4 Ways to Protect Your Home When Family Visits
What if you could make the best time of year even better?
It’s always a great time when your family comes to visit you over the holidays. The last thing anyone wants to do is file a homeowner’s insurance claim during this time, but that’s always a risk if the family get-together gets out of hand.
Fortunately, there are a few easy ways to protect yourself and your family, all while enjoying some major peace of mind. If you’d like to stay safe, keep reading to discover our top tips for protecting your home when family visits!
1. Avoid Serving Too Much Alcohol
It’s tempting to serve some spiked eggnog when family comes over in order to possibly smooth over some unwanted tensions. We’d recommend not serving too much unless you want to put your home insurance to work.
Drunken family members are more likely to do things like knock down your Christmas tree, and this can cause major damage to walls and floors. An inebriated family member could even fall down the stairs and try to hold you legally liable. If you’re the one that served them alcohol in the first place, they might even win if the matter goes to court in California! Incidentally, this coverage also applies to your visitors as well, so even if someone else was overserving a guest (or two or three), they would enjoy the same liability protection.
2. Keep an Eye on Those Candles
Some of the most dangerous holiday decorations each season are candles. Putting out candles ahead of the family visit provides a great ambiance, especially if they are scented. Scented or unscented, too many candles are a recipe for disaster.
It’s easy for children or pets to knock candles over and start a fire. Even careless adults may start a fire by simply reaching over for another helping of turkey. It’s hard to reduce the odds of a local wildfire, but to reduce the odds of a dangerous house fire, all you have to do is reduce the number of candles that you put out before your family arrives.
3. Don’t Post About the Family Get-Together Until It’s Over
When you imagine unwanted people coming to your holiday gatherings, you’re most likely thinking about the relatives that made last year’s family dinner so deliciously awkward. But what if you had to worry about opportunistic thieves crashing the party?
That may sound farfetched, but if you post about your family parties (or any parties) ahead of time, you might as well be sending the thieves an invitation. Even if they don’t break into your home (which could cause serious damage on its own), thieves might try to steal valuables out of your family’s parked cars. This could leave you needing to file an insurance claim to compensate your family for what was stolen when they came to visit you here in California.
4. Avoid Cooking in a Rush
Ever find yourself in a rush when cooking dinner before a big family get-together? It’s hard to find enough time to prepare your house for visitors, so it’s not uncommon to still be in the kitchen when guests start arriving. However, if you want to protect your home, it’s important to avoid cooking in a hurry this holiday season.
Rushed cooking could lead to a dangerous house fire. As we noted before, it’s already very stressful when you have to worry about somebody starting a fire by accidentally knocking over a candle. By taking your time in the kitchen, you can ensure that you and your kitchen don’t double the risk of a kitchen fire.
Gift Yourself the Best Homeowners Insurance This Holiday Season!
Now you know our top tips for protecting your home when family visits. But do you know who can help you protect your house before, during, and after the annual family dinner?
Cost-U-Less helps California residents just like yourself get the homeowner’s insurance you need to protect your house all year round. Ready to gift your home a great present that doesn’t even need wrapping? Call us at (800) 390-4071 or get a fast and free homeowners insurance quote online. You can also find a nearby office and visit us in person.
