After The Storm

The storms that hit the Sacramento area and much of California this winter caused many home owners damage to their homes. For some it was downed fences and for others it was downed trees.
I wanted to discuss these types of accidents and the affects on your home owners insurance policy. For some insight into this matter I turned to one of my trusted advisors in the insurance industry, Shaun Felber.

Question: Will my rates go up if my home suffers damage from natural disasters?

• Claims like wind damage, a tree falling on a home, etc. do not affect your insurance rates with Farmers because they're "natural" or caused by nature. Anything that is a wear and tear issue like pipes breaking or a leaky roof would have an impact on your rates. A rough estimate of what your policy would increase would be about 1/3. That increase stays for 3 years. For my clients, I estimate how much it will cost to fix the damage and what the increase would be over the next 3 years and then (taking their deductible into account) decide if it's cheaper to pay out of pocket or turn in a claim." - S. Felber

Question: What happens if my neighbor's tree causes damage to my home?

• "As far as a neighbor's tree hitting your property, the neighbor would be liable and their insurance should fix your damage. As long as the tree is on their property, they're liable. I've seen an issue where a person's tree roots went across the property line (under fence) and damaged the neighbors pipes underground. Their insurance paid for the neighbor's pipe damage." - S. Felber

Question: What heppens when weather damages a fence shared with a neighbor?

• In this case, it's almost always cheaper to pay out of pocket because it's generally split between 2 neighbors and the total paid by each person is usually less than the deductible. It almost always comes down to "wear and tear" on an old fence also.

Question: What heppens when I make a claim on my homeowner's insurance?

• A claim on a home follows the homeowner (generally for three years), not the home. So you could sell a home that had damage from a tree the previous year and it wouldn't affect the new homeowner's insurance rates.

Shaun Felber also noted that any damage suffered to your property should always be well documented with photos, especially in the example where a neighbor's property, such as a tree, has damaged your home. Last, I know we were only able to cover a few examples here so if you have any other home, flood, life, or auto insurance questions or needs, Shaun has made his services available to Alex Amaro's subscribers.

Shaun Felber, Farmers Insurance, (209) 862-1166 or by email at sfelber@farmersagent.com

Photo by Alex Amaro, 1/5/08: I took this photo of my neighbor's home in the midtown area of Sacramento. During major storms the downtown/midtown area sees much damage to cars and homes by these large trees that line the streets.