Homeowners Insurance
8 Tips to Reduce Your Chance of Theft
How can I make myself less likely to be victim of theft? Here are 8 Tips that may reduce your chance of theft: 1) Keep bushes and shrubs trimmed to no more than waist high so thieves can’t easily hide. 2) Hide valuables in uncommon locations, such as the refrigerator or in a ceiling. Under a…
Read MoreHousing Marketing Recovery and Home Insurance
The housing market is beginning to show signs of recovery after nearly 5 years of decline. Despite this, market prices are still below the cost to rebuild a home in most locales throughout New Jersey and the Northeast. An interesting article explaining home valuation and New Jersey home insurance in more depth is at Xactware’s…
Read MoreDogs and Home Insurance Policies
Q: I’m looking to obtain a dog, do I need to be concerned with my home insurance? Am I covered? A: The liability in a home (or condo or tenant) insurance policy in most states covers animal bites; however, if you have a dog at the time your home insurance policy begins and don’t disclose…
Read MoreDoes Your Insurance Policy Cover Your Children at College?
Q: What if my son or daughter is away at school? Are they covered under my home insurance policy, or do they need to get their own? Generally, if a child who is a resident of their parents’ house rents the apartment directly and relocates, he or she needs his own policy. If he or…
Read MoreIncreasing Insurance Rates in the Northeast
It’s often difficult to predict insurance rates into the future. This article appeared in the Newark Star Ledger over the weekend pertaining to the extreme weather that has been affecting the Northeast over the last few years and the expected impact on home insurance rates. http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2012/01/insurance_experts_forecast_hig.html
Read MoreWhat is “Building Ordinance or Law” coverage
Building Ordinance or Law Coverage Many home policies include coverage for building ordinance or law changes. If your home is damaged, very often changes need to be made to the house as part of the repair process that are mandated by new zoning codes. For example, if your home was damaged substantially by a tree…
Read MorePower Outages and Insurance
The Power Is Out And I Had To Throw Out The Food In My Refrigerator! During the recent storms we’ve had, many homeowners have gone without power for extended periods of time. Many of our customers have lost food stored in their refrigerators or freezers as a result. The truth about home insurance when it…
Read MoreHome Insurance – Tree Coverage – It’s Complicated
Does Home Insurance Cover Tree Damage? We often get asked about how a homeowner’s policy covers trees that are damaged or cause damage on a homeowner’s property. The following generally summarizes coverage on a typical home insurance policy for different scenarios for storm damage (your specific policy and claim may have differences): If a tree…
Read MoreHome Valuations – 8 Important Things to Consider
Home Valuations How can I be sure my home is valued correctly on my insurance policy? With the present market conditions adversely affecting the sales price of homes throughout the country, many people are unsure how best to value a house for insurance. Here are a few facts to consider: A home insurance policy is…
Read MoreSummer Safety Tips
The PIA, a professional insurance organization we belong to, has published the following safety tips for summer. We thought we would pass them along to all of our customers. Have a great summer! —————————————————- Enjoy your summer without getting burned Summer is a carefree time when most of us are thinking about fun in the…
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