When to Consider Filing a Home Insurance Claim
It's a situation many homeowners face: You pay for
homeowners insurance in Banning, CA to protect yourself from financial ruin, yet filing a claim when disaster does strike puts you at risk of seeing your annual premiums increase. Every time there's damage to your property or an accident on it, you need to consider whether it makes financial sense to file a claim or absorb the losses yourself.
Many consumers mistakenly believe that all incidents should be covered - because that's why they have home insurance. The reality is that filing a claim is not always in your best interest. For example, some deductibles may be higher than the cost of repairing the broken fence. If you have high deductibles, you could be looking at a large out-of-pocket cost for very little help from your insurance coverage once the deductible is paid. What's more, once you file that claim, your insurance premiums could spike, costing you even more money.
So when should you file a claim? Here are some good basics to follow:
- Never file if the claim is bigger than the deductible. You're putting the claim on your insurance record and it will stay there for at least three years.
- Make sure you're covered for the claim. For example, you cannot receive coverage for flood or earthquake damage if you don't have the coverage. However, if you file a claim with your insurance company for something that isn't covered, the claim itself doesn't go away.
- Try not to file claims often. If you're a consistent claimant, insurers will likely raise your premiums. While it isn't unusual for a homeowner to file up to two claims in a 10-year period, more than one or two in a three-year span and the alarm bells go off as high risk.
- Don't submit claims for what is really a home maintenance project. If the fence is rotting and you know one big windstorm will blow it over, budget the household finances for a new fence first.
Talk with your insurance agent if you're unsure about
home insurance coverage, deductibles, and more. The team at Little & Sons Insurance Services in Banning, California can help! Contact us today to get started on securing reliable coverage.
