With winter quickly approaching, we want to offer a few quick tips to reduce property damage & possible insurance costs to your home.
Thanksgiving has passed and now is the time we rush into the Winter Holiday Season, weekend getaways to go skiing or some of you lucky clients will head down south to escape the New York cold winter month. It is vitally important to ensure your home is protected from the winter temperatures and snowfall.
- Keep your drains and gutters clean of leaves and debris. – Know if you have a landscaper taking care of your fall cleanups, it usually does not include the task of clearing all the leaves from your gutters. A good rule of thumb is to clean them twice a year. This helps to prevent roof leaks and mold buildup.
- Have furnaces serviced and chimneys inspected and cleaned. This ensures that they are working properly and can help to prevent unnecessary fire & smoke damage.
- Turn water off to exterior hose bibs, including detaching garden hoses. Be sure to drains and store hoses and sprinklers in a shed or garage to prevent them from freezing damage.
- Insulate walls and attics, and caulk & weather strip doors and windows. Also winterizing against drifts – apply winter weather stripping and draft stoppers. Keep your homes’ pipes warm and insulated to avoid a frozen or burst pipe. Pay careful attention to your thermostat, no need to have the home at a toasty 75 degrees when at work, 65-68 is a reasonable temperature and will help eliminate high heating bills while keeping your home warm – (consider a smart thermometer)
- Practice Fire Safety. Many things we do in hour home during the winter months actually increase the chances of a fire hazard. Burning candles, extra holiday baking, curling up by the fireplace… Ooh… sounds so perfect, doesn’t it? So be sure to have your home ready and prepared by preparing your fireplace, ensuring you have multiple fire extinguishers & batteries in your smoke detectors.
- If leaving your home for a warmer climates, it’s a good idea to install a security alarm. Available now are smart home systems which would also enable you to monitor your homes thermostat while away also.
As always, always take the time to review your homeowners’ insurance policy to ensure that all your coverages are up to date. Here at Percy Hoek, your account representative is happy to review your policy with you should you have any questions or concerns about you policy or coverages.