Today marks the beginning of week three of National Preparedness Month (September 16-22).
Your home, your personal belongings, and your business are meaningful and valuable assets. If a disaster strikes, having insurance for your home or business property is the best way to ensure you will have the necessary financial resources to help you repair, rebuild, or replace whatever is damaged. Yet, more than half of all homeowners in the United States do not carry adequate homeowners insurance to replace their home and its contents should a catastrophic loss occur. Now, before a disaster strikes, take the time to document and insure your property. Not all insurance policies are the same. Coverage amounts, deductibles, and payment caps can vary significantly. Consult with your insurance professional to be sure your policy is right for you. It’s also important to review your policy annually to remind yourself of your coverage and to make any updates based on new purchases, renovations, increases in property value, or increases in costs to rebuild or replace items.
FACT: You may be required to have flood insurance. Congress has mandated federally regulated or insured lenders to require flood insurance on mortgaged properties that are located in areas at high risk of flooding. Even if your property is not in a high risk flood area, your mortgage lender may still require you to have flood insurance. Check out Ventura County’s flood history on FEMA's interactive site by visiting this link: www.fema.gov/data-visualization-floods-data-visualization. Roll your cursor over Ventura County to see how many flooding events have happened here.
Also, since we live in southern California – earthquake country – find out the risk of earthquake and the cost of insuring your home by visiting the California Earthquake Authority website at: www.earthquakeauthority.com
You can find helpful links to all National Preparedness Month topics at: www.ready.gov/september or at: www.simivalley.org/oes and click on National Preparedness Month.
