The Hanover Insurance Group Inc has officially published its 2024 Home Maintenance Report, which claims that many homeowners are largely unaware in terms of properly maintaining their homes, and therefore, avoiding significant and costly damage. Talk about the given report on a slightly deeper level, we begin from how it discovered that homeowners today are not focused on the risk of loss from vulnerable areas across their home. To reinforce that, the report revealed that no more than 38% homeowners examined the integrity of their roofs in the past year, with only 39% actually checking the condition of their water heaters. To go with that, only 40% of homeowners were found to clean their gutters. This becomes a concern once you consider that the stated areas, whenever left ignored, have historically led to costly home damage. Next up, we must get into how the report stumbled upon an even greater lack of awareness among new homeowners. For instance, the study found that new homeowners who resided in their homes for less than five years are less likely to know where their water shut-off valve is than those who have been in their homes for several years. Moving on, the Hanover report further picked on a need for larger renovation efforts. Truth be told, a proportion of homeowners have actually invested in replacements over the last five years. These replacements, on their part, were concerned with areas such as water heaters (38%), HVAC systems (33%) roofs (30%), windows (20%) and electrical systems (19%). However, if we go by the available details, an estimated one-third of homes are understood to be due for large project updates like replacing roofs and windows to help protect them against different weather conditions.
“As weather becomes more severe and risks evolve, homeowners play a key part in helping to protect their most precious investment,” said Dan Halsey, president of personal lines at The Hanover Corporation. “Homeowners don’t want to experience the stress and disruption from a loss. Taking care of their property gives them more control over the impact unpredictable weather can have on their homes. Together with a knowledgeable independent insurance agent to guide them, consumers can ensure they have the right insurance protection and the right maintenance routine to help preserve their homes for years to come.”
Another major finding to come out of this report was the fact that even maintenance efforts vary by location. An example relaying the same includes Midwest homeowners being more likely to have cleaned out their gutters in the past year than those in the South and West. On the other hand, Southern and Midwestern house owners were deemed as more likely than Northeastern house owners to have checked their HVAC systems in the past year (64% each vs. 48%). As for those Northeastern homeowners, they were found to be the most likely ones to have changed smoke detector batteries (71% vs. 55% South, 59% Midwest and 60% West). Not just that, the Northeastern contingent was also discovered as more likely than those in the South and Midwest to have checked their water heaters.
The survey in question was conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of The Hanover Corporation, and it included over 2,060 adults aged 18 and older. Out of the total number, almost 1,126 owned a house. Making the whole thing even more significant is how the study achieved 95% confidence level on Bayesian credible interval model.
