Skip Ribbon Commands
Skip to main content
Are You Covered?
  • Changing Your Address Means Changing Your Insurance
    May is National Moving Month and every year more than 40 million Americans will move, according to the American Moving and Storage Association. As you pack up your belongings and move across town or across the country, make sure you don’t forget to “pack” your insurance coverage.
  • Summer Storm Recovery Tips
    Independent insurance agents not only advise clients about insurance, but they’re disaster readiness consultants. It is imperative to know what your risks are and what to do in the
    event of a hurricane. We recommend meeting with a Trusted Choice® independent insurance agent who can consult with you in assessing your risks and ensuring that you, your family and your home are prepared in the event of a disaster. Trusted Choice® offers many disaster-specific readiness and recovery tips for consumers.
  • New Development, New Flood Risk
    One factor to consider when evaluating your risk of flooding is development and new construction in your area.
  • Landscape Ready: Utility Marking, Underground Septic & Sewer Back-Up
    Homeowners: Before you hit a gusher—and we aren't talking oil—get the 811 from Trusted Choice.
  • Spring Forward: Spring Cleaning and Safety Updates
    Temperatures are getting warmer and now that it’s spring, it’s time for spring cleaning and making spring time repairs around the house. Taking care of our homes is important, so take a moment to understand how taking care of things around the house can impact your insurance.
  • A Little Less than Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious: Insurance and Tax Issues with Nannies and Housekeepers
    With more and more families every year having both parents work full time, there has been an increasing need for help around the house with childcare and chores like cleaning, laundry and running errands. If you’re hiring household help it’s important to understand how having domestic workers (including nannies, housekeepers, caretakers, etc.) around your home can impact not only your insurance coverage- both your auto and your homeowners- but also how it could have tax implications for you. If you don’t understand these issues, the result could be something quite atrocious.
  • Earth Day and Going “Green” with Your Homeowners Insurance
    "I recognize the right and duty of this generation to develop and use the natural resources of our land; but I do not recognize the right to waste them, or to rob, by wasteful use, the generations that come after us." – Theodore Roosevelt
    With Earth Day on April 22nd, Roosevelt’s call for responsible use of resources remains as relevant today as when he wrote it over a century ago, and many Americans are taking up the call as part of the “green” movement, particularly in the areas of construction and building. Whether you’re building a new home or are interested in retrofitting your home to be a “green” home, it’s important to recognize how taking these steps to make your home more environmentally friendly may require some special “green” insurance to protect them.
  • Notable Omissions/Limitations in Your Home Insurance Policy
    Do you know what types of losses your home insurance policy will cover? Perhaps more important, do you know what types of commonly occurring losses it will not cover?

    Knowing the limitations in your policy is the first step to finding the fix. Following is a list of commonly occurring events or exposures that can cause significant financial damage to you and your family. What do they all have in common? Coverage for them is either limited or excluded under a typical home insurance policy.
  • Death and Taxes: The Uncertainty of What Happens With An Insurance Policy When A Loved One Dies
    As Benjamin Franklin said, “…in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” When a loved one dies, as family and friends settle their affairs, one important question should be asked: What happens to the insurance policy on the house when the owner dies?
  • April Showers: Umbrellas Are for More Than Water
    At the mention of umbrellas, you likely think of protection from falling water drops. Your Trusted Choice® agent would like to remind you the proper “insurance umbrella” could also protect you from a “rain” of lawsuits. Personal liability claims against homeowners and drivers are increasing in frequency and severity. The question is simple: Are your current limits of liability on your homeowners, boat, and personal auto policies adequate?
  • Think your home, condo or business insurance policy covers flood damage? Think again!
    A standard home insurance policy will cover losses caused by water that accumulates in the home resulting from the accidental discharge of a system of appliance, such as a broken hose or valve. That same policy will not cover losses caused by water that accumulates as a result of the overflow of a body of water or runoff of surface water.
  • Are You Prepared for a Flood?
    March 3-9 is National Severe Weather Preparedness Week, and as we move from winter into spring, spring rains coupled with melting snow and ice can increase the risks of flooding, and it’s not just those in high risk flood zones who are vulnerable. Here’s some information on evaluating your flood risk and how you can protect your home with flood insurance.
  • Avoid a Bracket Busting Claim: Insuring Special Events
    It’s time for March Madness! Are you planning a blowout that will make render an entirely new meaning to “bracket busting?” Has your neighborhood community center asked for a either a hold-harmless agreement or a damage deposit exceeding your current mortgage payment?

    Welcome to the world of personal event risk management!
  • Flood Safety Awareness Week
    March 12-16th is Flood Safety Awareness Week, and as we move from winter into spring the risks of flooding can go up, and it’s not just those in high risk flood zones who are vulnerable. Here’s some information on evaluating your flood risk and how you can protect your home with flood insurance.
  • Before, During and After a Tornado
    Tips for dealing with tornadoes from Trusted Choice.
Home Inventory:  Know Your Stuff
Most people know that a homeowners or renter’s insurance policy is crucial when it comes to protecting your home from a fire or other disaster. However, if you want to safeguard your valuables from the unexpected, there’s another important document you may be overlooking: a home inventory.
 
If disaster strikes and your home and belongings are destroyed, a home inventory makes the insurance claims process a lot simpler, and it helps you get your possessions replaced quicker. While creating this inventory may be a time-consuming task, it doesn’t have to be completely daunting. Check out the following simple tips for compiling your home inventory:
 
• Details, details, details. A home inventory includes a comprehensive list of all your belongings, along with receipts, photos, and descriptions.
• Divide and conquer. Instead of making one long list of your items, break it down by room and/or type of item, such as clothing, heirlooms, electronics, and jewelry. This will make the home inventory less overwhelming and decrease the chances that you’ll overlook something.

• Know what your stuff is worth. If you have antiques, family heirlooms, or other valuables that don’t have receipts, you may want to have them appraised in order to determine their value.

• Look behind closed doors. When taking your inventory, make sure you don’t overlook items that are stored in the closet, drawers, attic, or garage. Bicycles, holiday decorations, and sports equipment may be out of sight, but their cost adds up. Make sure you include everything – even if it’s in storage – on your list.
• Add it up. Once you have a full document of all your belongings, along with their values, add up all the items in your home and their total cost.
• Keep it safe. Store your complete home inventory with your insurance policy in a safe, easily accessible place, such as a fireproof box, safe deposit box, or other secure location.

• Take stock annually. Remember to review and update your inventory each year, or whenever you make a significant purchase, to ensure your new items are documented.
 
If you’re looking for a useful tool to help with your home inventory, keep an eye out for the release of the new Trusted Choice mobile app, which includes a handy home inventory tool.  Available in the Android Marketplace and iTunes App Store in February 2012.  For help obtaining coverage for your posessions, find a Trusted Choice independent insurance agent near you.
 
 

What Are You Looking For?

 

Find Us On Facebook

Get in Touch

127 South Peyton Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
Phone: 800.221.7917
Fax: 703.683.7556
Email: Trusted.Choice@iiaba.net