Fall & winter
Your fall & winter insurance check-up
Cold weather changes which claims people file. Before winter, and before renewal season, here are eight things worth checking across your home, car, boat and business policies, each linking to the guide that covers it properly.
These are the usual questions, not answers about your policy. What you’re covered for is in your policy wording.
Eight things to check
Roughly in the order they come up as the season turns.
1. As boating season ends
Laying up the boat
Many boat policies set a lay-up period, typically over winter, when the boat is covered where it is stored but not while in use. The dates are on the policy, so check them before an unseasonably good day on the water.
Get a quote2. Autumn driving
Deer and animal strikes
Hitting a deer is generally a comprehensive claim, not a collision claim. Swerving to avoid one and hitting a tree is usually collision, which is why it matters which coverages you carry.
Get a quote3. Before renewals come round
Year-end coverage review
The gaps that catch households out sit between policies: a liability limit set years ago, or life cover sized before the mortgage grew. One review across home, auto and life finds them.
Get a quote4. At policy year-end
Business premium audit
Workers' compensation and general liability are often priced on estimates and audited against actual figures afterward, which can mean an additional bill or a refund. Good records make it uneventful.
Get a quote5. Hard-freeze season
Frozen and burst pipes
Policies often cover water damage from a frozen pipe that bursts, if reasonable steps were taken to stop it freezing, such as keeping the heat on or shutting off the water in an empty home.
Get a quote6. Holiday travel
Away for the holidays
Occupancy is a policy condition, not a detail. Some policies expect heat maintained, or the water shut off and drained, while a home sits empty in cold weather.
Get a quote7. Ice and wind storms
Storm and tree damage
A tree that hits your house is generally a claim on your own home policy, even if it was a neighbor's tree. Removing it, the car underneath it and the roof are separate questions.
Get a quote8. Any time of year
Flood has a waiting period
Flood is excluded on standard home policies. A federal NFIP flood policy generally takes effect 30 days after purchase, with a few exceptions, so it has to be in place before the weather turns.
Get a quote