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How to Protect Your Home and Belongings from Water Damage

The best way to protect your home and belongings from water damage is to have the proper insurance coverage and get in the habit of taking care of problems before they get out of hand. For example, investing in flood insurance, even if you live in an area that doesn’t get hit with a lot of floods every year. With natural disasters, you can’t predict when or where floods might occur, so you need to make sure that you’re prepared if they do happen near you at any point in time. Before engaging with the best homeowners insurance companies in California, read this blog to understand the importance of purchasing homeowners and flood insurance in advance.

Homeowners Insurance

Having a homeowners insurance policy can go a long way towards protecting your home in case of damage. While your house may seem like it’s indestructible, it’s still important to protect yourself by getting an insurance policy. There are a handful of coverages that homeowners insurance policies offer, but we’ll cover how personal property coverage and loss of use coverage kicks in when your home or possessions are damaged by water.

Personal Property Coverage

Adding a personal property coverage rider to your homeowners insurance policy can help protect you in case of water damage or flooding. You may have multiple options available to you, such as full replacement value, which pays enough for your belongings that you are able to replace them with comparable items (minus any deductible); actual cash value, which will only pay for what your belongings are worth at current market prices; or actual replacement cost, which will reimburse you for both your original costs and depreciation. Whichever option you choose is dependent on what type of claim is made against your policy.

Loss of Use Coverage

When a major disaster strikes your area, you might not be able to live in your home. That’s why loss of use coverage is important; it helps pay for alternate housing if you can’t live in your home because of water damage or flooding. Some policies also cover additional living expenses for when you are forced to stay somewhere else for an extended period of time, but only if that place isn’t too far away. Having enough insurance on your house will cover everything inside as well as outside replacement costs should things get damaged or stolen by a natural disaster such as flood waters.

Flood Insurance

Unlike typical homeowners insurance, flood insurance is not included in a standard policy. If you live in an area at risk for flooding, it’s important to understand that flood coverage is actually a separate policy—and if you don’t have it, your belongings won’t be covered in case of flooding. For most people, flood insurance is relatively affordable; premiums are based on your location and can range anywhere from $400 to $4,000 per year. For example, someone living in Florida who owns a home worth $250,000 would pay around $1,500 per year for flood insurance (the average cost of flood insurance nationwide). To make sure you’re properly protected against floods (as well as other types of water damage) and that you find the best homeowners insurance companies in California, make sure you talk with your agent or a Get-a-Quote expert about purchasing flood insurance before any disaster strikes.