Questions to ask yourself to avoid gaps in insurance coverage
Here are some examples of changes that should be mentioned to your agent immediately. Ask yourself these questions every year:
*Have I gotten married or divorced?
*Have I had a baby or adopted a child?
*Is anyone living with me who wasn’t before? Will they be driving my car?
*Have I renovated the house or other structures?
*Do I have a personal umbrella policy? Do I need one?
*Have I purchased any new properties?
*Have I started a home business?
*Have I purchased or been given artwork, fine jewelry, or valuable guns?
REFERRAL CONTEST
FALL 2011 REFERRAL CONTEST DETAILS
1) ALWAYS!
For every person you refer you will receive a $10 gas gift card.
2). NEW!
In addition, you will now be entered into a $25 gift card drawing in the month you provide the referral and every time you provide one. A drawing will take place each month in September, October & November 2011.
3). PLUS A BONUS!
Every time you send a referral in September, October, & November, you will also be entered into a December drawing for a $75 gift card.
The fine print: Once the person you refer is contacted, enough information must be collected in order to provide a quote. Names alone do not qualify as a referral and do not qualify for this contest. Home, Business, Auto, and Life referrals qualify. Call or email us stating you read this and we’ll add your name to this month’s drawing
My pet was injured in a car accident. Will auto insurance cover any expenses for my pet?
Have you ever wondered about insurance coverage on Lassie or muffet if something happened to them when you were in an auto accident? Some auto insurance companies offer coverage automatically on your policy. Erie Insurance, for instance, will pay $500 for injuries for up to 2 dogs or cats & $1000 for the loss of a dog or cat. We think this is a nice added benefit for our clients with four legged friends.
Is your outdoor hot tub covered by insurance? A client called to inquire about this today.
It’s a good question. Hot tubs are usually covered subject to deductible but where is often determined by the installation. Hot tubs are typically covered under your personal property as long as they are not attached to anything (like sitting on a cement slab). It could be covered under other structures if it is attached to decking or a structure, not just sitting on top of it.
When purchasing a hot tub check with your insurance company to confirm coverage and make sure that the coverage amounts you have are still adequate with the addition of a hot tub. You can increase your current coverage for an additional premium.
Are you concerned you might have hail damage from the storm yesterday?
If so, we highly recommend you speak with your agent for recommendations before filing the claim. This is very important. You deserve to know how it works, how it affects your claims history, how it may affect your premium, and so on. Get the facts before filing a claim.
Here are some things to consider:
- You need to have a trusted roofing company check it out before you go through the claims process. Let your agent walk you through your options before filing the claim.
- We highly recommend that you do not work with a company that comes to your home immediately following a storm. We are only referring to the companies that walk around your area or neighborhood trying to get your business right after a storm. You could get locked into a contract and possibly have less negotiating power, like getting dimensional shingles instead of 3 tab shingles.
- Look at your plants around the house. Are flower petals on the ground or hostas damaged? This could be an indication that the hail was dense enough to cause damage to your car or roof.
- Do you see dents in your gutters? This could also be an indication that you may have hail damage.
If you take anything from this information, have a conversation with your agent before filing the claim. State that you might have a claim and are just wondering how it works if you do.
Welcome Alison & Travis
Welcome Alison & Travis to our family of clients. Glad we could save you $200 on your auto insurance too. We wish you the best in your new home!
We just helped another Warehams Pond resident save money on insurance. We saved them $404 a year on home and auto insurance premiums with better coverage. Welcome Terry & Shannon to our family.
Will Your Insurance Help If You Say the Wrong Thing on Facebook?
Social networking Web sites, such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, are growing increasingly popular with young people and adults alike. These sites allow people to reconnect with old friends and colleagues and to make new connections. However, as with most other Web sites, these sites allow the posting of communications that the posters may come to regret. These posts can cause hard feelings and may result in significant financial loss. Will your insurance protect you?
In the winter of 2009, a teenager from Oceanside, New York sued Facebook, four of her high school classmates, and their parents for $3 million. The suit accused the four classmates of bullying and humiliating her in a forum on Facebook. They allegedly posted derogatory and false statements about her that were intended to hold her up to “public hatred, ridicule and disgrace.” Whether or not the allegations prove to be true, the teenagers and their parents need legal defense and possibly resources to pay judgments against them. They may look to their homeowner’s insurance policies to cover these costs, but will the policies respond?
A standard policy will probably not cover this. The policy pays amounts for which the policyholder (the insured) is legally liable, plus the costs of legal defense, for bodily injury or property damage done to someone else. The policy defines bodily injury as meaning bodily harm, sickness or disease; it defines property damage as injury to, destruction of, or loss of use of physical property. Neither of these definitions includes saying or publishing something that injures another’s reputation or feelings. Consequently, the policy is unlikely to cover a post on Facebook. The girl from Oceanside did not allege that her classmates hurt her body, made her sick or passed her a disease; she accused them of making her life miserable. The policy does not cover that offense.
Insurance companies may offer special personal injury coverage that can be added to homeowner’s policies. This coverage pays for the insured’s liability for several offenses, including oral or written publication of material that violates someone’s privacy. If any of the Oceanside classmates’ parents have this coverage, their insurance may cover the claims.
Another potential source of coverage is a personal umbrella policy. An umbrella provides additional insurance in situations where a loss has used up the amounts of liability insurance under homeowner’s or auto policies. It also covers some liability losses that those policies do not cover, such as personal injury losses. Umbrellas typically carry a deductible of $250 or $500. Suppose one of the parents in the Oceanside case does not have personal injury coverage on his homeowner’s policy, but he does have an umbrella. The umbrella will pay for his and his child’s defense and their shares of any judgment, minus the $250 deductible. If he does have the coverage on his homeowner’s policy, this policy will pay until its limits are exhausted, and the umbrella will pay the rest, up to its limit.
The costs of enhanced homeowner’s policies and personal umbrella policies will vary from one insurer to another. Also, the terms of umbrella policies vary among companies. An insurance agent can provide information on coverage options and prices.
Communicating online has become an ordinary part of life today. Web sites like Facebook offer new and exciting ways to meet new people and to stay in touch with people all over the globe. However, they bring with them their own unique risks. Anyone using sites like these should be careful with what they and their children are saying, and they should make sure they have proper insurance backing them up.
