AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE

 

 

We offer the following general recommendations:

 

1)      Maintain bodily-injury liability coverage of $250,000/$500,000.

 

2)      If your insurance premium amounts to more than 10 percent of the value of the car, consider eliminating your collision and comprehensive coverage.

 

3)      Buy uninsured-motorist/underinsured motorist coverage to protect yourself from those not abiding by legal requirements.

 

4)      Choose the highest deductible you can afford for collision and comprehensive.

 

5)      Discounts are often available for:

 

a.       Antitheft devices:  burglar alarms, disabling devices, or hood locks can reduce the cost of the comprehensive portion of your policy.

b.      Carpools:  The theory here is that if your’re carpooling, your’re driving less, reducing the chance you’ll be in an accident.

c.       Driver education:  a 5 to 15 percent discount is sometimes available to drivers who have taken a defensive driving course or had driver training.

d.      Good student.  Some companies offer discounts of 10 to 25 percent for children with grade averages of B or better.

e.       Out-of-town student:  You can shave the dreaded “young-driver premium” from your family policy, provided they don’t have a covered car at school.

f.       Safety equipment:  Air bags can qualify you for a 20 to 50 percent discount on the medical and personal-injury parts of your coverage.

g.      Changes in your situation might entitle you to a rate cut—if you switch jobs and work closer to home, for instance.

h.      Consider insurance costs when buying a car.  Some cars cost more to insure.

i.        Buy your homeowners and auto insurance from the same company.  Most insurers will offer discounts for multiple policies. 

 

 

 

 

HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE

 

In estimating the appropriate amount of property insurance coverage, you should have protection to cover the replacement value of your home, excluding land and foundation value.  Generally, the coverage should be at least 80% of the replacement cost of your home.  We also suggest:

 

¨      Have unscheduled valuables, which exceed the fixed dollar maximum insured for extra protection.

 

¨      Consider replacement cost coverage for the contents of your home.  “Replacement Cost” coverage is available for unscheduled personal property and the contents of the home.  Since the effects of inflation make “cash value” coverage insufficient in most cases, we recommend the addition of this endorsement to your policy.

 

¨      Negotiate with your homeowner’s insurance provider for rate reductions continent on increases in-home security.

 

¨      Purchase an endorsement to your homeowner’s policy to provide coverage for your furs and jewelry.  Policies cover valuables only to specific extents:  jewelry is usually limited to $500 to $1,000. 

 

COMPREHENSIVE LIABILITY INSURANCE

 

Personal liability or umbrella insurance is necessary in this increasingly litigious age.  The umbrella policy supplements the basic automobile and homeowners’ policies.  If damages awarded are greater than the amounts covered by these insurance policies, the umbrella covers the rest of the bill. Most policies require high limits of underlying automobile and residential insurance liability coverage.

 

Umbrella policies typically protect the policyholder, family members living in the same house, and dependent children attending college away from home.  Most policies also cover legal defense costs, which is an important feature, since the costs of defending a lawsuit can be astronomical.