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    Question ID:   948         Current Version: 1
Question: What should I consider and check on insurance for wildfires?
Category: Business & Finance > Insurance
Keywords: wildfire, insurance, homeowner, rural, coverage, home, value, protect, file
Type: what
Rating:(0 ratings)    Views: 229    Discussions: 0   In Watch Lists: 1  

 
    Answer:
Homeowners, and especially rural homeowners, need to be aware of the threat of wildfires, which can sweep through forests and bush-covered grasslands during dry seasons. Autumn wildfires has a history of scorching large rural sections and destroying dwellings. Every fire season holds the potential for these damaging blazes.

Ironically, many isolated homes find themselves doubly threatened in these situations, because they are closest to the tinder-dry conditions and fuel that feed the fires -- and yet, fire-fighting resources often must be concentrated on the fringes of communities, where many homes may be at risk. This combination of factors means rural homeowners should take the initiative to help themselves. It also means they should make sure their property and possessions are adequately protected by insurance.

Some of those concerns should include:

  • Review your homeowner coverage regularly to make sure that it includes adequate replacement-value coverage in the event of loss. Experts advise guaranteed-replacement-cost coverage instead of a simple loss ceiling because it requires the carrier to actually cover the replacement value of what was lost, not simply provide a discounted amount based on depreciation and normal aging.
  • The fact is that 80 or 90 percent of your home's value may not be enough money to replace the structure. Also make sure that your policy includes additional living expenses incurred because of a loss. Under most policies, insurance pays the difference between the cost of temporary living quarters and what it would have cost to live at home.
  • Homeowner coverage and rates are based on certain assumptions: These may include the fire protection available to your home, as well as standard expectations: For example, that your home has electric power, running water, etc. In some extremely remote areas or for homes that do not conform to these standards, a homeowner may have to pursue fire-only or nonstandard coverage.
  • Rural homeowners should do everything they can to limit their fire exposure. At a minimum, that should include clearing a natural firebreak between the home and outbuildings and trees, bushes and uncut fields. Other measures can include a pump and a nearby water source, as well as the use of fire-resistant roofing and building material. (Failure to take these common-sense actions should not be held against you if losses do occur. However, a little prevention may well avoid the loss in the first place.)
  • As with any homeowner policy, special coverage may be desirable to protect specific valuables, and all homeowners should prepare an inventory of appliances, furnishings and possessions that might be claimed if the structure were destroyed or damaged. Videotapes and photos are especially handy ways to document these possessions. (Remember to keep a copy of the inventory and any video or photos in a different location.) In general, the more detailed the inventory the better in terms of documenting a loss.
  • Anyone who has ever watched television coverage of wildfires also may be familiar with the image of a frantic family desperately trying to wedge a television set and a microwave into the family car as flames flicker on the smoky horizon. Don't make this mistake! Insurance can replace the TV and the microwave, but it can't retake old family snapshots or recreate a child's first A+ on a math test. Prepare a family-priority list of irreplaceable items and rely on it should disaster ever threaten.
  • Remember that the most important things you can save are your lives. Nothing - absolutely nothing! - is more important than removing you and your family from harm's way.

One concern in rural areas may be an unfounded fear that man-caused wildfires might not be covered because they fall under an arson exclusion. In fact, fire is one of the "basic perils" listed in homeowner insurance, and all fires should be covered, provided they were not set by the insured person.

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