Disaster Insurance: What You Need to Know

Has watching the devastation from the recent deadly tornadoes in Oklahoma got you thinking about what you could do to protect you and your family if you were ever in a similar situation? The folks at the Equifax Finance blog are always looking out for consumers, and they offer some helpful tips on how to prepare now for the unexpected in a recent article, ““Natural Disaster Insurance Claims: What To Do When A Natural Disaster Strikes.”

The article describes four different types of insurance to be aware of:

·         Homeowner’s Insurance – this usually protects against wind and fire, but not against flooding

·         Commercial Property Insurance – this would protect your business or office space from a man-made or natural disaster

·         Flood Insurance – you may think that you are not in a flood zone and don’t need this, but flood zones change over the years, so you could be and not know it

·         Earthquake Insurance – the article says this is usually pretty expensive any only necessary if you live right on a fault line

The article also offers tips on what to do to prepare for a claim and for an emergency:

·         Inventory the belongings in your using photo and video. Take close-up photos of your valuables and sweeping videos of your rooms and belongings (being sure to include furniture, artwork, etc.)

·         Make a file of receipts of major purchases (like furniture, artwork, appliances, electronics, etc.) and keep the file in a waterproof filing cabinet or even better, scan your receipts and save them on a portable storage device. 

·         Make a list of your insurance policy numbers with contact information for your insurance companies. Keep this list, a first aid kit and your portable storage device in a locked box near an exit in your home, so that you could grab it on your way out in an emergency.

·         Make your home as watertight as possible by storm-proofing your roof, gutters, doors, window and basement. 

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