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Insurance Protection that Understands Home Is Where the Heart Is

 

After a long day, everyone wants to come home. While we may all define home a bit differently, we all know what it means—safety, security, and familiarity. A place that is ours. And because it is ours, we need to protect it with an insurance company that understands the true meaning of home—Badger Mutual Insurance Company.

It’s obvious that your home needs protection from disasters like severe snow storms, lightning, and tornados, as well as unexpected events like fire or theft. What’s not so obvious is the need to protect your home and your family from lawsuits or large settlements.

 

Badger Mutual Recommends a Home Inventory to Protect Your Safe Haven

 

While no one wants to dwell on the negative, should a disaster strike your home, you’ll need to provide a comprehensive list of your lost possessions to the insurance company. This is why creating a home inventory is crucial. When you don’t have a home inventory and try to reconstruct what you owned, it can be quite a challenge. It’s very possible to overlook or forget things, so you may get less of a settlement than you would if you had an up-to-date inventory.

Creating an inventory can be as simple as using the video on your phone to record all the items in each room, and then storing that video in the cloud or another location. There are also many apps available that are easy to use and often backup to the cloud, so you can access them when needed. Make a resolution to perform a home inventory right after that New Year and update it annually. Should you suffer a loss that hits you where it hurts the most, Badger Mutual will be there to hold your hand and guide you through the process until you are whole again.

Introducing the BADGER TRUST® Home Plan

 

Our BADGER TRUST® Home plan provides contemporary, broad coverages at our best rates for financially responsible homeowners in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota.  A unique feature of this program is the availability of our Badger Advantage & Badger Advantage PLUS endorsements. With these endorsements, several of our most commonly requested coverages have been packaged together in order to secure the maximum amount of protection for your home.

 

Advantages of BADGER TRUST® Home

 

150% Coverage on Your Dwelling—If there was a total loss to your home, we would provide up to 50 percent more in additional coverage to replace the dwelling. Replacement Cost on Personal Property—Prevents financial loss due to depreciation. This added coverage provides true replacement costs for damaged or stolen property. Coverage B Extension—If there are no other structures on your residence premises set apart from the dwelling by clear space, such as sheds, detached garages, or fences, the limit of liability shown for Coverage B shall be added to the limit of liability shown for Coverage A, and the sum of the two shall be the limit of liability under Coverage A for your dwelling.

Special Limits of Liability on Personal Property—Increased amount of coverage for certain types of personal property, including but not limited to: jewelry, watches, furs, trailers, watercraft, personal records, passports, stamps, silver, platinum, coins, and medals.

Debris Removal—NO DEDUCTIBLE, coverage for the expenses resulting from the removal of all debris and trees or shrubs and plants caused by windstorm or hail.

Fire Department Service Charge—NO DEDUCTIBLE, if the fire department has to come to your home in response to an emergency, we will cover the service charge up to $750.

Credit Card, Electronic Fund Transfer Card or Access Device, Forgery, and Counterfeit Money—NO DEDUCTIBLE, coverage provided if there is theft or unauthorized use of your credit card, forgery of a check, or acceptance in good faith of counterfeit United States or Canadian paper currency.

Refrigerated Products—NO DEDUCTIBLE, we will pay up to $500 for loss or damage to items stored in refrigerators or freezers if the electricity goes out or there is mechanical failure of the unit.

Inflation Guard—An endorsement that automatically adjusts coverage according to the construction cost index in a community. This means as costs for the materials to repair your home rise, your insurance coverage rises with them.

Theft of Keys—NO DEDUCTIBLE, we will pay for the replacement of your keys, or re-keying locksets in exterior doors, of your home if the keys are ever stolen.

Standard Homeowners Coverage

 

Homeowners insurance offers multiple layers of protection that can be tailored to your individual needs. It’s important to understand the basic and optional coverages available, to be sure you fully protect your safe haven—your home.

Physical Damage—covers your dwelling as well as other structures on your property, such as a detached garage or shed. It also covers your personal possessions whether they are on your property or at another location. For example, someone steals your laptop while you are on the road. And if you need to be relocated while your home is being repaired, this insurance covers that as well.

Personal Liability Protection—protects you if someone makes a claim against you for medical bills or sues you for damages after being injured on your property. For example, a guest trips over the cat and is injured while at your home. It may also cover accidental injuries you cause away from home.

Optional Coverages

 

Increased Limits on Liability Coverages—increasing your limits can help protect your assets should someone sue you. For example, if you have $250,000 in liability coverage and the court settlement is $500,000, you would need to pay that extra amount which may include selling your home, draining retirement accounts, and more. You may also want to consider a personal umbrella policy for this same reason.

Replacement Cost on Personal Property—prevents financial loss due to depreciation. For example, your furniture is six years old and destroyed in a fire. Standard insurance coverage would pay the current value of your furniture, which likely would not be enough to replace all your stuff with brand new items. This added coverage provides true replacement costs for damaged or stolen property.

Additional Coverage on Expensive Items—most policies have limits on what they pay to replace your property, so expensive items such as computers, boats, recreational vehicles, jewelry, and firearms may not be fully covered. Adding coverage, called a rider, gives you peace of mind in knowing your valuables are fully insured.

Coverage on Water Backups or Sump Pump Overflow—many standard policies don’t offer insurance for flooding/water damage due to mechanical issues.

Lateral Line Coverage – covers the costs to repair, excavate, and restore underground utility wires and pipes on your premises that are damaged by things like animals, tree root invasion, or freezing.

New Dwellings Under Construction—protects your new dream home while it is being built.

Inflation Guard Insurance—an endorsement that automatically adjusts coverage according to the construction cost index in a community. This means as costs for the materials to repair your home rise, your insurance coverage rises with them.

Earthquake Coverage—standard policies do not typically include earthquake coverage and may be a good idea depending upon your location.

Identity Fraud and Financial Loss Coverage—covers costs involved with identity theft and the steps that you may need to take to regain your reputation. Identity fraud victims often spend many hours and thousands of dollars to get their accounts corrected and in order. Badger Mutual provides customers with an Identity Theft Specialist who can help with the recovery process and provide advice on how to deal with the problem.

Additional Amount Replacement Cost Coverage

Equipment Breakdown Coverage—standard insurance policies do not cover equipment breakdown. With today’s complex mechanical systems, you may want additional coverage for your furnace/heating equipment, central air, home security systems, chair lifts, and more.

Homeowners Hail Deductible—discount available based on increasing your deductible for damage caused by hail only.

Discounts

 

Badger Mutual offers our customers a variety of discounts.

Group Discounts—up to a 10 percent discount when you insure both your auto and home/condo with Badger Mutual.Valued Customer—a renewal discount is provided when you have 24 months of “claim free” continuous coverage. This amount increases with every year you don’t have a claim.

Personal Umbrella Policy—with homeowners coverage you have the option to add this coverage at a very low cost.

Smoke Alarms and Central Station Alarms—homes with 24-hour security monitoring, smoke, and fire alarms may earn additional discounts.

New Home Credit—homes that are less than a year old earn up to a 10 percent discount.

American Dream—Owning your home is the American Dream and Badger Mutual is wholeheartedly committed to this dream. We offer a discount, typically 10 percent, when your home or property is debt free meaning there is no mortgage, home equity loan, or land contract.

BADGER TRUST®—allows financially responsible homeowners to earn discounts based on their credit-based insurance score. If you have an exceptional credit score, your discount could be as much as 40 percent.

Discount availability and percentages vary by state. Be sure to speak with your local Badger agent to be sure you receive all the discounts that apply to your specific situation.

 

*Please contact your agent and refer to the policy for detailed descriptions of coverage, limitations, and exclusions.