New Bedford Home Insurance: Responsible Home Ownership in MA
It’s one thing to get Massachusetts homeowners insurance to protect your investment, but it’s another to do everything you can to be a responsible home owner. In addition to getting the right type of MA homeowners insurance policy to cover your home from potential liabilities, it pays to take safety precautions that could ultimately prevent injuries to persons visiting your property. Anyone from the neighborhood mailman to a friend, a contractor to an uninvited trespasser, could potentially sue you if they become injured on-site. Being a responsible home owner means doing everything in your power to prevent such an accident from occurring in the first place.
Maintaining Your Home
The first step toward responsible home ownership is to speak with your New Bedford insurance agent and get a comprehensive home insurance quote that will properly cover you in the event of things like fires, floods, earthquakes, storms, and other things that you can’t control. The second step is in maintaining your home, taking care of basic chores, inspections, repairs, and replacements, to prevent injuries to visitors.
Some of the safety maintenance that you can do to reduce liabilities can include:
- regularly inspect and repair railings on porches, balconies, and stairways
- check, repair, and replace any furniture that might be broken or damaged
- maintain fences, walls, retaining walls, and gates
- regularly trim trees, bushes, and shrubs
- keep sidewalks clear of snow and ice in the winter
- secure rugs on floors to prevent slips
- keep gardening tools, hoses, and outdoor equipment locked securely in a shed
- check and clean gutters in the spring and in the fall to prevent flooding or damage
Fire Prevention
Another important job that homeowners need to do to prevent liabilities is to do everything they can to prevent fires. Most home fires are caused by smoking cigarettes, problems with electrical wiring or HVAC systems, cooking incidents, and problems with fireplaces. The best way to prevent fires is to always follow safety rules. Regularly check and replace fire extinguishers, as needed, and check the batteries on smoke detectors throughout the home. Make sure extinguishers are easily accessible in places like the garage, kitchen, and laundry room, which is where home fires typically occur.
Carbon monoxide detectors go hand-in-hand with smoke detectors these days. It helps to identify the colorless, odorless gas, which can cause symptoms that include nausea, dizziness, weakness, headache, fatigue, and death. Many people who are exposed to carbon monoxide will confuse these symptoms with the flu or, in some cases, food poisoning. Gas stoves, wood stoves, gas space heaters, home furnaces, and kerosene heaters are the most common culprits for emitting carbon monoxide. Install carbon monoxide detectors with your fire detectors and have your chimneys and HVAC systems cleaned annually.
Swimming Pools & Spas
Two of the most dangerous things to have in your backyard are a pool and a spa. Drowning is one of the most common causes of unintentional injury or death in the United States. If you have a pool or a spa, make sure your New Bedford insurance agent knows it and that your home insurance quote reflects it in your policy. Other liabilities that can come from owning a swimming pool and spa include injury, whether it was directly your fault or not. Proper supervision, fencing, and security must be provided for your pool year-round. Even if you drain your pool at the end of the season, a proper pool cover and locked gate to prevent neighbor children or trespassers from falling in is important.
Get a Home Insurance Quote
If you are in need of Massachusetts homeowners insurance to help protect your investment, contact Borden Insurance and ask to speak with a New Bedford insurance agent. Our team can help you get the most comprehensive MA homeowners insurance coverage for your property and provide you with tips that will help you to keep it safe and secure. Call today at 508-999-3636 and speak with one of our agents about getting a FREE Massachusetts homeowners insurance quote. We also provide a wide range of other personal and business insurance policies, including auto, life, and marine, as well as business liability and comprehensive business insurance coverage.