Are you considering purchasing a waterfront home? Whether the property you are interested in is near a bay, ocean, lake, or creek, it’s crucial to understand the maintenance needs and how they differ from inland homes. For instance, before you buy the property, you’ll need extra inspections and additional insurance, and there are some unique maintenance tasks you’ll need to do to keep the property in shape. And even if you are very proactive about the maintenance of your property, you should still expect the unexpected. This is why insurance is the most important concern. Here are some tips to ensure you have peace of mind.

Know the Risks

To adequately maintain your home, take time to familiarize yourself with the risks associated with waterfront property ownership. As you might imagine, these risks are a bit different from regular home ownership since water is in the mix. Unfortunately, your level of risk doubles each time you have visitors to your waterfront home.

When you have guests around for a fun and laid-back day in the water, you take on full responsibility for their safety. Whatever activities they do increase liability on your existing load. Apart from the insurance of your guests, you should also understand the unique challenges posed by proximity to water. Your home is likely to be hit by floods and the risk of water damage is infinitely higher than other homes. All these are things you should take into consideration when maintaining and insuring your waterfront home.

Ensure that Unattached Buildings Are Insured

Unlike your inland homes, waterfront homes usually have additional buildings on the property. This includes storage sheds, detached garages, bunkhouses, docks, and outhouses. Insurance companies have different limitations when it comes to separate structures. You will find that, in some instances, standard homeowner policies may not include unattached structures on your property. Therefore, you should consider increasing your coverage to ensure these buildings are fully covered.

Consider Additional Flood Insurance

When buying a property close to water, you must ask insurance questions that are specific to waterfront properties. It’s crucial to inquire about the fluctuating water levels and find out if the area has a history of flooding. Take time to do your own research as well.

The majority of standard homeowner’s insurance packages don’t cover flooding. Therefore, if the area experiences lots of flooding events, you may be left to pay for the damage on your own. This is why you need to secure a flood insurance policy for your home.

Consider Umbrella Coverage

If you are planning to use your waterfront property as a vacation home, it will likely be a hub for high-risk activities like bonfires, tubing, and other types of outdoor fun. While you may take every precaution to ensure that your family and visitors are safe, accidents may still happen.

Unfortunately, since you are the property owner, you may be liable for any injuries that occur on-premise. This is why you need an umbrella liability policy to ensure you are covered against anything that may happen. It protects you from having to cover expensive medical and property damage bills from your pocket.

Addressing the insurance needs of your waterfront home is one of the best ways to ensure you have peace of mind and quality time with your loved ones. A fully and adequately insured home will give you peace of mind knowing everything is protected. It’s crucial to talk to a knowledgeable professional about waterfront home insurance. Get in touch with us today with any questions you may have. We can help you make the best decisions as far as waterfront home insurance is concerned.