The Best Insurance Options for Protecting Your Vehicle and Home from Storm Damage

For many homeowners, spring and summer are when they’re most likely to need to make a vehicle or home insurance claim. There are several reasons for this, and one of the biggest is that it’s often when the most disastrous storms hit and wreak havoc on our homes and vehicles.

With that in mind, here is some vital information about the best insurance options for protecting your vehicle and home from storm damage.

For Your Vehicle

Your best bet for making sure your vehicle is financially protected if a storm hits is by having comprehensive insurance. With comprehensive insurance, your vehicle is insured for damage caused by things other than collisions.

Just some of the things comprehensive insurance can cover include:

• Fire and smoke damage
• Water damage
• Hail damage
• Windshield damage
• Vandalism
• Theft

Understandably, the coverage for fire and smoke, water, hail, and windshield damage are often related to storms so comprehensive coverage is especially useful when you’re concerned about storm damage and your vehicle.

For Your Home

Fire

Fire and smoke damage is one of the most common home insurance claims, and this is often caused by lightning strikes. Home insurance policies almost always include fire as a covered peril, but it’s imperative you have ENOUGH coverage.

Let’s say a particularly devastating lightning strike resulted in a fire and the complete destruction of your home. Do you have enough coverage to include the cost of rebuilding it from scratch? If not, be sure to increase the dwelling coverage component of your policy.

Water Damage

Did you know homeowners insurance policies don’t include flood damage protection? Many homeowners don’t realize this until it’s too late. If you want to be financially protected from flood damage to your home, you’ll need to purchase flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program.

Earthquakes: In addition to flooding, most home insurance policies also exclude earthquake damage. If you want to be covered for the damage an earthquake could cause to your home, speak to your provider about adding earthquake insurance to your policy.