Learn More
x
Autumn is here! The city gets prettier, the weather starts to cool, the nights get cozier, the clothes are layered, Halloween is on the way, and suddenly– everything is made with pumpkin! And while the song might talk about the leaves in the backyard, there is a lot more that happens with this change of season, and it is always best to be alert and proactive.
A well-kept home keeps the cool air out and energy bills low, but it can also avoid many common home insurance calls in the winter.
For those of you who have just moved into a house and have never had to deal with autumn, or even if you are already experienced but have had a hard time due to lack of maintenance, we have created a handy list of everything that you need to prepare for winter!
With colder weather approaching, it is always a good idea to inspect your roof for wear that can worsen with frigid temps. This can include:
All of this can happen over time. Wear and tear and lack of maintenance are important points of exclusion in home insurance. However, keeping your home in good condition can protect you from bigger problems.
It is not autumn without leaves in your backyard. There are leaves everywhere and one of their favorite places to gather is in the gutters of your house! Throughout the season, check the gutters frequently and as soon as the leaves stop falling, carry out a more robust maintenance.
The more leaves that are in your gutters, the more likely they will clog and cause a problem during storms or when the snow starts to get heavy. It is also a good idea to make sure your gutters are pointing away from the foundation of your home, which will be very helpful for the rain and thawing snow.
It can be hard to pay attention to every detail of your home, especially the areas that we use less. Now is a good time to check to see if there are any gaps or cracks in your walls. Temperature changes can warp the wood and directly affect the fittings of windows and doors, so look carefully and don’t forget about the basement!
Make sure everything is fitted and sealed. If it rains and water enters a gap and causes damage, your Homeowner Insurance policy may not cover it if your provider thinks it could have been avoided with regular maintenance.
Another point to consider is that in winter, the critters outside may be looking for shelter and food. You can’t be too careful to take measures so that you don’t end up finding a few unwanted tenants in your pantry or basement.
You know you’re going to need your heating system in full force in winter, so why take the chance? Keeping the system clean and working well, in addition to avoiding unforeseen events in your day to day, will keep you warmer, the energy use more economical and, above all, avoid the risk of accidents. A fire caused by a poorly maintained heating system can be cause for denial of coverage.
An important step is to check the air filters and to vacuum up dust and debris, and replace them frequently. In general, it is recommended that you change filters every 90 days, but this depends on the type of filter you use and the environmental conditions in your home. For example, if there is anyone with respiratory problems, such as asthma, it is better to change every 6 weeks, if you have pets, every 60 days. It is important to consider the frequency of use, the size of your home, and the air quality in your area.
Everything clean and new filters installed? Take the opportunity to call a professional to check the system’s operation to guarantee everything is ready for the cold.
Check the sidewalk for cracks and seal any you might find. Small cracks can expand during winter as water enters and freezes.
Make navigating your home safer by checking that all stairs and handrails are in good condition, making sure the railings are secure and that the driveway is in good condition to facilitate digging. When the area is covered in ice and snow, just walking from the driveway to the front door can be quite a challenge.
Avoiding this type of accident not only protects your family, it also avoids a future liability process should a future visitor suffer an accident.
We’ve already talked about how damage caused by broken pipes and roof leaks is usually covered by your home insurance and how items that are damaged may still be covered by your personal property coverage, but why take the chance?
Here are some things you can do to avoid any unforeseen circumstances:
Make a list of the things that you may start using in the fall that you will certainly need in the winter. Examples are a shovel and salt for the snow, fuel for the snowblower, and firewood if you have a fireplace.
Take the opportunity to acquire these things little by little, organizing storage spaces and ensuring the necessary supplies. Buying before demand builds can be economical and can help you find the brands you prefer.
Test smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors and replace batteries if necessary. 21% of home fire deaths occur in homes with smoke alarms that aren’t working. Check the extinguisher expiration date and replace if necessary. This is a helpful tip for the whole year!
Many things that can happen in winter are covered in your standard home insurance and others must be insured separately. Make sure your insurance meets all your needs before anything happens, check maps of flood zones, fire hazards, and other hazards that your home is exposed to.
BRZ reviews your home insurance for free, without obligation and you can even get discounts on installments.
Fall house maintenance can protect you throughout the winter, even if the winter isn’t quite as severe where you live. Having a house is a lot of work! It takes a lot more time to look after than an apartment, but the work pays for itself on the long summer days outside, doesn’t it?
Taking the time to handle basic maintenance is essential to keeping your home in good working order. This doesn’t have to be confined to autumn; it is much easier to handle if it is spread out!
Learn More
June 20, 2022
7:00 pm
One of the best ways to reduce your monthly bills is to invest in renewable energy. This can often be done with systems you can build yourself.
Home Insurance
Access
Auto insurance
BRZ
Commercial
Community
Drivers License
English
Featured
Finance Tips
Financial Education
Flood
History and Culture
Home Insurance
Insurance Resource
Insurances
Life Hacks
Life Style
News
Renters Insurance
Roof Leaks
Tips
Truck Insurance
Umbrella Insurance
Uncategorized
March 29, 2022
7:00 pm
Coverage for damages from a heating oil spill is not included in a Homeowners Insurance policy. In this article, we list everything you need to know about heating oil spills in your home and how to protect yourself from damages.
Home Insurance
Access
Auto insurance
BRZ
Commercial
Community
Drivers License
English
Featured
Finance Tips
Financial Education
Flood
History and Culture
Home Insurance
Insurance Resource
Insurances
Life Hacks
Life Style
News
Renters Insurance
Roof Leaks
Tips
Truck Insurance
Umbrella Insurance
Uncategorized
March 28, 2022
10:00 am
Learn all about Homeowners Insurance and how it can protect your dream home and your family in Uncle Sam's land.
Home Insurance
Access
Auto insurance
BRZ
Commercial
Community
Drivers License
English
Featured
Finance Tips
Financial Education
Flood
History and Culture
Home Insurance
Insurance Resource
Insurances
Life Hacks
Life Style
News
Renters Insurance
Roof Leaks
Tips
Truck Insurance
Umbrella Insurance
Uncategorized
We are an insurance company made by people for people. A community that speaks tyour language, with people who care about your future! Here you can find all the protection and care that a home offers. Come and join us!
Get a Quote
We firmly believe that the internet should be available and accessible to anyone, and are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of circumstance and ability.
To fulfill this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level. These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible to all people: blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairment, cognitive disabilities, and more.
This website utilizes various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific disabilities to adjust the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs.
Additionally, the website utilizes an AI-based application that runs in the background and optimizes its accessibility level constantly. This application remediates the website’s HTML, adapts Its functionality and behavior for screen-readers used by the blind users, and for keyboard functions used by individuals with motor impairments.
If you’ve found a malfunction or have ideas for improvement, we’ll be happy to hear from you. You can reach out to the website’s operators by using the following email
Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with screen-readers are able to read, comprehend, and enjoy the website’s functions. As soon as a user with a screen-reader enters your site, they immediately receive a prompt to enter the Screen-Reader Profile so they can browse and operate your site effectively. Here’s how our website covers some of the most important screen-reader requirements, alongside console screenshots of code examples:
Screen-reader optimization: we run a background process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website. In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels; descriptions for actionable icons (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guidance for form inputs; element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogues (popups), and others. Additionally, the background process scans all of the website’s images and provides an accurate and meaningful image-object-recognition-based description as an ALT (alternate text) tag for images that are not described. It will also extract texts that are embedded within the image, using an OCR (optical character recognition) technology. To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn the Screen-reader mode on as soon as they enter the website.
These adjustments are compatible with all popular screen readers, including JAWS and NVDA.
Keyboard navigation optimization: The background process also adjusts the website’s HTML, and adds various behaviors using JavaScript code to make the website operable by the keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys, operate dropdowns with the arrow keys, close them with Esc, trigger buttons and links using the Enter key, navigate between radio and checkbox elements using the arrow keys, and fill them in with the Spacebar or Enter key.Additionally, keyboard users will find quick-navigation and content-skip menus, available at any time by clicking Alt+1, or as the first elements of the site while navigating with the keyboard. The background process also handles triggered popups by moving the keyboard focus towards them as soon as they appear, and not allow the focus drift outside of it.
Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.
We aim to support the widest array of browsers and assistive technologies as possible, so our users can choose the best fitting tools for them, with as few limitations as possible. Therefore, we have worked very hard to be able to support all major systems that comprise over 95% of the user market share including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera and Microsoft Edge, JAWS and NVDA (screen readers), both for Windows and for MAC users.
Despite our very best efforts to allow anybody to adjust the website to their needs, there may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or are lacking an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. Still, we are continually improving our accessibility, adding, updating and improving its options and features, and developing and adopting new technologies. All this is meant to reach the optimal level of accessibility, following technological advancements. For any assistance, please reach out to