Your Home Is Important, Make Sure It’s Protected
You have to ask yourself…
What would happen if a disaster struck your home tomorrow? Are you confident you’re properly covered for damages and total loss? Would you be required to pay out of pocket for some or all the repairs?
These questions are crucial to address because major insurance carriers hold on new clients after a disaster strikes. More importantly, when you're facing a crisis, you’ll feel less pressure knowing:
- Your representative took the time to make sure you have the right protection
- Your insurance carrier has your back
What is Home Insurance for?
Home insurance covers the hazards that most homeowners face. When a loss occurs, you will file a claim with your insurance carrier, and you are paid for the expenses, minus any outstanding deductible amounts.
Insurance also covers personal liability exposures, to protect you from many situations that could lead to lawsuits from others.
For instance, if someone slips and falls in your home or is injured somewhere on your property, you can be held responsible. Liability coverage is there to protect you.
You could also potentially need insurance to protect you from having to pay for:
- Storm damage, fire, windstorm, lightning, and hail
- Dog bite liability
- Manufactured home coverage
- Trampoline or swimming pool liability insurance
- Wind damage
- Sinkholes
- Flood damage
- Sewer or septic backups
- Replacement cost for personal property
- Umbrella liability insurance
When you see an independent insurance agent like us you have the chance to explore all your options for insurance, and protect the things that are most important to you.
Little-known facts about Homeowners Insurance
There are many things about insuring a home that most consumers aren’t aware of. We are here to make sure you avoid potential problem areas, including:
- Most policies will not cover sewer backup, unless you purchase a special endorsement
- Damages caused by surface water or water that flows below the surface of the ground aren’t usually covered
- A standard homeowners policy typically does not include Flood Insurance
- A standard homeowners policy only covers jewelry, up to set limits if the loss resulted from one of the perils named on the policy
- Many policies default to actual cash value, which means if you purchased a widescreen TV and home theater system for $1,000, it may now only be worth $450, so that's all you'll receive on the claim. Just like the dwelling limit mentioned above, replacement cost insurance pays out the total replacement value of your possessions, not their market value, in the event of a claim.
- IMPORTANT: You can combine your Home and Auto policies (and others) for even more savings.
Who needs to insure their homes?
- Frame houses
- CBS homes (Concrete Block Structure)
- Manufactured homes
- Mobile homes on acreage
- Condos
- Townhouses
- Secondary homes
- Homes you rent to others
- Seasonal resident homes
Essential protection for valuable possessions
People who own valuable possessions need broader coverage than a basic homeowners policy provides. Now you can enhance your Homeowners policy with the Valuable Items Plus endorsement.
While homeowners insurance pays for loss or damage from certain causes; such as fire, theft and other named perils, Valuable Items Plus expands coverage to protect your valuables from loss caused by additional perils (subject only to a few common exclusions).
Now you can purchase up to $50,000 of coverage for jewelry, antiques, paintings, tapestries, statues and other fine art; and as much as $20,000 coverage for silverware or furs. The maximum payment for any one item is either $10,000 or $20,000 depending on the state. In addition, you pay no deductible. When you compare these higher limits with the totals paid by traditional homeowners insurance for losses of personal articles, the difference is clear.
It’s easy to add Valuable Items Plus protection. No appraisals or other extra steps are involved because this is blanket coverage for all of the property you select to insure. So if you have a Homeowners policy and valuables that mean a lot to you, consider the advantages and affordability of Valuable Items Plus.
Personal Articles Floater
If you own valuable, rare or irreplaceable items, such as collectibles or antiques, you may prefer the comprehensive protection offered by the Personal Articles Floater.
In case of a covered loss, this specialized coverage allows you to recover the value of an item (based on a recent appraisal or bill of sale). This policy provides coverage for jewelry and fine art at an amount you and Bebis agree upon. For other items, the policy provides either actual cash value, cost to repair, cost to replace or up to the insured amount, depending on what happens to the
item and its current value.
The Personal Articles Floater is the right policy for people who have carefully selected and invested in items with values exceeding the limits of either a homeowners policy or homeowners policy with Valuable Items Plus.
Your agent is working hard for you
By choosing Bebis, you have someone working for you. Your independent agent believes that your satisfaction with your insurance is of the utmost importance. Your agent can help you decide on the right coverage for the items that you value most. So whatever your insurance needs, please don’t hesitate to call your local agent today.