Charles Hagerty No Comments

Love Your Valentine’s Day Gift? Insure It!

It’s Valentine’s Day, and thoughts of people everywhere turn to … jewelry.

About one of four Americans buys jewelry, spending $2,000 per year on average, and industry
experts expect jewelry sales to grow by at least 5% annually through 2025.
Those who don’t buy shiny things for Valentine’s Day may prefer other types of
valuables, such as electronics, artwork, antiques, wine and furs. All totaled,
Valentine’s Day gifts will tally approximately $17 billion of retail sales in
2008.

Whatever the purchase, American consumers should take steps to safeguard and insure their
valuables. Homeowners insurance generally covers valuable and precious items
such as jewelry, but they usually have limits.

Typically policies restrict the dollar amount of coverage for individual valuable items ($1,000 is
a typical maximum), as well as “sub-limits” that constrain coverage for certain
categories of possessions (all the jewelry in the house, for example) to a
certain dollar amount (say, $10,000).

What’s more, most homeowners insurance policies cover “named perils” such as fire, lightning, and
windstorm. That will exclude many events that create financial losses. Note,
for example, that “my five-year-old dropping my engagement ring in the toilet
and flushing” is not a named peril.

To cover such circumstances—or other situations that the insurance industry has dubbed
“mysterious disappearance” —you’ll need a valuable articles personal property
endorsement (also called a “floater”) on your homeowners contract. Some
homeowners insurance carriers also sell stand-alone valuables policies.

Need to know what’s best to protect your beloved Valentine’s Day gift? Ask your Trusted Choice®
insurance agent. He or she will need a copy of your receipt or bill of sale for
jewelry, furs, electronics and other valuable items.

With valuable items, two of the biggest snags that consumers run into at the time of a claim are
proving that an item is missing or stolen, and establishing a value for the
items. In fact, insurance carriers, when contacted for a claim, sometimes even
ask consumers to get a police report for the missing item, even if the loss was
not thought to be a theft.

Proving the value (termed “proof of loss”) of items is imperative when it’s time to file a claim.
Claims are simpler and faster for consumers when they have photos of valuable
items and collections; receipts or appraisal reports: and a written inventory.

Most valuables “floaters” or values policies can provide:

  • All-risks coverage, which covers mysterious disappearance as well
    as flooding or breakage.
  • $0 deductible, which means that the entire replacement cost of
    that engagement ring is covered.
  • Blanket coverage for groups of valuables such as jewelry, crystal,
    or fine arts.
  • “Scheduled” coverage (meaning that items are individually listed)
    for valuables.
  • Coverage for valuables purchased but not yet reported to the insurance
    agent or carrier.

Whatever is on your Valentine’s Day wish list or shopping list, protect it. It’ll help you love it even more. TLIG is a local Trusted Choice® agency that represents multiple insurance companies, so it offers you a variety of personal and business coverage choices and can customize an insurance plan to meet your specialized needs.

Visit us online at www.tligins.com or call us at (434) 582-1444.

Charles Hagerty No Comments

Does Volunteering Your Time Mean Volunteering Your Insurance?

Millions of Americans donate time—their most valuable asset—to
serve as a volunteer board member on non-profits, booster clubs, churches, PTAs
and civic organizations, just to name a few. The decisions these folks make can
have a dramatic impact on their respective organization—and not always for the
better. If a volunteer endeavor goes bad, would a volunteer board member have
coverage against a lawsuit under his or her homeowner’s policy?

Homeowners’ Insurance

The last thing volunteers want to consider is what would
happen if their favored organization file suit against them as a result of
their efforts. But it happens, and not infrequently. This does happen,
especially when volunteers make decisions that directly influence the finances
of an organization. Often, the only insurance these volunteers have to back
their efforts is a homeowner’s policy. Unfortunately, this policy may be of
little assistance.

The reason homeowners’ policies do not usually cover
liability stemming from actions as a volunteer is the nature of the claim. The
policy is designed to cover claims of “bodily injury,” such as someone slipping
on cracked pavement in your driveway; and/or “property damage,” such as accidentally
setting your neighbor’s house ablaze when burning some brush on a windy day.

Claims against board members do not usually involve
bodily injury or property damage. Rather, they involve bad decision-making that
results in financial loss to the organization, such as the decision to invest
in an IT system that turns out to be a debacle, costing the organization
tremendous time and money.

There is another problem. Homeowners policies do not
cover “professional services.” This is important to note, because board members
are often asked to serve in a capacity consistent with their profession. For
example, a church member who is a CPA may be asked to serve on the church’s
board as finance chairman. Even though he is not paid for his services, the
“professional services” exclusion under his homeowner’s policy would still
apply.

In addition to the above, homeowners policies do not
cover claims of personal injury unless this coverage is specifically added.
Personal injury insurance is added to the homeowner’s policy to cover claims
such as libel, slander, wrongful eviction, and false advertising.

What to Do

Events causing claims are unpredictable. While the
reasons shown above prove it’s unlikely, not all claims against volunteer board
members are excluded by a homeowners policy. Decisions to purchase personal injury
coverage and a personal umbrella policy will increase your ability to find
coverage for a suit against you.

The best method for insuring the actions of board members
is for the organization to purchase a directors and officers (D&O)
liability policy. These policies are relatively inexpensive for most
non-profits. Before volunteering, request information on the organization’s
D&O policy. The absence of this insurance leaves you at risk of having no
personal insurance to defend a suit brought against you by the organization and
should influence your decision to serve.

TLIG is a local Trusted Choice®
agency that represents multiple insurance companies, so it offers you a variety
of personal and business coverage choices and can customize an insurance plan
to meet your specialized needs.

Visit us online at www.tligins.com or call us at (434) 582-1444.