Personal Insurance

Home Insurance is one of the most important policies you can purchase. It not only covers your property, but it also covers liability issues.
Each living situation creates its own need to cover the people who live there or own the home:
Tenant & Condo Owner policies provide liability and contents coverage.
Dwelling Fire (non-owner occupied) policies provide liability and building coverage.
Homeowner policies provide all of it.

Under a home insurance policy, your property is covered against “perils” including fires, theft, vandalism, injury, and more. The liability coverage on these policies generally cover legal responsibility for incidents that may occur.

Homeowner policies usually offer endorsements which expand the built in coverage for additional fee - allowing you to determine which extra risks you wish to protect yourself from.

Auto insurance is a great way to protect your vehicle and to protect you from financial loss.

Auto insurance can cover your vehicle against damage, such as collision coverage or comprehensive coverage. It also protects you from liability rising from an auto accident. While costs associated with fixing an auto have increased quite a bit, injury liability claims have always been the bigger risk to a person's financial security after a a car accident.

Collision Coverage - the part of the policy that covers your automobile for damage when a covered vehicle collides with another vehicle or object. There is usually a deductible that applies to Collision coverage if you are at fault or if you cannot provide information on the party that was at fault.

Comprehensive coverage - also known as “other than collision"- refers to damages to a covered vehicle by fire, theft, vandalism, falling objects, and this is where you get your glass coverage. In most cases there is no deductible for glass, but there is usually a deductible of your choosing for all other comprehensive claims.

Flood insurance covers direct physical losses, damage, or loss caused by a flood. In simple terms, a flood is an excess of water on land that normally is dry. Anywhere it can rain, it can flood.

Flood insurance is NOT included on your home policy. Homes in designated flood zones are required to purchase flood insurance, however anyone can purchase flood insurance for their home.

The federal government determines flood zones, which change occasionally, Zoning determines flood policy rates, which also change.

The NFIP defines a flood as “A general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of two or more acres of normally dry land area or of two or more properties." Causes of a flood include: Overflow of inland or tidal waters and unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source.

Again, flood insurance is NOT included on your home policy. Most people who need it find that out the hard way.

Umbrella insurance sits on top of other policies, such as home and auto, to provide additional liability protection when the underlying policy limits are exhausted. Umbrella insurance typically provides coverage for injuries, certain lawsuits, damage to other peoples' property, additional personal liability situations and more.