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These days, it seems that consumers are growing more aware of the financial risks they face when they don't have the various types of home insurance policies to cover the fallout from problems for which their properties might be at risk. As such, many may be seeking out plans that will make sure there are no issues, but might find that they have trouble depending on what risks exist for their properties in particular. For this reason, it might be wise for insurance agents to reach out to customers and explain to them why some types of coverage may be difficult - or even impossible - to obtain.

A small mudslide in Minnesota, for instance, recently brought this fact into stark reality because most insurers simply do not offer any kind of coverage for this type of weather-related issue, according to a report from Minneapolis television station KARE. The fact of the matter is that this incident caught many residents by surprise, because they simply did not know that their properties being hit with a mudslide would not be covered by their renters or homeowners' insurance. Only one of the residents interviewed said that they were aware of this fact.

""There is no such thing (as mudslide insurance), no,"" said Gary Hockert, an insurance agent in Coon Rapids, Minnesota, told the station. ""It is a standard exclusion in a policy. There is no coverage you can buy for it.""

So what can homeowners do?
Unfortunately, it does not appear as though many homeowners will be able to receive insurance benefits if their homes are hit with this kind of incident, as the only earth-shifting coverage available to many is through earthquake insurance, the report said. And even in those cases, mudslides would not be covered either, unless they were caused by the earthquakes themselves, and did not happen independent of such an incident.

Many insurance agents may be able to benefit by undertaking a little more outreach with their clients, because this kind of issue may lead to some amount of customer dissatisfaction. However, those that explain the issues to consumers might be able to assuage their worries and make them feel better about the coverage they do have. Recent data suggests that it's this kind of customer service, rather than the ability to simply find them lower prices, that makes customers more loyal to their insurance agents and policy providers.

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