You rely on home insurance to protect your most precious investment from a variety of risks, including foul winter weather. While the right coverage can be reassuring, it’s also important to mitigate risks to stop damage before it happens. Here are a few steps homeowners can take for a safe winter season.
How Can You Avoid Common Winter Insurance Claims?
- Home Fires
If you love to prepare meals for loved ones during the holidays, you also know how important kitchen safety is. Even a relatively minor cooking fire can impact your home, so be sure to always use safe practices. Never leave a stove unattended, especially if you have pets and kids in the home, and have a working fire extinguisher nearby. As for holiday decorations, turn off the lights at night and don’t overload circuits when plugging electrical items into outlets.
- Broken Branches
Ice and snow on tree branches can exert a large amount of pressure as they accumulate. If the weight is too much, there’s a chance that the branch will break and damage the property. A falling tree branch can also cause major injuries, which you will be responsible for.
In addition to your home coverage, proper tree care during the year can prevent branches from breaking in the first place. Have any trees on your property assessed by a landscaper, who will look for weaknesses caused by damage or disease. It’s much better to remove these branches when they’re discovered, as doing so can spare you major hassle once winter arrives.
- Burst Pipes
Frozen pipes may end up bursting and flooding the home, which will result in widespread damage. If there’s no water coming out of your faucet and you suspect a pipe is frozen, shut off your main water supply immediately to reduce the pressure inside it. If you know the weather is about to get colder, turn on your faucets slightly to keep a stream of water flowing through pipes to prevent them from freezing. Pipes located in colder areas of the home, such as the basement, can also be covered in insulating material to keep them warm.
If you want to stay protected over the holidays, turn to Insurance of the Heartland. Their agents have over 60 years of experience serving clients throughout Custer County, NE. They also work with several different carriers, allowing you to find the right home insurance policy for the most affordable price. Visit their website to learn more about how they can help, or call (308) 935-1537 to ask about their home insurance products.