When you buy home insurance you are determined to make sure every possible eventuality is covered. That isn’t ever really possible since all home insurance policies have exclusions. You need to read the exclusions section of your policy carefully to determine if you can live with the risk. If not, most of them have ways that you can include the needed coverage. In Laurel, MD, Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial has been serving the needs of residents since 2005. We are family-owned and operated and strive to develop a relationship with our customers to help us provide the right information and coverage. 

Floods

Probably the most shocking item that isn’t covered is flooding. Floods are one of the most damaging natural disasters, and they can strike without warning across the country.  Rivers, creeks, and even streams can come charging over their banks. Hurricanes can churn up the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean. No one is safe. If you find the risk too high, and you want to get coverage, the NFIP offers flood insurance to residents of a participating community. 

Earth Movement

This category covers several types of earth movement. California is the most active place for earthquakes, but it is far from the only place in the country to experience them.  Mudslides and sinkholes are also types of earth movement. Sinkholes have become bigger, more frequent, and in locations that are unexpected. You can add an endorsement to your policy or get a separate policy. 

Owner neglect

As the owner of your home, it is your responsibility to maintain that home. This means replacing a roof before it is so bad that it allows your home to be damaged. It means making sure that you get pest treatment so that termites don’t damage your home. 

Contact Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial in Laurel, MD for all your home insurance needs. 

You worked so hard to get your dream home for you and your loved ones, and because of that, it will behoove you to ensure you have the right home insurance policy for you. Having said that, it is critical to consult a reputable insurance agent, and it is vital that you know the common myths about home insurance to ensure you are properly covered. Thus, the following includes many of the common myths about home insurance: 

• Standard homeowners insurance covers flood damage. 

Home insurance doesn’t cover flood damage. A separate flood insurance policy must be purchased in addition to your standard policy in order to be covered.

• It covers my medical expenses in case of an injury. 

These policies typically cover someone outside your family who gets injured on your property. 

• It is not necessary to make an inventory list. 

You must have an inventory list to show ownership especially when it comes to filing a claim. 

• Your premium will get higher each time you file a claim. 

This usually occurs if you file multiple claims. 

• Home insurance covers all expensive items, including furs and jewelry.

Home insurance usually has limitations when it comes to valuables, and some high-end items may be more expensive than the limit. So, in this case, you will need to buy more coverage for those items.

• Only those living in flood zones can get flood insurance. 

Standard home insurance policies don’t cover floods, so you must get flood insurance. Also, floods can occur anywhere besides the flood zone. 

Conclusion

These are just a handful of common myths about home insurance. For more information about home insurance, contact Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial today. Located in Laurel, MD, Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial has been providing top-notch insurance products for people in Laurel MD, and surrounding areas for over 15 years. Contact them today!

Home is the place where the heart is, for most people it is your safe zone. While it may be emotionally safe, you want to make sure it is physically safe as well. As a homeowner, you are responsible for updates and renovations. Sometimes things can get overlooked that really needed to be fixed. If that is the case, don’t let it go any longer, your insurance company expects you to maintain your home. In Laurel, MD, Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial is here to look out for your interests and help you to find the perfect insurance for your lifestyle. 

Check door and windows

All exterior doors and windows to your home should have locks. Make sure the locks are doing their job. If you don’t have deadbolts on your doors, consider having them installed. For a sliding glass door, you should use a safety bar that keeps them from opening. Windows, especially those on the ground or basement level should have a lock and should be kept locked. 

Motion lights

Having motion-activated exterior lights can discourage anyone who is trying to get close to your home undetected.  Place the lights on all sides of your home. 

Camera doorbell

Having a camera on your doorbell is a great safety measure. It allows you to see who is ringing your doorbell. Most of these work from an app on your phone so you can see who is on your porch even if you are not at home. 

Home security system

Lots of home security systems are available. Some are DYI and are simple to install. They can include cameras and sensors. If you want a more sophisticated system many are installed and maintained by monitoring companies. 

In Laurel, MD, Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial is your local independent agency. We are dedicated to providing the finest products and services to our customers. Give us a call for a no-obligation quote. 

Finding the right insurance policy in Laurel, MD is an important task area homeowners need to take care of. At Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial, we offer insurance policies to meet your needs.

If you want to make things easier for yourself regarding home insurance, you can do the following things to make home insurance more convenient.

Buy a policy with online account management features

Many insurance providers offer online account access features. These features allow you to view information about your account and make payments online.

Online account management features make things more convenient by allowing you to conveniently access information about your account whenever you need it.

Set up automatic payments

A lot of providers also offer automatic payment features. This means you won’t have to remember to make payments on your account. Your payments will be automatically charged to your bank account or credit card. 

With automatic payments, your premium payments are taken care of automatically. You minimize the chances that you will overlook a payment. This is important because your insurance policy can be canceled if you overlook a premium payment. 

Make sure your provider offers good customer service

It’s important to realize how important good customer service is when you’re buying insurance. Unfortunately, homeowners sometimes underestimate the importance of good customer service when they purchase home insurance.

Whenever you have a question about home insurance or need to submit a claim, customer service is important. With good customer service, you know that your needs will be addressed by your insurance provider promptly and completely. 

Do you have questions or inquiries about home insurance policies in Laurel, MD? We can help at Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial. Contact us to learn more. 

The city of Laurel, MD is a great place to work and live. When you are in this area, you should carefully consider your housing needs and option. For those that are looking to make a long-term investment and want to stay in the area, buying a home is a great option. Along with any home purchase, you should also get a quality home insurance policy. There are several situations when someone will need to have this insurance coverage here. 

When Taking Out a Mortgage

One situation when someone will need to get a home insurance policy here is when you are going to take out a mortgage. The majority of people that buy a home will do so by taking out a mortgage. When you take out a mortgage, you do need to comply with the lender’s insurance requirements. Most of the time, the lender will require that you have your payments escrowed each month. 

When in a Home Association

You will also need to get home insurance if you are going to live in a home association. Those that live in a community with condo bylaws will normally have specific insurance requirements that are needed to be met. If you do not have a proper insurance policy in place, you could find yourself in violation of association rules, which could come with several different penalties. 

Practically anyone in the Laurel, MD area will need to have insurance for their home. If you are looking for home insurance coverage, you should call the insurance team at Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial. When you work with Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial you are going to learn a lot more about your options for home insurance. They can also answer any questions and help you pick a policy that offers the right protection. 

If you own a home or are considering purchasing one then you’ve likely asked yourself how much homeowner’s insurance you need to purchase. Generally speaking, the higher the coverage you purchase the more expensive the policy so it’s not surprising to want to only purchase what you need. However, don’t sell yourself short by purchasing too little coverage because if a disaster strikes and you need to rebuild your home you’ll have to pay for any overages out of your pocket. 

In short, homeowner’s insurance covers damages and total losses to your home, property, and personal belongings. While doing regular maintenance on your home and keeping up with home improvement projects is one of the best ways to prevent costly damages to your house, the other is to make sure you have adequate insurance. While every policy will vary, most homeowner’s insurance policies will cover losses to your home including theft, lightning strikes, fire, damage from an airplane or vehicle, water damage, vandalism, riots, and more.

When it comes to deciding how much coverage to purchase, you want the coverage to equal the total replacement cost of your home. This means that if your home was declared a total loss and had to be rebuilt from scratch, your insurance coverage should at least pay for the entirety of the cost of rebuilding to pre-disaster specifications. Additionally, make sure that you have as much liability coverage as you can comfortably afford to help prevent your assets from being seized if a third party is hurt or injured while at your house. 

If you are in the Laurel, MD area and in need of homeowners insurance look no further than Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial. When it comes to insurance we know the different policy options like the back of our hands and are more than happy to assist in finding you and the perfect policy for your needs. Give us a call today to schedule a no-obligation consultation. 

Severe weather threats like hurricanes, winter storms, and tornadoes are common to Maryland, making it important for homeowners to prepare for natural disasters. The following tips from Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial can help you protect your home and valuables from disasters.

Become Aware of Disasters Common to Your Area  

Be aware of severe weather threats and disasters that normally befall the Laurel MD area. Keep tabs on weather alerts so you’ll have time to prep your home against them. Your home prep could include boarding or shuttering windows, bracing doors, storing outdoor furniture and plants in a safe location, and anchoring down objects that can’t be brought inside. 

Stock Up on Emergency Supplies

Stock up on emergency supplies and keep these up to date in preparation for a disaster. In addition to food and water, you should have a complete first aid kit, flashlights, radio, extra batteries, tool kit, and toiletries, reliable cell phone and charger. It also helps to have extra cash on hand for emergencies in case you cannot get to an ATM.

Locate Water, Electrical & Gas Shut Offs

Make sure you know where your water, electricity, and gas shutoff valves are so you can quickly turn these off before or during a disaster to reduce the risk of fire and interior water damage.   

Secure Important Documents

Gather important documents and secure them in a safe location. This includes passports, birth certificates, insurance papers, financial records, etc.

Update Your Home Insurance

Make sure your home insurance is up to date and that you’re covered for disasters common to your area. Your dwelling and property insurance should be enough to cover the value of your Laurel, MD home and goods in case they’re totally destroyed in a disaster.

To purchase home insurance coverage for protection against disasters, contact Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial.

Home insurance is a product that protects the investment you make in your home. At Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial, we provide home insurance that will cover the costs of damages to your home and protect you from liabilities as a homeowner. 

You need to have a home insurance policy in Laurel, MD that provides you with adequate coverage. The following are three things your home insurance policy needs to provide. 

Liability coverage

Many homeowners associate home insurance first with protecting financially against physical damage to their property. However, this is not the only important form of coverage that home insurance offers.

Home insurance should also include liability coverage. Coverage for liabilities will cover the expenses of a lawsuit that results from an accident or event on your property. It’s important to make sure that your home insurance includes adequate liability coverage. 

Coverage for natural disasters you’re at risk for

You need to gauge the particular risks for damage there are at your property. Think about what natural disasters are likely to occur and cause extensive damage in your area.

If your area is prone to damage from earthquakes, flooding, or hurricanes, you need to have a home insurance policy that will provide coverage in these situations. 

An affordable deductible

It’s important that you can afford to pay your deductible out of pocket in the event that you have to file a claim.

A higher deductible will mean lower monthly premiums. However, a deductible that’s too high could create problems for you. Your home insurance coverage won’t kick in until your deductible is paid. 

Learn more about our home insurance policies in Laurel, MD. Contact us at Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial with questions and inquiries regarding our insurance products. 

Being a homeowner comes with lots of built-in stress to go along with all the pride and excitement. You are so happy to actually have a home of your very own but there are so many things that can wrong that it can keep you up at night with worry. Having good home insurance can take some of the worries out of making sure that you are protected but even the top insurance will be counting on you to do your part to make sure that filing a claim goes smoothly. At Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial in Laurel, MD we will make sure you have a good carrier and we can help you to understand how a home inventory can make your insurance experience much less stressful. 

In this day of technology, there are several ways that you can create a home inventory. Walkthrough your home, top to bottom and make a recording with your cellphone of each room. You want to especially focus on the more high priced items. If you have a video camera you can record your contents that way. You can walk through each room with a pad and paper and write down the contents of each room. All of these ways work. In addition, appraisals should be placed with the inventory as well as sales slips and detailed model number. The more information you have the easier it will be to collect in the event of a loss. The inventory needs to be stored in a safe place, the Cloud is an option or if it is a paper copy, in a safe place preferably off the home site. 

Talking with the experienced agents at Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial in Laurel, MD can help to ease your mind when it comes to how to create a home inventory. Stop by the office or give us a call for a no-obligation quote. 

For a Laurel, MD homeowner, their property is one of the most significant investments that they are ever going to make. That’s why it is important to take the time to properly safeguard this investment. These investments are prone to various risks and an experienced Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial agent can walk the homeowner through them.

A home insurance policy is going to be required by any mortgage lender and while this is typically not a state level requirement, the investment must be guarded from loss. Let’s say that the homeowner resides in an area where they are at risk of experiencing various natural disasters.

An experienced agent will let the homeowner know more about the minimum amount of coverage. The amount that the homeowner is spending on their mortgage goes a long way towards determining the level of coverage that is needed. In many instances, a lender will step in if the home is not properly insured.

From there, the payments are going to be added to the homeowner’s monthly mortgage payment by the lender. By taking the proactive route, a Laurel MD homeowner can avoid these types of difficulties. A homeowner may also want to discuss needs that are associated with their personal belongings. 

Let’s say that the homeowner has an expensive laptop that they are looking to protect, or even some jewelry. The policy that is purchased must be reflective of the homeowner’s personal needs. If injuries occur on the property, homeowner’s insurance also offers protection against the resulting legal bills and medical expenses that are incurred. 

When a homeowner is ready to start their search for the proper policy, they must take the time to meet with experienced Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial agents. Take a moment to visit the Mid Atlantic website, so that you can find out more about the importance of these policies.