Prepping Your Home for Winter? Here’s Why You Need the Right Homeowners Insurance Coverage!

Prepping Your Home? You Need the Right Homeowners Insurance Coverage

If you are ready to prep your home for winter, here’s why your home needs the right homeowners insurance coverage stat. Learn more here now!

Winter is an exciting time encouraging many activities like skiing and snowboarding. However, the change in season can affect your home in many ways. The cold temperature, snow, wind, and freezing rain may add to your home repairs expenses. This is where homeowners insurance comes in. Read on to learn more about homeowners insurance and winter prepping.

What Is Homeowners Insurance?

Homeowners’ insurance is somewhat related to property insurance covering losses and damages to your house. It gives financial relief when you get damages from the weather. The insurance also covers liability coverage over accidents and injuries on your property.

The policy helps cover interior and exterior damages. It also covers damage or loss of your assets. You have to purchase home insurance, which also gives liability and property coverage.

How Much Is Homeowners Insurance?

The average yearly homeowner insurance premium is about $1,200. However, homeowner insurance costs depend on how much you want to cover and where you live. Other factors, such as the age of your home and home features, can also affect how much you pay for the insurance.

Coverage of Homeowners Insurance

The insurance policy protects your home, but it covers more than the structure of your home. It also covers your medical bills, personal belongings, and so on. The policy includes six different types of coverage:

Dwelling Coverage

If your house has attached structures like a garage or deck, this coverage helps pay for the repairs. They calculate the square footage of your house plus the total cost of rebuilding your home.

Other Structures Coverage

This type of coverage pays for the replacement or repair of any detached structures that are part of your property. The insurance uses 10% of your dwelling coverage to pay for damaged fences or sheds.

Personal Property Coverage

This type of coverage replaces or repairs that lost or damaged items during the winter. Personal property coverage uses 50% to 70% of the dwelling coverage to replace certain belongings. It includes your items such as your electronics and furniture.

Extra Living Expenses Coverage

Your homeowner’s insurance helps you pay for any temporary living expenses. It can happen during your home repair. The coverage covers your living costs like your hotel bills.

Liability Coverage

If you are guilty of damaging someone else’s property or injures someone, the coverage pays for the bills. However, it should happen through neglect or involuntarily. The liability coverage will help you pay for the repair costs and legal fees for $100,000 to $500,000.

Medical Protection Coverage

The coverage will pay to treat anyone injured on your property, no matter who’s at fault. It also covers if you, a family member, or your pet injures someone elsewhere.

How to Prep Your Home for Winter

As winter approaches, the temperature will start to drop, and it can affect parts of your home. It’s nice to have homeowners insurance, but you should still prep your home to lessen damages. Below are some simple ways to winterize your home for the winter:

Check Your AC System

Before the cold starts setting in, it’s best to check your air conditioning to see if it still works. Most heating air conditioners last 10 to 15 years. If your AC is ten years old, consider replacing or repairing parts of your AC to make sure it lasts for the winter.

Clean up Your Gutters

It’s time to start removing the leaves and debris from the roof to your gutters. Cleaning up your gutter lets the melting ice and snow flow into your gutters, preventing ice dams. Extra weight on your gutters can cause it to break, letting water drip from the walls and ceilings.

Recaulk Your Doors and Windows

Recaulking your doors and windows every year can prevent heat loss and water damages. Make sure you caulk the outside perimeter of the molding of your door and windows. A tube exterior caulk and caulk gun may cost around $20.

Using exterior silicone caulk is less affected by weather change. It means that the caulk won’t shrink and expand when the seasons change. Try to cover all the tiny crevices and cracks, then lightly press on the caulk to make it smooth.

Inspect Your Roof

The cold plus possible snowstorms can tear through your roof if you have loose shingles. You or a contractor should replace shingles to avoid air leaks.

Reverse Your Ceiling Fans

Did you know about the button on your fan that can reverse your fan’s direction? Reserving the fan’s direction can create updrafts that push down heated air. It’s an excellent way to save money and use heat more efficiently.

Protect Your Pipes

Your pipes can freeze and burst open when it gets in contact with sudden weather changes. A good way to warm up your pipes is by using insulation sleeves. Make sure that you also turn off any outdoor faucets.

If you shut off your outdoor faucets, water won’t gather inside, which can freeze and burst the faucet. Disconnect and store your hoses, so they avoid getting damaged by the cold weather. Keep your pipes in good condition by keeping watch of the temperature and making it steady every day.

Practice Fire Safety

It’s time for the chilly weather, so many will start curling up by the fireplace and placing candles around the house. These actions can increase the chances of items in your home lighting up in flames. So make sure you equip your fireplace with a nearby fire extinguisher.

Make an extra investment to install smoke detectors around the house. Then, prepare a fire drill to let your family know what to do and where to go if an accident happens.

Prepping Your Home for Winter

Decreasing your insurance risks while staying warm and saving money is a great way to enjoy winter. Homeowners insurance won’t prevent home damages, but it can help as a financial safety net. We hope you learned more about insurance and prepping your home.

Do you have any inquiries, or do you want to apply for homeowners insurance? Don’t be afraid to contact us for help.