Increasing Home Insurance Guarantees A Fun Thanksgiving

Use This Safety Checklist To Keep Home Insurance Costs Low

By Meha Ahmad, InsuranceAgents.com Staff Writer

During the holidays, homeowners should seriously consider upping their home insurance for ultimate protection. And no holiday is a better time to increase home insurance than Thanksgiving. To find low-cost policies, compare home insurance quotes.

Thanksgiving is a time when families and friends gather around the dinner table to share a hearty meal and reflect over the last year and what they are most grateful for. Or they can just stuff their faces, eat to their fill, and watch the football game. Either way, it's a holiday full of food and fun.  If you're concerned, and want to ensure you have adequate coverage, compare policies and rates with our free form.

But on Thanksgiving, careless cooks and insufficient home insurance coverage make for a dangerous combination. Thanksgiving Day is the peak day for home cooking fires and home insurance claims, according to the National Fire Protection Association. A bad situation becomes worse when, after a fire erupts in a person's home, they realize that lack proper home insurance. The property is damaged, and the homeowner suffers serious financial loss.

Thanksgiving Done Right: A Homeowner's Safety Checklist

To avoid this Thanksgiving worst-case scenario, homeowners can practice simple safety precautions during the holidays that will seriously reduce the risk of a fire:

1. If you are deep-frying your turkey, do not
2. Even if you are not deep-frying, it is still a good idea to stay in the kitchen while anything is being fried, grilled, baked or broiled. If you have to leave, turn the oven off.
3. Wear fitted clothing. You don't want your baggy sleeves or loose clothing to catch fire.
4. Keep the kiddies away from the kitchen. Don't let small children help you in the kitchen, particularly within five or 10 feet of the oven and stove. They can burn themselves, or something can knock over and seriously injure them. And if the child is a visiting relative's, you've got a liability issue on your hands.
5. Be neat. Don't just throw pot holders, paper towels, food packaging, bags, etc., on the counter or near the stovetop. Messy kitchens just mean there is a higher chance of something catching on fire, increasing the likelihood of having to file home insurance claims.
6. Keep a fire extinguisher handy. Just in case something does happen to catch on fire, a fire extinguisher at hand will help you minimize damage. Let your home insurance agent know you own one, to reduce home insurance premiums.

Practicing home safety will also help reduce home insurance rates. Let your home insurance agent know the steps you are taking (and maybe they can also suggest a few) to make sure that your home is extra-safe on Thanksgiving. That way, increasing home insurance coverage-even if it's just for that one night-will be more affordable.

Find a local home insurance agent easily, using our free agent finder.  Simply enter your zipcode, review agent profiles and select one...they'll call you!  It's your choice.

Published: Wednesday 4th November 2009