Winter is coming! With all the cold weather and snow, you’ll want to make sure your home is ready for all the season can bring. You want to winterize your home to keep it cozy and warm, as well as to keep it safe and prevent any possible damages. Here are some of the ways you can winterize your home so that you can ensure it will be as prepared as possible for everything winter will throw at it.

Clean Out Your Gutters

If your gutters get clogged with debris and fallen leaves, this can lead to ice dams and water damage to your roof and home. This is because since the snowmelt can’t drain through your gutters, it ends up turning to ice, which can then go under your roof and through to your home, causing extensive damages. Cleaning out your gutters and installing gutter guards will help prevent ice dams and is essential to properly winterize your home.

Have Your Roof Inspected

Snow buildup is heavy, and can damage your roof. You want your roof to be able to withstand the snow, so having a professional come out to inspect it and take care of any necessary repairs will help to prevent major problems down the line. You may also check your home insurance policy, to see if it covers damages to your roof from snow.

Maintain Your Trees

A major cause of home damage in the winter is from fallen trees during storms and from the weight of the snow. They can hit your roof, your house, or your car, resulting in potentially extensive damages. It’s not just for your sake that you need to maintain your trees, though. If one of your trees falls and damages your neighbor’s property, they’ll be able to file a claim with their insurer, and you want to have insurance of your own to cover that possibility.

Check Your Weatherstripping

Weatherstripping keeps the warm air in your home and the cold air out. If your weatherstripping is failing, this can cause air leaks and lead to higher energy bills as your HVAC system works to compensate for any drafts. Replacing or repairing your weatherstripping is an important step to take when you winterize your home, so that you don’t end up with higher energy bills or have to deal with drafty windows.

Protect Your Pipes

Drops in temperature and poor insulation can seriously damage your pipes, causing them to freeze, expand, and potentially crack. Cracks in your pipes can result in massive water damage to your home, since it allows for hundreds of gallons of water to escape from your pipes. In order to protect your pipes so you can properly winterize your home, have a professional come out to install pipe insulation and heat tape, in order to prevent them from freezing and cracking.

Set Your Thermostat 

Going into the winter months, you want to make sure that your thermostat is set at the right temperature. If you’re not home, you don’t want your thermostat set to the same temperature as if you were, as this will result in you sending more on your energy bills than is necessary. Adjusting your thermostat to a lower temperature when you are not home and then putting it back up when you are will help save you money. You may even consider investing in a smart thermostat that you can adjust from your phone. 

Practice Fire Safety

Winter is the prime season for fires and candles and lights and personal heaters. With how the days are shorter, you want the light, and with how it’s colder, cozying up by a fireplace can be ideal. With all of these come heightened risks for fires to start, such as putting a cable too close to a personal heater or a candle getting knocked over. Make sure that you are prepared for any potential fires with fire extinguishers, escape routes, and working smoke detectors. And be careful to be mindful of how to avoid accidentally starting a fire.

Inspect Your Furnace And Filter

Since you’ll be using your furnace a lot more in the winter, an essential step to winterize your home is to make sure that it doesn’t have any leaks and to test for any possible carbon monoxide. If your furnace is old, you may need to have it replaced, in order to ensure efficiency and safety from cracks. You want to take care of any necessary repairs and replacements so that your furnace both functions as it should and so that your home stays safe from any gas leaks.

Another aspect of taking care of your furnace is replacing the filter, to ensure good indoor air quality. It’s recommended that you replace your furnace filter monthly in order to avoid indoor air pollution from dust and allergens, which can result in respiratory issues. Replacing your furnace filter also helps your furnace to run more efficiently.

Do You Want To Learn More About How You Can Winterize Your Home?

Insurance Unlimited In Bozeman wants to help you winterize your home and prepare for anything the season might throw at you with homeowner’s insurance policies designed to protect your home and your belongings from damages. To learn more about our homeowner’s insurance policies, please contact us at Insurance Unlimited In Bozeman today! 

If you’ve heard of disability insurance, chances are that it’s been in relation to workplace injuries. Contrary to popular belief, disability insurance covers more than that, though. The vast majority of people can’t risk an extended period of time with no source of income. Bills pile up, groceries and other necessities need to be purchased, and the things you need to pay for don’t go away if you have an accident, injury, or get sick. These are all things disability insurance can help with.

If you’re wondering whether or not you should get disability insurance, here’s what you need to know. 

What Is Disability Insurance?

This type of insurance is meant to replace the majority of your income in the event that something happens which makes you unable to work for a period of time. There are two different types of disability insurance: long term and short term. As they sound, short term insurance is meant for a shorter period of time, anywhere from a few months to a year or so. Long term insurance is meant to last a longer period of time. 

Should you become disabled, it is meant to help you pay for your bills and everything you may need until you are able to go back to work. It replaces the majority portion of your income so that you can still procure everything you need while you’re disabled, giving a sense of security and peace of mind, so that you don’t have to stress about not having a paycheck for a period of time. 

What Counts As A Disability?

What counts as a disability varies from place to place. Generally, disabilities are counted as injuries, such as a broken leg that would take you out of commission for a few months, and illnesses, both mental and physical. The majority of long-term disabilities are from illnesses, rather than injuries, and affect everyone, including those just entering the workforce. 

Reasons To Consider Disability Insurance

Most people can’t afford to miss a paycheck. If you become disabled and no longer have that steady source of income from your work, it can majorly impact your lifestyle, making it so that not only are you injured or sick, but you are also extremely stressed, which does not lend itself to a conducive mindset or atmosphere for recovery. This insurance alleviates that stress and provides security when you otherwise might have none.

While most people like to think that they don’t ever have to worry about becoming disabled or ever needing this kind of insurance, the truth is the accidents can happen to anyone, no matter who they are or what their job is. Anyone can get sick, mentally or physically, and anyone can get injured, regardless of if you work an office job or if you work a trade job. If you abruptly find yourself unable to work, you don’t want to be left floundering and scared. 

Disability insurance gives security and is there to help you focus solely on getting better in the event that something happens to you. No matter what your age or occupation is, if you rely heavily on your job in order to be able to live, you could benefit from disability insurance.

Who Needs Disability Insurance?

As mentioned above, anyone would benefit from having this insurance. When considering whether or not you may need it, you may consider asking yourself some questions. You may ask whether or not you can afford all of your monthly expenses without a current source of income. These include your rent, your groceries, your utilities, your travel expenses, your debt payments, your entertainment expenses, your maintenance bills, your car expenses, and more. If the answer is no, you could benefit from this insurance.

Disability can be unpredictable. While some may think it will never happen to them, the truth is that you never know when an accident might happen or illness might strike that could take you out of commission for months. Unfortunately, many people can’t afford to be out of work for that long, and it could lead to financial ruin. This kind of insurance will ensure a sense of financial security, so that you know if something should ever happen to you, you will still be able to afford everything you need to. 

Do You Need Disability Insurance?

Here at Insurance Unlimited in Bozeman, we know life can be unpredictable. Our expert team can provide you with the best insurance policies for you. To learn more about the insurance plans we offer, please contact us at Insurance Unlimited in Bozeman today!

While scientists can estimate the frequency of earthquakes, earthquakes are something that cannot be exactly predicted. The majority of earthquakes are small, and you likely won’t even feel them. However, if a big one hits, the damage to your property can potentially be devastating. Your risk for earthquakes increases if you live close to fault lines, but this doesn’t mean you are safe from them if you live in states that don’t commonly have them, as the earth is ever shifting. 

Why Earthquake Insurance?

Most insurance does not cover earthquake-related damage. This is because they are generally considered to be “acts of God”, and ergo, excluded from the majority of homeowner’s insurance policies. As general homeowner’s insurance typically doesn’t cover earthquake-related damages, that could make these natural disasters even more devastating, with expenses that aren’t covered piling up. This is where earthquake insurance comes in. 

What Is Earthquake Insurance?

Earthquake insurance is an add-on insurance companies offer that covers the damage that can be done to your home and property in the event of an earthquake. It’s specifically tailored to help with any expenses an earthquake can cause. It can provide necessary resources to rebuild or repair any damages done, and can even help with personal property and living expenses while your home is either rebuilt or repaired. 

Do You Need Earthquake Insurance?

If you don’t live in an area that has high risk for earthquakes, you can likely get by just fine without earthquake insurance. However, if you live somewhere with frequent earthquakes or near a fault line, it’s certainly something to put some serious consideration into. When assessing whether or not earthquake insurance is worth it for you, you should assess the risk factor of where you live. Though every state has experienced earthquakes at some point in time, some are at a higher risk than others, which will increase the likelihood of you wanting earthquake insurance.

What Are The Factors To Increase The Likelihood Of Needing Earthquake Insurance?

You’ll likely want earthquake insurance if, as mentioned above, you live somewhere prone to earthquakes or if it is near a fault line. You’ll also want to consider the kind of ground your home is on – is it bedrock or fill? Is it hazardous for soil liquefaction or being ruptured in the event of an earthquake? What is your house itself made of? Is your house made to withstand seismic activity or not? 

If your home hasn’t been designed by a seismic engineer, it won’t hold up against an earthquake as well. If your home is built on fill, that isn’t as sturdy and resistant to tremors as bedrock is. Brick buildings aren’t able to take the shock of quakes as well as metal. These all increase potential damages – and expenses.

When considering these questions and their answers, you’ll also want to ask yourself whether or not you can afford to repair or replace the damage an earthquake can do without insurance. Earthquakes can be devastating, and many people can suffer significant losses from them. If you’re worried about the safety of your home and how prone your area is to earthquakes, it’s probably more than worth it to invest in earthquake insurance. Even in areas like California that are at high risk for earthquakes, earthquake damages aren’t typically covered in your typical homeowner’s insurance. 

You don’t want to make the mistake of assuming potential damage will be covered and then faced with even more devastation in the event of disaster. Earthquake insurance will offer peace of mind, especially if you live in a high-risk area or a home that isn’t earthquake-resistant. 

Is There Anything Earthquake Insurance Doesn’t Cover?

Since earthquake insurance is an add-on, there are some things it doesn’t cover. It probably won’t cover any damages to your cars – your auto insurance will do that. It probably won’t cover damage from fire – your homeowner’s insurance can do that. And it probably won’t cover flood damage resulting from an earthquake-induced flood, as that falls under a separate umbrella of add-on insurances – flood insurance. 

So, Is Earthquake Insurance Worth It?

While earthquake insurance would be useful to have anywhere, since earthquakes can happen anywhere, ultimately, it’s up to you to decide on whether or not it’s worth it to you to have it. If you live in a high-risk area, earthquake insurance is most definitely worth it. If you live somewhere very low risk, you can likely get away without it, even though the threat is still there. 

Are You Considering Earthquake Insurance?

Here at Insurance Unlimited in Bozeman, we offer earthquake insurance. We know how important it is to protect your home, and our earthquake insurance will help with any damages resulting from an earthquake. For more information about earthquake insurance or any of the other insurances we offer, please contact us at Insurance Unlimited in Bozeman today!