Three cheers for homeowner’s insurance! When my husband and I purchased our second home I remember calling around to every insurance company I could find to ask for a homeowner’s insurance quote. I had never really looked at the ins and outs of homeowner’s insurance before that time. I didn’t know what I was looking for, but that task was nearly as daunting as I would have thought. Within seconds of calling around I was able to receive several homeowner’s insurance quotes, I had an agent, I had a stack of papers introducing us to our new homeowner’s insurance company, and was ready to close on our home. But I hadn’t known how important that decision had been at the time.
We came home from church about three months after we purchased our home, to find our bathroom under two inches of water. The sound of water was running all over the bathroom. When I looked up to the mirror I saw what appeared to be a burnt trail that ran it’s tracks like a jagged line through it. We went to use our phone but it didn’t work. We’d spent too much money already on the house. We tried not to panic as my husband ran outside in the dark night to turn the water main off.
In the morning we’d learned that lightening struck our bathroom, and left our home through the phone lines. Getting the phone repaired was easy, but I had no idea what to do about the water everywhere, the stove now that didn’t work, the TV that now had been struck too, and the washer that was now shorted out because of the lightening. I’d never had to use homeowner’s insurance before, but it seemed like a good time to call them.
I phoned our homeowner’s insurance almost in tears. The process was easy. My homeowner’s insurance agent talked me through it. They were compassionate. We learned that we didn’t have to come up with the deductible like I’d thought, but they would just deduct it from what the pay out amount was. The seas of workers eventually began arriving at my home. The insurance agent was assessing the damage within a few days. His statement was the most assuring of them all, “If this was my home. I want want the extras done, and we’ll give that to you.” After it was discovered that the lightening had not only traveled through my phone line but the copper water lines in my floor, the agent stuck with us. He was right on board with the plumber when it was agreed to replumb the whole house.
In the end the whole adventure was an $11,000 insurance claim. Without the right homeowner’s insurance my husband and I would have been up a creek without a paddle. Getting the right homeowner’s insurance is so important. Make sure you call around. Don’t just go with price, but go with a company that has integrity. Go with a company that you can trust. A few phone calls can make a big difference later. You never know when lightening can strike.