The Sunshine State is a fantastic nickname for Florida, but it doesn’t quite cover everything you can expect from the weather. However, the sunshine, tornado, flood, and storm state doesn’t have quite the same ring, and it doesn’t really encourage you to want to live there either. So, how do you focus on the sunshine while protecting yourself and your property from the less than sunny aspects? Invest in homeowners insurance that covers everything you need at a price you can afford.
Understanding homeowners insurance
The idea of homeowner insurance is to give you peace of mind and financial security should anything happen to your property. However, you’re often left with a big hole in your pocket in return for this peace of mind. With the average policy costing $1583 a year, Florida is among the most expensive states in terms of homeowners insurance. The high cost is, unsurprisingly, linked to the rather unpredictable nature of the weather, but covering your home and enjoying life does not have to cost you an arm and a leg. A bit of knowledge and investigative work can save you at least enough for something more fun than insurance.
Considering coverage
Individual policies differ in cost, the amount they pay out, the items they pay out for, and the types of events they cover, such as:
- Fire
- Storms, wind, thunder, and lightening
- Riots, civil unrest, vandalism and malicious actions
- Damage by vehicles, including aircraft
- Theft
- Damage by ice, snow or sleet
- Volcanic eruption
- Damage from artificially generated electrical current
Cutting the cost of homeowners insurance
The more events you have included in your Florida homeowners insurance policy, the more the policy is going to cost. However, before your rush out to remove events such as volcanic eruption, you need to consider the cost of having to pay for repairs if you just happen to be affected by such an eruption.
Of course, where you live makes a big difference to the likelihood of this or any other event happening. It is worth considering the following questions before making any decisions:
- What is the crime rate in your area?
- Are you living in an area with a history of floods?
- Are you in a high wildfire risk area?
- How many tornadoes/tornado warning have been issued in the recent past?
- Do you live under or close to a flight path?
Understand your policy before making cuts
An alternative to removing events from your policy is to look at what you have covered and the amount it is covered for. Policies usually offer cover for at least the following:
- The main structure – your home
- Other structures – sheds, fences, detached garages
- Personal property – the things you own and keep in the structures named above
- Loss of use – Additional living expenses (if your home is destroyed or made uninhabitable)
If you don’t have any additional structures, or you don’t keep anything of value in them, you can save money by having this coverage removed from your policy. It is also worth checking the amounts for which your belongings are insured. Unless you have family heirlooms or antiques, you may find you are over-insured.
Hidden in the small print of many policies are clauses allowing for the personal property of your dependents to be covered while they are away at college, as well. If you don’t need this clause, you can save yourself some money by getting such clauses removed.
By reading the terms of the policy carefully and removing things you don’t need, you can spend your money on the things you do need without scrimping on the essential cover.
Talk to the experts
Wether it is your first home, primary residence or second home, allow the experts at Pablo Beach Insurance to review your homeowners insurance policies. We are locally owned, have a casual approach and deliver professional results.
Florida Insurance Experts
For almost 15 years, PBIG has been helping Florida residents by getting them the right coverage at the right price. We are locally owned, have a casual approach, and deliver professional results. Click below to get a no-hassle, free quote from one of our experts.
