Is Your Family Protected against Common Thanksgiving Disasters?

While many holidays come with plenty of potential risks, Thanksgiving might take the cake in terms of the most insurance claims, at least in certain categories. With so much going on and so many moving parts, from hot ovens to travel and recreational fun, there’s always a possibility of disaster accompanying the festivities. Fortunately knowing what to be concerned about ahead of time can seriously help diminish your chances of suffering much worse than a burnt turkey.

An independent insurance agent can help, too. They’ll help you find the exact protection you need to guard you and your family against the most common Thanksgiving claims, and they’ll help review your existing coverage to see if you have enough. It’s crucial to have the right homeowners insurance and auto insurance before the celebration begins. Here’s a deep dive into common Thanksgiving claims and how coverage can help prevent holiday nightmares.

What Are the Most Common Thanksgiving Insurance Claims?

Thanksgiving brings family members together to enjoy a massive feast, but unfortunately pretty much every part of the equation also brings along numerous risk factors. Here’s a look at some of the most common Thanksgiving insurance claims so you can be aware of how to ensure your holiday celebration goes off without a hitch.

The most common Thanksgiving insurance claims include:

The weekend before Thanksgiving is one of the most traffic-heavy times of the year in terms of driving. Even though your get-togethers with family this year may be highly limited to only six people or so, that’s still a couple of extra vehicles on the road for many homes. With all the increased traffic, the risk of accidents skyrockets.

Thanksgiving Day is when the most house fires are reported for the entire year. Why? It’s those tasty turkeys. Leaving a huge bird to bake for several hours while getting distracted by extended family members swapping stories is a recipe for unwanted flames.

Whether it’s slipping on grease in the kitchen, choking on a turkey bone, suffering from food poisoning, sliding down your icy porch stairs, or starting a brawl after having a few too many drinks, Thanksgiving celebrations can lead to sick or injured guests.

When the feast is over, there are still plenty of festivities to be had. Many folks like to use the cold weather as an opportunity to break out the snowmobiles. Unfortunately, what’s meant to be a fun ride can result in serious injury or destruction.

Knowing the major areas of concern before Thanksgiving can help you prepare your home and family to avoid unnecessary disasters. It’s also a great opportunity to connect with your independent insurance agent to double check your coverage.

Protect Yourself while Traveling with Auto Insurance

If you’ll be traveling to visit family this Thanksgiving, make sure your auto insurance is good to go before you hit the road. Since Thanksgiving weekend is one of the most travelled times annually, it’s critical to be equipped with the proper coverage. Standard collision auto insurance provides coverage for the following disasters:

• Collisions with other vehicles, as well as objects like trees, signposts, fences, and buildings.
• Other types of accidents, like skidding off the road.

Since traffic accidents are the major concern when it comes to Thanksgiving travel, you’ll most likely be adequately covered with collision insurance. However, if you’ll be driving through an area where there’s a risk of hitting deer or other wild animals, you’ll want to talk to your independent insurance agent about getting comprehensive auto insurance, which also covers collisions with large animals.

Protect Your Home during Holiday Cooking with Homeowners Insurance

Since Thanksgiving has the highest number of kitchen fires of any day, period, it’s absolutely critical to get your home protected before ever tossing the giant bird into the oven. Kitchen fires can do all kinds of damage to homes, which is why you’ll need to review your homeowners insurance to make sure you have adequate coverage in case your meal gets too hot to handle.

Standard homeowners insurance covers the following:

• Structural/dwelling damage: Oven fires can get out of control fast, and spread well beyond the kitchen. The flames can destroy entire rooms or sections of the home, scorching not only the interior, but the dwelling as well. Luckily homeowners insurance provides coverage for damage to your home’s structure.
• Personal property/contents damage: Any kitchen or other furnishings, silverware, clothing, or additional personal property that gets burned up during Thanksgiving meal prep gone wrong would fall into the contents coverage section of your homeowners insurance.

If you’ve got a lot of expensive personal property that you’d hate to lose in a fire or other catastrophe, make sure to talk to your independent insurance agent about double checking your coverage limits for the contents section of your policy. They’ll help you add more coverage if necessary.

Protect Yourself and Your Family from Injury and Illness with Liability Coverage

Large meals can pose a lot of possible dangers beyond just oven fires. Your family members could end up with food poisoning, or they could get into a brawl with a relative who’s partaken a little too much holiday spirit. They could also fall down a rickety set of stairs or slip while walking up your icy driveway. Even though they’re family, they can still press charges against you if they get injured or ill while at your place.

Fortunately, your homeowners insurance also provides liability coverage that protects you in case you get sued by a third party for injury, illness, or property damage. Liability coverage reimburses for legal costs like attorney and court fees, and settlements if you lose your case. Your homeowners insurance also includes coverage for medical payments if any of your injured or ill guests require medical care.

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Protect Yourself and Others while Joyriding with Snowmobile Insurance

After the stress of the holiday meal is over, it might seem relieving to move onto recreational activities like snowmobiling. However, potential danger doesn’t stop following you once you hit the slopes. It’s crucial to protect yourself and others by making sure you have the right snowmobile insurance, which covers the following:

• Property damage: This covers damage you cause to other people's property, such as buildings or fences with your snowmobile.
• Bodily injury liability: Covers bodily harm you cause to others with your snowmobile.
• Medical payments: Covers the cost of medical treatment for those you may injure with your snowmobile.

Snowmobile insurance isn’t always required by law, depending on where you live. That’s why it’s extra important to work with your independent insurance agent to get coverage ahead of time no matter what. There’s no need to turn what’s supposed to be a fun stress-busting activity into a potential nightmare that can be avoided with the proper insurance.

Make Sure Your Coverage Meets Your Needs

The first step is to get coverage in the first place, but the second and more important step is to make sure you have enough coverage to meet your needs. In order to determine whether you’re adequately covered, you’ll need to review your policies and concerns with your independent insurance agent before Thanksgiving rolls around.

Together, you and your independent insurance agent can review your homeowners, auto, and snowmobile insurance to make sure you’ve got the right coverage and that your limits are high enough in every category. Your agent can also double-check your deductible amount, and possibly even help you switch to a policy with one that’s lower if the setup works better for you. Make note of all your areas of concern before you meet with them to get the best results.

Here’s How an Independent Insurance Agent Would Help

When it comes to protecting against common Thanksgiving claims and all other catastrophes, no one’s better equipped to help than an independent insurance agent. Independent insurance agents search through multiple carriers to find providers who specialize in homeowners, auto, and snowmobile insurance, deliver quotes from a number of different sources and help you walk through them all to find the best blend of coverage and cost.