With weeks left until the end of the 2022 hurricane season and considering the fact that storms are forming stronger and causing massive damage, Vice President of Claims at J.S. Johnson, Edward Albury, gives some answers and tips on homeowner and property insurance coverage. He said, “optimally you would want to ensure that your sums insured mirror the value of your property. And one of the ways to do that is to have a professional appraisal done at regular intervals, perhaps maybe every three years, so that you know what the value of your home is and you can match that to the sum insured.”
Changes such as renovations and other improvements can effect your policy. Albury says, “anything that you do to your house, any improvements, or whatever, you want to make sure and let your insurer know. Because if you, say for example, you buy a generator or you add a section to your house, these changes change the values that are involved. And so your insurer should know so they can tell you whether or not you’re insurance should be adjusted to match the changes in the value. So any change that change the risk or the value of the properties they should updated and notified to your insurer.”
As to the question of what is covered in the home Albury said, “generally people think that all the contents in their home are covered by their contents insurance, that’s not essentially true. We all know that motor cars, trailers, caravans, motorcycles, boats, we know those things are not covered under your contents but you may have parts or accessories for those items in your home they are not considered contents under your home and contents policy.”
In case you were wondering why you can’t get a policy right before a storm, Mr. Albury explains that, “the basis for that is the premium that you pay goes into a pool. And everybody pays a premium into the pool to meet the losses of the few, so if you just try to jump in at the last minute, you’re not really putting any money into the pool and we may have to pay for a total loss of your house. So hence the reason for putting out a moratorium just before an event is upon us.”
