How do I prepare for a tornado warning?
A tornado warning usually comes with only one days warning. This means now is a good time to make sure both your home and your homeowners insurance are up to date. This post covers the steps to take to make sure you’re ready before the next tornado warning
Start by getting a rating on how good your insurance company is for claims handling, service and value. Just click the buttons below.
What should I do before I get a tornado warning?
Tornado season in the south is March through May. In the southern plains it’s May through June and along the gulf coast, March through June. Before you get your first tornado warning of the season, make sure both your home is ready. Just as importantly, make sure you have the right homeowners insurance company. Once a warning comes out, insurance companies will not allow you to open a new policy. Meaning, you’re stuck with what you had. No changes can be made once there’s a tornado warning until the storm passes.
Make sure you have good homeowners insurance. There are significant differences in how well insurance companies perform when it comes to paying claims. Know the behavior of yours. If the free rating you got above wasn’t good, just click the buttons below to find the best insurance companies in your state.
Steps to Take to Ensure You’re Prepared for a Tornado Warning
Make sure your home and property are prepared by taking the following steps:
If you live in an area that floods, have comprehensive insurance on your cars and flood insurance on your home.
Have a complete list of contents for your home. The list should include images and value estimates.
Know the condition of your roof. Does it have known problems that could cause it to leak during the next storm?
What to do if you Need Different Homeowners Insurance
There are a couple ways to find the best homeowners insurance. Shop with the companies named on the best insurance companies lists above. If contacting companies directly is more work than you want to put in, use the ValChoice service for finding an insurance agent local to you. Agents listed on ValChoice.com all represent some of the best insurance companies in the industry. In fact, we only allow agents to be represented on this site if they represent companies that qualify as award winning companies. To be an award winning company, the insurance company must have a ValChoice score of 68 or better in the most recent year.
Click the button below to find agents that represent companies with a ValChoice score of 68 or better (the fuel-gauge-style image above represents a ValChoice score of 68. To achieve this score, insurance companies must have excellent claims handling.
Specific Items to Check on for Your Homeowners Insurance
Whether you get better insurance, or already have good insurance, be sure to know the following:
Wind damage. Does the homeowners insurance policy cover wind damage. Or, do wind damage claims require separate coverage?
Wind damage claims. How are wind damage claims paid?
When a. roof is damaged, is it repaired or replaced?
Does the insurance company pay claims in full or do they pay a depreciated amount?
Flood damage. Is separate insurance (a different policy) required?
Want to know a fair price for your insurance? Use the ValChoice insurance calculators below.
About ValChoice Ratings
ValChoice rates every car and home insurance company. Ratings are based on data filed with state departments of insurance. Data collection occurring by state insurance departments is important for two reasons: 1) The data is high quality. 2) ValChoice does not depend on data provided by insurance companies to rate them.
About Dan Karr
Dan has been a CEO or Vice President for high-technology companies for over 20 years. While working as a Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales for a technology company, Dan was seriously injured while commuting to work. After dealing with trying to get insurance companies to pay his significant medical bills, or to settle a claim so Dan could pay the medical bills, he became intimately aware of the complexity of insurance claims. Dan founded ValChoice to pay forward his experience by bringing consumers, insurance agents and financial advisors easy-to-understand analysis needed to know which insurance companies provide the best price, protection — claims handling — and service.
