Helpful Information

1. Know your limits – often insurance policies have a cap on the amount that valuable items are covered for. Items such as jewelry or DVDs may only be covered for a set amount such as $5,000. If you have specific assets worth more than the standard limits then a capped policy won’t replace them so you should consider insuring these items separately or run the risk of not being able to have them replaced in the event that a claim needs to be made.
2. Going out of town? – Leaving your place vacated for an extended period of time may void your insurance policy. If you leave home for extended periods for work or vacation (usually more than about two months), it may be worthwhile to check the maximum term that applies to your insurer as you may require extra cover.
3. Termite Damage – Damage from pests such as termites is usually not covered in your policy as insurance companies see pest control as the home-owners responsibility in the normal upkeep of the building and view termite damage as a preventable event.
4. Flooding – Insurers are often quite restrictive on the type of flood damage they will cover so it is a very good idea to make sure you understand whether a policy covers flooding and how flooding has been defined. If you live in an area that has a history of flooding you might not be able to get flood coverage but it’s still worth asking as there are some policies that may still cover flood damage. You might have to pay a bit extra to be covered though.
5. Work from home? – If you have a designated space for working from home, you will need to have a separate business insurance policy to cover you for any damages that may occur to your home office.
6. Got Pets? – not all policies cover property damage done by pets so if you’ve got pets it’s important to find out if your insurer will replace that chewed up couch. Incidentally, some insurers also offer pet insurance to their home and contents policyholders which may come in handy if your old dog needs a couple of knee replacements.
7. Read the policy document – This might seem straight-forward enough but a lot of people wait until an event occurs before they decide to have a look through their insurance policy document and by then it’s too late if your policy doesn’t cover that particular event. If you are especially worried about a particular event, browse through the policy document even before you take out the policy so you can have some peace of mind if that event does occur.