Wednesday, 31 August 2011
Some Homeowners’ Policies Include coverage For Spoiled Food
Now that Hurricane Irene has come and gone it’s going to take quite a bit of time and a lot of money, likely several billion dollars to clean up. In addition, most people didn’t have insurance for damages unless they had specific flood coverage.
However, some homeowners and renters may catch a break if their homeowners insurance covers loss of food. People’s food can often be spoiled when the power goes out and some policies will cover the damage, usually up to about $500 per appliance.
Therefore, if your policy covers food damage and you have a refrigerator upstairs and a freezer elsewhere you could be covered up to $1,000. The exact amount of coverage will depend on the individual policy.
You may already know if your renter’s or homeowner’s policy includes food damage, but if not make sure you check and find out. If you are covered for the damage you should make sure you have a list of the food items that were spoiled while the electricity was out. If you don’t have the receipts you can always go to your regular grocery store and then price them out.
If you need to dine out because you can’t cook at home then you should keep the receipts from the meals. In addition, some insurance policies will cover temporary housing and emergency repairs costs on their policies in the additional living expense section of the coverage.
If you need to make a claim due to Hurricane Irene it may take some time because of the sheer number of claims that will be made. However, the claims are often treated on a first-come, first-served method, so make sure you make a claim as soon as possible.
According to an article on Richmond.com, it’s always a good idea to take photos of your possessions and home before storms hit and make sure you keep track of all discussions with the insurance company, such as the date and time of the contact.
