Nik McDaniel - COUNTRY Financial

We put together some information to help you understand the basics of a homeowners policy so you’re better prepared when you need to purchase or switch insurance providers. This information is not specific to COUNTRY Financial and is meant to provide a general overview.

◾ What is home insurance?
Home insurance is protection for your home and possessions. You pay your home insurer a premium and in exchange, they agree to pay for the cost to repair or rebuild your home if it’s damaged or destroyed by a covered event (these are outlined in your policy).
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◾ What does home insurance cover?
Home insurance provides protection against damage caused by sudden and accidental incidents. A standard home insurance policy will usually include three main types of protection:
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◾ Dwelling Coverage
Designed to repair or rebuild your main home structure, dwelling coverage is the main protection provided by home insurance.
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◾ Personal Property Coverage
Personal Property Coverage allows you to replace items such as electronics, furniture, clothing and other belongings.
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◾ Liability Coverage
Liability Coverage provides financial protection for you if someone is injured on your property or a member of your household causes damage to someone else’s property. Umbrella insurance is added liability coverage that goes beyond the limits of your existing car and home insurance.
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◾ What is a covered loss?
Covered losses are events, sometimes called perils, covered by homeowners insurance. Talk to your insurance agent about the covered losses contained in your specific home policy.
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◾ How much is home insurance?
Factors affecting the cost of home insurance include: Location, age, size and condition of your home
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◾ How can I be sure I’m covered for a home insurance claim?
You choose how your property will be valued if you have a claim, and that affects the amount of coverage you have to rebuild. While it may vary by home insurer the levels of protection are actual cash value and replacement cost.
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Learn about our home insurance coverage
https://cfin.us/Home-Insurance-101

COUNTRY Financial continues to maintain its financial strength and deliver on promises to clients. AM Best, an independent insurance ratings agency, affirmed our A+(Superior) rating.

This is especially notable, as many other insurance companies have received downgrades as the industry struggles with higher costs and rising losses.

COUNTRY has been in business for nearly 100 years, and we are making long-term decisions that will help us to be there for clients for the next 100 years.

Why invest the time to do an inventory of your home? Think about this. If something were to happen to your home and the belongings inside of it were destroyed, could you list every item you own right then in that moment?

Probably not. That’s why you should do one. It’s easier to do than you think and only takes about 10 minutes. We’ll show you how.

✔️ Use your phone – Capturing it on video is the most efficient way to do a home inventory. The more detailed you are, the better it will be. You don’t need to capture video of everything you own. But you do need to go room by room and show what you can see.
✔️ Use narration – This is a key step. Use your words and describe what you’re recording. To make things easier, do a video clip for each room in your home (don’t forget closets and the garage).
✔️ Focus on big-ticket items – Think of things like flat screen TVs, computers, expensive furniture and valuables (jewelry, etc.). If those items have stickers with serial or product numbers, zoom in and show those in your video.
✔️ Save the video in the cloud – If you only save your video on your computer, what happens if it’s destroyed along with your other stuff? That’s why you should email it to yourself, share it with your spouse or relative, or send it to your insurance agent.
✔️ Update your home inventory once a year – Check in with your insurance agent annually to discuss any major purchases you’ve made since the last time you did an inventory. Be sure to add those new items to your update.

Learn more about creating a home inventory here: https://cfin.us/home-inventory