Category: Home Insurance

2 Out Of 3 People Are Underinsured – Are You One Of Them And Don’t Realize It?

5/13/2025

🛑 66% of U.S. homes are underinsured
🛑 1 in 7 drivers has no insurance at all

Why? Many people either can’t afford full coverage or never revisit their policies as costs rise. That means when disaster strikes, the protection they thought they had falls short.

Here are 3 real-life examples:

Moving & Insurance: What You Need to Know Before Packing Up

5/6/2025

May begins the historic peak season for moving in the US. Whether you're moving across town or to a new state, one of the biggest decisions you'll need to make is how to transport your belongings.

The method you choose—hiring professional movers, renting a truck yourself, or using your own vehicle—can have a major impact on your insurance needs.

Here’s what you should consider to make sure your belongings are adequately protected during the move.

Homeowners Insurance and Golf Carts: Don’t Get Caught Unprotected

4/29/2025

If you're a homeowner and have a golf cart, it's important to understand the insurance coverage you need to protect yourself, others, and this vehicle. This is particularly crucial if you plan to drive your golf cart off your property or on public roads.

In general, your homeowners insurance covers the vehicle under the following conditions:

Considering Reducing Your Insurance Coverage? Why Thinking “It’ll Never Happen to Me” Could Cost You Thousands

4/22/2025

With insurance rates rising over the past several years, many policyholders are looking to reduce coverage to offset those increases.

While this is understandable, by doing this they are taking on sizable financial risk that they likely can’t cover if the unexpected were to happen. Here are 3 examples:

Georgia & South Carolina Homeowners: What’s Happening with Insurance Providers?

4/15/2025

If you've tried renewing or shopping for homeowners insurance lately, you might've noticed fewer options—or worse, gotten a non-renewal notice. You're not alone.

A growing number of insurance carriers are either pulling out of southeastern states or tightening their guidelines. But why is this happening?

Here are 4 major factors:

Tornado Protection: What Your Homeowners Insurance May Not Cover

4/1/2025

Most standard homeowners insurance policies with "all-perils" coverage do include protection against tornado damage. However, that doesn’t always mean you're fully covered.

Certain exclusions, limitations, and policy conditions could affect how much you receive after a storm. Here are some key factors that could impact your tornado coverage:

Renting Your Home Once Per Year For a Local Event? 5 Key Insurance Considerations

3/25/2025

In the past, homeowners who occasionally rented their properties for local events often relied on their standard homeowners insurance.

But with the rise of short-term vacation rentals, insurance policies have changed - making it essential to reassess your coverage. Here are five critical areas to review:

Do You Have Adequate Insurance Coverage for Your Vacation Travel?

3/18/2025

Ready to head out on your spring vacation trip? Traveling for leisure carries its own risks and considerations that impact the insurance coverage you should have

Here are a few considerations to think about to ensure you have just the right coverage for your itinerary.

How To Enhance Your Home’s Security While Saving on Homeowners Insurance

3/11/2025

Did you know that investing in home security not only provides peace of mind but can also reduce your homeowners insurance premiums?

There are a number of great home security options thanks to technology, but here are three upgrades that may result in the best return on your investment on your insurance premiums while also enhancing the safety of your home.

After A Weather Disaster: Should You Update Your Insurance Coverage?

2/25/2025

The aftermath of a weather disaster like Hurricane Helene can be overwhelming. Once the storm has passed and you begin assessing damage and making repairs, you might be wondering — do you need to update my insurance coverage?

The short answer is: possibly. Here are 5 items that trigger an update:

Why Should You Be Interested In Tort Reform?

2/18/2025

With insurance premiums having risen significantly over the past several years, increased attention has been directed on neutralizing climbing costs.

One effort that has gained attention for slowing and reducing these costs is tort reform. Tort reform refers to a set of changes to civil justice laws to reduce the number and cost of lawsuits.

Evidence indicates that implementing tort reforms can help lower insurance premiums for both individuals and businesses. When insurance companies face lower costs from lawsuits and settlements, they can pass those savings on to customers through reduced premiums.

Georgia has implemented tort reforms in phases, with significant legislation in 2005, additional measures through 2023, and continual refinements since then.

How have past tort reform efforts regarding insurance premiums in Georgia fared? Here's a recap:

7 Common Gaps In Standard Homeowners Insurance Policies You Should Know

1/7/2025

Homeowners insurance covers against many misfortunes, but it does have gaps. Some exclusions, like damage from earthquakes and floods, are more widely known.

There are other typical gaps in coverage in standard homeowners insurance, but may not be as well understood. Here are 7 to be familiar with:

New Year, No Claims: Practical Quick Tips For A Low- Risk Fireworks Celebration

12/24/2024

Did you know that the New Year's holiday typically sees a spike in insurance claims?

Celebratory activities, including the use of fireworks, can lead to unexpected accidents and, in some cases, insurance claims.

By taking a few quick precautions, you can ring in the new year without the stress of dealing with insurance claims. Here are 10 practical tips to keep in mind if you plan to include fireworks as part of your celebration:

Hurricane Damage: What Does Homeowners Insurance Cover?

11/12/2024

Insureds along the southeast corridor got a rude awakening in September as a result of the historic damage caused by Hurricane Helene. Many affected were far inland and geographically not used to the catastrophic levels of wind and water this storm produced.

Thousands are still in process of understanding what their insurance policies cover, filing claims, and getting estimates for repairs.

The damage from this hurricane included:

dwelling damage
wind damage
flood damage
personal property damage

Most homeowners have a standard homeowners policy. What does that cover? It can vary significantly, but in general:

When Trees Cause Trouble: Who’s Responsible for Repairs and Removal?

10/29/2024

After Hurricane Helene's devastating effects on Georgia's Central Savannah River Area (CSRA), practically all residents were facing questions around what their insurance policies covered.

Given the hundreds of thousands of trees that fell, the primary issue was distinguishing: 1) whose responsibility it was for these downed trees; and 2) who was responsible for covering the resulting damage they caused.

Here are three common scenarios to help you understand who’s usually responsible for repairs and whether insurance can help.

Is Your Home Prepared For Fall? 5 Insurance-Savvy Tips

9/17/2024

This is the perfect time of year to make sure your house and property are in top shape for the upcoming fall and winter seasons.

Seasonal maintenance inside and outside your house can help you avoid not only costly repairs, but also prevent insurance claims and keep your premiums in check.

Here are 5 insurance-related tips to protect your property as this fall season approaches:

Don't Let Water Damage Sink You: Insurance Tips Every Homeowner Should Know

8/8/2024

Water damage is the 3rd most common home insurance claim, behind wind/hail and fire/lightning claims (ref: Insurance Information Institute).

Of all water damage claims, the root cause is damaged pipes. So, while indoor plumbing has been one of the greatest conveniences of homeownership, it has been one of the greatest sources of losses of home insurers.

Do you know which water damage is covered vs. not covered by homeowners insurance?

Here are 5 major considerations to help you identify which side of the fence water damage may fall on regarding homeowners insurance coverage:

What Every Homeowner Should Know About Flood Coverage

8/6/2024

Weather forecasts for the Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) have projected significant rain amounts due to tropical storm Debby. For those in Savannah and Charleston, which can flood even with regular rainfall amounts, warnings have been issued for possible historic flooding events.

Generally, most of the CSRA isn't considered a typically flood-prone area. But as we recently saw in our local area, sudden heavy rain storms created flash floods in areas that weren't at all known for flooding.

Unusual events like this have homeowners questioning whether their homeowners insurance covers flooding from heavy rains.

What do you think - does a typical homeowners insurance policy cover water damage from storm flooding?

If you said "no," you're right.

Homeowners must have a specific flood insurance policy to cover water damage from flooding, even if their homes are not considered to be in a flood plain.

Wondering if you should look into getting a flood policy? Here are the key points you need to know:

Olympic Fever: How To Protect Yourself From Online Scams During the Games

7/25/2024

As the 2024 Summer Olympic Games get underway, millions will be actively watching the events and purchasing Olympic swag.

Unfortunately, too many will become the victims of online scams run by unscrupulous deceivers. They set up very sharp and slick-looking e-commerce sites with the sole purpose of absconding with your money or even your identity.

According to Gen Digital's Threat Labs, scam attacks increased over 280% during the last summer Olympics and 238% during the last winter games.

Even if you and your family members take precautions vetting these sites to prevent falling for these fakes, you might consider investing in the following types of insurance coverage:

What's Happening To Cause Increases and Non-Renewals of Homeowners Insurance In Georgia?

7/11/2024

Hardly a day goes by that I don't hear comments bemoaning the rise of homeowners insurance - or worse - the receipt of a non-renewal notice from an insurance company.

Why are these actions happening and affecting even those who haven't filed a claim on their homeowners insurance?

Recent reports shed a spotlight on the data found, including these 4 eye-opening facts that help answer that question:

Are You Storm Ready? 5 Key Tips To Severe Weather And Insurance Readiness

7/9/2024

Even though meteorologists' technology resources allow us to anticipate some upcoming severe weather events, others can crop up with little warning.

Since these events can leave behind significant damage and disruption, policyholders should be prepared well ahead of time for such occurrences to ensure your safety and protect your property.

Here are 5 key tips to help you stay prepared for a potential claim from a weather-related event:

Are You Rolling The Dice On Your Insurance Coverage?

6/27/2024

As insurance rates have climbed over the past several years, it has insureds hard pruning coverages to offset those increases.

It's understandable why they're doing that, but it's like gambling with their money.

Many become significantly under-insured when they do that and take on huge financial risk. It takes just one event to financially destroy them, as the following examples illustrate:

Does Your Homeowners Insurance Go Up After Filing A Claim?

6/25/2024

Filing a homeowners insurance claim is a necessary step when disaster strikes, but many homeowners are concerned about the potential impact of a claim on their insurance rates.

Does your insurance premium go up after filing a claim?

Here's the answer, along with some clarification:

Preventing Water Damage At Home While On Vacation

6/18/2024

Going on vacation is an exciting time to get away and make memories with family or friends. While you're busy planning activities and making travel arrangements, it's easy to not think about potential issues that could occur at home while you're gone.

One of the most devastating events is water damage.

Imagine walking into your home only to be met with:
several inches of water wetting your feet, or
seeing a section of the ceiling hanging down and dripping water

Not exactly the welcome home you were expecting.

It's natural to think "it won't happen to me" and not take precautions to protect your house from a water catastrophe.

But there are a few small actions you can take before you leave to minimize the risk of having to deal with a major headache when you get home. Here are 3:

Trying To Reduce Your Homeowners Insurance Premiums? Consider These Lesser Known Possibilities

6/13/2024

Homeowners are typically aware of bundling polices and increasing deductibles to lower their insurance premiums.

But, there are other ways that might offer the same reduction. Here are 3:

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