You’re on vacation and a hurricane blows through your Florida community and destroys everything in its path. You’re thankful you’re home alone but your insurance company sends you a bill for the total rebuilding cost and doesn’t send you a bill for a individual’s living expenses.
You find out the hard way that your insurer won’t just send you a bill for your individual living expenses like food and hotels, but they’ll send you a bill for the total rebuilding cost of your house. They don’t send you a bill for a housekeeper or a handyman. And you never received a reimbursement for the personal property you destroyed in the hurricane.
If you’ve been a loyal customer of years, you know that your insurer has a program that provides money to reimburse you for any damages to your house, but you don’t know what it is. A great way to find out what your insurance company does to customers who don’t stay with them for years is to ask them to send you a bill for individual’s living expenses while you’re cleaning your house and repairing the damage caused by a hurricane. That way you can see for yourself what they consider your home insurance coverage. It’s your home too after all, and it should be taken as seriously as your car.
If you want to learn more about your own homeowner’s insurance policy and what it covers, you can call your agent. Your agent will be glad to answer any questions you may have and is usually available to answer your call even after you’ve submitted your homeowners insurance application. Your agent will be glad to provide you with details about your policy in all of its coverage, but if you’re not happy with the information they send you, you can ask them to send you a bill for your living expenses while your house is being rebuilt.
While you’re paying your homeowners insurance premiums on time, you might want to ask your agent to send you a bill for living expenses while your house is being repaired after a hurricane or other disaster.
Just remember that not all homeowners’ insurance policies are the same, and your agent should be glad to explain them to you. Also remember that your insurance company can do more than send you a bill for living expenses, and they may be willing to try to help you pay your premiums. Just remember that if you’re unhappy with the amount they send you, you can ask them to try to send a check for a smaller amount, or even to skip your premium and send you a bill for a larger amount.