@Home: 3 Things All Mortgagees Need to Know About Home Insurance.
By SUZZANNE COUSINS
For most mortgage lenders, if not all, your home must be insured for the duration of the loan. Therefore, as long as you have a loan with The National Housing Trust (NHT) or any other lender, you more than likely have a home insurance policy attached to your property. But you may wonder, why do I need insurance? How do I make a claim? And should I keep paying for it even after completing my loan payments? We’re sharing the answers to these questions below:
Why do I need home insurance?
Home and contents insurance protect you from incurring excessive costs for damages in your home or on your property as a result of theft, fire, flood or natural disasters. Your policy (depending on which one you choose) covers the cost of damages to your house, its fixtures like windows and faucets or its contents like appliances and personal belongings. Without adequate coverage, you may be forced to pay out of pocket to repair or replace items in your home. Therefore, having insurance helps to give your peace of mind, financial security and an assurance that even if something should happen, you won’t have to face it all alone.
How do I make a claim?
First, make sure to review your policy thoroughly so that you know exactly what coverage you have. If you need to add extra features to protect other aspects of your home, be sure to do that from the outset.
Second, keep your receipts. For every item you have insured or any upgrades to your home, always have your receipts available to show its value.
Third, after a perilous event, be sure to take pictures and document everything that happened. If you have security camera footage, it’s best to have these saved and ready for use as evidence when filing your claim.
Fourth, file your claim on time. Don’t wait until the following hurricane season to file a claim on a roof that was destroyed the year before. Always file in a timely manner so that your claim can be dealt with more quickly and efficiently.
Fifth, get independent estimates, even if your insurer arranges this on your behalf. You want to have as many options as possible so that you can get the highest payout for damage to your property.
Sixth, do your due diligence to keep up your home maintenance. Do your home inspections and repairs on time, so that you can limit the chances of having a disaster from a faulty step, leaking pipe or a damaged electrical wire.
Why should I keep paying for my insurance even after completing my loan payments?
Even though you’re not required to have a home insurance policy after you’ve completed your mortgage, it would do you well to maintain your policy and here’s why. You get to maintain the peace of mind you had when you had the mortgage. For most homeowners, you finish paying off your loan when you’re entering retirement or after you’ve retired. At that point in your life, you no doubt want to protect your valuable assets; so that you don’t have to worry about replacing stolen items, repairing a roof torn off by a storm or paying liabilities if a friend or employee is hurt on your property. So it just makes sense. Plus, maintaining your insurance ensures that your home remains protected for generations to come.
Protecting your home is more than just putting up a fence and having grills on your windows, it’s getting the coverage you need to ensure that you maintain the integrity and value of your home, even if it gets damaged.
What else do you want to know about home insurance? Tell us below!
