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FAQ
WHAT DO THE NUMBERS MEAN FOR MY CAR INSURANCE? Automobile insurance coverage can be broken down into two basic categories – Damage to others (liability) and Damage to your car (physical damage). DAMAGE TO OTHERS (LIABILITY) Usually, liability will be what is known as "split limit", that is there are limitations to what one particular person can collect per accident, which is generally less than the total liability limit. A common way that this is represented is:
This coverage is commonly abbreviated 250/500/100. If you had liability limits in these amounts, you would have up to $250,000 bodily injury per person in the event of an accident, $500,000 total bodily injury coverage per accident and $100,000 total property damage per accident. DAMAGE TO YOUR CAR (PHYSICAL DAMAGE) Collision coverage - If you collide with another object, and you carry collision coverage, the repairs to your car would be covered under this part of the policy, less your deductible. Other than Collision coverage - This is commonly known as Comprehensive coverage. If you have a physical loss to your car that is NOT defined as a collision, the repairs to your car would be covered under this part of the policy, less your deductible. Most policies consider ANY glass loss or ANY collision with an animal to be a Comprehensive loss. As a general rule, you can not purchase Collision coverage unless you purchase Comprehensive coverage. Neither coverage can be purchased without purchasing Liability coverage, except that Comprehensive coverage may be purchased as a stand-alone coverage for cars in storage. OTHER COVERAGES Medical Payments – pays up to the limit (usually $1,000 to $5,000) for medical bills incurred regardless as to who is at fault in an accident. Uninsured Motorist – provides coverage to you for Bodily Injury in the event that the other negligent driver does not carry liability insurance. This coverage is commonly written to the same limits as your Bodily Injury Liability coverage. Underinsured Motorist – provides coverage to you for Bodily Injury in the event that the other negligent driver does not carry liability insurance with sufficient limits. This coverage is commonly written to the same limits as your Uninsured Motorist coverage. Emergency Road Services (ERS) - Provides coverage for roadside assistance, including towing, to your disabled or stranded car. Typically, coverage is available with a $25, $50 or $100 limit per occurrence. Car Rental - Provides coverage for you to rent a replacement car while your car is being repaired for a covered loss. 30/300 limits would mean that you have up to $30 per day for car rental, with a maximum amount of $300. Special Coverages – Extra coverages that are offered by individual insurance companies that may round out a policy. These coverages may include Accidental Death & Dismemberment, Lease Gap or any number of custom coverages offered by the company. RETURN TO TOP WHY DOES MY CAR INSURANCE COST MORE THAN MY NEIGHBORS? You and your neighbor have both own 1997 Ford Ranger pickup trucks. You are talking with him, and the conversation turns to insurance. Your neighbor tells you that he is only paying $149.90 every 6 months for insurance on his truck. You are astounded. You just paid your bill, and it’s $444 for 6 months. Why such a large difference? After all, you both are the same age, own your own homes and work at the same place. You are even insured by the same company. * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * No matter how much your situation looks the same as someone else’s, it is unique. You may have different needs than your neighbor. RETURN TO TOPHOW CAN I LOWER MY CAR INSURANCE BILL? There are several things that you can do. You could LOWER your Liability Limits. This is generally not a good idea. This is protection for your assets in the event that you are at fault in an accident. In a severe accident, you would be liable for any damages over and above what your insurance has for policy limits. In today’s day and age, $100,000 and higher settlements are not uncommon. * * * * * * * * You could RAISE your deductibles. In the example above, just raising your deductibles to $250 on comprehensive and $500 on collision, you could save $225 or more per year. You could put all your cars on one policy. A multi-car discount could save you an additional $98 per year. You could insure your home with the same company as your car. A multi-policy discount could save you an additional $80 per year. You could drive a less expensive vehicle. In the example, even applying all the same discounts, the Eddie Bauer just plain costs around $104 per year more to insure than the plain Ranger. This is due to the higher cost new of the vehicle. * * * * * * * * Just by doing the above, you could lower your cost of insurance for that truck to around $224 for 6 months, or a savings of almost half of your bill. You would still have the higher limits of Liability in the event of a severe accident, and have deductibles that are reasonable in the event of an accident. * * * * * * * * The best thing that you can do to lower your total insurance costs is to contact a good, reliable company that is interested in getting you the best value for your insurance dollar. We are such a company. Our agents have many years of experience in placing personal lines insurance, with good, reputable and competitive companies. Our service is second to none. Give us a call so that we can tailor a package for you. Just call USA-Insurance at 1-800-924-7066 for a free quote. RETURN TO TOPHomeowners insurance is truly a remarkable product. It provides coverage in the event that your home is damaged. It provides coverage for your belongings. If you have a covered loss, it will pay up to a specified amount for you to live elsewhere while your home is being repaired. It provides liability coverage for your personal, non-automotive liability exposures. It can be endorsed to cover boats, snowmobiles and almost all of the toys that you might have. It can even cover a home based business. All of this is available at a price that is unbelievably low. RETURN TO TOPWHAT DO THE NUMBERS MEAN FOR MY HOME INSURANCE? A typical Homeowners Policy might show the following coverages:
* * * * * * * * Coverage "A" is the amount of money that your home is insured for. Coverage "B" is the amount of money that your unattached structures are insured for. These structures could include an unattached garage, fences, light poles, permanent boat docks and storage sheds. Usually this is limited to 10% of coverage "A". Coverage "C" is the amount of money that your personal belongings and household goods are insured for. Typically, this is a percentage of coverage "A", usually between 50% and 75%, and varies with different companies and plans. Coverage "D" is the amount of money that is available to you for the additional living costs that you might incur because of a covered loss to your home. This is also expressed as a percentage of coverage "A", usually 20%. Percentages may vary from company to company. Some companies even take all limitations out and then define the benefit is "Actual Loss Sustained". Liability is the amount of money that is available to pay on your behalf for damages resulting from your negligent acts. Unlike car insurance, which is a "split limit" policy, homeowners liability is called Combine Single Limit (CSL). This means that the bodily injury and property damage limits are combined into one limit per occurrence. Medical Payments to Others pays up to the limit (typically $1,000 to $5,000) for medical bills incurred on your property or by your actions, regardless of who is at fault. It should be remembered that these are payments to others, and residents of the household are not covered. * * * * * * * * You should know that all policies contain some "internal limits" on certain items, such as watercraft, firearms, jewelry, furs and other items. These limits vary. Check your policy. Liability may also be limited. Some companies extend liability to any owned watercraft, so long as it is powered by an outboard motor, while other companies may limit this to 25 or 50 horsepower. Most companies do not automatically extend liability to owned snowmobiles or ATVs. RETURN TO TOPHOW FLEXIBLE IS A HOMEOWNERS POLICY? A homeowners policy might be as simple as basic coverages in the event of a fire to a deluxe policy that covers your home and possessions in the event of a loss for any reason. (There are certain "exclusions" that are not covered by any policy. Check your policy.) Most homeowners policies today are written as "Special Coverage" policies. This means that Coverages "A" & "B" are insured against "Risk of Direct Loss". In other words, if there is a loss, it is covered, subject to the exclusions. Coverage "C" is generally covered for "Named Perils", 17 perils that your personal property is insured against, which include Fire, Windstorm, Explosion and Theft. Many companies now offer an endorsement that will provide for "Risk of Direct Loss" for your contents. This endorsement is a helpful tool in completing your policy. RETURN TO TOPWHAT OTHER HOMEOWNERS ENDORSEMENTS ARE AVAILABLE? Your homeowners policy can be endorsed to cover almost any personal situation that you might have. You can purchase coverage for any seasonal homes that you might have. You can extend liability to rental units that you own. Watercraft, snowmobiles and ATVs can be covered for physical damage and for liability. You can even cover almost any business that you can run from your home. One homeowners policy could replace literally dozens of policies that, in the past, had to be purchased individually. RETURN TO TOPWHAT HOMEOWNERS ENDORSEMENTS ARE MOST COMMON? Two of the most common endorsements are "Guaranteed Replacement Cost" and "Replacement Cost for Contents". These coverages provide for the rebuilding of your home, regardless of cost, and for a non-depreciated settlement in the event of a loss to your personal property. Also used extensively are endorsements to cover jewelry, firearms, watercraft and ATVs and just about any item that you might have in your home. One coverage that is quickly gaining in popularity is the HO15. This endorsement, among other things, provides for "Risk of Direct Loss" to your personal property. Where possible, we try to include this option in every policy that we write. Most companies include some of the more popular endorsements in an option package. When these coverages are packaged, the price of the package is generally considerably lower when compared to the cost of each individual endorsements added together .Many companies are now offering a "Home Based Business Endorsement". This provides "Businessowners" coverage for your home based business. It provides business liability and business personal property coverage, and attaches to your homeowners policy. This eliminates any gap in coverage that could occur with separate policies. The homeowners policy is extremely flexible, and can be tailored to suit almost any situation. Not only that, the homeowners policy is reasonably inexpensive for what you get. The best thing that you can do to make sure that you have the coverage you want is to contact a good, reliable company that is interested in getting you the best deal for the money. We are such a company. Our agents have many years of experience in writing personal lines insurance. Our service is second to none. Give us a call so that we can tailor a package for you. Just call USA-Insurance at 1-800-924-7066 for a free quote.Renters insurance is simply a homeowners policy without any coverage "A" or coverage "B". Nearly all of the endorsements that are available to the homeowners policy are available to the renters policy. RETURN TO TOPWHY DO I NEED RENTERS INSURANCE? If you owned the home that you are living in, you would not dream of going without insurance. If the house burned down, you would be reimbursed for your loss. Statistically, renters have slightly MORE significant property losses than do home owners. Although it is true that you may not own the structure where you live, you do have your own personal property that is to be covered. This can add up to a fairly large amount rather quickly. Your liability exposure is essentially the same for someone who owns his own home. You may own watercraft or snowmobiles that you want covered. Just because you are renting, doesn’t mean that you don’t need insurance. Contact us and we will make sure that you have the coverage that you need. RETURN TO TOPWHAT ABOUT BOATS, SNOWMOBILES AND OTHER "TOYS" ? We can provide Liability and Physical Damage coverage for you boats, snowmobiles, ATVs and all of your other recreational toys with specialized policies designed for each different type of vehicle. We do, however, prefer to attach the coverage to your homeowners or renters policy with what is called an "endorsement". Generally, these "endorsements" are less expensive than the individual policies might be, and you have the convenience of one stop shopping. RETURN TO TOPAn Umbrella liability policy provides an extra layer of liability protection for you, in the event that you are found liable in a bodily injury lawsuit. Usually this protection is in limits of $1,000,000 or $2,000,000. RETURN TO TOPWHY DO I NEED AN UMBRELLA LIABILITY POLICY? In today’s society, lawsuits of a million dollars or more are not uncommon. In Wisconsin, for example, if you are involved in and accident that results in the death of a child, it is pretty well generally assumed that the settlement will start at $500,000. Even if you are carrying the relatively high automobile liability limits of 250/500/100, you will be $250,000 short of protection at a minimum. An umbrella liability policy will pay any amounts that you become legally liable for that are over and above your policy limits, subject to a deductible (called self insured retention and usually around $250) up to the umbrella policy limits. RETURN TO TOPWHAT DOES AN UMBRELLA LIABILITY POLICY COST? Costs vary from company and customer but generally speaking, we have seen that the average annual premium is less than $150. You’re situation may or may not be average,however. RETURN TO TOPWHAT DO I HAVE TO DO TO GET AN UMBRELLA LIABILITY POLICY? Usually the company that writes the umbrella policy also wants to write the automobile and homeowners policy. This is to assure that the liability limits on these "underlying policies" are sufficient and in force. You may have to increase your "underlying liability" slightly to conform to the requirements of the umbrella policy. Give USA-Insurance a call at 1-800-924-7066 or email us at info@usa-insurance.com for more details. WHAT ABOUT LIFE AND HEALTH INSURANCE? LIFE INSURANCE The primary reason to purchase life insurance is to provide your survivors of a way of maintaining their present lifestyle without having to make financial sacrifices. What type of policy you decide to use is up to you. There are at the present time, 3 basic types of policies on the market - Whole Life, Term Life and Universal Life. WHOLE LIFE Whole life is considered to be a permanent product, that is, the protection that you purchase remains with you until the day you die, so long as premiums are paid. Whole life policies generally gain in cash value as time goes on, and in some cases, the cash value may actually exceed the face value of the policy on old policies. This type of policy is generally an excellent buy for a younger person, however as you get older, initial premiums may be cost prohibitive. TERM LIFE Term Life is just what it sounds like. You and the company contract for the company to provide a death benefit for your heirs for a certain period of time. (Usually 1 to 30 years.) These policies may be renewable to a certain age. Each renewal will see an increase in premium. In the case of a 30-year term, the premium increase would be substantial. However, the premium for the length of the original term would remain constant. UNIVERSAL LIFE Universal Life was a product that was born out of the high interest rates of the late 1970’s and early 80’s. It can be viewed as a combination of term and whole life. The cash values that were promised were nothing short of fantastic. Unfortunately, as the interest rates came down, many people who bought Universal Life policies did not increase their premiums to cover the interest shortfall. As a consequence, many people who have older Universal life policies will find that cash values are way down, and in some cases, the premium that you pay will no longer even pay for the life insurance protection that you need. RETURN TO TOPWHAT LIFE INSURANCE POLICY IS BEST FOR ME? That depends on your comfort level. Term policies will always be the least expensive to start with. As time goes on, a term policy will cost more and more. Whole life policies will always have a place in anyone’s insurance portfolio. The price is guaranteed and the policy will build cash values. Universal life policies also have their place. If funded properly, premiums are guaranteed and cash values still show good growth. It could be possible that a combination of all 3 type of policies will suit your needs. Call USA-Insurance at 1-800-924-7066 or email us at insure@usa-insurance.com and we will be happy to work with you. By far, the employer provides the vast majority of health insurance in this country. If you are eligible for your employer’s plan, that will probably be the best deal for you. You have the advantage of being a part of a group, and if you enroll in a timely manner, will be accepted without regard to your health. There are some circumstances where you are not eligible for a group policy. You may be self-employed or retired. You may be between jobs and need coverage. Then you would be looking for an individual plan. There are two basic types – Major Medical and Hospitalization. MAJOR MEDICAL Major medical plans provide for coverage nearly all of your health needs. Generally, all doctors’ visits, surgeries and prescription drugs are covered. Annual deductibles can range from $0 to $10,000 or more. Most , if not all HMOs are major medical plans. Premiums vary greatly, depending on age and deductibles chosen. HOSPITILIZATION PLANS These plans provide coverage for you ONLY while you are an inpatient in the hospital. Outpatient care is generally not covered. These plans are generally inexpensive, but coverage is extremely limited. We do not recommend these plans as anything but temporary plans. RETURN TO TOP
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 USA-Insurance logan@usa-insurance.com Copyright © 2006, United Service Agency, Inc. |
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