Protect essential documents, check insurance coverage as storm season begins

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) – Summer storm and hurricane season is upon us and there are things you can do financially now to make sure you are ready in case any sort of natural disaster strikes.

Nate Johnson, a wealth management advisor with Merrill Lynch, says the first thing you should do is make sure all of your essential documents are safe from the elements. That includes your wills, trusts, deeds, account statements and insurance information.

Johnson says to put all relevant documents in a fireproof safe.

He also says that with home prices up 20% around the country to check in with your home owner’s insurance and make sure your coverage is still in line with the actual value of your property.

”If you’ve done a renovation of any sort, it’s a really good chance that the cost of replacement is now higher than the policy was originally written,” said Johnson.

He also says to make sure you stash away the make/model and serial numbers for any big-ticket items you’ve purchased. You could put that in the fireproof safe as well.

“Make sure that you just have adequate access to cash along the way to, you know, whether it’s a home equity line of credit or just adequate emergency funds,” said Johnson.

Johnson says after an emergency it will likely take some time for homeowners insurance to kick in and that you want to make sure that you can continue to live as uninterrupted as possible.

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