Did you know that some homeowners insurance policies only cover damages to your home within 30 days of you moving out? I found this out the hard way. We had moved out of our house and I was checking on it every other day, BUT on the one day I wasn’t there the dishwasher decided to go kaput! What ensued was the basement filling up with water and doing tons of damage.

I called my insurance company to make a claim and received the bad news; all repairs would be out of pocket! Sucker punch to the gut! So what can you do? If you move out of your primary residence make sure you check with your insurance company to find out what will be covered.

In most cases you can get “vacant home” insurance which is more money than a standard policy but much, much cheaper than dealing with a flooded basement. Please, please, please learn from my mistake and don’t make the same one yourself. BTW - second homes have different insurance policies that typically fall under different guidelines.

Please reach out if you have questions.