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Home > For Individuals > Homeowners Insurance Homeowners Insurance
Your Home Is Your Castle Whether you own a house, a condominium or rent, it’s your home. It’s where you go to feel safe and secure and where you typically keep most of your valued property. We’re specialists at providing insurance protection for your home and everything in it—including you. More importantly, we protect your peace of mind and sense of security. BHL is a leader in:
Homeowners Insurance BHL is an independent insurance agency. That’s good for you because unlike agents that represent a specific insurance company, BHL has the freedom to find the best insurance company or companies to meet your unique needs. That means affordable rates, more value for your money and outstanding personal service. Homeowners insurance from BHL protects your home, your detached structures and your personal belongings. If fire, wind or other damage forces you to leave your home, home insurance from BHL makes sure your costs to live elsewhere are covered until you can return to your home. Homeowners Insurance, renters insurance and condominium insurance can replace your personal belongings at their full replacement value – not their depreciated value. Click here for a convenient home contents inventory checklist. You might also consider valuables insurance if you own highly valued belongings or collectibles. Homeowners insurance can also help protect you in case of a liability lawsuit against you for occurrences at home or elsewhere such as:
Renters Insurance If you don’t own the house or apartment where you live, you still need insurance protection for your personal belongings. Renters insurance can protect your personal property against fire, theft and vandalism. Imagine if your apartment was robbed or your neighbor’s apartment next door caught fire and your apartment and contents were damaged by water and smoke. Your landlord's insurance policy won't pay to replace your stuff. That’s where the right insurance protection can spare you the pain and loss! Plus, your renters insurance can cover items like electronic equipment, sporting goods and other things that you take away from your home. Your renters insurance policy will include:
You might be thinking “The landlord has insurance so I don’t need to buy it.” You aren’t alone. Many people think when they move into a rented apartment or house that the landlord’s insurance will pay if there was a fire, water damage from flooding or from putting out a fire in your building or one nearby, burglary or vandalism. The truth is your landlord’s insurance policy likely won’t get you anything for the loss of your personal property. Your personal property includes anything in your apartment or home that isn’t physically part of the property itself. This includes clothing, jewelry, silverware, computers, books, furniture, etc. You likely have a lot of money invested in your personal property and it is clearly worth protecting. Another reason to obtain Renters Insurance is to protect you from personal liability. An example of this potential risk is when someone who is visiting or delivering something to your rented home falls and seriously injures themselves. She or he could sue you. Fortunately, the right Renters Insurance will cover the costs of fighting that lawsuit and any medical expenses. You can have perfect peace of mind. A Renters Insurance Policy includes the following coverages: Personal Property (covers the loss or damage of your stuff); Family Liability Protection (provides legal representation and protection against judgments); Guest Medical Protection: (covers medical costs for visitors injured at your home); Additional Living Expenses: (reimbursement for costs of temporary housing during reconstruction). Fortunately, Renters Insurance is cheaper than you might think! As an independent insurance agency, we can find you the strongest protection at the lowest price. [back to top] Condo and Townhome Insurance Needs Are Unique Owning a condominium or townhome puts you in a unique position: You have both common and individual insurance needs. It is very likely that your condominium/townhome association has insurance for common areas such as courtyards, walkways and yards. The association is seldom responsible for the interior of your home or any of its contents. If your condo or townhome is destroyed, you will be responsible to replace your furniture, drywall, cabinetry, flooring, light fixture, etc. Condominium insurance is similar to homeowners insurance. You can replacement insurance that will pay to replace your possessions at current prices. You can also protect your valuables such as jewelry and computers with additional high value item coverage. Your condo insurance policy will include:
DID YOU KNOW that your condominium association is responsible for carrying flood insurance to protect your unit and belongings? Learn more about how you can be sure your condominium is fully protected by visiting the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) web site. Need more information or would you like to learn if your current coverage is adequate? [back to top] Consider Purchasing Flood Insurance A flood can be one of the most devastating disasters that can damage or destroy your home and neighborhood. Typically, home and property insurance doesn't cover flooding. Most people are not aware of this fact and they risk financial devastation. The threat is so great that the Federal Government runs a National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Click here to learn more about flood insurance. Floods Can Happen Anywhere at Any Time Floods can happen in all 50 states. In fact, about one quarter of all flood insurance claims originated in areas not considered high risk for flooding. Floods from rain and flash floods can occur suddenly and at any time. If you do not have adequate insurance protection, you will personally have to pay to replace or repair your property and possessions. Since your home and its contents are typically the largest investment an individual makes, loss of these items could be financially devastating. Whether you need Homeowners or Renters insurance, you should consider flood insurance. We can help by telling you if your community is a participant in the National Flood Insurance Program. If it is, we can help you obtain flood insurance. [back to top] Protection From Water Backup and Sump Pump Failure DID YOU KNOW that your standard homeowners insurance policy does not cover water damage from flooding caused by sewer backups or sump pump failures? Neither your base insurance policy nor the National Flood Insurance Program typically covers losses from these events. According to the Insurance Information Institute, more than 80% of homeowners do not have insurance protection against water backup! This can be a very expensive mistake and water backup damage is more prevalent than you might imagine. Spring and fall can be times of heavy rains and melting snow depending on where you live. The ground can become saturated and enter the house through seeping basement walls and sump pumps can fail from overuse. In addition, homeowners are generally responsible for maintaining the sewer lines from the house to the street. If they become clogged, you could be facing a very damaging and expensive problem of loss and cleanup. If you have invested in a finished basement or store valuables in your basement or areas that could become flooded by groundwater, you should consider additional water backup insurance. We can help you understand the different types of coverages and find the most cost-effective insurance to fully protect you from any type of water-related damage. It’s well worth the peace of mind! [back to top] Why Would I Need Valuables Insurance? If you own expensive items such as jewelry, silverware, antiques, artwork, or firearms, you should consider valuables insurance. Homeowner’s Insurance typically will not cover the full value of these types of items if they are stolen, broken or damaged. Valuables insurance makes sure your loss would be covered. BHL makes valuables insurance easy with a quick and simple rider to cover the true replacement value of your possessions. In general, any item worth more than $2,500 should be insured with supplemental valuables insurance. If you own many items that are valuable, but no one piece that is valued at more than $2,500 you might consider purchasing blanket coverage for these possessions. The first step is to take inventory of your possessions and determine if any would exceed your homeowners insurance value. You can learn this by talking with your BHL agent. You should review this list annually to learn if any items have increased or decreased substantially in value. Here is a checklist of items that typically have high values:
Valuables Insurance Quotes Making sure that you are protected from the potential loss of value if your possessions were lost, stolen or damaged is what risk management is all about. We’re specialists in risk management and we’re here to help you! We can give you the peace of mind that the value of your possessions is secure. [back to top] Save even more money when you choose BHL for your home, auto, RV and other insurance protection. How Does an Independent Insurance Agency Benefit You? Unlike company-employed agents, independent insurance agents and insurance brokers represent more than one insurance company, so they can offer clients a wider choice of auto, home, business, life, health coverages as well as retirement and employee-benefit products. The agent is independent from all the companies he or she sells for, and can therefore objectively evaluate different insurance policies. He or she is then free to offer clients the best insurance products at the best market prices. Independent agents and brokers not only advise clients about insurance, they recommend loss-prevention ideas that can cut costs. If a loss occurs, the independent insurance agent or broker stands with the client until the claim is settled. The opposite of an independent agent is a Captive Agent who works exclusively for one company and is limited in the types of coverage he or she may offer a client. [back to top] Replacement Value Insurance—Worth The Price There are several different methods by which your insurance company may calculate the amount it will pay you for a loss. Payment based on the replacement cost of damaged or stolen property is usually the most favorable figure from your point of view because it compensates you for the actual cost of replacing property. If your camera is stolen, a replacement cost policy will reimburse you the full cost of replacing it with a new camera of like kind. The insurer will not take into consideration the fact that you used the camera heavily for several years and it is nearly worn out. The only difference between replacement cost and actual cash value is that a cash value policy will pay you after taking a deduction for depreciation. In other words, a cash value policy will consider the age and condition of your property when it was lost or stolen and deduct an appropriate amount. While this type of policy might cost less, you may pay more than any savings when you try to replace your property at today’s prices. For this reason, full replacement insurance is usually the best choice. |
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Oneida (315) 363-2100 Syracuse (315) 457-1830 |
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