Personal Lines Insurance to fit your budget and needs

If you're a homeowner, or are considering buying a home, you'll want to know the basics of homeowners insurance. "The I's on Insurance: Your Homeowners Coverage" explains what most policies cover (and don't cover). Watch and learn about liability, additional living expenses and other coverages in your insurance policy. And discover that protecting your family's home and belongings with a policy that balances your needs and budget doesn't have to be a chore.

A renters’ insurance policy can include the following:

• Personal property coverage: This will help pay for the cost of replacing damaged or lost goods.
• Liability coverage: This will help to cover legal defense costs and medical bills for you or a visitor.
• Additional living expense (ALE) coverage: If the rental property is too messed up to live in while it’s being repaired, some policies will pay for a hotel and other living expenses, like groceries.

Coverage for mobile/manufactured homes is generally offered using two approaches. Some policies include a laundry list of items (or perils) that may cause a loss. Other policies protect your home against everything EXCEPT for a host of specified perils. Either approach includes liability coverage that protects you for injuries or losses to others which you accidentally cause.

Important definitions: unoccupied home versus vacant home Insurance companies draw distinctions between homes that are unoccupied and those that are vacant.

• Unoccupied home. The property has been left as if the owners will return at any time.
• Vacant home. The property is entirely empty, without any personal property inside.

Defining a vacant vs. unoccupied home

Unoccupied home

• If the home is immediately suitable for occupation, it's considered unoccupied.
• The owner's personal property remains inside, the utilities are on and appliances are functioning.
• If a home renovation is limited enough that the furniture and other personal property can be left behind, the home is unoccupied.
• If you're on vacation or in the hospital, your property is also unoccupied.

HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE DOES NOT TYPICALLY COVER FLOODS

Most important is the fact that a standard homeowners insurance policy typically doesn't cover flood damage. And because floods can occur anywhere, you should consider purchasing a separate National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) flood policy through an insurance agent. The NFIP is managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

What type of motorcycle insurance coverage do I need?

Warmer weather beacons you to revel in the open road - which also means plenty of ways to run into trouble. Not to fear! Outfitting your policy with the right coverages will help you stay protected no matter what arises.

Liability includes bodily injury and property damage protection and is almost always required. If you ever cause an accident with your motorcycle, liability coverage helps protect you from having to pay others' injury or repair bills.

​When deciding how much liability insurance to get, a good rule of thumb is to get as much protection as you can comfortably afford.

Comprehensive and collision coverage

While liability is all about covering the other driver's expenses after an accident, collision
coverage helps repair your bike if you cause an accident. Collision also helps cover the cost of riding apparel and helmets damaged in a covered incident.

Comprehensive coverage, on the other hand, kicks in after a non-collision incident such as a stolen motorcycle or that dead tree limb crashing down on your ride. Comprehensive can help pay the damage or even replace your motorcycle altogether.

What Does RV Insurance Cover?

RV insurance covers many of the similar risks that auto insurance does, including collision, comprehensive, and liability coverage. You can also get additional protection for your personal belongings on board, equipment and attached accessories such as awnings and satellite dishes. Depending on the insurance company you choose, your additional coverage options may include:

• Total loss replacement coverage
• Campsite and vacation coverage
• Emergency expenses
• Towing and roadside coverage
• Full-timer coverage if your RV is your full-time residence
• Uninsured and underinsured motorists coverage

Boat Owner's Insurance Coverage

The insurance approach for covering boats and boating property is quite like what is used to protect cars and homes. Essentially, insurance is offered on a package basis, meaning that there is coverage for physical property as well as protection against the legal and financial consequences of injuring others or damaging property that belongs to others.

What Does Snowmobile Insurance Cover?

Snowmobile insurance typically helps cover you and your sled in a number of ways. For instance, a snowmobile insurance policy may help pay to repair damage to your sled or prevent you from paying out of pocket if you injure another person or damage their property while riding your snowmobile.

A snowmobile insurance policy may include:

• Collision coverage
• Bodily injury liability coverage
• Property damage liability coverage
• Comprehensive coverage

These coverages are typically optional on a snowmobile insurance policy. Your agent can help you tailor a policy that fits your needs. Here's a look at how common snowmobile coverages work.

Imagine that you’re just a few years away from a well-deserved retirement. You’ve got a sizable retirement account, plus a house and car that are fully paid off. Altogether, your assets amount to a little over a million dollars. In short, life is pretty good.

Then, one day, you get into a car crash. Fortunately, you’re not badly hurt, and the damage to your car is well within the limits of your auto insurance coverage. Unfortunately, the other car involved in the crash is full of executives from a large company – and their injuries, and the damage to the car, are much more serious.

A court rules that you are responsible for the accident and must pay for the damage to the other car, the executives’ medical bills, and their lost wages for the time they were unable to work after the accident. Altogether, you owe about a million dollars in damages. Your auto insurance policy only covers the first $250,000 of that, so you’re on the hook for the remaining $750,000.

This could be a complete disaster for you – unless you have an umbrella insurance policy. This kind of insurance takes over when your other policies run up against their coverage limits. In this case, an umbrella policy would cover the extra $750,000 in damages and even pay your legal bills – saving you from having your assets wiped out, and your retirement snatched away by a single unfortunate accident.