'Review, Ask and Act' to Maximize Insurance Before Next Big Storm

Insurance agent Michael Kehew showed great relief after Middletown missed much of the damage that was seen elsewhere in Rhode Island during the weakened Hurricane Irene.

“It’s a very bad feeling to have to sit here after a catastrophic disaster and tell someone they have a high deductible that they were not aware of. It can be devastating to people on top of what happened to their homes,” said Kehew, of .

And for many homeowners, storms like Irene can be a good wake-up call to review insurance policies and know what they're getting. 

Kehew offers these tips for homeowners:

Review Your Policy

“Unlike 20 or 30 years ago, most insurance contracts are in 'easy to read language.' You don’t need to pay a lawyer to understand it,” said Kehew.

Understand what's covered. Ask questions.

After reviewing your policy, ask questions. If the homeowner has a question or concern, they should contact their agent.

“That’s why we are here. We want to give good advice and make sure they have the proper coverage for their needs,” he said.

Timing is everything; All storms are not covered equally.

There’s a difference between hurricane policy deductibles and regular deductibles.

“It depends how long the official Hurricane Warning lasts for. Anything that happens from the warning forward to 24 hours after, is covered under the hurricane deductable,” said Kehew.

“Considering Irene was officially a tropical storm when she arrived, any damage would go under the regular deductible. Most people had less damage in this storm than what their regular deductible cost, so there aren’t many claims this time around,” he said.

Cost

“There are fire-only or fire-thrift only policies. We don’t sell them. We only sell HO-3 contracts. These are broad based and cover a myriad of things. This is what the industry has gone to mostly. Remember the best price is not always the best policy,” he said.

Deductibles

Kehew explained that choosing a high deductable may sound good as it lowers the monthly premium, but a person may not be be able to afford it in the event of a disaster.

Hurricane insurance vs. Flood insurance.

Most hurricane policies cover trees, roofs and damage caused by wind and rain. Theses deductibles can be as high a $25,000 or up to 5 percent of the home’s value.

“These don’t cover running water or ground water seepage. For this damage you need flood insurance and only 1 out of 20 people have flood insurance,” said Kehew.

Flood Insurance: Structure vs. contents  

“When purchasing flood insurance think about what you are buying. Most people buy structure-flood insurance and don’t even consider contents-flood insurance as it cost more,” Kehew explained.

“The scenes on television with the house floating down a river and hitting a bridge aren’t accurate. I’d say any flood claims here on Aquidneck Island would center around contents as the water would come up a only a few feet and not take down a whole house,” he said.

Shutter Island

Did you know that having storm shutters can save you thousands? They can be as basic as stored, cut plywood with pre-drilled holes too!

Kehew spoke of hurricane abatement programs, also called wind abatement programs that can provide advantages to a homeowner.

The homeowner should question their agent to see if they can participate in these programs and what the details are.

These abatement programs have definite rules to follow but when done correctly, the higher hurricane deductible will be waived and the regular deductable takes its place.

“That can easily be a reduction of $24,000,” Kehew said.

There is cost involved to get to that figure however. These costs include purchasing approved storm shutters or building them yourself.

“What’s needed to build them yourself is 3/4-inch thick plywood with predrilled holes so they can be readily deployed in an event. You also need to store them somewhere,” he said.

“It’s the best way to go. It takes the worry out of losing your home and having to come up with thousands of dollars,” stated Kehew.