Summer Insurance Review
A Look at the Coverage You Have
With summer well upon most parts of the country, it might be a good time to review those insurance policies that have gone mostly ignored for most of the year. Although these policies hardly make the list for top beach reading, a review of how you have planned for a disaster might just give some added peace of mind.

Homeowners
For folks living along the southern coasts of the United States, the new hurricane season brings additional worries in the form of increased coverage costs to simply maintaining the coverage you have. If you haven't been following how the hurricane states have been treated of late by the insurance industry, you should have.

In those southern states, the rates for windstorm coverage have increased by almost 100%. In some northern states along the Atlantic seaboard, companies have found it easier to simply cancel policies altogether. (You do have the option of canceling additional coverage to your home should it become too expensive, but do so only with your lender's approval.)

There are some things you can do even as the hurricane season begins and for the rest of the country, now is also the best time to look at how well your coverage protects you and if you can afford it.

• Review your deductible. Insurance is designed to help during a disaster and works best when the instances of damage are isolated as they are during a fire. Often times, the insurance company responds quickly and payments come soon after the claim has been settled.

  This is not always true when a large natural disaster strikes. During those periods, such as after a hurricane or an earthquake, the problems for underwriters are magnified. This leads to a much slower process. Residents in the southern states are opening insurance bills with substantial rate hikes even as the companies they do business with have yet to make good on last year¹s damage settlements.

  By taking a look at the deductible and possibly raising the amount you will pay should a disaster strikes, will have an impact on how much your rates increase. In many instances, the cost of too low of a deductible makes you too high of a risk. Be sure to set aside the amount of the increased deductible as soon as possible.

• Be careful when opening a claim Always consider when and if you should call your agent before actually placing the call. In many cases, your policy can come under review should you open too many claims. An inquiry of coverage in itself does not constitute an open claim, but too many "fishing expeditions" about what and whether your policy covers this or that can cause the agency to open a claim even if you choose not to take their help. Make as many repairs as possible using licensed contractors or if you choose to do it yourself, with the proper permits.
• Make upgrades to your home In many cases, damage to your home during a natural disaster can be minimized with some simple home upgrades. Your insurance agent will supply you a list of the most cost effective ways to make your insurance less expensive.

  Insurers like to see homeowners upgrade their homes against disasters. If your tree falls on a neighbor's roof during a storm, guess who pays. While taking down trees is not always necessary, a good inspection of the property might turn up trees that are in the throws of a slow death and need to be addressed. Loose roofing, unsecured siding and other potential repair problems are better dealt with by the homeowners in advance of any natural disasters. Plumbing, electrical, and security upgrades can also reduce the overall costs of insuring your property and often allow some wiggle room for increased premiums in high-risk areas.

• Reconsider your choice of home If your choice of homes lies in the path of previous disasters, perhaps you should look elsewhere. Even if that home is affordable now, insurance premiums will rise depending on how high on the disaster scale of possibilities your home resides.

  Insurance premiums are not the only thing likely to increase in these disaster possible locales. Local taxes for community preparedness, especially after the shift in sentiment from Washington to the states and municipalities concerning who is responsible, are likely to increase as well and in some places, significantly.

• Take a home inventory This may involve more than just taking pictures of your stuff although you should do that as well. If you are capable of taking digital movies, do that also.

  Scan or photograph all of your important documents. Load all of your info on a computer, transfer the information to one of those new portable flash drives, the ones that can hold up to 1-2 gigabytes of info and put it in a safe deposit box. Scan a back-up copy and put it in a place you can access easily in case of an emergency.