Do you know what storm damage insurance coverage can do for you?
Does your homeowners policy include storm damage insurance coverage? If not, it should. Even if you think it could never happen to you, it can. Everyone thinks that, until disaster strikes. Whether there’s a major storm with major damage or a small storm with minor damage, there are a lot of benefits to having the right coverage. Here are 3 of the best things about having insurance that covers storm damage.
#1: Flood Coverage
Although this is often a policy addition, having flood coverage is critical to staying on your feet financially after a natural disaster. Most insurance covers water from the sky but not water from the ground, or flood water. If water comes into your house through a broken window or a hole in the roof that are caused by the storm, you should be covered.
The best part about insurance coverage and flooding, whether from precipitation or a sewer backup, is you don’t have to clean up all that water yourself. You get to file a claim and have your insurance company pay for a professional restoration company to deal with the water, the damage, and even the sewage. Review your policy with your agent to make sure your coverage is comprehensive.
#2: Tree Damage
All those big, beautiful, old trees in northern Georgia are such a blessing! Until they fall on your house. High winds from heavy storms can cause branches to break and trees to uproot, and if they fall on your house they can do extreme damage.
Cutting up a huge tree is quite a task, and pulling it all off your house is a whole different matter. But wait! If you have insurance, you don’t have to worry about how to use a chainsaw, or how you’ll pay someone to do it for you. Do you know how much it costs to have someone remove a downed tree? It can cost upwards of $500 per tree. Insurance will pay for that.
And what about the damage? If you’re wondering how you’re going to repair that hole in your house, or how you’ll rebuild that wall, or how you’ll pay to replace the damaged furniture and landscaping, worry no more. The right insurance coverage will pay for repair and restoration, or replacement, if necessary, of your home, including your belongings,
#3: Lightning
Lightning can cause a house fire during a storm. The most common place for fires to ignite from a lightning strike is the roof and attic area, since that’s generally where it will hit first, and there is flammable structural material located under the roof. If you have a house fire from lightning, it can do catastrophic damage.
Repairing the damage alone is a huge undertaking and can have huge cost implications, but if the fire spreads and your house has major damage, or even total damage resulting in the loss of your home, how will you recover? Without insurance you would be left hanging to foot the bill of the repairs or the rebuild. That kind of damage can devastate a family financially.
Insurance will protect you from losing everything if there’s a storm that’s big enough, strong enough, or with the right elements to cause damage to your house.
Insurance is there to protect you. It not only gives you peace of mind when you don’t need it, but it provides you with shelter, restoration, and recovery when you do. If you have storm damage that requires professional repair, you don’t have to maneuver through the insurance process on your own. A reliable restoration company will help you manage the process until you are back in your home, in its pre-storm condition.
