Insurance tips for your Manufactured Home

Prepare a Personal Property Inventory to Assist with Claims

If your belongings are stolen or destroyed, your mobilehome insurance company will ask you to provide a record of them. Without a list or record, important details are sure to escape you. Add the trauma and stress a major insurance loss on your manufactured home can cause, and inevitably, you'll forget something. Save yourself time, money, and frustration by completing an inventory of your personal property.

Fire Prevention: An Important Step in Protecting your Mobilehome

The number one cause of accidental manufactured home fires was found to be poor maintenance of the home's mechanical system. Other frequent causes of fire include carelessness and accidents.

Mobile Home mechanical systems that require maintenance include heating equipment – furnaces/heaters, flues, fireplaces, space heaters, wood stoves, water heaters, kitchen stoves, as well as electrical systems and appliances. Without proper maintenance the potential for fire in these items increases.

How to prepare your family for a fire:

• Fire Drills - Conduct family fire drills two times a year. Assign someone to help very young or elderly persons out of the manufactured home in the event of a fire. Get everyone out of the home before calling the fire department.

• Window Exits - There should be a minimum of one window in every bedroom that can be used for fast, easy escape from the manufactured home in the event of a fire. Always use windows as the exit, do not attempt to reach a door.

• Fire Extinguishers - Keep a fire extinguisher in the kitchen and another near the furnace. Aim the extinguishers well, as the small home units only operate for five to ten seconds.

• Smoke Detectors - Manufactured homes built since 1976 come equipped with smoke detectors. If you do not have smoke detectors, you need one high on the wall or ceiling adjacent to bedroom areas. Another should be located in the kitchen. Check smoke detectors once a month for proper operation by pressing their test button. Replace smoke detector batteries once per year. Never remove a smoke detector battery, unless replacing it. For photo unit smoke detectors, replace the bulbs every three years. Clean the grill of the smoke detector by dusting and vacuuming it regularly.

• Electric - Be careful not to overload electrical circuits. Flickering or dim lights indicate electrical trouble that must be corrected. Install only recommended fuses. Use fuses and breakers that are the proper size for the wire. Use a ground monitor to locate any shorts or problems in the electrical system. Call a qualified electrician. Electrical outlets should not be overloaded with extension cords. Any frayed or broken electrical cords should be replaced. All appliances must be properly installed. A certified testing laboratory should approve electrical appliances and equipment. Do not run cords under rugs. Remove dust accumulation from televisions, electrical equipment and appliances.

Additional Fire Prevention Tips:

• Be cautious or grease fires when cooking.

• Store matches and lighters out of the reach of children.

• Store flammable liquids in approved containers outside the mobile home.

• Remove all combustible material from under the home, including hay bales or straw.

• Check for worn spots on heat tape covering water pipes.

• Ground the television antenna to prevent lightning strike damage.

Develop Safe Storage Habits

If you're finishing up pre-winter painting – repainting or touching up paint that’s gotten marred over time, why not take time now to make sure that your storage habits are safe habits.

• Keep flammable paints supplies glues varnishes and sprays away from all living areas.
• Keep antidotes for cleaning products and other poisons posted where these items are stored.

Make sure new purchases are added to your Mobilehome Insurance Policy.

If you've made a major purchase recently – like the new camera you took on your vacation, make sure that you add it to your insurance. Call your Manufactured Home Insurance representative to find out what you need to do to make sure your new purchase is covered. This is also a good time to make sure all your insurance coverages are up-to-date and provide adequate coverage for the things you value.

• If you already have a personal property inventory, make sure recent purchases have been added.
  
  
• Take pictures of each room to accompany your inventory.
  
  
• Have valuable items like silver or jewelry appraised and store those records in a safe place.
  
  
• Make sure you store a set of photographs and copies of your inventory appraisals outside your home (like in a safe deposit box). &nbspYou may want to leave a copy with a trusted friend or relative.
  
  
• Keep valuable papers and records like stocks bonds, duplicate copies of your will, stamp and coin collections, and jewelry that you don’t wear frequently in safe deposit box.
  
  

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