Home is your sanctuary, your castle, the place where you feel the most secure and protected. It is natural to feel this way. So, it is not surprising that you store your prized possessions and valuables at home as well. But is that the best choice for all your valuables?
The recent wildfires in California are the latest in a string of devastating disasters to impact homeowners in the U.S. Together with the hurricanes along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts and tornadoes and flooding in the Midwest, residential property losses are expected to approach $100 billion according to CoreLogic. Making matters worse, as much as 80 percent of these losses are not insured. Together with the surge in residential burglaries over the last few years, it appears homes are under siege.
Because of these events, the cost of homeowners insurance is expected to increase dramatically in 2018 and beyond.
Now more than ever, you need a thoughtful examination of how best to protect your valuable possessions and to identify strategies to reduce your insurance costs.
These tips will help get you started:
– Don’t broadcast on social media when you are out of town for work or vacation.
– Leave lights on variable timers.
– Accompany repair or utility staff while in your home.
– Keep valuables out of sight and make sure to stop mail delivery while out of town.
– If you have a safe, make sure it is bolted down, preferably to a concrete floor
Today, when the 100-year event seems to occur multiple times every year, these basic steps can help you begin to manage the real threat to some of your most valuable property.