5 Tips on Preventing Home Insurance Claims Through the Holidays

Throughout the holidays, there are a lot of things going on. You may have company over, decorations may be all over the inside and outside of your home, and you may be spending more time in the kitchen, baking and cooking all sorts of different delicious items. Home insurance claims are at their highest during this time of year, and there are several things that you can do in order to prevent having to file a home insurance claim.

Manage Your Lights

Lights throughout your home and on the outside of your house need to be managed. Many people have a tendency to plug too many cords into a single outlet. This can lead to an electrical fire very easily. It may also cause an electrical shortage, which means you would have to rush to the breaker box in order to fix what’s going on.

Watch Open Flames

Open flames are more common from the holidays than any other time. Whether it’s on a menorah, the middle of your dining room table to set the mood for a meal, or anything else, you need to be cautious of where they are located and how easily they can be knocked over. Also, when you leave your home or go to bed for the night, all of the flames need to be extinguished.

Educate Your Family

Educate your family on the various problems that can arise through the holidays. Let everyone know where the first aid kit is, where the fire extinguishers are, and how to use them. Everyone in your home can be on the lookout for possible incidents if they know what they are looking for. Be sure to include the kids in the overall education as well.

Keep an Eye on Guests

When guests visit your home, they are a liability. If they get into an accident, they could turn around and sue you. Even though they may be close friends, if they end up in the hospital, you never know what they could do. To be on the safer side, you want to keep an eye on all of your guests in terms of how they are being safe as well as their drinking levels. If they were to leave your home and get a DUI, you are the one held responsible.

Tour the House

Take the time to tour the house on a regular basis in order to identify possible problems. During your tour, check the battery level on all of the smoke alarms, be sure that curtains are nowhere near open flames, and look at other things that you may be able to fix in order to reduce the likelihood of filing a claim on your home insurance.

Prevention is one of the best ways to reduce insurance claims. Throughout the holidays, you want to spend a little bit more time than normal simply because there is a greater chance of something happening.