Protect Your Landscape Investment
Do you own a home with a yard? If the answer is yes, did you spend some time and money landscaping your yard? Many homeowners including myself have spent a lot of time tending to their yards. Many spent a lot of money as well. Does your homeowner’s insurance policy cover landscaping? The answer is very little if any. Check out the following article for details.
Protect Your Landscape Investment
One of the more common complaints heard from insureds after a major property loss is a lack of homeowners coverage for valuable trees and landscaping. Most homeowners policies provide only limited coverage (with restricted perils) for this loss exposure—usually 5 percent of the dwelling limit subject to a maximum of $500 per tree or shrub. Peril restrictions may also preclude coverage; for example, there is no landscaping coverage for a loss to landscape arising out of windstorm. Unfortunately, many trees, in particular, can be valued in the thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars. To protect this investment, consider the following risk management tips.
- If you have valuable mature trees, consider asking a licensed or certified arborist to appraise their value. Trained arborists use guidelines to value these trees, and such guidelines are recognized by insurance companies, the courts, and, in most cases, the Internal Revenue Service.
- Once you have the valuation, consider asking for an endorsement to provide higher limits and enhanced coverage for your valuable trees and other landscaping.
- Practice sound loss control for your trees. For example, topping of trees should be avoided. (Topping is the indiscriminate cutting of trees to stubs or lateral branches that are not large enough to sustain the remaining branch.)
- Hire a tree specialist to properly prune and thin out your mature trees. This action makes your trees less susceptible to disease and insects. For extremely valuable trees, consider hiring an arborist for this work. When selecting an arborist, check for his or her membership in professional organizations such as the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA), or the Tree Care Industry Association (TCIA).
- Recognize tree hazards to avoid injuries and damage to property. For examples, dead or dying trees are more likely to fall into utility lines, which could cause power outages, surges, and fires. Dead or dying trees are also likely to damage homes and could even injure people should they fall. Hiring a reputable tree specialist to remove dead or dying trees is a smart move. Get copies of the contractor’s certificates of insurance for workers compensation and general liability before work begins.
Get more personal lines insurance and risk management tips and ideas from IRMI.
Copyright 2010
International Risk Management Institute, Inc.
Flood Insurance Rates may Spike
New flood insurance rate maps have recently been developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for Oahu and Kauai. Homeowners on these islands with federally backed mortgages may now need to obtain flood insurance. And homeowners who currently carry flood insurance may see a dramatic increase in their flood insurance premiums. Check out the Honolulu Star Advertiser article below. In one example, the flood insurance premium for a homeowner could increase from $350 annually to $5,700 annually!!
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20100805_New_maps_could_hike_insura nce_cost.html
Tips to Save Money on Your Auto Insurance
Interested in saving money on your auto insurance policy? Check out the following article on some tips to save on your auto insurance premiums.
Lower Your Auto Insurance Costs
Automobile insurance premiums often take a big bite out of a family’s budget. You may, however, be paying too much for this coverage. The following are several approaches you can use to reduce your auto insurance costs.
- Choose higher deductibles, particularly if you currently have a low collision or other-than-collision deductible, such as $100 or $250. Increasing your deductible from $250 to $500 or $1,000, for example, can reduce your collision and other-than-collision premium by 15 to 35 percent.
- Eliminate collision and other-than-collision coverage on older, less valuable cars. If your car is worth less than $1,500, it may be wiser and cheaper in the long run to just retain this physical damage exposure. Used car valuations are available online at Kelley Blue Book.
- Maintain an excellent credit record, since insurance companies are increasingly using credit scores to price auto insurance policies. Consumers with poor credit often pay more for auto insurance.
- Buy a “low-profile” automobile. Before you purchase a new or used car, check into the auto insurance costs. Automobile models that are expensive to maintain and have higher theft and collision frequency rates tend to have higher insurance costs.
- Take advantage of multipolicy discounts by keeping your homeowners and auto policy with one insurer. Likewise, take advantage of multicar discounts by having all autos on one insurance policy.
- Seek out other auto insurance discounts (which can vary by state and by insurance company), such as defensive driving, good student, low-mileage auto, alcohol awareness training, air bags, antilock brakes, claim-free experience, and long-term customer.
Get more personal lines insurance and risk management tips and ideas from IRMI.
Copyright 2010
International Risk Management Institute, Inc.
