Fire, burglary, a flood, a storm... how can you prevent damage at home?
Sometimes you can’t do anything about it; a flood due to heavy rain, an unexpected kitchen fire, someone breaking into your home... but did you know that you can easily prevent a lot of damage to your home? In this article we have compiled all kinds of useful damage prevention tips for you.
Fire damage prevention
There’s a fire in your home! This is something you never even want to think about. Fortunately, most fires can easily be prevented.
- Always ensure that electrical systems are installed by experts. Improper wiring could lead to a short circuit or even fire.
- Do not overload electrical systems, this often leads to fires as well. Flickering lights, sparks coming out of the outlet, wiring that gets very hot, or fuses that blow frequently, can be indicators of overloaded electrical systems.
- Replace damaged cables, plugs, and contacts immediately. Broken wiring, non-grounded outlets, and faulty connections are a major fire hazard.
- Always switch off equipment after use.
- Keep your stove, oven, and range hood clean. Food residue and grease can easily catch fire on the stove or in the oven.
- Do not leave your pans unattended on the stove while you are cooking.
- For more fire prevention tips, click here. Do you need fire prevention products, such as fire extinguishers, or smoke detectors? You can buy these online at ENNIA here.
Burglary prevention tips
Unfortunately, it can happen ... you come home after a long day of work and you see that your front door has been forcefully opened and your new television is gone! Having someone break into your home is a very stressful situation. With these burglary prevention tips, your home can become a more difficult and less attractive target for burglars.
- Always close all windows and doors, even if you are only leaving for a little while. Lock everything.
- Make sure all valuables are out of sight.
- Always use outdoor lighting at night. Are you going on vacation? Use light sensor switches or timer switches on your indoor and outdoor lights.
- Do you know your neighbors well? Make an agreement with them to watch each other's homes.
- An alarm system not only helps to deter burglars but can also reduce your home insurance rates.
- For more burglary prevention tips, click here. Do you need burglary prevention products, such as an alarm system or security cameras? You can buy these online at ENNIA here.
Flood prevention tips
Heavy storms often bring a lot of rain. Unfortunately, this can sometimes cause houses to flood. Here are a few useful tips to reduce the chance of flood damage.
- Make sure that holes in your garden walls are large enough and are not/will not be blocked by branches and leaves. That way excess water can flow out of your garden easily and does not flow into your home.
- Make sure your valuables are stored in the highest and driest possible location inside your home.
- Make sure that gutters are always clean and properly maintained.
- Don’t have a safe and dry location inside your home to keep everyone safe in case of probable flooding? Make sure you evacuate on time and seek shelter with family or friends. Make sure you create an evacuation plan ahead of time and know where to go for safe shelter.
- For further flood prevention tips, clic here. Do you need flood prevention products, such as a leak detection system? You can buy these online at ENNIA here.
Hurricane damage prevention and reduction
Unfortunately, we often encounter severe storms and hurricanes in the Caribbean. Of course, we can’t prevent all storm damage, but there are a lot of precautionary measures that you can take throughout the year to reduce damage as much as possible. ENNIA has published a special Hurricane Handbook for this. You can download it here for free in 4 languages, pick it up from your insurance advisor, or at the ENNIA office.
Want to learn more?
These types of helpful prevention tips can help you reduce or even prevent damage altogether. Nevertheless, something unexpected can always happen. That’s why it’s very important to properly insure your home and its contents. ENNIA’s Homeowners insurance products provide coverage for your home and everything around it, such as swimming pools, outbuildings, fences, etc. With our Contents insurance, everything that is inside your home/rental home is covered. You can easily buy your home insurance policies online:
or make an appointment with one of our ENNIA advisors. We are always here to help you!
Related articles
Do you know what the difference is between homeowners insurance and contents insurance? Are you automatically covered in the event of a burglary? How high is your deductible? Did you insure your home for the correct amount? In part 1 of this series of articles, we explain it all very clearly. You can read part 1 here.