While you are not legally bound to buy homeowner insurance, it is definitely a smart decision you will thank yourself for once you have made it. Also, people who pay the mortgage are most likely required by lenders to insure their property. This policy will not only cover home and yard repairs after damaging storms and other similar weather conditions, but it can also cover your personal items, whether you are home or not. Not to mention that if one of your house-guests accidentally trips and falls on your driveway and decides to sue you, your insurance should cover the victim’s injuries, as well as the hospitalization costs.
But did you ever ask yourself if your homeowner insurance could also cover something as hypothetically unimportant as a new set of locks? What about having several spare keys chaotically spread among friends and neighbors – do you think this could affect your insurance claim in the event of a burglary? Because we know how important the safety matter is to most homeowners, we have decided to put the topic under our magnifying glass. Grab your favorite mug of coffee or tea and learn everything you need to know about homeowners’ insurance, spare keys, and home safety in general.
Lost Your Home Keys?
You wouldn’t be the only one. As a matter of fact, according to the average American appears to be spending 2.5 days looking for their lost keys and other items each year. And the replacement costs reach $2.7 billion every year, at a nationwide level. So, chances are, the event will repeat itself soon enough. You should take some precautionary measures such as using a single key hanging location inside the house and using it every time you come home.
Provided you are in the process of looking for your house or apartment keys right now, but to no avail, you should be happy to know that your homeowner’s insurance could cover the replacement costs for your locks. You will, however, need to read your policy provisions first and make sure your insurance covers your clumsiness. A simple lock change is about $25 according to the price list of OntimeLocksmiths but prices may vary depending on various factors. Locks really play such an important role in keeping us safe at home and having a locksmith over to fix one lock is a good opportunity to get an overall assessment of all door and window locks but it should only be done only by authorized and well-recommended businesses. Not having proper locks on your home may most likely cause insurance problems if your home is broken into and you don’t want to miss out on your insurance because of this. Big Locksmith business today has representatives in basically every area and regardless of zip codes they arrive within 30 minutes. With their local presence, they are also well updated with local problems of burglary, etc and have lots of experience from different insurance issues and how to protect our homes better.
Spare Keys And Insurance Claims
Many homeowners choose to leave spare keys with neighbors they feel they can trust, or close friends and family. Provided they one day find themselves locked out of their homes, they will this way be able to rely on their spare keys to get back in. And there are even people who choose to leave their spares hidden inside their garages, beneath their cars, or stick them to bicycle tires.
As useful as you might feel that your garden midget or neighbors might be for holding on to your spare keys, you will risk invalidating your home insurance by using them. And we are not only talking about spare keys that open your front door. Even a small key you may use for your mailing box, a cabinet storing important papers inside your house, or a window could trigger similar effects.
Your insurance claim in case of a burglary will require to show proof that your place has been forcefully entered. If one of your spare keys will reach the hands of the wrong people, or your friends may not be as trustworthy as you might imagine, you may not be able to prove the break-in. Since the locks and doors are not broken or forced, and there are no smashed windows to show to your insurer, there will be no actual grounds to file a burglary claim. And this means that you will need to personally replace your stolen goods, appliances, car, and anything else that might have been stolen from you.
The Keyless Lock Alternative
If you are worried something like this might happen to you, as you already have lots of spare keys lying around at other people’s key-chains, you may want to consider installing electronic locks. They do not require any physical keys to manage the locking and unlocking of your doors, and they also come with a series of other impressive advantages. Again, talk to a nearby locksmith and find out more about these locks and other similar options you can use to make your home safer.
