Your Home Insurance Questions Answered

At PMC Insurance, we get a lot of emails with questions surrounding home insurance. To help you understand your home insurance policy and how your insurance premiums are calculated, we've collected a few of the most frequently asked questions and answered them for you.

1. Why do I need home insurance? 
Your home is often the biggest investment you'll make in your life. It's also one of the most important possessions you will own; it's where you and your loved ones live. It's your foundation and base, where you go after a long day of work and where you relax. Home insurance protects your home and its contents from loss and damage. This loss or damage could be due to theft or natural causes like thunderstorms and earthquakes. Home insurance also has a liability component, covering you in the event that someone harms him or herself on your property.

2. What are the different kinds of home insurance policies? 
There are three main types of insurance. Comprehensive policies covers your home and its contents against all risks, except for excluded risks. This kind of policy tends to give you the most coverage, and as expected, costs the most. Basic / Named Perils insurance is a type of insurance that covers you against specific risks and is not all-encompassing likeComprehensive. A Broad insurance policy is a mix between the Basic and Comprehensivepolicies, offering one kind of insurance for your property and another for your contents. For instance, you may choose to have your property covered for all losses and damages, and only specific items in your home covered.

3. How does an insurance company calculate my premiums? 
There are many factors that contribute to your insurance premiums. Primarily, an insurance company will look at the cost of replacing your home and its contents. The more expensive your house, and the more costly items you own, the higher your premiums will be. The neighbourhood in which you live also comes into play, as different neighbourhoods have different levels of crime. Your home's age is also a factor, as older homes tend to have more problems and newer homes tend to have fewer.

10 Insurance Scams Homeowners Frequently Try to Pull

Many homeowners fudge values a bit or make less-than-honest estimates when filing a claim with their homeowners’ insurance carrier with the attitude that they’re only taking back money that they’ve already paid. This attitude is not only criminal, but also costs the community money in raised premiums across the board. Here are some of the most commonly filed bogus homeowners insurance claims.

1. Overstating Value – In the event of a break-in, determining the value of your stolen possessions can be difficult. Overstating the value of a family heirloom or other object with more sentimental than monetary value can be tempting, but it’s important to remember that doing so is insurance fraud.
2. Storm Damages – When a home sustains damage from storms or other events that are covered by their policy, some homeowners are tempted to blame damages that occurred through non-covered events on the storm as well. Unscrupulous homeowners may also damage their own property to receive a settlement.
3. Staged Fires – The idea that a homeowner could set fire to their own home is a shocking one for most people, but it does happen. When facing foreclosure or other financial devastation, some desperate homeowners have been known to resort to arson. In addition to criminal insurance fraud charges, they almost always face arson charges as well; this can add up to hefty fines and significant prison time.
4. Salesman-Induced Fraud – This common scam is typically perpetrated by a salesman with most clients being unaware of the legalities; touting the ability of their equipment to detect “microscopic siding damage from hail” or other damages, these shady salespeople bill insurance companies to replace virtually undamaged siding or other surfaces.
5. Underwriting Fraud – Most homeowners don’t realize that being dishonest on insurance applications or refusing to disclose important information is considered fraud, and can carry criminal penalties. Fudging the truth to get a better premium may be common, but it’s unethical and illegal.

Winter driving habits that can cost you

There is no question that harsh winter weather can wreak havoc on your vehicle. From snow, slush, and salt damage to treacherous driving conditions that can increase your chance of a collision, drivers need to be extra cautious during this snowy season.While you can’t control the weather, you do have power over certain practices that put you at greater risk for theft or damage and can be easily avoided. Here are a few winter driving habits that can be costly.

Leaving your running car unattended.

On frosty winter mornings, many people start their car and go back into the house, leaving the vehicle running in the driveway to warm up the engine and de-frost the windows. Or, they don’t turn off their car when they run into a convenience store or ATM “just for a minute”. But an unattended car is an open invitation to thieves. If you have to leave your car for any period of time, turn off the ignition and lock the doors. It may seem inconvenient, but it’s not nearly as much trouble – or as embarrassing – as being stranded or having to report the vehicle as stolen.  

Driving with all-season tires instead of snow tires.

Leaving your all-season tires on your vehicle may not be the safest option during the winter months.  Studies have shown that winter tires are more effective at preventing accidents during the cold winter months than all-season tires. They have deeper treads to cut through snow and help you stop, and they are made of rubber compounds that don’t lose their grip when the temperature dips below 7 ° Celsius as with all-season tires. Besides safety another benefit to switching is some insurance companies will even offer you a discount if you install four winter tires on your vehicle – check with your insurance professional.

Forgetting to clear the snow from your windows and roof.

Before you head out on the road, it is important to clear the snow from all windows on your vehicle – front, back and sides – to ensure you have an unobstructed view.  Be sure to clear off the roof of your car as well, as chunks of snow and ice can blow off your car as you drive, causing a hazard for other vehicles and yourself which could potentially lead to an accident.

Keeping your car unlocked to avoid freezing.

Being unable to open your car doors because the locks have frozen is not an experience you want to have, especially standing outside in sub-zero winter temperatures. You may be tempted to leave your car unlocked so that you can still access it, but then so can would-be thieves.Always lock your car as a precaution, even if you’re away for only a few minutes. Invest in a purse or pocket size bottle of lock de-icer for those really frigid days. It only costs a dollar or two, a small investment that could save you from the big costs and headaches of a break-in or theft.

Leaving valuables in plain sight.

When you leave valuables in your car where they can be seen, anything from expensive electronics like a satellite radio, purchases from your shopping trip or spare change for the drive thru, your car becomes a target for thieves. Even if your car isn’t stolen, a thief could smash your window and take your belongings.Keep these items out of sight by storing them in your trunk, glove box or centre console. If you don’t have a trunk, invest in a hatchback tonneau cover or other device that will conceal the storage area.Some items left in your car such as sports equipment, a laptop computer or shopping purchases are not covered under your auto insurance policy; they are covered under your home insurance policy. With a car break-in you may have to make two separate claims, and that means paying two deductibles.In the unfortunate case of an accident or theft, do you know if you’re covered? Talk to your insurance professional about your policy

Boating Season is coming to a Wrap… Here’s some information that could help you for the upcoming season….

Winterizing Your Boat’s Motor

When the boating season ends, many folks are anxious to get their boat out of the water and get it into storage. They might do a few quick winterizing activities, such as thoroughly drying and draining the boat or cleaning the hull, but some folks neglect to take the time to winterize the boat’s motor. The fact of the matter is that your boat insurance isn’t going to cover damage that occurs to your boat’s motor during winter storage, so you need to be diligent about getting it ready for those cold temps and the long months of storage.

Here are the things you need to do in order to winterize your boat’s motor:

·       Get your boat out of the water and do the rest of your winterizing. Start with the rest of the winterizing steps. Clean your entire boat, including the deck and cockpit. Make sure you drain your bilge pump. Drain and clean your toilet facilities per your manufacturer’s recommendations. Open up your storage areas so they don’t build up any moisture. Make any necessary repairs.

·       Check your owner’s manual. Make sure you can use moisturizing spray lubricants, for example, and see what else the manufacturer recommends and suggests you should avoid when it comes to storage and winterizing.

·       Clean the fuel system. To clean your boat motor’s fuel system, fill the tank with some fuel stabilizer and marine fuel. Run your motor for a while to make sure that the treatment gets to the engine and the fuel lines. This keeps your fuel from spoiling or getting gummy over the winter, and helps to avoid oxidation as well as condensation.

·       Flush the cooling system. Take out the plug and drain the water from the engines. Use a flushing kit on the engine. After you’ve flushed it, pump anti-freeze into the system. If you don’t flush, you’re looking at the possibility of your lines freezing and causing engine damage.

·       Oil the engine. Apply a spray oil to help keep rust from building up. Consider a fogging oil specifically made to not slide off your boat cylinders. Change the lubricant in your gear casing, making sure to not leave any water in there to freeze.

COTTAGE & BOAT INSURANCE

A ‘Basic Seasonal’ policy will usually cover: fire and lightning, explosion, smoke, falling object, impact by aircraft or land vehicle, riot, certain water damage losses, windstorm or hail, and electricity.

A ‘Broad Seasonal’ will usually cover all of the above plus vandalism or malicious acts, burglary, robbery and damage caused by bears.

A ‘Seasonal Homeowners’ policy will usually cover all of the above plus theft, attempted theft, glass breakage, transportation, collapse or partial collapse of the building.

Contact you’re nearest PMC Insurance Branch for further information.

Renter's Insurance... Or Not?

 This article is a great tool for helping you to choose whether or not to purchase Renter's Insurance.  At PMC Insurance we offer a variety of different Renter's Insurance options. 

The first time most people think about insurance is with their first car or home. Usually this is because the law or bank requires us to do so. Although renter's insurance is usually not required, it is just as necessary to have. Not only will renter's insurance protect your personal items, it will also give you help with temporary housing and liability protection such as medical expenses for people on your property or a lawyer if you are sued by someone unintentionally injured by you. Once you determine your need for renter's insurance, knowing your options will help you choose the best policy.

Is Your Cottage Protected?

It's a good idea to review all of your insurance policies on an annual basis to make sure that you've covered everything you need to cover and ensure that you're not paying for coverage you no longer need, and cottage insurance is no different. 

This helpful article provides you with all of the information necessary to help protect and insure your Cottage!

Cottage Insurance

Buying insurance for your cottage is very similar to buying insurance for your home. In fact, cottage or seasonal properties are most often listed as an add-on to your home insurance policy, and many companies will not consider offering you insurance for your cottage if you do not already have home insurance with them as well. 

There are different types of home and cottage insurance that you can buy:

8 Ways To Save on Home Insurance

For many people, the cost of their home insurance premiums may seem to grow year after year.    This equates to an ever tightening strain on many homeowners’ annual budgets, and can be a real difficulty.  However, it may actually possible to reduce the cost of your home insurance premiums considerably, if you know how to go about it.  These tips will help you try to reduce your rates! Contact PMC Insurance to reduce your home insurance today!