Top 11 Home Insurance Problems and Solutions

Home Insurance Problems To Look Out For And Their Solutions

Your home is one of the most important investments you own—if not the most important. Not only does it provide a safe place away from the rest of the world's demands, it's also where you build memories with friends, where your children will grow and where you and your partner will build a life together.

Protecting this important asset should always be a top priority, and the best way to protect your home is through the right insurance policy. While you would have purchased home insurance upon buying your home, there are certain situations where a standard homeowners insurance policy simply won't provide enough coverage in the event of a loss.

But, what are these home insurance problems? And how do you know if your current home insurance policy is providing enough coverage?

The team at Morison insurance is able to answer all your questions about potential home insurance problems and more. Our family-owned and operated business is dedicated to helping homeowners across Ontario find the best coverage for their unique needs. Each of our insurance brokers excel at listening to our customers, answering their questions and comparing quotes to find the most comprehensive coverage possible.

Our goal is to ensure you can have peace of mind knowing your home will be protected—no matter what home insurance problems might pop up along the way. At Morison Insurance, our brokers have the solutions to these problems.

To help you figure out what additional coverages might be needed on your home insurance policy, we put together the following guide. Keep reading to discover solutions to the following home insurance problems.

1. Theft

The first potential home insurance problem homeowners face is when theft occurs. Most insurance policies protect against theft, break-ins and burglaries, however, since the details of your particular coverage may vary per insurance provider, it's important to talk to your Morison insurance broker to ensure you’re adequately protected in the event of a robbery. This includes being reimbursed for stolen belongings and any damage to your home itself. It can be devastating when your home is broken into, particularly if high-value items were taken.

Prevention Tips:

Often, homeowner insurance policies don't have a high enough limit for coverage on valuable items like jewellery, antiques and collectibles. By adding an endorsement to your policy, or even a separate "floater" policy, you can ensure your high-value items are properly protected.

Another way to improve your peace of mind and prevent break-ins is to invest in a home security system. Not only do home security systems help deter burglars and protect your valuables, but they can also lower your premiums. Reach out to one of our dedicated insurance brokers to learn more today.

2. Natural Disasters

Living in Ontario, you're no stranger to the many severe weather events that can seriously damage your personal property. Hailstorms, violent winds, lightning and flash floods can all wreak serious havoc on your home. However, did you know that not all home insurance plans offer coverage for certain natural disasters? For instance, lightning may not be covered by your current policy. Likewise, you may not be protected from certain types of water damage.

Prevention Tips:

To avoid this home insurance problem, it is important to talk to your Morison Insurance broker to establish what is and isn't covered by your current homeowners insurance plan. If there are gaps in your current coverage, our team will guide you toward endorsements that will give you greater peace of mind. For example, you may want to add overland water coverage to be protected from sudden flood damage due to heavy rains or spring run-off from overflowing lakes and rivers. This type of flood damage may not be covered under your present policy, and could cause devastating damage to your home.

Water Damage Mitigation How-To:

Along with having the right coverage in place, there are a few water mitigation steps you should take to ensure your home to reduce the likelihood of a water event damaging your home. For instance, consider:

• Installing a sump pump with battery backup to usher rising water out of your home before a flood occurs.
• Adding a backflow valve prevention device to your water pipes, which stops improper water flow.
• Ensure you have proper ventilation in all rooms, particularly in humid areas such as the bathroom or laundry room.
• Hire regular plumbing maintenance services to check for leaking pipes and faucets.
• As soon as you notice signs of a problem, such as water stains on your walls, call a plumber right away.

3. Old Homes

While older homes certainly have many benefits and can be very beautiful, they have their own set of home insurance problems. Usually, most home insurance policies will cover the cost of bringing a damaged building back to its original state. But, if your home is more than 30-years-old, this coverage may not be enough to bring your home up to code. Complying with updated laws can get very costly for older homes.

Prevention Tips:

One of the best ways to ensure your older home will be provided enough coverage to mitigate all the construction costs after a disaster is to add an ordinance or law endorsement to your insurance policy. This endorsement will cover the additional costs of complying with rules and regulations while rebuilding.

4. Short Term Rentals

Do you occasionally rent your home? Perhaps you lease it as an Airbnb, or you have short-term renters while spending time at the lake in the summer. While short-term rentals are a great way to supplement your income, they also increase your exposure to risk, and unforeseen home insurance problems if using a standard policy.

Prevention Tips:

It's absolutely essential that tenants provide proof of their own insurance before temporarily staying in your home. Were something to happen to one of your tenants and they don't have the correct insurance—and neither do you—you could wind up facing a lawsuit. While some short-term rental companies, like Airbnb, offer some protection, you should still ensure all your bases are covered by talking to a qualified broker at Morison Insurance.

5. High-Value and Historic Homes

If you've invested in a high-value home, whether it's highly customized to your needs or a historic building, a standard homeowners insurance policy might not offer enough coverage. The policy likely provides actual cash value coverage. This means it will pay a maximum of the replacement value of your lost or damaged property, minus depreciation. Unfortunately, for high-value homes, this figure won't come anywhere near the cost of replacing special finishes and craftsmanship. Not to mention, many historic homes have irreplaceable attributes and materials—like antique glass windows.

Prevention Tips:

To adequately protect your high-value or historic home, you should have a policy that pays losses on restoration costs, or a guaranteed value policy. A restoration cost policy will pay to restore your home's unique features. Meanwhile, a guaranteed value policy will pay up to the maximum amount that you choose—giving you more control over how much you expect to pay to recoup your losses after a disaster.

6. Business Equipment and Property

Do you store business equipment and tools at your home? Perhaps you have a shed full of machinery used for your business, or are keeping inventory in your basement. What many Ontario homeowners don't realize is that commercial equipment and property is not usually covered under a typical home insurance policy. This means that if you're storing costly equipment at your home and there is a flood, damaging all your tools, their replacement cost will not be covered.

Prevention Tips:

To protect your commercial equipment, tools, property and inventory from the worst-case-scenario, you must add an endorsement that protects your commercial property. For instance, you may need a home-based business insurance policy. This coverage protects against damaged inventory, broken equipment, liability claims and customer lawsuits—otherwise not covered under a homeowners insurance policy.

7. Recently Remodelled

Remodelling your home is a big project. But after the stress, and expense, you get to enjoy a home that's entirely your unique vision and perfectly suited to your distinct needs. However, were something to happen—like a fire or flood—that irrevocably damaged your newly renovated home, your limit might not be enough to cover all the work you've put into your place.

Prevention Tips:

Work with a Morison Insurance broker to avoid home insurance problems and to get the best insurance for your needs. By checking your insurance coverage annually (at minimum), you're able to confirm if you have adequate coverage post renovating. One of our hardworking brokers will also be able to advise you if you need to update your limits.

8. Identity Theft Protection

If you make purchases or payments online using a credit card, you could be at risk of having your identity stolen. Since it takes a criminal very little time to steal your identity, your world can be turned on its head in an instant. Not to mention, getting everything back on track after having your identity stolen is a major pain—and can be financially draining.

Prevention Tips

But, did you know you can protect yourself against that risk through adding a personal identity theft endorsement to your homeowners insurance policy? This endorsement not only covers you, but also other individuals living in your home by mitigating the cost of repairing your financial history, hiring legal representation, recouping lost wages and more.

9. Landscaping

If you've invested in costly landscaping, like planting valuable trees and shrubs, you should ensure it's properly protected with your homeowners insurance policy. While most policies will cover tree and shrub damage, usually coverage only extends to certain perils. This could include fire, lightning, explosion, vehicles not owned by the resident, vandalism, theft and malicious mischief.

Prevention Tips:

Confirm what perils are listed on your current policy. For instance, if you're covered for fires but not floods, or vandalism but not theft, you may need to adjust your coverage so your landscaping is properly protected.

10. Inflation Costs

Living in Ontario, you're likely familiar with inflation. If you live in a community where living costs are increasing rapidly, you may need to raise your policy limit to ensure you'll be covered if you ever have to repair or replace your home after a loss. Essentially, the policy limit you set when you first purchased your home is likely not enough to cover the value of your home now.

Prevention Tips:

By adding an inflation guard endorsement to your homeowners policy, you will automatically increase your coverage limits every year by a particular percentage. This endorsement will ensure your property is protected, rather than discovering it can't cover the cost of repairs and replacements in the event of a disaster.

11. Residents Who Aren't Family

Even if you consider your roommate like family, or your partner just moved into your home but you aren't married, most homeowner's insurance policies won't cover them. Usually, home insurance policies cover the "named insured," meaning the person whose name is on the policy. This policy also insures relations and individuals under the age of 21 who are in your care. Yet, it won't protect other people, even if you consider them part of your household.

Prevention Tips:

Talk to your Morison Insurance broker today about your living situation. We'll help you ask your insurer to cover other individuals living in your home as a named insured or insured. This will protect them from liability and other concerns.

Why Choose Morison Insurance?

There is a reason why Morison Insurance is one of the highest-rated insurance brokerages in Ontario. Not only do we provide outstanding customer service, but our team has many merits that make us the people's top-choice time and time again.

Our loyalty is always to our customers, so when you choose Morison Insurance, you can rest assured we always have your interests at heart. Our years of experience and in-depth industry knowledge means we will always find you the absolute best coverage for your needs. And our professionalism and authenticity means we'll take the time to get to know you and learn what those needs are. We shop dozens of companies to find the coverage that fits your individual requirements. Your complete satisfaction is always our top priority.

To inquire about how we can enhance your current insurance policy, and avoid any potential home insurance problems, we invite you to give our friendly team a call today at 1-800-463-8074. You can also get a quote now by reaching out online.