Not all home insurance policies are the same, and many homeowners suffer from a variety of misconceptions about their coverage. We at Linda Dugan Insurance have had to help our Astoria, Oregon residents understand the truth behind many of these misconceptions.

Home Insurance Will Not Cover Health Emergencies

Many home insurance policies have what is known as "medical payment" coverage. This type of coverage is not designed to pay for your medical emergency needs, but if someone else on your property gets injured. This policy will help protect you from lawsuits by providing a provision for payment, not for covering your personal medical expenses.

Not All Polices Have Loss-Of-Use Coverage

Many home insurance policies will help pay for expenses earned while staying in a hotel while yours is being repaired. However, this kind of coverage is not inherent in all home insurance policies. It often requires an extra cost and coverage may be limited. For example, your policy may indicate how much you can pay while staying in a hotel.

Earthquake Damage Is Not Covered By A Standard Policy

In areas that are highly affected by earthquakes, it is important to make sure that your policy covers this kind of damage. Don’t assume that it does: a majority of standard home insurance policies won’t cover earthquake insurance. This can leave you with a hefty bill after the next big one, which could hit Astoria, Oregon at any time.

Agents Will Definitely Notice Pad Claiming

People who suffer from home damage often try to get a little bit of extra money by padding their claim. Big mistake: agents are very suspicious of high claims and will investigate them quickly. If you have no receipts for your claimed items, there’s a chance your home insurance claim could be voided.

If you suffer from any of this conceptions or simply need help figuring out your home insurance policy, we can help. At Linda Dugan Insurance, we offer homeowners like you quality assistance in finding high-quality home insurancce.

Home insurance policies are inevitably complicated and include a lot of fine print. The complexity of this type of insurance gives rise to a lot of misconceptions that consumers need to be aware of to get the best possible policy to meet their needs.

The following are five of the most common home insurance misconceptions out there:

1. A home insurance policy will cover all possessions within the insured home- Home insurance insures not only your home itself but also some of the possessions inside it. However, it may only offer coverage on possessions up to a certain amount. Also, some home insurance policy specify that they don’t cover certain items like collectibles and jewelry. 
2. Medical expenses incurred by the homeowner will be covered by home insurance- Most home insurance policies include a medical payment portion that will reimburse individuals for medical expenses caused by injury in the home. However, typical home insurance policies only offer this in the case that guests to the home are injured. The medical portion will not necessarily offer coverage for medical expenses from injuries to the residents of the home themselves. 
3. Maintenance performed on my home won’t affect home insurance coverage- If you neglect maintenance tasks on your home, you may face problems when filing a claim for compensation for expenses caused by neglected maintenance. Some insurance companies will not honor a claim if home damage was clearly caused by a failure of the homeowner to keep the home well maintained.

Interested in learning more about home insurance? Contact Linda Dugan Insurance if you have questions or if you’d like a quote on a policy for your property. 

You probably have a lot more room in your closet than you realize. You can fit a lot more clothes and other items in there if you have it organized well and if you made use of the space that you have. Unfortunately, most of us do not use the space that we have wisely. This can make our closet look like a mess. There are some easy ways that you can fix this, though. Through some simple organization, your closet can be used for a lot more and look a lot better. Use our tips to get started and contact us at Linda Dugan Insurance for all of your insurance needs. 

• Use tiered hangers. If you are using one hanger for each item of clothing that you are putting in your closet, then you are wasting a lot of space. You can make more room by using a tiered hanger that will allow you to put multiple items of clothing on one hanger. This will free up space for more hangers and will make your closet look a lot more organized.
• Use an over the door shoe rack. If you have a lot of shoes, then it is likely that your shoes are all over your closet floor. This makes the closet look cluttered and is not a great use of the space you have. By using an over the door shoe rack, you can put your shoes on the door and get them off the floor. This will give you more space in the closet and on the floor for other items. 
• Consider using shelves. If you do not have shelves and you have room for them, you may want to install them for extra storage space int he closet. You will be amazed at the difference it makes. 

Cleaning supplies may not be your all-time favorite things to use around the house, but there’s a lot of value to them. There may be more to it than just what you read on the label though, so read on for 3 multi-tasking suggestions. 

Turning Window Washer Into a Stain Fighter 

Window washer may actually do a little more for your upholstery than you think. If you’ve run out of stain cleaners after you’ve spilled some red wine or chocolate on a couch or dining room chair, try this as an impromptu fix. 

Liquid Soap Moonlights as a Floor De-greaser, Weed Killer and Ice Pack 

Yes, you read that right. Wash down your concrete garage floors with liquid dish soap, or pour a tablespoon down a crack to get rid of some of your weeds alongside a cup of salt and a gallon of vinegar. Or you can use it as a cheap ice pack to place on sprained ankles or bug bites for a longer melt time than regular water. 

Oven Cleaners Are Great For White, Porcelain Tubs 

Unfortunately, if you don’t have this particular type of tub, this solution won’t work. However, this is perfect to get stains off if you do meet the requirements. Oven cleaner is strong stuff though, so ensure it just stays in the tub if you want your towels and shower curtains to stay intact. 

When you own a home, you have to make the investments of both your time and energy to keep it habitable. Linda Dugan Insurance serves the people of Astoria and helps find effective policies for all. If you’re shopping around for new insurance, then be sure to keep us in mind. Call us for a quote or if you have any questions!

Spring cleaning in Astoria, OR is a task that not many people ever look forward to, but every spring it’s time to get rid of the dust and dirt that has built up over the winter. Cleaning is never fun, but with a few good cleaning tips the job will be quicker and easier.

Make a schedule
Making a schedule is one of the most important things you can do when faced with a large task, such as spring cleaning. A schedule will allow you to know exactly what needs to be done and when you will do it.

Involve the Entire Family
Ask everyone in the household to help. This can be a perfect opportunity for the family to spend time together. Assign each person a specific room or task and allow them to make any decisions involving tossing out items or rearranging furniture.

Clear the Clutter
Now is the perfect time to get rid of the clutter. In each room, put a box for donations and a box for trash. Start in the closets and drawers first to get rid of clothes that are no longer worn, damaged or outgrown.

Once your spring cleaning is done, keep the house clean by creating a weekly cleaning chart and assigning chores to all family members. Make it a priority to deep clean one room each week. For example, instead of only surfacing cleaning the kitchen, spend a few extra hours doing tasks that are often put off, such as cleaning out the cupboards. Doing a few extra "deep cleans" throughout the year will lessen the work for your spring cleaning.

One of the most important things you can do while spring cleaning is to make sure your home insurance policy is up to date. Contact Linda Dugan Insurance to get a home insurance policy or to review your current one.

 

There’s no doubt that you would do anything to protect your family. But have you taken the necessary precautions to ensure you are prepared for a disaster situation? Here are a few questions to ask yourself to help determine whether or not your Astoria home is ready for a catastrophe.

Have You Talked to Your Family About an Emergency Response Plan?

One of the easiest ways to ensure you are prepared for a disaster is by creating an emergency response plan with your family. Understand the best ways to get out of the house in a fire, plus talk about what to do once you are safe. Have an agreement to meet in a safe place in case you are separated during a disaster, too.

Do You Have Working Emergency Lights in Every Room?

Having a flashlight on hand is okay in minor situations. But in a major catastrophe, you will want to have a lighting tool at your disposal without having to dig through a closet or drawer. Make sure you have some sort of working emergency light in every room. Excellent options include battery-operated flashlights (and fresh batteries), matches, candles, etc.

Does Your Home Having Working Smoke Detectors and a Fire Extinguisher?

Working smoke detectors and a fire extinguisher are more than just a good idea—they could save your life during a serious incident. Regularly check detector batteries to make sure they are in working order and keep the fire extinguisher in an easily accessible spot.

Do You Have Adequate Homeowner’s Insurance Coverage?

While having proper homeowner’s insurance coverage won’t help during an incident, it can definitely make a difference when everything is said and done. At Linda Dugan Insurance, we work closely with our customers to ensure they have the right policy to suit their needs. Please contact us today for further details.

 

When Americans move from warmer, more southern locations to colder, more northern locations, they experience new stuff that happens because of the cold. Sometimes cars do not start – If the car battery is too cold, it does not even make enough of an electrical charge to create a spark in the spark plugs that is necessary to fire up the engine.

Water pipes burst – Water expands when cooled down to the temperature that forms ice. This is surprising for those that move from Florida to Oregon. When the water in the house pipes freezes, it sometimes breaks the pipes in the walls. The water stops flowing, at first, and then when the temperature warms up a bit, the house is flooded from water escaping from broken pipes in the walls.

In heavy winter snowstorm, there may be such strong snowfall that blocks the exit so it is not even possible to leave the house. Then what do you do?

A superb insurance agent like Linda Dugan Insurance helps new arrivals to Oregon, with great advice on how to deal with the colder temperatures. Home insurance is available to protect from unexpected damage, but with a little common sense advice that comes from Linda, new residents to Oregon can find ways to lessen any damage from the colder temperatures that they may not be used to experiencing.

Extra Protection is Necessary in Oregon

Please consult with Linda for insurance for RVs, snowmobiles, boats, golf carts, and any of your other insurance needs for home, life, healthcare, or property protection.

She is an expert in living a happy lifestyle in Oregon. She provides the protection her clients need, especially if they are not familiar with the specific problems that come from the cold weather and the major disasters that may come from pipes breaking.

Linda is an Independent Insurance Agent that is highly trusted for her expertise and confident in helping families avoid serious financial calamities.

Deciding on home liability coverage in Washington can be difficult. You want to make sure that you have sufficient coverage so that you don’t spend a fortune of your own money in the event someone gets injured on your property. You are the homeowner and therefore you are often held liable if someone slips and falls, burns themselves, or potentially even dies.

There is a significant amount of expenses that can be incurred. These include:

• Legal costs
• Medical bills
• Pain and suffering
• Death benefits
• Lost wages

You don’t want to be responsible for all of these expenses on your own. It is easier to have them encompassed within home liability coverage, which is part of your homeowner’s insurance policy. When you purchase your homeowner’s policy, you can determine what level of coverage you have in place for home liability. This is going to involve working with an independent insurance agent who can guide you through all of the options.

You can choose to add various scenarios where home liability coverage will take care of the incident. This can include basic negligence as well as if someone were to leave your property inebriated and get into an accident.

As the homeowner, you can be held responsible for all sorts of incidents and the financial repercussions can be astounding. You can increase the limits as high as you want to minimize the chance of having to pay out-of-pocket. You can also choose to add a personal umbrella policy as optional coverage, providing additional liability protection.

At Linda Dugan Insurance, we’re here to work with you on homeowner’s insurance in Longview. Let us get quotes and answer questions you may have about home liability coverage. We can help you to find an affordable policy.