homeowners insurance

Prepare Your Home for Winter with the Right Homeowners Insurance in North Carolina Winter can be a beautiful season in North Carolina, but it also brings unique challenges for homeowners. Freezing temperatures and potential snowstorms make it essential to prepare your home for the cold months ahead. Beyond physical preparation, updating your homeowners insurance policy ensures your home is protected against winter-related risks. Winterizing Your Home Take proactive steps to reduce the chance of winter damage: Inspect Your Roof and Gutters: Clear out debris and ensure your roof is ready to handle ice and snow. Check Your Heating System: Have your HVAC system serviced to confirm it works efficiently before the cold arrives. Seal Doors [...]

How to Protect Your Vacant Home Having N.C. homeowners insurance to protect your home isn’t as simple as it might seem. Your policy includes provisions, conditions, and exclusions that can affect your coverage. Many people don’t realize that leaving a home for an extended period could compromise their homeowners insurance coverage. According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), your home may count as vacant if it remains unoccupied for 60 days or more. Because standard N.C. homeowners policies include a vacancy exclusion, leaving your home vacant might lead to a coverage denial if you experience a loss. Do you know how to protect your vacant home if you need to leave for an extended period? [...]

Some Inexpensive Ways to Prevent Your Home from Being Burglarized Home burglary is a quick way for criminals to steal cash, jewelry, televisions, and computers, with break-ins occurring approximately every 15 seconds. Will your home be the next target, or have you invested in inexpensive ways to protect your home from being burglarized? A break-in violates your sense of security, threatening your safety in a place where you should feel protected. Beyond that, imagine the feeling of discovering that your personal, cherished belongings have been stolen. What Burglars Don’t Want You to Know Is your home being targeted without you knowing it? While you may not be able to completely prevent a home break-in, you [...]

What You May Not Know About Insuring Your VRBO or Airbnb If you rent your home or a room to others, you might think your N.C. homeowners insurance policy provides enough property and liability coverage. However, what many don’t realize is that N.C. homeowners insurance often excludes coverage for vacation rental activities. Before you continue renting out your property, it's important to review your N.C. policy’s provisions, conditions, and exclusions, and discuss your rental activities with a local N.C. independent insurance agent. Facing a coverage denial for something you thought was covered can be financially devastating, especially if you're left paying for damages out of pocket. Your independent insurance agent can help by reviewing what is covered [...]

Dangerous Dog Breeds-Best Friends or Foes?  Owning a dog can be very rewarding, but may come with its share of risks, especially if your dog bites someone.  Approximately 4.5 million people are victims of dog bites per year according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Although your N.C. homeowner’s insurance typically provides liability coverage for dog bites, up to the acquired limits of liability, you may find yourself in a financial bind if you are the owner of a certain breed(s) deemed as “dangerous.”  Before you purchase or adopt a dog, you may want to reflect on what is considered to be “dangerous” dog breeds.  Some insurance carriers may refuse homeowners coverage for [...]

Public Wi-Fi And the Dangers  In our world today, everything revolves around technology.  Whether in cars, grocery stores, restaurants or coffee shops, you'll find people staring at their phones or working on their computers. While there are many perks to this, there is also a significant downside.  Did you know that some of those people you may see on their laptops and/or phones may be trying to steal YOUR identity?  So, before you think about signing onto your computer, you need to know about public Wi-Fi and the dangers associated with it.  Free Wi-Fi May Cost You   The ability to work on phones and laptops from anywhere is an amazing feat, but the growing trend [...]