Homeowner’s Academy
This is your guide to interesting facts, tips and general homeowner information. We hope you find the information useful – and feel free to share with friends!

Fraud in Homeowners Insurance

Spring cleaning often comes with a fresh coat of paint. Painting can be a great way to change the feel of a room or give your home some great curb appeal. Painting also plays a role in home repair by protecting the wood of your home against the elements, essential here in Florida.

If you decide to try your hand at painting this spring, People’s Trust has some tips that can keep the experience enjoyable and safe for everyone in your family.

Try Some Eco-friendly Paint

Spring conjures up the sniffles for many people in the great outdoors, but paint may do the same thing inside of your home. Household paints have previously contained up to 300 toxic chemicals, including the hazardous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that release particles into the air for years after you paint.

Try a low-VOC paint, which tends to be water-based, for any home interior painting. These have taken off in recent years and come in every shade and finish imaginable. Some brands also create no-VOC paints by replacing chemicals with more natural ingredients. These no-VOC paints are often pet-safe, but always check the label and never leave your pet unattended in a room where paint cans are open.

Home Repair Supervision

If you have children, never let them be in a room with open paint cans by themselves. If children are under the age of 10, they should never be in a room with any open painting materials. Even eco-friendly paints are extremely dangerous if ingested. If you believe your child has ingested any paint, immediately call poison control at 1-800-222-1222.

Try Cloth Catchers for Indoor and Outdoor Painting

You can pick up plastic sheets to protect your floors and lawn, but these often move and tear as you walk around painting. Turn to cloth or canvas drop cloths that will stay in place easier and can be weighed down with objects without the risk of tearing.

For painting the outside of your home, try a tarp with tie-holes. These can be staked into the ground to provide a steadier surface for a ladder.

Ventilate: Make Room to Breathe

If you’re painting inside, open the doors and windows. If your room has a fan, turn it on. You want proper ventilation for any space you’re painting to help air out the room and not breathe in paint fumes. If you can’t ventilate where you’re working, get a respirator and only paint in short stints.

Ventilation is essential to most common home repair improvements.

Stick to the Shade

If painting outside, you know that you need to take a break in the shade, but what about your materials? Paint, paint thinner and lacquer all need to stay in the shade as much as possible when painting outdoors.

Not only can heat and sun alter some of these items when they’re sitting in the can, but heat can also be a big problem for these flammable items. The city of Las Vegas actually warns its citizens to be careful when painting their homes or canvases outside because paint thinner has been ignited by the sun and started home fires.

Clean Up after Home Repairs

When you finish painting for the day, clean up the entire space. This will prevent spills and any accidental exposure.

Latex paints can typically be cleaned from surfaces and your skin with soap and water. Oil-based paints will have specific cleaning instructions located on the paint can itself. Take a look at your can before you start painting and write down what it says, because paint often spills on the outside of the can during the painting process.

Gasoline was once used to clean paint off of brushes, but this should never be used. Gasoline is extremely dangerous and should never be used as a cleaner for any object.

It’s always a smart practice to clean up and watch your space clearly when doing any home repair project.

by PTI Marketing | Nov 07, 2013

Fraud is a HUGE problem in Florida.  Fraud drives up the cost of homeowners insurance for everyone. Whether you are insured with People’s Trust Insurance or with another carrier – if you know of someone committing fraud against their insurance company,they are not just hurting ‘the big guys,’ they are hurting you too.

Even worse, most people who commit home insurance fraud don’t even think they are committing a crime. There is an attitude that they pay into the insurance pot and they should get something out of it. The problem is that every time somebody does this the insurance rates for everyone go up. The intention of insurance is to share the expense of damage. If you lose one tile on your roof during a storm and claim your entire roof needs to be replaced (or worse yet – go on your roof and knock a bunch of shingles off) you are committing fraud, and this results in higher premiums for everyone. This is why insurance fraud is considered to be a serious crime.

There are various forms of homeowners insurance fraud – the most common is to stage an accident or a robbery. In many cases this involves actually damaging your home in order to get a cash payment but it is also common to file claims for damage that was caused in a manner that isn’t covered by your insurance. But beware, most insurance companies are out there watching for these not-so-clever schemes.  Unfortunately, it costs money to investigate fraudulent claims as well.

Even worse, the most common form of home insurance fraud is to exaggerate the damages that were done when you have a legitimate claim. People’s Trust Insurance wants to be there for its customers when they have legitimate claims and it’s so important to fight fraud for this reason. A lot of people do this and they think that it is no big deal and that they aren’t committing a crime. In fact they are committing insurance fraud and it is a very serious crime.

Homeowner’s Insurance is getting harder to come by in the state of Florida. Many large carriers won’t write policies in our state. Fraud affects everyone! When one files a claim they are essentially making it at the expense of the people who don’t which is fine for a legitimate claim. A lot of people think that it is alright to take more than they are entitled to from the insurance company because it is a large corporation. The fact is any money you take from them will be passed on to the other customers. Others think that since they are paying into the insurance plan they should be able to get something out of it even if they never have to make a legitimate claim. The problem with this logic is that if everybody thought like that the entire insurance system would fall apart.

Because home insurance fraud affects so many people the penalties can be very harsh. Committing insurance fraud is a felony is you are convicted. Gone are the days of getting away with these crimes as consumers are becoming more aware of the crimes their neighbors are committing and telling on them. Insurance companies are pursing the criminals – you can receive very hefty fines for these crimes as well as hefty prison sentences (as high as 10 years). As you see, crime doesn’t pay. If this isn’t enough you can almost guarantee that the insurance company is going to sue you to get their money back. Home insurance fraud is a serious crime with serious consequences and it is definitely not worth the risk.

If you have knowledge of fraud being committed by a homeowner, don’t stay silent – it costs you and your neighbors more each day you stay quiet!  Call their insurance company and turn them in!  Being a good neighbor doesn’t mean helping your neighbor commit a crime.