Homeowner’s insurance provides vital protection in the case of fire, theft, storms, and other covered losses that occur at your residence. However, it is in every policyholder’s best interests to keep your claims to a minimum for a couple reasons:
1. As a general rule, the more homeowner claims you file the higher your annual premiums will be.
2. Many insurers reserve the right to cancel your coverage if you file an excessive amount of claims in a relatively short period of time.
In other words, you want to do everything you can to make sure you do not end up having to file unnecessary claims on your homeowner’s policy that could have been avoided. This means taking appropriate measures to secure your property; including installing smoke and CO2 detectors, installing an alarm system, refraining from smoking inside your home, keeping your home in good repair, and keeping your home electrical system safe.
Many older homes (and even some newer properties) have faulty and/or out of date electrical systems. There are, however, some ways to make sure your electrical system is safe and up to date. Here are six of them:
1. Keep your eyes open for obvious signs of electrical problems: If you have certain circuit breakers that trip on a regular basis or some of your lights are dim and/or flickering, these may be signs that you have a problem. If you notice any obvious issues with your electrical wiring, make sure to address these immediately.
2. Avoid overloading your outlets: One of the reasons a circuit may be tripping all the time is that you have too many things plugged into the outlet. For example, you may have multiple appliances (usually in the kitchen) plugged into the same outlet. This is usually not a good idea. Spread out your major appliances as much as possible. If necessary, have an electrician install additional outlets to handle the necessary capacity.
3. Use extension cords on a temporary basis only: Extension cords may be needed for a few weeks around the holidays, but they are not meant to be a permanent solution. During the holiday season, be sure your lights are spread out to different outlets. During the rest of the year, avoid indefinite use of extension cords as much as possible.
4. Do not use light bulbs that exceed the socket wattage limit: This is a rule that is often violated; many homeowners do not pay attention to the wattage limitation of the sockets for their light bulbs. For example, if you put a 75 watt bulb into a socket with a 60 watt limit, you are taking an unnecessary risk. Make sure this is not happening in your house.
5. If you have children, put tamper resistant receptacles into your electrical outlets: Children like to play around with anything and everything in the house. Since you cannot be there to watch them every second of the day, install safety receptacles in your outlets to keep them safe.
6. Have your home inspected by a professional electrician: To ensure that all of your plugs, outlets, sockets, circuit breakers, etc. are in proper working order, it is best to have a full assessment done by a qualified electrician. Address any issues with your electrical system right away so you can keep your home and family safe.
Even after you have done all you can to minimize the risk of a homeowner insurance claim, unforeseen events still happen. Talk to your insurance agent to make sure your home is properly covered in the event of a worst-case scenario.
About The Author
Todd Balderson has been protecting families and businesses through insurance coverage since 1996. He is the founder of Balderson Insurance Agency and serves clients in Maryland, DC, and Virginia. Todd is known for reminding people about how “insurance is more crucial to building your wealth than investments because without insurance, it’s easy to lose your assets.” Learn more about Todd and the insurance protection he offers at http://www.BaldersonInsurance.com
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