Louisiana FCU Financial Articles

How to prepare your home for a hurricane

Written by Garick Giroir | July 21, 2022

You can't control the weather. But you can control how ready you are to face it.

We recently sat down with Caprice Cline, owner and CEO of Cypress Roofing,讨论保护你的家免受bat365中文版游戏下载危害的实际方法. During this chat, Caprice回答了观众的问题,并提供了如何在bat365中文版游戏下载来袭前后最好地准备房屋的内部建议.

Watch the full Q&A video below or keep scrolling to read the condensed version.

 

What are some ways to prepare for future hurricanes and tropical storms? 

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bat365中文版游戏下载“艾达”过后,我们看到最多的是树木造成的破坏. I encourage everyone: go outside and look at your trees. 如果你认为它们腐烂了,让树木服务人员出来评估一下.

My second recommendation is to read your insurance policy. 了解它将包括什么和不包括什么-但主要是,看看你的免赔额.

我们还鼓励房主从各个角度在他们的房子周围走动并拍照. 拍下所有栅栏和外部结构的照片,然后回到家里做同样的事情. Go room-to-room because, if you do have to file a claim, those pictures are going to be like gold to your adjuster.

Lastly, have a list of contractors that you trust, so that if you have an emergency, you know how you can reach them right away so they can help you. 

What is your #1 tip for weathering a storm?

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Follow the instructions of our governor and newscasters. 当他们告诉我们撤离时,我们考虑了很多. I know a lot of people don't like to evacuate. 我知道这很贵,但是,天哪——如果他们让我们这么做,我们就得这么做. Should you decide to stay, make sure you have medicine, food, water, those types of things stocked and ready to go.

What is the best brand of generator to purchase?

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bat365中文版游戏下载“艾达”过后,我们在社区里每天搭帐篷16个小时,持续了将近四周. 我们看到的最好的发电机是可以通过燃气管道连接到家里的. 那些似乎是最好的,因为一旦停电,那些就会立即接通.

We also saw a lot of portable gas generators. 这样做的缺点是,有时在暴风雨后很难获得天然气. 

Relevant article: 4 questions to ask before buying a backup generator

When should I file an insurance claim for my roof?

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What we hear the most is, "Well, I don't want to file right now. I want to wait until after a hurricane." That is exactly the opposite of what you should do. Let me explain to you. 有一种叫做"bat365中文版游戏下载免赔额"或"命名风暴免赔额". 当一场风暴袭击我们路易斯安那州的海岸时,它就被命名为风暴——不管是不是bat365中文版游戏下载, your deductible usually will go from your normal $500 to $1,000 to a hurricane deductible which is 2% to 5% of your home's value. So if I have a $300,000 home, 2% of that is now a $6,000 deductible. 5% of that is now a $15,000 deductible. 现在,我怎样才能得到一份在bat365中文版游戏下载来袭时不会改变的免赔额呢? 嗯,我可能得多花点钱买保险,但这是值得的. So, read your policy. Have us out there before the storm because that's so, so very important.

When is the right time to call a roofing professional?

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Do not wait until after a storm. We will do a free inspection. We will get up on your roof and tell you if you have pre-existing damage. 我们发现,许多房主的屋顶已经有七年以上的历史了,因为以前的暴风雨已经损坏了, hail storms, that type of thing. 如果我们能在bat365中文版游戏下载来袭前发现损坏情况,那就是你想申请的时间.

Once you've made your assessment and are ready to move forward, should you file a claim at that point? Or am I required to pay out of pocket?

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It really depends. If you have visible damage on your roof or water coming into your home, you should call the insurance company immediately and file a claim. 你提交的越快,理算员就能越快到达你家,这是关键.

人们告诉我,“我看到有几片瓦片不见了,但我不知道是否需要提出索赔." If you don't have any water coming in, 让我们把你加入我们的检查名单,一旦我们解决了这些紧急情况, 我们会免费出来,对你是否应该提出索赔给出我们诚实的评估. Because you don't want to file a claim if you shouldn't. You want to make sure there's enough damage to warrant a claim. 这是像赛普拉斯这样的屋顶专业人士可以告诉你的.

Let me explain the insurance process. 客户或房主唯一要支付的钱就是他们的免赔额. 这就是为什么你的免赔额如此重要,为什么你知道它是什么很重要. So, whether your claim is going to be a $10,000 claim or a $100,000 claim, your deductible remains the same. If you have a $1,000 deductible, it's $1,000. Kind of like health insurance. If you have a $1,000 deductible on your health insurance, that means you pay the first thousand, then the health insurance picks it up. It's the same with your homeowner's insurance.

If you read your policy, 它告诉你,作为房主,你必须减轻进一步的损害. 这就意味着如果你家里进水了,你就得找人来铺防水布. 你不能让它不断涌入,然后指望保险公司说没关系. But if you have to get it tarped, whatever you paid for that, your insurance company will reimburse you. You just have to keep the receipt. Okay? So, that's the first thing I would say, is mitigate against further damage because they will reimburse you.

Then file your claim. If you know you have enough damage, file the claim right away. When the adjuster comes out, if you filed it yourself, if you're using Cypress Roofing, we will come out. You just have to let us know when the adjuster's coming. We'll meet the adjuster at your home. We will get on the roof with them. We do all of this at no charge. We get on the roof with them. We help them to assess the damage, ensure that they see everything. And, then at that point, 你通常需要一到两周的时间来了解他们将要报道的内容. They normally send you what's called an insurance breakdown. 这将给你一个清单,列出他们将涵盖的所有内容,以及他们将为此支付的确切金额.

发生的情况是,大多数保险公司会在两张支票的过程中支付给你. 他们会先给你大约一半的预付款,这通常足够我们开始工作了. But, guess what? 当他们寄给你支票时,如果你有抵押贷款,猜猜谁也在那张支票上? It's you and your mortgage company. 所以你必须把支票寄给你的抵押贷款公司,让他们签字. We overnight that check for free to speed up that process. Then when the check comes back, we can get you on the schedule. At that point, once the roof is complete, 然后,我们向保险公司提交所有必要的文件,以便他们发放最后一笔付款. 

You hear so much about 30-year roofs. How does that work?

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There's no such thing as a 30-year roof. Though I wish there was.

How about 30-year warranties?

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30年保修期意味着你对制造商的缺陷有保修. That's it. It's only if when they were manufacturing that shingle, that they can find there was a defect in the manufacturing. 这与它能在你的屋顶上停留多久或诸如此类的事情无关. Here in Louisiana, because of heat and humidity, 如果没有大风暴或类似的事情,一个三层屋顶可能会持续7到10年. 建筑屋顶,我会说10到15年仅仅因为热,湿度和风暴.

你能分享一下路易斯安那州的保险公司去年在bat365中文版游戏下载艾达的影响下所面临的挑战吗?

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Unfortunately, 在过去的几周里,路易斯安那州有大约10家保险公司申请破产. 也就是说我们有成千上万的房主没有保险.

如果你正在寻找保险,你要做的第一件事就是打电话给你的代理人. 您的代理人将能够搜索并查看是否有其他公司可以为您撰写保单. 如果他们找不到公司,我们路易斯安那州的人就叫做路易斯安那公民. 所以,当你找不到保险时,路易斯安那州的公民必须为你写保险单.

关于路易斯安那公民的一些事情-这是最后的保险手段, because it's state mandated. It's going to be more costly. In fact, it's going to be 10% more than the highest available rate. But at least you'll be able to get insurance. 他们是一个非营利组织,他们就是为这种情况而创建的.

By making financial preparations now, you can focus more on you and your family's safety when a storm hits. Learn how you can hurricane-proof your finances.