Important steps to take to make sure your home is fully covered the remainder of hurricane season

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — With more than 140 days remaining in the 2021 hurricane season, now is the time to prepare for the next big storm.

The Cape Fear has been impacted by two named tropical systems over just the past month, with a lot of time still remaining in the season.

Insurance professional George Trifoli says these weaker early season storms are good reminders to check on your current coverage.

“When you have an insurance policy on the coast, you want to make sure you have enough coverage for dwelling A to rebuild your house in the event of a total loss,” Trifoli said. “This is important to take a look at now, especially with rising building and construction costs.”

In addition to typical coverage, Trifoli says a lot of people decided to refinance their home during the pandemic, adding an extra step to the process.

“If you refinance and have a new mortgage company, that information needs to be listed on your insurance policy,” Trifoli said. “When your insurance renews, we send out the renewal notice to your mortgage company because most people have an escrow set up to pay that. If we don’t have the correct mortgage company, that bill gets sent to the wrong place, it doesn’t get paid, your insurance lapse. Then we have a hurricane come and you have no coverage.”

Trifoli adds that checking on your insurance coverage is just as important for renters, even if you only spend part of your time at the coast.

“Renters insurance protects all of your personal property,” Trifoli added. “It does not cover the structure that you’re living in, that’s obviously owned by somebody else. You wanna make sure that if a hurricane does come and there’s damage, that if you evacuate and you come back and find that all of your possessions have been destroyed you can get them replaced.”

Trifoli says some insurance companies provide discounts on insurance for people with new roofs. If you recently had your roof replaced, Trifoli says to check with your provider to see if you can receive the discount.