Should You Protect Your Home With Disaster Insurance?

If something can go wrong it most likely will go wrong. Therefore, you should be well prepared before the any of the bad happens. Which is why having disaster insurance should be a top priority before a disaster affects you.

Hurricane Harvey has displaced 40,000 people from their homes. Houstonians have been stranded in their homes or forced to evacuate. A handful of people have been killed due to the hurricane, as well. Hundreds of homes have been destroyed due to water damage. Other homes have been torn apart by the strong winds, as well.

According to Fortune, in two counties alone, Hurricane Harvey has already caused about $23 billion in property damage. Reuters also reported about 18% of the properties were residential. Most of the valuable items that were in those homes are possibly destroyed. Having disaster insurance may not bring them back, but it could possibly replace some of them. You can also purchase tools and machining at a discount to get you back on track.

How does disaster insurance work?

Disaster insurance works pretty much like any other insurance policy that you take out. Most of the time the company you are filing a claim with will have someone come to your home and assess the damage. After a full inspection is finished, the company will determine whether or not they will award a settlement.

Most of the time you will be covered for many natural disasters that could occur. This includes hurricanes, floods, landslides, tornados, earthquakes and any other natural phenomena. This even includes nuclear accidents, as well. Depending on your region you will need insurance that corresponds to where you live. Someone who lives in the Midwest, say Nebraska or Kansas, probably does not need a policy that covers hurricanes.

How much does disaster insurance cost?

Depending on where you live and what you want to protect yourself the price of your policy can vary. If you live in a region that has a proclivity for landslides, your policy is going to be higher than a state that does not experience them often. Most homeowners should also know that most homeowner insurance policies do not cover all disasters. Many policies have to be tailored to fit your needs. For example, flood insurance is typically covered by a third-party insurer.

You should make sure you are clear about what you want to be covered, as well. Usually, policies are broken into two different categories: dwelling and personal property. Landslides may be covered in your dwelling policy, maybe be different for your personal property.

Do you need disaster insurance?

Some of us will never live through a natural disaster, while others have to deal with them on a daily basis. There is another percentage of people that will experience “freak accidents” they did not expect. Do you need to protect yourself from another Three Mile Island accident? Maybe not, but you should look into insurance for disaster common to your region. It is better to have it than to need it after something terrible has occurred.