Forward Mutual’s reinsurance adjuster Mike Semrow recently wrote this helpful article for our annual report. We’d like to pass this along to our home, farm and rental owners to assist them in caring for their property.

Unforeseen disasters sometimes happen

With the exception of certain life insurance policies, most insurance policies are purchased with the intent of never filing a claim. It is a valuable financial planning tool to help protect against various financial exposures.

Your home or farm owner’s policy with Forward Mutual is your protection against a devastating loss. Even though you purchased the policy with the intent of never using it, sometimes bad things happen to good people. Good record keeping, before a loss occurs, is the key to a smooth claim settlement.

Here are a few things you can do before a disaster to make the claims process easier:

• Keep an ongoing inventory of your valuable personal property items. Record model and serial numbers for expensive items (i.e. televisions, computers, etc.). Keep your receipts for these items. Remember that antiques, family heirlooms, etc., may not be adequately covered unless specifically insured. Photographs of items in a pre-loss condition are always helpful.
• Keep records of improvements made to your home or farm outbuildings.
• Keep detailed repair and maintenance records for your tractors and farm implements. Accurate model and serial numbers will aid in providing a quick and fair claim settlement.
• Review and/or update coverage limits with your agent on an annual basis. Adequate coverage is the best way to make sure you will be made whole after a covered loss.
• Don’t ignore the small ongoing repairs to your property. Deferred maintenance will not be considered part of a covered loss.
• Keep multiple copies of your inventories, maintenance and repair records. Preferably in an electronic format.

For more information on how you can proactively prepare for possible disasters, call us at 920-261-6616 or email our office.