Today I was trying to understand Equipment Breakdown Coverage. I had heard it used in relation to business insurance and had a basic understanding of covering Electrical or Mechanical breakdowns in order to take care of repairs or replacing the item. Of course there is much more to it than just that, but I had never thought about equipment breakdown coverage for homeowners insurance. Think of all the things in your home that could suddenly go out and you are stuck getting really expensive repairs or buying new. I just assumed it would be this large deductible and not worth looking into. The following infographic from Safeco provides the basics of this coverage. They are not the only company to offer this, but this does a great job of illustrating the coverage. I also worried that if I turned in very many of these type claims my homeowner's premium would go up with the "frequency" or the amount paid out. But someone asked Safeco that question and this was their answer:
Equipment breakdown coverage losses are not listed on the homeowners policy or reported to CLUE. Claims made under equipment breakdown coverage will have no impact on future premiums.
It is good to be reminded that wear and tear, or getting old and rusty is not covered. So it isn't to replace, for instance, a water heater that is way past it's typical life expectancy as a way to get a new one. Rather, it's intended for when sudden breakdowns happen. The cost is usually high - and it is never at a convenient time. A $500 deductible is not fun, but I could handle that more than the $3,000 to fix and/or repair the item.
So then I checked my policy to see if we had this Equipment Breakdown Coverage (I leave these decisions to my hubby) and we did! It wasn't much at all in premium, which actually surprised me. This coverage is so worth it if something happens even just one time.
It is kind of fun working for the insurance agency, wearing so many hats but not being involved with all the insurance day-to-day managing and sales. I'm always learning something really cool and important that the account managers and executives know all about and they do a great job of making sure their customers know their options. They are as great at explaining things to me as they are to our customers. If you need an agency that takes the time to make sure you have the insurance coverage you need or at least give you the options so you can choose - - give us a call!
- Kathy's Blog
