Are you planning an extended vacation? If you are going to be away for several months, you should take precautions to ensure your house insurance premiums don't go through the roof. Insuring a vacant house is costly because of the increased risks it faces. The following measures will help you to keep the rates manageable:
Get Someone to Stay In the House
Don't leave the house vacant; let a short-time tenant or a relative stay in the house for the duration of your vacation. As previously hinted, unoccupied houses face multiple threats such as burglary, burst water pipes, and leaking roofs. Even occupied houses face these threats, but the difference is that someone will be around to limit the damage.
For example, if there is no one around to plug the leak from a burst water pipe, the water damage can totally destroy your house's contents. Therefore, having somebody live in the house is a good way of ensuring that any problem that occurs is easily nipped in the bud.
Secure the House
You shouldn't expose the house to unnecessary risks, which means you should secure it to the best of your ability. This usually means locking all the doors and windows by using approved locks and installing a burglar alarm. This helps because most burglars are attracted to houses that are easy to break into; the more you make your house difficult to break into, the less likely thieves will target it.
Ensure the House Is In a Good State of Repair
When disaster strikes in an area, dilapidated houses suffer more extensive damages than those that are in good conditions. For example, during a storm, shingles may be blown off the roof if some of the shingles were already missing before the storm. Therefore, ensure your house is in a good state of repair before you live; that way it won't suffer extensive damage even in the face of a natural disaster.
Reduce the Risk of Accidents
Lastly, there are little (but significant) steps you can take to reduce the risk of little accidents that can cause serious damages when nobody is around. For example, you should set the heating system to frost to reduce the risk of frozen pipes that can burst. You can also switch off the main water supply to reduce the risk of water leaks.
Inform your insurer before leaving your house vacant. You may need to buy an endorsement to your existing policy or buy vacant house insurance if your insurer doesn't have the endorsement option.
For more information, talk with a local home insurance company, like Reinhardt's Insurance Agency.
Share29 November 2016
When I got married, I knew that there were a few things that I needed to learn about the way the world worked. For starters, I had to figure out how insurance worked since I wanted to make the most of my life without worrying about money. I started focusing on the policies that I had in place and gradually moved towards acquiring new life insurance and the like. Having each of these coverages helped give both me and my spouse peace of mind. We both knew if something happened to me that the other would be okay. Check out this blog to learn more about insurance needs.