Things I Learned

I said it before and I'll say it again:
Growing up in Central Ohio taught me how to survive during the actual tornado.
It did not teach me how to recover from a tornado.

Yes, this will probably be a boring post to most. . .
But at least it is a list of 4 and not 10.

Things I wish I knew then, that I know now:
1. Home Owners Insurance!!!
 ACV or RCV?  What are your limits?
 That small tractor that you use to mow your yard?  Is that considered a lawn mower (personal
   property) or a motorize vehicle to take care of your land (big time limits)?  <-- Big issue for us!
 The shed - is it covered or do you need to add it?
 How does your policy handle that swimming pool? <-- Happened to a neighbor. 
 Are your limits high enough?  You may have only spent $2,000 on the contents of your garage
   because of garage sales, auctions, etc etc etc.... But what is it going to cost you to replace it at full price?
2. Auto Insurance!!!
 Liability does not cover anything other than the other vehicle.
 There is a policy between liability and full that covers acts of nature, deer, etc.
 We were lucky that our old Camry had this type of insurance (mainly because of deer). 
 We were not lucky that our beater truck had liability only. <--  Mistake!

3. Video Video Video
 I had always heard to videotape your expensive items.  WRONG.
 Videotape EVERYTHING.  Walk through your house / garage...Open even drawer / closet / etc.
 If a tornado picked up your house and took it away, would you remember EVERY ITEM in it?
 How will you prove that you had that much (we had to go to Home Depot and get a print out of
   all receipts for our credit cards to prove a history of buying for the garage).
 If everything is destroyed, the insurance can view the video and estimate better what you lost.
 Date the video and store it (as well as a list of big purchases made after the video) in multiple
   places.

4. Emergency Readiness
 I had a plan of what was going into our tornado shelter.
 I knew how it was going to be set up.
 DON'T WAIT - GET IT DONE NOW!
 I did have important papers in a certain spot and was able to grab them quickly. <-- Success!

Namaste.