I’m Jose Gomez, and I’m an Allstate agency owner with an office in Chicago's Avondale neighborhood I'm here to talk about homeowners insurance, which may help protect a home from certain risks, such as a fire or damage resulting from a break-in

But most policies also offer other types of coverage, such as protection for your personal belongings if they are damaged due to a covered loss I remember a couple who had a home in a south suburb of Chicago One day, lightning struck a power transformer in their area While the electric company was working on repairs, a power surge occurred and caused significant damage to the customers' house, the electrical systems, and their appliances The air-conditioner, furnace, home theater system, any appliance that was plugged in was ruined

The power surge also fried the electric wiring in the house and blew the breaker box, leaving the family in the dark All together, the power surge caused about $33,000 in damage That included about $11,000 for repairs to the dwelling, including wiring, the air conditioner and furnace, and almost $22,000 in destroyed personal property, such as TVs and appliances The homeowners called me to file the claim, and I assured them that their insurance would help pay to repair the damage to their home and help pay to replace their belongings They paid a $1,000 deductible and they had enough coverage to replace what was damaged

So while it was an unfortunate event, they were grateful that their policy covered the loss