03/11/2025
Severe Weather Awareness Week For Virginia
March 10th - 14th, 2025
Virginia experiences a variety of severe weather events, including tornadoes, thunderstorms, and hurricanes. Severe Weather Awareness Week serves as is a time to refresh, remind and educate everyone about the seasonal threats from severe weather and how to avoid them.
Over the next week we will discussing Severe Weather as it associates with insurance and we will be providing some valuable information to keep your family safe before, during, and after these devasting events.
Today we will be going over tornados.....
With tornadoes happening in so many states and being capable of causing so much damage, ensuring your home is financially protected from these perils can be essential in safeguarding your home. While roof and siding damage may be more common, tornadoes have destroyed entire homes on several occasions.
Most homeowners insurance policies include damage from the wind, which is the primary cause of tornado damage, as part of standard coverage. Homeowners can take the following steps to check that they are covered for tornado damage:
-Read your policy: Your insurance contract provides detailed information about your coverage types and limits. Familiarizing yourself with your policy can help you more quickly and effectively understand when you might want to file a claim.
-Talk to your agent: If you are unable to confirm that your policy covers tornado damage by reading the agreement, consider calling your agent or a representative from your insurance company. They should be able to advise how your policy would cover damage caused by a tornado.
-Add additional coverage: Although homeowners insurance policies generally cover wind damage, there may be situations where you have to add wind coverage separately as an endorsement or even by purchasing a separate policy. If your policy does not include wind coverage automatically, you may want to consider adding it. Home insurance policies in some tornado-prone states include a separate wind/hail deductible that would include tornado damage.
If you do need to add coverage for wind damage, it should be a relatively simple process. Your agent should be able to guide you through the process to obtain coverage for tornado damage.
If a tornado damages your home, contact your insurance company immediately. Take a home inventory with photos and videos of the damage inside (if safe) and outside your home and save all receipts for expenses incurred. All documentation of your losses should be submitted during the claims process.
While some repairs may need to begin as soon as possible for your safety or to prevent further damage, you'll want to hold off on making permanent repairs until your insurance adjuster completes their inspection of the damage. Once that happens, be sure your repairs and updates are in line with making it easier to prep your home for tornadoes in the future to minimize repeat damage.
If you are not sure what your policy covers please reach out to A-1 Insurance Services. We will give you a free analysis on what your current policy covers and if you are unsatisfied with your current policy then we can help find you cover that fits your needs.
