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Posts Tagged ‘fire’

i am buying a flat and my brother is going to rent it from me. i will not be living in the flat he will be in it himself.
he will pay me the amount of the mortgage so i will not be making any profit rom the rental.
do i need landlord insurance or what are the options?

Answer:

Yes you need a dwelling fire policy (some people call it landlord insurance). A Homeowner’s policy is only for owner-occupants, so since you do not live there you need a different policy. As the previous poster wrote Talk to your broker!

As for your brother, it is also in his best interest to get a renter’s policy. His contents and his liability cannot be covered by your policy, since it is your policy and not his policy.

My mobile home caught on fire but only one room was destroyed.The rest of the house,about 90 %, sustained smoke damage. What would happen to the home? Would it be mine or the insurance company’s?

Answer:

They will compare the ‘insured value’ of the home and the cost of repair.

If they believe the repair cost exceeds the value, they will ‘total’ it and pay you the ‘insured value’ (which may be a lot less than the replacement cost).

The damaged property is then owned by the insurance company.

However what are they going to do with a half wreaked house/car etc ? = it’s a real pain for them (sorting ownership documents, selling at auction etc) so almost ALL will offer you the chance to ‘buy out’ their interest in the property by taking a lower ‘value’ pay-out ..

Often you will find the ‘value’ you get will be more than enough to do your own repairs (assuming you put in a lot of your own effort and only pay for specialist for things you can’t do yourself)

my policy says laptops are now covered: covered for what? if i get burgled or if i break it?

Answer:

The laptop would be covered against perils listed in your policy. The basic perils covered would be fire, wind, etc. Theft may or may not be covered as it depends on your policy.

Answer:

These fires happen every year. Earthquakes too. The media has blown it more out of hand than it actually might be. I think this fire series is no worse than any other in the past.

Have fire loss and report from the fire department, am filing as single. Any help would greatly be appreciated.

Answer:

Casualty losses are claimed on Form 4684. You can read all about it on the IRS web site:

http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc515.html

Answer:

You can’t sue the insurance company. You sue the person. If the person has insurance that covers the wrongful act, then the insurance company will pay.

Answer:

Depends on the type of policy you have.

Some policies are replacement cost. This pays for the cost of a new stove similar to your existing stove. It will not pay the complete cost of an upgrade. But you can take the money and apply it toward an upgrade if you wish.

Some policies are actual cash value. That means they take depreciation. It will pay the cost of a new stove less deprecation.

In either case, your deductible will apply.

You should give your agent a call on money or go by his/her office and ask them. Since they can see the details of your policy – your agent will be your best source of information.

like for4 not mowing the lawn or leaving the trash cans out. What does home insurance pay for?

Answer:

NO. It does not pay for fines. Homeowner’s insurance pays for loss such as fire damage (not arson by owner), hail damage, theft, etc. There is also a deductible, which is the amount you have to pay out of your pocket before the insurance pays, so if you had a 0 deductible, the insurer would only pay for covered losses above the first 0.

Fines are out of your own pocket … it’s a lot cheaper to just mow or hire a neighbor kid to mow for you.

would like to know how to start to catalog all contents in my home for insurance purpose to save if anything happens to my home….ie fire, tree falling etc..?

Answer:

Take pictures, room by room. Once you have pictures of everthing, inventory it. For example, you could take a picture of your entertainment unit. The inventory would then describe the items in the picture in detail The year, make and model of your TV, stereo, DVD player, video game system, etc., as well as where the item was purchased and for how much. Small items, such as CD’s don’t require a complete listing, just photo proof that they took up three shelves worth.

Once your inventory is complete, store it, and the photos (traditional photos or CD-Rom in a fire-proof box.

What state do you live in? It is expected to rise up to 85%in Florida and we would like to compare. Florida answers are welcome as well.

Answer:

So many things depend on price, so you can’t really use this as an example. It varies on your state, your credit, your age, your fire protection class rating of the local responding fire department, value of the home, which form of a homeowners policy you choose (there are different forms giving more coverage), your deductible, prior loss/claims history, age, multi-policy discounts, age of home, what types of animals you own, updates to the home, how much personal liability coverage you added, and other coverages you may select or exclude

Yes, Florida is likely to see a drastic rate increase because of all of the hurricanes and claims paid last year. You should check with an indpendent agent, rather than a captive agent, who can write with several different companies and provide you the best coverage and price package for your needs.

Check out the link below to get you to BB&T Insurance Agency. There are 2 in Florida (Tallahassee and St. Petersburg) and a toll free number to call the Florida Insurance Service Center.

I hope this helps you.