When a person continues to live at home after beginning to experience signs of dementia, homeowners insurance can become an issue. If this individual has adult children or other family members visiting daily or at least regularly, they may want to learn more about how the situation can affect home insurance coverage in Worcester, MA. If none of these individuals have received legal authorization to conduct business or otherwise act on the homeowner’s behalf, they can still ask general questions of an independent agent.
There may be issues with Home Insurance Coverage in Worcester, MA if the person living in the house has serious mental dysfunction. An insurance company may not be willing to pay on a claim for damage to the house caused by the actions of this homeowner. A fire that starts because the dementia patient forgot to turn off the stove or oven, or knocked over a space heater and left it there, raises questions of responsibility. If the fire damages a neighbor’s property, the problem escalates, because now the home insurance will not pay for that damage either. A person with dementia may not even understand what the piercing noise of a smoke alarm indicates.
Another potentially serious problem is that some dementia patients become angry and aggressive. Some of them seem to acquire more strength than they’ve had in years and may attack someone who comes to the house if they don’t understand what that visitor is doing there. Homeowners insurance pays when someone is injured during an accidental situation at a house, but it is unlikely to pay in this type of circumstance.
When a patient has been officially diagnosed with dementia, this is now in the medical records. A home insurance company may deny liability for numerous types of incidents after learning of the medical diagnosis. Anyone dealing with this type of situation may Contact Northeast Insurance and consult with an independent agent. There may be effective ways to address the problem, although significant changes in lifestyle or finances may be required. Having somebody at the house to supervise this person most of the time may be necessary. That could include relatives, friends, and home care workers.
