Category Home & Renters Insurance

Is Homeowners Insurance Required?

person sitting on desk looking at laptop

Homeowners insurance is not required by law like auto insurance is in Washington state. However, mortgage lenders may certainly require you to purchase a home insurance policy. Even though this is mainly because they want to protect their investment, it…

Wind Storm Damage – Am I Covered?

By Ryan Stueber  January 18, 2019 (edited Jan 2020) It’s already been a wet and wild winter here in the Pacific Northwest with some significant weather  events and yes, more on the way!! As the threat of wind looms, I thought it might be helpful to others to share with you some of the common scenarios that happen during our winter weather and how they are covered on a typical home insurance policy. As always, we’ll be here to help you thru the process should you have any questions or any damage occurs at your home. 5 Potential Winter Damage Insurance Claim Scenarios Windstorm blew shingles off my roof Is it covered? Yes but with some limitations- a typical Homeowners Insurance policy will pay for repairs to your roof, assuming the repair costs more than your deductible. But what if the roof is beyond repair and needs to be replaced? In many cases, the insurance company will pay out a depreciated amount to help replace the roof. This means that the older your roof is and the poorer the condition prior to the storm, the smaller the amount that the insurance company will pay. Insurance companies do this to protect themselves from paying out to replace people’s roofs that already need to be replaced due to wear and tear. Our recommendation The first thing to do in this scenario is the call 2-3 roofing companies to come out and assess the damage. If it is under or around your deductible, then it makes sense to take care of the damage yourself and not file a claim. If the damage is more severe or the roof needs to be replaced, give us a call to discuss further as it may be worth filing a claim at that point. Windstorm blows a […]

Smart Home Monitoring Saved Irreplaceable Photos

House Flood

Nearly 100 year old family photos were saved, huge water damage avoided – all because of smart home monitoring…..and it all started about our pets being home alone…… Ever leave your pets home alone?  Worry about irreplaceable items being destroyed? I do.Our family pets are often home alone.  As many of you probably feel, our pets are definitely considered family members (and pampered and spoiled ones) at our house. Sometimes things that happen to others can trigger, a “what would happen” response in our own world. Such was the case, and I began thinking about things that could happen when we aren’t home. Around that same time,  I became aware of Smart Home products and one called “Notion” was being featured by Travelers Insurance, it is a home monitoring system.  Allowing users to be notified via a mobile apps if a smoke alarm goes off, if temperature exceeds or dips below a certain level, if water is detected on a sensor, movement of doors, etc.  These devices are typically small and several vendors out there, the device is placed in the area you want monitored.  You can then be alerted via email or text in most cases, if the smoke alarm goes off or if placed on the floor near hot water tanks, washers, toilets, etc for unexpected water.  There are actually several features in these devices in addition to smoke and water. They can detect motion, such as opening doors or Windows. They can detect temperature changes such as if your heater fails while you’re on an extended leave in the winter you would know if your pipes are in danger of freezing. You could also know if by some reason someone left the heat on in your house and you were spending unnecessary money by heating an empty […]

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