A home insurance policy may not be a requirement for most homeowners, but if you have one, it certainly gives you some peace of mind. After all, a disaster can strike your home at any time, and your homeowners’ insurance policy is your guarantee that you will be able to recover from the damage and losses it may cause.
COVID-19, however, has many policyholders worrying about their home insurance coverage. They already know the pandemic is affecting the economy, and it is likely to make an impact on the insurance industry as well.
How worried should you be about the impact COVID-19 might have on your homeowner’s insurance?
Concerned About Increased Premiums?
Most home insurance policyholders are concerned about the possibility of the pandemic causing their premiums to soar. It might take time to see if that is going to happen, and the pandemic has only been around for a few months.
Then again, it is not likely for insurers to raise homeowners’ insurance premiums, not when the pandemic has reduced the risk of burglaries from happening because people are always home. The constant presence of residents also makes them more likely to immediately notice and address any structural problems, which lowers the likelihood of filing claims.
However, if the pandemic gets worse and causes civil unrest, the number of home insurance claims could rise, and that will give insurers every reason to increase premiums.
Inability to Pay Premiums
Millions of people have lost their jobs because of COVID-19. That could render them unable to continue making on-time premium payments on their home insurance policy.
Thankfully, many insurers are offering temporary payment suspensions as the pandemic rages on, giving policyholders a much-needed respite. Talk to your insurance company and find out what they are offering in this regard.
Do You Need Higher Personal Liability Coverage?
Your home insurance policy has liability coverage, which protects you in case someone gets hurt within your property or if any of your family members damage a neighbor’s house, like breaking a window after a wild baseball pitch.
If an accidental scenario like this takes place, you will likely find yourself at the receiving end of a personal liability claim. With the pandemic making medical treatment even for non-COVID-19 patients riskier, more complicated, and in some cases, more expensive, your liability coverage may not be enough to cover any claim against you. In such a situation, you might want to consider increasing your liability coverage.
Questions About Claims Processing
How claims are processed will depend on your insurer. Some insurance companies may still perform exterior inspections on your home and observe social distancing measures the entire time. Others will likely resort to virtual claims processing. Then again, many insurance providers already have online claims processes in place long before the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic.
Filing a virtual claim takes no more than signing into an app or website, writing a report that details the extent of the damage or loss, and submitting photos and videos as evidence.
As things stand, homeowners insurance policyholders do not have much to worry about for now. Still, it would not hurt to keep yourself updated in case your insurer announces policy changes that might affect you in a significant way.
Sources sited below:
Jill Wedeles AllState- JillWedeles@allstate.com or 239.482.7804