Understanding Your Home Insurance Policy: A Necessity, Not an Option

Many people are often overwhelmed by the length of their home insurance policy and end up failing to read it. This can result in significant challenges when filing a claim. At Wichalonis Insurance Agency in Cumming, GA, we are independent insurance agents who believe in offering our customers the personalized attention they deserve.

Analyzing Your Coverage

The declaration page, usually the first page of your home insurance policy, outlines your coverage. Check your home’s replacement cost, your content coverage, liability coverage, and loss-of-use insurance.

Ensure your liability coverage is adequate. If your income and net worth have increased, or if you’ve added a dog, a trampoline, or a pool to your home, you likely need to raise your home policy’s liability coverage.

Evaluate Your Coverage Amounts

If you’ve made significant renovations or additions to your home, your coverage amount may need to increase. Examine your content coverage for any limitations. If you own more jewelry, antiques, artwork, or electronics than your policy covers, consider adding a rider for additional coverage.

Inspect Your Deductibles

Your policy includes a deductible, which applies to most coverages, and is charged for every claim, not just once per year. While increasing the deductible may reduce your premium, remember that this amount is an out-of-pocket expense.

Review Your Exclusions

Examine the exclusions listed in your policy. You may want to add coverage for incidents like floods, earth movements, and sewer backups.

Please feel free to call the Wichalonis Insurance Agency in Georgia if you have any questions about home insurance coverage. We are always here to help you understand your policy and determine your exact needs.

Our agents at the Wichalonis Insurance Agency, serving the Cumming, GA area, know how much time, hard work, and money you have put into your Georgia home, which is the reason we want to ensure that you have the proper amount of home insurance in place to protect it.

Most mortgage companies will require you to have home insurance until you pay off your loan, but you must have a good home insurance policy in place at all times to protect your property in your home, too.

What Does Home Insurance Cover?

Home insurance policies will normally cover your house’s structure and the contents inside. The contents include your personal belongings, household items, electronics, furniture, appliances, and more. If you want other structures on your property, such as detached garages, sheds, privacy fencing, and other structures, to be covered under your home insurance policy, you can request that to be part of your policy. Our agents at the Wichalonis Insurance Agency serving the Cumming, GA area will work with you to ensure your policy fits your particular situation.   

Home insurance is a policy created to help you repair or rebuild your house if it is damaged or destroyed by some horrible weather event, such as a tornado or hurricane, an act of vandalism, or even a fire. It can also help you out if your home is burglarized and items are stolen.

A home insurance policy will also be useful if a visitor to your home is injured. It can help pay their medical bills and even take time off of work if necessary.

Get Your Policy Started Today

Call our agents at the Wichalonis Insurance Agency serving the Cumming, GA, area today to get your home insurance policy started and enjoy the peace of mind that comes with it!

Whether buying or building your home, a lot of work goes into it. From planning, research, consultation to saving, homeownership is quite a Herculean task. However, your homeownership journey cannot be complete without a home insurance policy from Wichalonis Insurance Agency of Cumming, GA. 

Unfortunately, most homeowners think that home insurance is a waste of time and resources, only to realize the power of insurance coverage when perils like theft, fire, hail, and others strike. But do you have to learn the hard way? Certainly not. Here are the reasons why home insurance is a must-have investment. 

It may be required

Yes, no law in Georgia requires you to purchase home insurance, but it may be required by your mortgage lender to protect the investment from various perils.

It protects your most valuable asset

Few things are as valuable as your home. So why not do everything in your power to protect it? While installing security features and proper home maintenance is superb, the checklist is not complete without home insurance. This coverage repairs or rebuilds your home when perils like fire, lightning, hail, theft, and others occur. 

It’s affordable

Most homeowners shy away from home insurance because they think it’s expensive. However, the truth is that home insurance is just a fraction of your home value. It costs you a few tens of dollars, but it protects you from thousands, if not millions of dollars, in losses.

For peace of mind

Modern life can be hectic. With bills to pay, personal matters to attend to, and a family to take care of, there is much to be worried about. However, the safety of your home should be the last thing bogging your mind. Why? Let home insurance take care of your worries. Whether it’s liabilities, property damage, or additional living expenses, home insurance got you covered.

Buy home insurance today

Whether compulsory or not, you must invest in home insurance if you love your home. If you are shopping for home insurance in Cumming, GA, and its environs, please don’t look beyond Wichalonis Insurance Agency. Contact us today to start the conversation.

At Wichalonis Insurance Agency, we encourage all Cumming, GA homeowners to create a home inventory to facilitate filing a claim in the event of a loss. A home inventory is an itemized list of all the items you own. If any of your goods are stolen or damaged in a covered peril, a home inventory will make it easier for you to recuperate your losses. Here’s how a home inventory can help with the claims process.

Verifies Ownership of Goods

A home inventory can verify ownership of your personal goods. It should include an itemized list of your goods along with photos (or video) and receipts of high-end items to confirm their value. You can also have appraisals done of posh jewelry or original artwork.  If you have to file a claim due to theft or damage, you’ll have verification of owning these goods. This can help expedite the claims process.

Verifies Value of Goods

By including receipts or appraisals of your high-end goods, you’ll have proof of their value to make it easier to recuperate your losses. This will ensure you get full compensation for your loss in accordance with your insurance coverage.

Helps You Keep Track of Your Possessions

Without an inventory, it can be difficult to keep track of all that you own. If your Cumming, GA home is destroyed by fire or severe storm, you could miss out on getting compensation for items you lost due to overlooking these goods when making your claim. A home inventory provides you with an accurate record of your goods so you can get fully compensated for all of your losses.

For help in making a home inventory or to purchase a home insurance policy for your Cumming, GA home, contact us at Wichalonis Insurance Agency today.

Residents who live in Cumming, GA and many of the nearby communities rely on the insurance agents of Wichalonis Insurance Agency for valuable tips and tricks on how to keep their homes secure all year long. Leaving your home to go on vacation can make it vulnerable to intruders unless you know ways to hide the fact that you aren’t home. The following tips will help you give the impression that someone is home.

Stop Mail/Paper Delivery

One of the biggest attention getters for burglars is papers laying on the porch or mail collecting in the mailbox. Stopping your service is the best way to prevent that from happening. If you don’t want to stop your delivery service, have your neighbor or a family member collect your mail/paper for you.

Set Timers for Your Lights and Home Security System

If you have a home security system, set timers so that your lights will go on and off according to your normal schedule. This can also be accomplished without a home security system. All you have to do is purchase timers that can be used on individual lights and set to the appropriate time.

Have a Friend or Family Member Housesit While You’re Away

You can also ask a friend or family member to stay at your while you’re away. Your house will remain occupied and well cared for while you’re away.

At Wichalonis Insurance Agency, residents of Cumming, GA can talk to a reputable agent and find the answers they need when it comes to keeping their home secured and protected while they are away. Visit the office today and let one of the agents help you find ways to keep your home safe!

Privacy fences do more than just keep out unwanted intruders (both animals and people), they also serve other purposes as well. The agents at Wichalonis Insurance Agency serve residents who live in or near Cumming, GA. If you live in the area and are thinking about installing a privacy fence, call and talk to one of our agents today to see what helpful advice they have to offer.

Reduced Visibility

A solid privacy fence made of wood panels reduces visibility so that passersby can’t see inside. This eliminates prowlers and burglars from seeing potential entrance points in the back of your home. It also gives you a sense of privacy where you can relax and enjoy the peace and quiet without having anyone disturb you.

Keeps Your Pets and Children Safe

A solid privacy fence will keep your pets and children safe inside while keeping unwanted visitors from making their way inside. With a privacy fence, your children and pets can play outside without you worrying about them wandering off or getting into trouble with other pets from the neighborhood.

Improves Curb Appeal

A privacy fence also improves your home’s curb appeal and can actually increase the resale value of your home. A solid fence will go along way in selling your home if the potential buyer is security conscious and likes their privacy. A nice fence and some well-planned landscaping can do wonders when it comes to beautifying a home.

If you live in Cumming, GA and want to learn more about privacy fences and your home insurance, call and speak to an agent at Wichalonis Insurance Agency today! We can give you solid advice and can answer all of your questions. 

Your mortgage company won’t require home insurance for your Cumming, GA home once it is paid off. This doesn’t mean you should go without insurance. Instead, make some changes to your policy. The home is one of the largest purchases you will ever make, so you want to make sure that you protect it. Home insurance doesn’t just protect the structure but also has protection for your possessions and any potential lawsuits. Even if it isn’t required anymore, you could be saving thousands of dollars instead of having to pay for damages out of pocket. You don’t want a fire or another disaster to destroy everything you have worked for.

Once you have paid off your home, you may need to contact your insurer if you have been paying through an escrow account. This way, you can be sure the bills will get sent to you. Also, you may need to change your automatic payments. After this, you will need to decide if you want to make changes to your current coverage. Since you are no longer required to have certain coverage, a stipulation to your mortgage now is the best time to talk to an agent at Wichalonis Insurance Agency. You can make adjustments to your coverage to save you money or better serve the needs of your home and you. You also need to make sure your mortgage lender is not named on the insurance policy anymore. They no longer have a claim to your home, so they shouldn’t be given any payout that could come from a covered loss. If you don’t remove the name, it could hold up any claims process in the future. You may also qualify for some other discounts once you pay off your home.

Contact Wichalonis Insurance Agency serving Cumming, GA to get a quote on home insurance.