Protect Your Home
Insurance
Homeowners insurance and renters insurance can be complicated topics. Different policies cover different types of damage. For example, hurricane insurance covers wind damage caused by a categorized hurricane, but not storm surge damage from a hurricane, which is covered by flood insurance. Similarly, some policies may not cover damage from a lava flow, but may cover damage from a fire that resulted from a lava flow.
The best thing you can do is call your insurer to find out exactly what your policy covers. You can also visit the State of Hawaiʻi Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs’ Insurance Division website by clicking here.
Depending on the hazards that threaten your home, you may want to look into:
- Fire insurance
- Hurricane insurance
- Flood insurance
- Earthquake insurance
- Lava flow insurance
Inventory
For both renters and homeowners, having an accurate inventory of your possessions is essential for determining what kind of insurance you need, and for making claims after a disaster damages your property.
Take photos or videos of your home and property to have a record of the condition of your home.
Create an inventory list of your personal property, such as jewelry, furniture, computers, electronics, clothes and appliances. Receipts, model numbers and serial numbers will strengthen your inventory. Add your insurance information, including the policy number and agent’s phone number. Leave a copy of your inventory with friends or relatives, and email yourself a copy.
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) offers a handy inventory app that can help. This app can record your belongings room by room. Plus, you can upload photos of your items and even scan barcodes. Check out the app here https://content.naic.org/consumer/home-inventory.
Home Improvements
There are number of improvements and strategies you can use to enhance your home’s resilience to natural disasters. Use the “Tools and Resources” section below for home improvement tips, and visit HIEMA’s natural disaster webpages for information on protecting your home:
