Holidays? Vacations? Coverage?
Usually insurance decisions are made on a static basis, related to life’s milestones such as the following:

• New adults leaving home for their own apartment
• Getting a new job
• Marriage
• Children
• Major purchases
• Moving to a new home
• Acquiring cars, boats or other vehicles
• New drivers in the household
• Divorce
• Retirement 

The above events often trigger a need to evaluate one’s insurance landscape. It may spur a need to buy renters coverage, a homeowners or auto policy or secure wedding coverage, an umbrella policy or endorsements for jewelry etc.
 
However, there’s an issue with milestones. Typically years pass between these events and that may cause you complacency about your coverage needs. You may not recognize that having adequate protection is more dynamic.
 
Not to worry, there is an easy way to consider making necessary changes. Often, holidays and vacations include acquiring more personal items, such as Christmas, anniversaries and birthdays. These are times that, besides fun and memories, are also accompanied by gifts, such as jewelry or other high-value items. After these special days, take a moment to evaluate whether you received property that might make it prudent to update your coverage.
 
How about vacations? Generally any coverage concerns are unnecessary for routine trips within the country. However, what about dream vacations in foreign destinations or in-country get-aways for extended periods? In either case you may need to consider whether your existing policies cover the situation. For instance, do you need temporary, separate coverage for protection in other countries? Will your travel create any special liability issues? Did you acquire new property that needs protection? Will you be away so long that you have to address any issue created by your absence from your residence?
 
Having proper coverage means taking the steps to make sure that it protects you in the manner you need. Use these special days and events as touch points to contact one of our insurance professionals to make sure you have needed protection.

Being a single parent brings special needs for insurance. See how well you know your insurance by taking this quiz.

Listen to the advice from a Dummy then contact our office to see just how inexpensively you can cover your personal belongings and liability

Sleighs break. Reindeer games get out of hand. Elves miss days due to repetitive-stress-related injuries….

Rather than invoking the Santa Clause, we urge St. Nick to review his policies to be sure he’s got the right insurance coverage. That way, he can stay focused on making holiday wishes come true for everyone on his “Nice” list…

​Check it out at www.iii.org/article/santas-insurance-wish-list

If you rent a house or apartment and experience a fire or other disaster, your landlord’s insurance will only cover the costs of repairing the building. To financially protect yourself you will need to buy renters or tenants insurance.

Coverage for your personal property is a key component of renters coverage, protecting you from theft, fire and a host of other unfortunate events.

1. How much insurance should I buy?
Make sure you have enough insurance to replace all of your personal possessions in the event of a burglary, fire or other covered disaster. The easiest way to determine the value of all your personal possessions is to create a home inventory—a detailed list of all of your belongings along with their estimated value.

2. Should I choose replacement cost or actual cash value coverage?
Actual cash value policies include a deduction for depreciation (that is, the idea that items lose value over time). Replacement cost coverage is pricier but can be well worth the extra expense if your belongings are damaged or destroyed (think about how much you'd get for your TV used versus how much it would actually cost to replace).

3. What disasters are—and are not—covered?
Renters insurance covers you against losses from fire or smoke, lightning, vandalism, theft, explosion, windstorm and certain types of water damage (such as from a burst pipe or when the tenant upstairs leaves the water running in the bathtub and floods your apartment).

Like standard homeowners policies, most renters insurance policies do not cover floods or earthquakes. Flood coverage is available from the National Flood Insurance Program and a few private insurers. You can get earthquake insurance as a separate policy or have it added as an endorsement to your renters policy, depending on where you live.

4. What is my deductible, and how does it work?
A deductible is an amount of money you responsible for paying before your insurance coverage. For example, if you have a $500 deductible and a fire destroys $5000 worth of furniture, the first $500 is your responsibility and your insurance company will cover $4500.

Renters insurance deductibles are generally specified as a dollar amount, which can be found on the Declarations page of your policy. In general, the larger the deductible, the lower your insurance premium.

5. What is a “floater” and do I need one?
A floater is a separate policy that provides additional coverage for more costly valuables if they are lost or stolen. If you have expensive jewelry, furs, collectibles, sports equipment or musical instruments, consider adding a floater to your policy to protect against their loss.
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6. Am I covered if I am traveling or away from home?
Most renters polices include what is called off-premises coverage, which means belongings that are outside of your home are covered against the same disasters listed in your policy. For example, property stolen from your car or a hotel room while you’re traveling would be protected.

Contact our agency to discuss just how affordable Renter's Insurance can be.

Gun ownership is a topic that is often controversial. Regardless your opinion on the subject, it is beyond dispute that many millions of households include guns and other firearms. The existence of so many guns creates special considerations with regard to insurance coverage.

Property Concerns
Most personal property coverage is provided under homeowners, condominium and tenants insurance policies. Such coverage is quite standard. Property policies typically offers only minimal coverage for certain types of property that is particularly vulnerable to loss by theft and guns are among those with limited protection. It is likely that, without purchasing extra coverage, a policy may only provide a few hundred dollars’ worth of protection. If a household includes more than a single firearm, it’s quite likely that the available coverage is insufficient.
Often the insurer that provides property coverage can offer more protection by either endorsing (modifying) coverage to increase the available limit or by writing separate coverage that offers a higher amount of coverage as well as offer protection against more sources of loss. Guns and firearms often represent an investment of thousands of dollars. Guns are also among the type of property (such as jewelry, furs, photographic equipment and fine art) that are targeted by thieves. It makes sense to purchase additional coverage to adequately protect against losses that are likely to occur. 

Liability Concerns
Guns create a huge issue on the liability side. Most laws deem them as having fatal instrumentality, meaning that, by nature, the use of guns can result in serious bodily harm and death. Losses involving guns are problematic because of this classification. For instance: Jim is sued after his five-year-old son picked up a baseball bat and hit a visiting neighbor’s child. The bat was just lying around in the playroom in Jim’s home. This is not likely to be a problem as an insurance company would probably view this as an accident and would handle any lawsuit. But change the item from a baseball bat to a gun and Jim is sued after his son picked up a gun from a table and fired, severely injuring a neighbor’s child. In the latter example, the incident would be scrutinized far more closely and a denial of coverage could occur if, for instance, the insurer investigates and discovers that the policyholder/gun owner was negligent by not having the gun in a secure spot or by having it in the open, but loaded. The high hazard represented by firearms severely restricts available insurance protection. Even claims that involve incidents of self-defense, a situation that is usually covered under homeowner policies, would still be subject to detailed examination.
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In order to increase the chances of getting appropriate property as well as liability coverage for losses involving guns, it is helpful if the owner practices and documents safe handling and storage of firearms. It may also be prudent to demonstrate the ability to proper handle firearms by taking a certified safety or training course.

​In an automobile accident, you are concerned first about your safety and secondly about your vehicle. Likely, the last thing on your mind is protecting your identity. In fact, a recent NAIC survey suggests that after an accident, many Americans do not really know what information they should share with the other driver. State laws vary, but in most cases you need only provide your name and vehicle insurance information, which should include the name and phone number of your insurance provider. Sharing personal information such as your address and phone number may put your privacy and identity at risk. However, if another driver is unable to provide vehicle ownership and/or insurance information it is appropriate to ask for their phone number, address and driver's license number.

According to a recent NAIC survey:

• Thirty-eight percent of consumers believed they should share their driver’s license number with the other driver — one in six would even allow the other driver to photograph the license as a convenient way to exchange information.
  • So what’s the risk? In the hands of criminals, your driver’s license number can be as valuable as cash. Many retailers accept driver’s license information to verify identity over the phone. In fact, your license number is the most common way to confirm your identity after Social Security number and date of birth.
• Twenty-five percent of consumers surveyed said they would share their home address.
  • Actually, your home address gives identity thieves the physical location of your mail or garbage, the first place criminals often look for personal financial information. And, now a stranger knows where you live, possibly putting your personal safety at risk.
• Twenty-nine percent of survey respondents believed they are required to share personal phone numbers. In fact, sharing your phone number is rarely necessary.

Identity theft is one of the fastest-growing crimes in the United States. The Federal Trade Commission estimates nearly nine million consumers have their identities stolen each year, disrupting finances and damaging credit histories and reputation. Knowing what to share helps keep property and identities safe.

The survey also found consumers were unsure about other auto accident best practices. For example, nearly 20 percent of respondents believe the only reason to call police after an accident is if someone is injured. However, filing a police report can help facilitate the insurance claims process.

As the deer populations grow and urban habitats continue to encroach upon rural environments, there has been an increase in deer-car collisions—over half a million a year, with a significant number of fatalities.

Deer-vehicle collisions are dangerous and costly so, though collision with an animal is covered under the comprehensive portion of your auto insurance policy, it's always preferable to avoid an accident in the first place.

• Be especially attentive during peak deer hours. From sunset to midnight and during the hours shortly before and after sunrise are the highest risk times for deer-vehicle collisions
• Use extra caution when driving through deer-crossing zones. Also be especially careful in places known to have a large deer population and in areas where roads divide agricultural fields from forestland.
• Know that deer seldom run alone. If you see one deer, others may be nearby.
• Use high beam headlights if driving at night, when there is no oncoming traffic. The higher light will better illuminate the eyes of deer on or near the roadway.
• Slow down and blow your horn with one long blast to frighten the deer away.
• Brake firmly but stay in your lane when you notice a deer in or near your path. Many serious crashes occur when drivers swerve to avoid a deer and hit another vehicle or lose control of their cars.
• Always wear your seat belt. Most people injured in car-deer crashes were not wearing their seat belt.
• Do not rely on deer-deterring devices. Deer whistles, deer fences and reflectors have not been proven to reduce deer-vehicle collisions.
• If your vehicle strikes a deer, do not touch the animal. A frightened and wounded deer can hurt you or further injure itself. The best procedure is to get your car off the road, if possible, and call the police.
• In the event a deer damages your car contact your insurance agent or company representative to report the incident.

Many businesses are exposed to the financial consequences of their ownership, use or maintenance of vehicles used in their operations. Most coverage needs can be handled by a business auto policy (BAP) or similar form which cover operations such as:

• Product or food delivery
• Transporting business products to wholesalers or retailers
• Retail product delivery to consumers
• Carrying persons for short, intermediate or long distance routes
• Picking up customer items for cleaning, repair, storage, etc.

Coverage is flexible. It may be purchased as a separate policy or as part of a package of coverage that can also protect buildings and business property (equipment, furniture, etc.). A BAP generally offers:

Liability Coverage–protection for physical injury to other persons or their property because of an accident related to your covered vehicle, including legal defense cost or expense.

Comprehensive Coverage–handles loss from any cause except collision. A limited, less expensive option is available. It only protects against a set of specific causes such as fire, lightening, explosion, vandalism and several others

Collision–takes care of damage from crashes with another object or overturn of the vehicle

Towing And Labor Costs–handles expenses for moving disabled vehicles

Loss of Use/Rental Vehicle Coverage–if you damage a rental car, this option helps to reimburse the rental company for income it loses because the vehicle is out of use. Also, there may be limited coverage for injury or damage that you cause to others while using a rented vehicle anywhere in the world.

Typically, a business auto (or similar form) bars coverage for the following:

• any injury/damage that you expected or intended
• responsibility for damage you assume under a contract
• losses that should be handled by a Workers Compensation, Disability Benefits or Unemployment Compensation Law
• Bodily Injury to an employee caused by a Fellow Employee
• Damage to property that is in your Care, Custody and Control
• Any bodily injury or property damage that occurs because of Pollution
• Any loss that is related to racing, demolition or stunts

Are you protected against business auto losses? Drive over or call to discuss your situation with one of our insurance professionals. The time will be worth it.