5 Ways To Cover The Cost Of Emergency Home Repairs
Numerous Ways Of Paying For Emergency Home Repairs Without Dipping Into Your Pocket!
Emergency home repairs can happen at any point in your life, and their very nature means they demand immediate attention.
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You can’t let an emergency linger, or it will be too late.
Today, we’re going to look at a common emergency that many of you may face in your life at some stage.
For whatever reason, your home has suddenly suffered an issue, meaning repairs need to be made right away.
There are plenty of emergencies that feel relevant here, such as the following:
- A burst pipe leading to flooding in your basement
- A house fire causing fire damage
- Damage to your roof leaving a massive hole in the top
- Smashed windows or a broken front door
- Problems with the foundation leading to deep cracks in the walls
You get the idea; any number of emergency repairs can rear their head without a moment’s notice.
Of course, these repairs will require money to fix them, money that you weren’t prepared to spend.
So, how can you cover the cost of emergency repairs, particularly if they come at a difficult time in your financial calendar?
We’ll explore some of the ideas surrounding this question, but the first thing we’ll do is look at how and why your home might suffer from problems out of the blue:
What Can Cause Emergency Home Repairs In Your Home?
We listed a few examples of when repairs might be needed, but what can cause these things?
Ultimately, the weather is a big one.
This is something that causes many home repairs, be it high winds or a torrential downpour.
The elements batter your home and can cause loose roof tiles to fall off, things to be blown through windows, and so on.
Secondly, your own carelessness could’ve caused an accident that led to damage around your home.
For example, you left the bath running when you went to the shops, leading to severe water damage and flooding in your property.
Or, you have young kids, and one of them kicked a soccer ball through a window.
In either case, you are the person responsible for the damages caused, leading to the need for repairs.
Lastly, you may experience problems caused by other people.
A drunk driver could plough into the side of your house, causing lots of structural damage.
A tradesman might make a mistake when doing a job, leading to a problem that needs to be fixed.
However, the most common instance in this category is when people damage your home from the outside.
A burglar smashes a window, or some local youths throw bricks at your house for fun.
After learning what can cause emergency repairs, it does help you consider how you can pay for them.
This will make more sense as you read through the ideas below, specifically the first one:
Make A Home Insurance Claim
If you have home insurance, and you really should have it, you can cover the cost of emergency repairs by making an insurance claim.
The benefit of this is that you effectively get free money for the repairs.
In some cases, your insurance premium covers the full cost of your repairs, though it depends on how much the insurer will pay.
If the repairs are very expensive, you still might need to put some of your own money toward them.
However, you’re still saving a mini fortune.
There are some things to consider before you make a claim.
Primarily, you need to know if your damages will be covered by your insurance provider.
Some insurers in certain places won’t cover the cost of damages caused by an Act of God, which is basically any event that couldn’t have been prevented and was triggered by nature.
Storms and earthquakes are an example of this.
If your property was damaged due to an Act of God, you might not be able to make a successful claim.
Likewise, you may struggle to get an insurer to payout if you caused the damage yourself.
It all depends on the insurance provider and the policy you’ve taken out.
Be sure to check what’s covered to see if you can make a claim.
Also, be aware that claiming on your home insurance is going to make the cost of insurance increase next year.
Apply For A Loan
Loans can be useful when used in the right scenario.
Thankfully, paying for emergency repairs is an example of a good scenario to get a loan.
Here, you want to apply for a loan that either covers the full cost of repairs or covers a portion.
In both instances, the aim is to leave you with enough financial breathing room to pay your bills and repair your home.
As shown on the Money ASAP website, you can get some loans that are approved quickly, meaning you can pay for the repairs as soon as possible.
The key consideration here is to ensure you can repay the loan by the end of the agreement.
You don’t want to miss payments or be unable to repay your loan or it becomes incredibly expensive and bad for your finances.
That’s the big problem many people have with loans; they don’t make all their repayments on time, then suffer massive interest rates and extra charges.
It is worth mentioning that you will be charged interest on your loan anyway, as this is basically how you pay for it.
So, keep in mind that using a loan will mean you end up paying more than the repairs are actually worth. How much more will depend on the interest rate you’ve been given.
Use Your Credit Card
Using your credit card is almost the same as applying for a loan, but a lot safer.
You can use your credit card to pay for repairs, providing you have enough of a credit limit to cover them.
If so, it basically means you put off the cost of repairs for at least a month.
The way most credit card bills work is you don’t end up paying for things you bought now until a couple of months down the line when the bill comes in.
This gives you time to get your finances in order, budget effectively, and pay your credit card bill in full.
It’s just a smarter way of managing your money in a situation like this.
You see, if you paid for the repairs using your regular bank balance, you might be unable to pay for anything else this month.
This throws you into all sorts of debt, while a credit card gives you the chance to save money and then pay what you owe.
Credit cards also have an advantage over loans in that you don’t incur any interest charges.
Provided you pay the bill in full when it’s due, your credit card company will not charge any interest.
File A Lawsuit
The next option is to file a lawsuit, though this is only relevant if your emergency repairs were caused by someone else.
You can’t sue the weather, you can’t sue yourself, and you probably shouldn’t try suing a family member.
Instead, we’re talking about cases where someone has ventured onto your property and caused damage.
Mainly, this will be if someone has tried to break into your home or you’ve caught people throwing things at it.
There are also instances where someone might drive into your property, and so on.
If you have the details of the culprit, you are entitled to sue them for compensation to pay for the damages.
Yes, this can result in a lengthy process, and you will have to pay for the legal fees.
However, if you are successful, you should be able to get more than enough compensation to cover fees and repairs, and possibly with some money left over.
Warranties
Lastly, you can cover the cost of emergency home repairs if the damaged aspect is under warranty.
Let’s say you had a new roof installed, but it formed a hole within a few weeks or months.
It should still be under warranty, so you can contact the installation company and they will repair it for free.
The same goes for any other installations in your home; windows, conservatories, etc.
As you can see, there are numerous ways of paying for emergency home repairs without dipping into your own pocket right away.
There is also a rather large elephant in the room that needs to be addressed; an emergency fund.
Realistically, everyone should have one of these funds, precisely for situations like this!
The whole idea of an emergency fund is to save money in case you need it.
If you have one, you can use it to pay for home repairs, negating the need to apply for a loan or make a claim on your insurance.
So, if you don’t already have one, be sure you get one set up right away.
Use one of the other methods to pay for your current emergency home repairs, then start saving to ensure you have an emergency fund for any future issues.
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