Category: Home Insurance

Understanding What’s Covered Under Your Renters Insurance Policy

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A renters insurance policy is designed to protect the personal property of a tenant. While most property owners will have a homeowners policy or commercial insurance for the actual building, that policy does not cover personal items belonging to tenants.

What’s covered under renters insurance

While the exact coverage can be different depending on the carrier you choose, most policies provide several standard features. As a renter, your belongings would be covered up to your limit if the items were destroyed by a covered event. Fire, storm damage and theft are the common events.

Coverage normally includes personal liability protection. This protects you from a lawsuit if a guest is injured in your residence. Medical payments for injuries to guests are included up to your chosen limit. If you, or a family member, damage someone else’s property, it is also covered under your liability protection.

Most policies will provide you with coverage for additional living expenses (ALE) if your current residence is destroyed and unlivable. ALE pays the difference between your regular expenses and those you incur for temporary shelter.

Purchasing renters insurance in Murrieta and the Southern California area is well worth the low cost, likely less than you pay for two movie tickets a month. Contact Stromsoe Insurance Agency and let a professional explain all of the benefits of renters insurance to you.

Earthquake Safety and Preparedness: Don’t Get Caught Off Guard

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Residents of Southern California know that an earthquake can happen at any time. While some locations are more prone to quakes than others are, everyone should be prepared for an earthquake.

Tips for earthquake safety

Make sure that you have enough food and water for yourself and your family. This should include one gallon of water per person, per day. Food should be easy to open and not require heating. Rotate your stored food supply to keep it fresh. Have a first aid kit available and never light matches where there is potential for a broken gas line.

Secure heavy pictures, bookcases and appliances in your residence. Low cost kits are available for this and the kits are easy to install. According to FEMA, most injuries occur from objects falling, glass breaking or walls collapsing. Take shelter under a heavy table or strong doorway. Stay away from windows.

Homeowners and renters insurance policies do not normally include protection from earthquake damage. Southern California residents should have a separate policy. Stromsoe Insurance Agency has professionals ready to help you understand what is covered under an earthquake insurance policy. Contact Stromsoe Insurance Agency today and get the lowest rates for the protection you need.

What’s Not Covered Under My Homeowners Insurance?

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When you buy a home, obtaining a standard homeowners insurance policy is almost a given. It is important to get at least this level of coverage, referred to as an HO-3 policy, because it will offer protection from many of the things that could go wrong at your home such as damage from lightning, wind or fire as well as a certain percentage of losses sustained from theft.

The mistake many homeowners make is assuming their standard homeowners insurance policy will be a catch all for any possible catastrophe they might face. In the midst of all the chaos that comes with buying a home, many just get the required coverage, but stopping at standard coverage falls short in many different areas. For example damage from floods, earth movement (i.e. earthquakes or landslides), power failure, neglect, water damage, birds or vermin, mold, wear and tear, government action, or war will normally not be covered.

In order to be better protected, many people invest in an add on policy, such as flood or earthquake insurance, or extra protection that will cover more of their personal property.

Of course, policies can vary quite a bit from person to person, so the only way to tell for sure what is covered and not covered is to look closely at your policy. It’s important to do this before catastrophe strikes in order to determine what types of additional coverage you might need.

All the options and offers from different insurance companies can easily become confusing, but when it comes to the security of your home and family, confused is not how you want to feel. At Stromsoe Insurance Agency in Murietta, CA, we work with 44 different insurance companies and have seen many different insurance policies for many types of insurance — including HO-3 policies. While it’s important for you to read through your own policy carefully, we can help you identify the gaps in your coverage and help you research which insurers might be able to fill those voids. To learn more on how to make sure your home is truly covered, contact Stromsoe Insurance Agency today.

Demystifying The Confusing World Of Home Insurance Deductibles

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What in the world is a split deductible?

This may be one of the many questions that new homeowners have when it comes to understanding the confusing world of homeowners insurance. Deductibles and insurance rates can sometimes put people in financial hot water if they are not careful to decide the best amounts based on their finances. Let’s try to demystify deductibles so you are choosing the right one based on your home.

Basically, a deductible is what you will pay out of your own pocket when a claim is made to your insurance company. This tactic is to ensure that people don’t put in frivolous claims expecting the insurance to pay for every single one. When serious damage or theft happens to your home, your deductible is placed into paying part of the costs as the insurance company will pay for the rest.

You can choose different types of deductibles. Most homeowners pick a deductible that is a percentage of the insured value of the home. This means that if you own a $100,000 home, you could pay 2% — as your out-of-pocket deductible would be $2,000. You may also decide to choose a split deductible, where you pay varying set amounts for different hazards, such as paying $400 for fire coverage and $250 for theft coverage.

Carefully consider the amount you want to pay for your deductible. The higher the deductible, the less you will have to pay for your premiums. But don’t pay a high amount that is out of your financial means. To find out more about homeowners insurance and to receive advice about deductibles with no charge to you, please contact Stromsoe Insurance Agency at 951-600-5751.

Ensure Your Home Is Built On A Stable And Sturdy Foundation

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Buying a home is a very exciting experience, but dealing with foundation problems can be an aggravating and costly headache. Before you even consider purchasing a home, always inspect the foundation. If your home wasn’t built on a stable or sturdy surface, it may have structural damage that can make living there unsafe.

Poorly-built foundations will show cracks along the outer surface, uneven floors and doors that aren’t aligned, and diagonal cracks along the walls of your home. Some damage can be easily fixed, such as cracking, as a silicone caulking can be applied. More serious problems may require foundation specialists to go underneath your home and repair the foundation by adding supports.

Even if your home has a stable foundation, you will need to perform the proper maintenance so it lasts for a very long time. Steps to maintaining your home’s foundation may include:

  • Moving gutter downspouts so water is redirected away from the foundation to prevent water damage
  • Cutting down or trimming the roots of trees and bushes that are putting pressure against the foundation as this can cause the bricks to crack.
  • Immediately filling in cracks that can appear when the foundation shifts due to soil movement

For more information about maintaining your home’s foundation and about getting the right homeowners insurance, please contact Stromsoe Insurance Agency at 951-600-5751.

How much homeowners insurance do I need?

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Your home is the most valuable asset that you own. When it is damaged you will need an insurance policy in order to repair the cost of fixing the home. Here are some things to think about when determining how much homeowners insurance you will need in order to fix your home in the event of a total loss.

What to Consider When Calculating How Much Insurance You Need for Your Home

  • You will need to accurately figure the rebuild cost of your home. Know the year of build, square footage, type of home and what materials make up the home.
  • Ask for a replacement cost type policy for your belongings. This means the value will not depreciate when it comes time to cover the loss.
  • Acquire inflation guard for your home policy. Your policy will automatically adjust the rebuild cost based on current inflation rates.
  • Endorse water backup coverage onto your policy to protect against water backing up through the drains of the home.
  • Have enough liability to cover costly lawsuits.

For more information, in the Murrieta, CA area, about how much coverage you need to protect your home, please call Stromsoe Insurance Agency. We can help get your questions answered and your policy ready to protect your home. Our agents are ready to assist you in anyway that we can.

Tenant, Beware! The Perils of Leasing

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If you are a tenant, you might believe that you have avoided many loss exposures, such as fire damage to the structure, associated with owning the building. However, have you read your lease lately? Really read it?

Many leases contain extensive insurance requirements that the tenant (you) must agree to meet. Although these usually include liability from your actions and responsibility for covering your property for loss, it’s easy to overlook the extent to which you might have agreed to cover exposures usually assumed to be the responsibility of the building owner.

For example, retail shopping areas often have an abundance of external glass windows. Although these are clearly the property of the building owner, many leases transfer any responsibility for damage to the windows to the tenant. The idea is that because you directly control the potential loss exposures for the glass (such as vandalism, accidental breakage, and maintenance inspections), you should provide the insurance. Similar reasoning might lead you to being held responsible under the lease for other losses not directly attributable to your own negligence.

Now is the time to pull out that copy of your lease. Review it with your legal counsel to see if there might be language or agreements that need addressing. Then let us review the document for its insurance implications (be forewarned — they won’t all be contained in a paragraph titled “insurance”). We’ll review with you, what your lease requires, how your current insurance program matches up with these requirements, and then offer guidelines for making any necessary changes to your protection.

Call us today to schedule an appointment. 877-994-6787

Make Sure You’re Getting All The Homeowners Insurance Discounts You Can

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Most companies offer basic discounts on Homeowners coverages, such as bundling Home and Auto insurance, loyalty rewards, and installing smoke detectors and/or home security systems.

However, a growing number of companies offer significant premium discounts on Homeowners insurance to policyholders who are:

  • Senior citizens. If you’re 60 or older, you could lower your premium by as much as 15%.
  • Non-smokers. If you’ve given up the habit — or have never picked up a cigarette, cigar, or pipe — you might qualify for a discount.
  • Married couples or widows/widowers. Could be eligible for discounts of up to 5%.
  • New buyers who have closed a home purchase within 60 days.
  • Willing to increase coverage to reflect a rise in inflation.
  • Ready to buy coverage for the full value of a home.
  • Prepared to buy from a new carrier before the policy with your current insurance company expires.
  • New policy holders with the company (the “welcome” discount) and purchasing coverage for the entire value of your home.

You might also be eligible for a discount if you don’t have a Property damage claim for a specified period, such as three years.

Bear in mind that many insurance companies might not offer some (or any) of these discounts.

To see if you’re eligible, check with the professionals at our agency. We might be able to save you some big dollars. Call today! 877-994-6787

Guns, Homeowners, and Insurance

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When it comes to insuring firearms, Homeowners coverage offers some clear guidelines. We understand gun control remains a controversial issue, but we are here to help.

If you have rifles and pistols in your home, your policy will insure them against fire damage or theft, usually up to $2,500. Although a Homeowners application might not ask specifically about firearms, the higher liability risk that guns present means that failing to inform your agent or insurance company in advance about them could result in denial of a claim for loss or damage to them.

Because of this greater liability exposure, your insurer might require you to show that you’ve taken such sensible precautions as installing trigger locks, securing firearms properly in locked gun cases, and keeping them away from children. If you have a collection of guns that’s particularly valuable (for example, antique sidearms), you might need to buy a policy rider that ensures their replacement or reimbursement — much as with other big-ticket items, such as jewelry and fine art.

If you shoot someone else or yourself accidentally while in the home, your policy might pay for some or all of the damages, (medical bills, property damage, liability claims, and so forth), depending on the amount of coverage. However, to guarantee full protection, you would need additional policy riders, such as “Sporting Firearm insurance,” “Collector’s Firearm insurance,” or “Gun Club Liability insurance.”

To learn more about firearms coverage in your home, please give your Protection Coach a call 877-994-6787.

What’s The True Value of Your Home?

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In regards to the value of your home, the two most commonly cited sources are usually useless for insurance purposes.

Most people base the perceived value of their home from a benchmark of the original purchase price, and then adjust it over time based on current home sales or tax assessments. However, even realtors will tell you that such values are educated “guesstimates,” subject to wide variation.

For example, “appraised value” is an estimate of the property’s worth in the current marketplace derived from an analysis of the home, the community, and the recent sales prices of similar homes in the area. The local taxing authority determines “assessed value” to levy property taxes. To confuse the issue further, state and local laws and regulations often require capping or discounting taxable assessments well below the full value assessed by the authority.

However, neither of these values might be practical for insurance purposes. If your home is severely damaged or destroyed, the true value you need will be the cost to rebuild it, not what it might sell for or its tax assessment. Too many people have made the mistake of relying on assessed or appraised values to determine if they have enough Homeowners insurance only to find, much to their chagrin, that their coverage fell far short of true construction costs.

Give us a call today; we’re ready to help you develop a solid estimate of your reconstruction costs. 877-994-6787