Are You Protected in the Event of a Hurricane?

As Hurricane season comes into full swing one must ask, are you properly insured? Are you protected so that if in the event your home is destroyed or damaged due to a hurricane, you'll be covered and able to rebuild? What do you need to do to determine if you're properly insured? The following article will help you make sure that you are protected.

First and foremost you need to contact your insurance agent and have them walk you through all your homeowners and hurricane coverages. You'll need to make sure that you have a hurricane policy. Normal Homeowners policies usually won't cover hurricane damage. They typically cover wind damage but that usually doesn't apply to hurricane winds. Once you've found out what type of policies you have on your home, ask your insurance agent to walk you through the coverages on the policies. It's helpful to have the declarations page in front of you when you call so you can make notes. If for some reason you do not have your declarations page, ask the agent to mail one out to you right away. Some agents can even fax it do you if they have the ability to do so. If you don't have the declarations page, take notes on a separate paper and once you receive the declarations page in the mail, you can transfer your notes.

When going over coverages make sure you understand fully what is covered under each section and what isn't. You don't want to be surprised after hurricane to learn that you weren't covered. Learn what your deductibles are as well so you can prepare ahead of time to pay those if necessary. Also remember that your coverages are for replacement of your home, not for the value of your home. Because of this your coverages may seem smaller than you'd think but are actually normal.

If you find that you are missing coverages that are necessary to be fully protected ask your agent to put them on your policy as soon as possible. Hurricane coverage may be hard to find the later into the season. Remember insurance is to protect you from unforeseeable events, not from that hurricane that's two days away. So it's best to buy Hurricane insurance before the need for it arises.

You may also want to look into having flood insurance if you don't. Though not always necessary in some areas, it's a good idea to have it to fully protect yourself from events that aren't hurricane related that may cause flooding after a storm.

Don't delay! If properly insured, insurance companies are there to bring you back to the position you were in before the storm. When you have proper coverage you'll most likely encounter no problems when processing a claim. Problems can arise though if you aren't fully covered. So contact your agent and make sure all is in order before the storm hits and you're left out in the cold!