Moving to a new home

Moving is, in a word, chaotic. You’ve already had to deal with the stress of selling your home and buying a new one or finding a new place to rent. Now you’re knee-deep in boxes and packing tape as you prepare to make the switch from one house to another, praying your great-grandmother’s china teapot survives the move in one piece. With so much going on, it can be easy to forget about your insurance needs at a time like this, but ensuring you have adequate coverage will help take some of the stress out of your move.

Home insurance

You have an AMA home insurance policy, but you may be wondering if that coverage will continue while your personal belongings are in transit between houses. The short answer is yes – you have the same coverage for your belongings while they’re being moved as you do when they’re under your roof.

The long answer includes all the specific details about how your home insurance policy protects you during a move. Here’s how it breaks down:

When in transit

Your home insurance policy includes something called transportation peril.  Essentially, this means that your policy will cover loss or damage to your belongings if there is an accident involving the moving van or vehicle that is carrying your items.

Your policy also includes a theft peril, which covers your belongings if someone breaks into the moving van or vehicle containing your property and some or all of it is stolen.

And if you do decide to hire a moving company, be sure to check for any insurance they provide.

Bridge your coverage

Moving from one house to another rarely happens in a day, so there may be some time during the move when you have some of your belongings at your old residence as well as at your new home.

When both locations are insured by AMA, you can bridge your coverage by contacting us for a removal permit. This permit will give you the necessary coverage for both locations for up to two weeks.

If you plan on temporarily keeping some of your belongings off premises while you move, your level of coverage will depend on the type of home insurance policy you’ve purchased. AMA’s Essential and Enhanced policies provide limited coverage, while the Excel and Exclusive policies provide full coverage, up to your personal property limit.

When in storage

Perhaps your move is not of the let’s-get-this-done-in-a-weekend variety. Maybe it will take weeks, even months, to complete your move and in the meantime, you need to store some of your belongings.

AMA home insurance policies all provide theft coverage for property that is being kept in a storage facility and the Excel and Exclusive policies extend coverage to include other perils for up to 30 days.

However, to ensure your belongings are properly covered while in storage, contact us to make sure you have the right insurance for your specific circumstances.

Liability insurance

You’re moving into your dream home. It has plenty of space, a big backyard for the dog and kids to play, even a pool! You can’t wait to get settled and start having family and friends over for barbecues and weekend visits.

However, with a home also comes the added risk of someone getting injured while on your property and things like pets and pools can increase that risk. Personal umbrella liability insurance gives you an extra layer of protection over and above the liability coverage you have through your home insurance policy.

Nobody wants to be found legally responsible for injuring another person, but you can protect yourself, your family and your finances from the possibility of such an event with liability insurance. Contact us today for more information.