Home Insurance

What Kind of Home Insurance Can You Get?

Posted on by AgentInsure

Just like auto insurance, there are tons of different types of home insurance that you can purchase to protect your home. The agents with The Insurance Outfit in the Chester, NJ area can help you find the policy that is going to work best for you and your home.

There are of course basic policies that cover things like storm damage, theft and break in, and fire and these are going to be the best policies to start with. This type of policy is going to be the policy that every homeowner has before they start to add supplemental policies to cover other eventualities.

There are also specialty policies that can help protect against things like hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and more. These specialty policies are not included in basic insurance policies for one reason, they are not something that everyone has to worry about. Someone that does not live near water is likely not going to have to deal with flood, someone that does not live in an area near the coast is not going to have to worry about hurricanes, and so on.

You can add specialty policies to any basic policy for an added amount of money and your agent can help you determine what policies you need. You can also add more or less coverage dependent on how much the contents of your home are worth. If you have something like a very valuable collection of jewelry or guns you might want to take out a separate policy to cover them. These are all things that you should speak with your agent about when you start to take out your home policy.

In the Chester, NJ area, the agents with The Insurance Outfit can help you find the policy that is going to work for you every single time.

How to Use Auto Insurance to Your Advantage

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Auto insurance isn’t like buying a new pair of shoes or spending the night in a luxury hotel room. People get excited about parting with their money for these reasons, while auto insurance may just seem like a nuisance. But if you look at the situation in the right light, you can see just as much of an advantage to having the right policy as you do when you find the perfect dress. The Insurance Outfit can help you fill in the gaps.

Adding Value to Your Life 

Like it or not, accidents happen in Chester, NJ no matter how careful you are. Auto insurance has nothing to do with how responsible you are as a driver. It’s about ensuring you’re not going to be buried under bills for the rest of your life just because you sneezed at an intersection and had your eyes closed for a split second. No one is immune to having something like this happen to them, so you need to think what it means that insurance is there for you when bad luck strikes.

 More Safeguards, Fewer Problems 

There is a temptation there for everyone who buys auto insurance to buy the absolute cheapest plan available. After all, who doesn’t want a low monthly payment so they can do what they like with the extra cash? The problem with this is that you may end up kicking yourself later on if you’re effected by an event that isn’t covered under your policy. The Insurance Outfit serves Chester, NJ, and we make it easy for you to see where the holes are in your coverage, so you can start closing the gaps and feeling much more confident on the road. Call for more information on what we can do for you.

Keeping Home Insurance Affordable: What to Consider

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It’s not easy to buy property regardless of when you live, but the economy today has made it harder and harder for younger people to afford their land. If you are lucky enough to have a home, the insurance can feel like an unwanted expense that threatens your monthly cash flow. Here are some tips from the Insurance Outfit to keeping it affordable.

Discovering Your Priorities 

For some people, they care about the cars in the garage of their home in Chester, NJ. For others, it’s their expensive couch and flat-screen television. Some people only care about the cup of coffee in the breakfast nook or the vanity in their walk-in closet. Once you know what is most important to you, you can get to work regarding ensuring it’s protected against a variety of events. It can help keep home insurance affordable because you’re becoming more aware of what you can and can’t live without. Whether you choose to buy additional coverage on the belongings in your home or not is at least done with full knowledge of what the consequences will look like in the event of an emergency.

Choosing an Agency to Help

The right agency can remind you of scenarios you may not have thought of before, allowing you to see why home insurance is not only necessary but also downright reasonable. The monthly rates you pay now pale in comparison to the total cost you might face a liability lawsuit or debilitating storm that wipes out your entire property. If you live in Chester, NJ and need more information about quotes or policies, call The Insurance Outfit today for more information.

How To Prepare Your Chester Home For The Fall

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Your home in Chester, New Jersey is where you spend a lot of your time. As the fall months approach and the weather gets colder, you want to be sure you are doing everything to prepare. Creating a checklist of what you can do will make it easier for you to get some things done.

Have the HVAC Inspected

You may not be using HVAC right now because the weather is cool, and you can keep your windows open. However, you are getting close to the time where you are going to be relying on the heat. To avoid any kind of problems, it’s best to have a technician come out and make sure that all systems are working.

Check the Roof

Your roof should be inspected on an annual basis, and the fall is a great time to do so. You want to make sure that there is no damage so that leaves and ultimately snow do not pose any major problems for your home.

Call a Chimney Sweep

It’s only a matter of time before you want to turn on your fireplace for the first time this year. Call a chimney sweep to make sure that all cleaned out so that you can avoid a fire in your home.

Go Through Your Home

You also want to take the time to go through your home to check for various things. This includes:

– Potential fire hazards
– Fire extinguishers
– Batteries in your smoke detectors

Fall is also the time when you should check your home insurance policy. Does it still have all the coverage you need? Have you added anything to your home that needs to be included in your policy?

Contact The Insurance Outfit today to find out more about homeowner’s insurance and how to protect your home.

 

 

What Factors Increase Your Home Insurance Premiums?

Posted on by AgentInsure

Home insurance is important to protect what may be your biggest investment.  When it comes to your home insurance premiums, you are probably aware that the location and size of your home will play a large part in how your home insurance premiums are determined. Here are some less known factors that can increase your home insurance premiums in the Chester, NJ area.

Premium Increasing Factors 

A couple of obvious items are having a swimming pool or a trampoline, both are great for family enjoyment in the backyard, but they will cause your home insurance premiums to be higher. If someone is injured, you may be held liable, even if you didn’t give permission for the use of the pool or trampoline.  If you keep your pool secured by fencing it off, have safety equipment within easy access, and put a net around the trampoline to reduce injuries, it may help decrease your insurance premiums.

A few less obvious items that can increase premiums are a wood burning stove, a lack of home security or fire safety, and the age of your roof materials.  If any of these factors are issues for you, there are things you can do to help reduce premium rates. For example, show evidence that a licensed contractor installed the stove and it meets safety codes. Install smoke detectors and easy access fire extinguishers. You can also install new locks, dead bolts, and a security system to help reduce rates.

The Insurance Outfit

If you own a home or plan to purchase a home in the Chester, NJ area and have concerns about your home insurance rates, contact a friendly agent from The Insurance Outfit. We can help you address any factors that may be increasing your home insurance premiums.

Practicing Better Home Safety in Chester

Posted on by AgentInsure

Home safety is hard for everyone, because it’s so easy to make a mistake in a place you’re comfortable in. You get complacent and assume that life will just swing along from day to day. It just takes one partially lit match or one open window to create a disaster though. Before you decide you don’t need a few tips, remember just how forgetful you get when you’re about to head to bed and are so tired you can’t see straight. The Insurance Outfit serves Chester, NJ and wants you to keep your house whole. 

Think Ahead 

This is the best tip for home safety, but also an obvious and an easy-to-miss one. This can be as simple as storing valuables in different places, such as the freezer or behind children’s books. Or you could set alarms for yourself when you’re cooking to ensure you turn off the oven and the burners. You can also think even further ahead and plant thorny bushes under your window to deter thieves. Use window stickers and bath mats to avoid accidents and injuries, and ensure young kids know not to touch dangerous appliances. You may want to consider getting a better alarm system too, or setting up a better incentive system for your children to practice home safety. 

Choose a Better Home Insurance Policy  

The Insurance Outfit in Chester, NJ has agents who can help you decide on a policy that will actively keep your home safe from the many elements that could threaten it on any given day. Call us today to learn more about how you can get the coverage that will save you the hassle of footing the bill. Skip the cut-throat insurance companies and instead pick a business you can trust with agents who understand. 

 

General Home Insurance Versus Riders

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In a lot of ways, an insurance rider is an agreeable way that an insurance provider and a consumer can agree on a separate add-on coverage to an existing policy. Keep in mind, most home insurance polices are crafted as a standard package. They include terms that protect the homeowner against a common group of risks. These commonly include things like a home fire or a robbery. And a policy provides a given extent of coverage for the good and products a person keeps in his home without having to be item-specific. That works for most homes, but it also means that special items won’t be included. That could leave special items like jewelry or expensive electronic equipment essentially "out in the cold" if something gets damaged or stolen.

To resolve the problem, a rider is provided as a second add-on policy to the first homeowner’s insurance coverage. However, where the first policy was general, the rider is a specific protection plan that actually names the item or special additional coverage being included. In most cases, riders are used for specific property items versus expanded protection contingencies. Jewelry again is one of the most common categories. However, a valuable collectible can be a rider category as well.

Homeowners in Chester NJ don’t need to stuff their deposit boxes at the bank with critical items. The Insurance Outfit and their agents are well equipped to help customers with original policy plans as well as adding on riders for specific coverage needs. Again, the purpose of insurance is to complete a well thought financial plan for personal stability and success. A rider can provide valuable adjustments to existing policies without having to redo an entire home coverage all over again. Contact the Insurance Outfit to find out more.

Home Insurance in Chester: We’ve Got You Covered

Posted on by AgentInsure

Coverage on your home can seem like a minefield, and people often don’t like thinking about the worst that could happen to their home. When your property is as much emotional as it is physical, you start seeing it a very different way. Having complete coverage is the best way for you to feel as though you have a handle on the protection that you need for the unknown. Learn more about how a resident in Chester can face up to the challenge. 

Understanding It All 

One excellent idea is to sit down for an afternoon and just devote it to figuring out how home insurance works. You should be working with someone who knows insurance, as it’s much easier to ask the questions directly than to try to go piecemeal on the internet. It’s certainly doable, but chances are you aren’t swamped with free time. When you take on the responsibility of owning a house, you need to be able to take the time to understand how to protect it. 

Finding the Right Team to Help 

If you’ve ever called a huge insurance company, then you’ve probably heard an automated message system that took 15 seconds just to greet you. Sometimes it makes more sense to choose a smaller carrier so you can have a better means of getting the help you need when you need it. Low premiums aren’t really low premiums at all when it comes down to it, as you’ll end up either paying through your time or rising rates that you can ill afford. The Insurance Outfit understands how important it is to get set up with the right help now rather than later. Give us a call today for a quote or more information on our services. 

 

3 Best Kept Secrets to Organizing Your Closets

Posted on by AgentInsure

The Insurance Outfit, offer homeowners some great tips for home improvement that will add value to their lives. Cluttered closets make sore eyes, and in some cases a health concern. It’s easy to become a hoarder, so let’s devise a remedy to make life easier.

There is an art to organizing your closet. The key is the find the right approach, use it, and never forget it. It doesn’t take long for clutter to build up in close places. Your closet is a place that you only visit on occasion, but you want to keep it looking and smelling fresh. To do this, you must use tact and insight, but most importantly, you must be creative. To be creative, you must learn the top three secrets to organizing your closet, and creating more space. At The Insurance Outfit, here are 3 best kept secrets to organizing your closet, we like to share.

Remove Seasonal Clothes You No Longer Need

Your closet is only so large, so remove winter or summer clothes and pack from away. Keep one or two light sweaters and a scarf, on standby, you never know when a light breeze will come through. Clothes you no longer wear, takes up too much space. Pack them away, or give them to a thrift store.

Use Tiered Hangers

Instead of using one hanger per shirt or skirt, use tiered hangers to fit more clothes in your closet. It’s possible to hang 2 or more items on tiered hangers, allowing more room for more clothes. You can even fit several pair pants on the same hanger, or color coordinate your closet, so you can find what you need quickly.

Install Extra Shelves

Installing extra shelves allow you to store T-shirts, shorts, and running shoes. You can place some items in collapsible boxes and stackable bins, so you can create even more space. Your extra shelves can hold folded clothes, shoes, small baskets for accessories, linen and so much more.

Last Minute Tips and Hacks

Cedar blocks and panels repel bugs and help your closet to maintain a clean fresh smell. Utilize the backside of the closet for extra storage space, and remember to use pre-cut shelves to minimize the need for precise measurements.

Quick Spring Cleaning Tips to Fit Your Busy Lifestyle

Posted on by AgentInsure

You may think of spring cleaning as a process that is a lot of work and takes days to complete, but it doesn’t have to be. Get your home fresh and clean with these tips.

Wash all your bedlinens. While they are off, apply some baking soda to your bed, and then vacumn it off. This will help remove any dirt and dust in your mattress and freshen it up. Take down your shower curtain and liner and put them in the washer on the gentle cycle. You will also want to wash any throws or small rugs.

Take large rugs outside and beat them with a broom. This helps get out dirt that your vaccumn didn’t pick up. Let it sit outside for a few hours, and vacumn them when you bring it back inside.

Cut a lemon into slices, and put it in a microwave safe bowl full of water. Put it in the microwave for about two minutes. This will loosen up any messes, and the lemon makes your home smell cleaner. SImply remove the bowl and wipe your microwave clean.

Take out any expired or ruined items in your fridge. Use your lemon water and mix in some dish soap and baking soda. Now you can give your refridgerator a quick cleaning on the inside without getting chemical cleaners on your food. When you are finished with the inside, wipe the outside down with the solution.

Bring in some flowers. They will make your home smell wonderful, and give it a springtime feel. You can get potted plants, or just a simple bouquet of wildflowers.

Spring cleaning is a great way to take care of your home, but have you thought about your insurance coverage lately? If you don’t have insurance, or would like to see if you have enough coverage, The Insurance Outfit can give you a quick quote.