. And, like every other type of insurance coverage has a predetermine dollar limit.
KEY TAKEAWAY:
(1) Damage to your home and on your premises are your responsibility, even if the tree is the neighbors.
(2) While you have several different types of coverages within your Michiana home insurance policy, you are only covered up to the dollar amounts that YOU SELECT and only for covered losses, as outlined within your Insurance policy.
(3) Typically, you can change these policy limits at any time. If you would like to review and possibly purchase more coverage please contact Mahar Insurance agency in Dowagiac, Michigan.
This leads to the question, what is NOT typically covered by an Indiana – Michigan home insurance policy? For that we recommend you read, the Safeco Insurance article which inspired this post … http://www.safeco.com/blog-detail/understanding-homeowners-insurance/1240026005344.
Should you have any questions about your Michiana home insurance policy, comments about this post, or ideas for a future post, please do not hesitate to contact us.