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How was your Valentine’s Day?

Of those who didn’t buy shiny things for Valentine’s Day, many purchased electronics, artwork, antiques, wine and furs. All totaled, Valentine’s Day spending equalled approximately $17.6 billion of retail sales, with $4.1 billion of that being spent on jewelry, according to the National Retail Federation’s 2012 Valentine’s Day Consumer Trends report.

Whatever the purchase, be sure to take steps to safeguard and insure your valuables. Homeowners insurance generally covers valuable and precious items such as jewelry, but usually has limits, so it’s important for you to check with us or a Trusted Choice® independent insurance agent to make sure you are covered.

While most homeowner’s insurance policies cover risks such as fire, lightning, and windstorm, they may exclude many events that create financial losses- for example, a claim that is submitted because “my three-year-old dropped my new diamond earrings into the toilet and flushed” may not be covered under a typical policy. To cover these kinds of incidents—or other situations that the insurance industry has dubbed “mysterious disappearance” —you’ll need what’s known as a valuable articles personal property endorsement on your homeowner’s contract. Some homeowner’s insurance carriers also sell stand-alone valuables policies.

Another reason to contact us or your Trusted Choice agent? Typically insurance policies restrict the dollar amount of coverage for individual valuable items in the case of theft ($1,000- $1,500), so you want to make sure that if jewelry is ever stolen, you’re not stuck with coverage that is less than the value of the item.

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 of items is very important 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 additions to your homeowners policy or a separate valuables policies can provide:

• Coverage for 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.

Need to know what’s best to protect your Valentine’s Day gift? Ask us. 

 Even before they start school,  many children become involved in extra-curricular activities. Adults charged with getting groups of kids from home or school to the ball field and back home again are usually more concerned with maintaining their sanity than thinking about their auto coverage.  However, hauling kids around could have a serious affect on your coverage.

In an auto accident, drivers can be legally liable for their passengers’ injuries. Most personal auto policies will extend coverage for injuries to passengers when driving your own car. But what if you rent or borrow a large van to take the soccer team out of town for a weekend tourney? While most auto policies will cover your actions in a car that isn’t yours, many contain restrictions on the size and type of vehicle they will cover.

School employees, such as teachers and coaches, who use their school’s vehicles to haul students and players from place to place have another reason to be concerned. In addition to possible size restrictions, there’s a concern with regular usage; specifically, your personal auto insurance policy may not pay for your liability from an accident in a vehicle that is not yours but is provided for your regular use. In addition to uncertainty with whether or not your policy will even respond, another serious concern is adequate limits of insurance. A serious injury to a single passenger could mean thousands of dollars in medical bills and other costs stemming from the injury, and those dollars increase with the more passengers that are involved. There are published accounts of accidents involving adults driving in a car pool in which damages greatly exceeded $1 million.   

Yet, many adults continue to purchase auto liability limits based on the minimum required by state law. In South Caroina the minimum limits are 25/50/25—not likely sufficient when you consider the severity of certain injuries and the number of passengers involved. Remember also that this limit applies for all injuries caused by an accident for which you are liable, including passengers of other cars.

Adults driving kids to athletic and other events should consider maintaining the highest liability limits possible, as well as a personal umbrella policy (click here for more on personal umbrella policies.)  The umbrella can provide much higher limits of liability, some well over $1 million.

Today’s drivers are faced with a multitude of distractions that pose a risk for accidents. Understanding your personal auto insurance could help bring at least a little peace of mind.  Contact us if you have any questions at 288-9513.

The Turner Agency Inc.

Regardless of your feelings about Global Positioning Systems (GPS), they continue to occupy the dashboards of millions of U.S. vehicles each year. The pervasiveness and expense of the technology has drivers asking if their GPS systems are covered bytheir auto insurance. 

Personal Auto Insurance

Whether its finding alternative routes to beat traffic or an Italian restaurant for the family, drivers rely on their GPS to get them places without the stress of winding up who knows where with an empty tank, no cellular service and shrieking children.

If you depend on your GPS to maintain safety and sanity in your personal vehicle, you should call us and request that your auto insurance policy be endorsed to cover the system.  Failure to make this request will likely result in no coverage for the system after a loss. This is because most personal auto policies strictly limit or totally exclude coverage for GPS and other electronic devices in your car that are not used to operate the vehicle. Some policies will offer limited coverage for GPS devices that are built into the vehicle by the manufacturer or even some portable systems; however this is not the case for all policies and those that do include coverage are limited.     Contents in a car that are not factory installed are typically covered under your homeowners insurance. 

Moral of the Story?  Call Us!

Regardless of the level of dependence you invest, losing the ability to use your vehicle’s GPS system because it is damaged in an accident or stolen is frustrating and expensive. Call us to discover how much coverage your current auto policy will offer towards replacing the damaged system. If your current auto policy does not offer any coverage, we can discuss with you how to close this gap.   Call The Turner Agency at 288-9513.

Those that design personal auto insurance policies learned years ago that folks living in the same house will take turns driving the family cars. That’s why auto insurance policies are designed to provide coverage not just for the person specifically named on the policy (you) but also your spouse and family members.

But whether it’s attributable to a child’s dream of independence or a parent trying to save money by pawning off costs on the kiddos, many family members who live in the same house have their own cars and their own car insurance. If this is the case in your home, there is a danger lurking in that folder where you keep the auto insurance policy; a danger that if unknown can be very costly.

Here’s the problem: most policies contain a limitation for the use of a vehicle that is owned by a family member and not specifically covered by your insurance policy. While the limitation may not apply to you or your spouse, it does apply to any other family member who is normally covered by your policy. Consider the following example:

Al and Peg have children living at home—a 19-year-old daughter, Kelly, and 17-year-old son, Bud. Kelly has her own car and car insurance with liability limits of $25,000/50,000/10,000. The first two numbers represent limits that apply to bodily injury suffered by a third party— the first is the maximum per person, the second is the maximum per accident. The third number is the limit that applies to property damage— this could be to another car or any other property belonging to a third party.

Al and Peg have much higher limits of $100,000/300,000/100,000. Bud is still whining that he doesn’t have a car. One night, with her permission, Bud takes out Kelly’s car and causes an accident that seriously injures the other driver. Since it was Kelly’s car, her policy limits will apply. Unfortunately, the cost of the other driver’s injuries is much greater than the $25,000 limit on Kelly’s policy. Bud looks to his parents’ car insurance for help. His search is in vain: Kelly’s car is owned by a family member and therefore not covered by his parents’ policy.

Were the situation different and it was Al or Peg who borrowed Kelly’s, car, the limitation would not apply. Were Bud to borrow the neighbor’s car the limitation would not apply. But since it was a family member’s car and it was Bud driving, the limitation applies. And since Bud has no insurance of his own to turn to, the family could be responsible for the remainder of the other driver’s injuries out-of-pocket.

Unfortunately there is no easy fix for this limitation. The best method is avoidance, but telling the kids not to drive each other’s cars may be more ideal than realistic. If your current household arrangement could make this scary situation a reality for your family, consider encouraging your kids to increase their liability limits to a level more sufficient to pay for a serious injury. This way more of the cost will be absorbed by the insurance company and less by your family.  

 Contact our Personal Lines account managers at The Turner Agency with any questions.  The number is 288-9513.

by Ross Turner

If you live in a home in a developed area or subdivision, there’s a reasonable chance that you are a member of a homeowner’s association. The same is true if your pad is a condominium.

Association membership has its benefits. In return, members of the association are sometimes asked to contribute funds to help maintain the integrity/value of the common elements. Those common elements—a garage or clubhouse, for example—are those items of property commonly owned by all members. “Asked” may be too soft a word—such contributions usually are collected through mandatory assessments.

What are some things for which you as an association member can receive an assessment? Good question. The answer is typically found in association bylaws. In some states, laws will have something to say about the extent an assessment can be charged and for what it can be charged. However, such statutes do not exist everywhere.

Here’s another question: If you receive an assessment from your home or condo association, will your home or condo insurance policy help you pay for it?

The answer, well, depends.

Most home and condo insurance policies have very similar language in how they address coverage for loss assessment. There are a few things you will need to know before coverage can be determined.

What Caused the Assessment?
The home or condo policy only will kick in to pay an assessment that is charged to you for a reason that would be covered by your insurance. For example, if the assessment were charged to help cover the cost of damage to the clubhouse caused by a fire, your policy would pay due to the fact that fire is a covered loss under your policy. However, if earth movement damaged the same building, your policy would not pay if earth movement is not a covered loss under your policy.

If an assessment is charged to cover the cost of painting the exterior of the clubhouse simply because the association decided it was time to paint, your coverage would not kick in due to the fact that there has been no covered loss.

Assessments are not only charged to cover claims of damage to common elements. Members also may be assessed for claims of bodily injury or property damage against the association’s master policy. For example:

A guest suffers a permanent head injury after slipping on a damaged walkway. The bodily injury claim against the association is $1.5 million. The association’s policy will cover the injury up to its policy limit of $1 million. The association assesses its members to cover the remaining $500,000.

In this example, your insurance policy would kick in to help pay the assessment. Why?  Bodily injury is covered by your policy.

Which Policy Covers the Assessment?
Your home/condo policy says that it will only pay the cost of assessments that are charged during the policy period. This is important to note because it’s possible that the actual assessment may not be charged until months after the loss causing the damage occurred. For example, say the hurricane happens in August, when Company X insures you. In September, you switch your coverage to Company Y. The assessment for the portion of the hurricane damage that isn’t covered by the association’s master policy arrives in October. Company Y’s policy would kick in as it was in effect when the assessment was charged.

How Much Will My Home or Condo Policy Pay?
Most policies are issued with a limit of $1,000 to cover loss assessments. This limit is the most your policy will pay for a single loss, regardless of how many assessments are charged for it. For example, if the clubhouse is damaged by a hurricane, it’s possible that members may be assessed first to cover the cost of the association master policy’s deductible—and again to cover the cost of the repair that exceeds that policy’s limit of insurance. Since both assessments are charged due to the same hurricane, the total paid by your insurance would not exceed $1,000.

That $1,000 Seems Too Low. Can I Increase My Assessment Coverage?
Yes. Most home and condo insurance companies offer you the opportunity to add more coverage for loss assessments. It’s important to know that while the dollar amount may be increased, the terms of the policy still apply (i.e. you will still need the assessment to be charged due to a covered loss).

If you choose to purchase additional assessment coverage, proceed with caution. Most loss assessment endorsements will still only allow you a maximum limit of $1,000 if the purpose of the assessment is to cover the master policy’s deductible.

Final Note
Loss assessments can be expensive. Having the right home or condo insurance policy to help cover some of the cost could save you big bucks. For more information, call The Turner Agency today at 288-9513.

I have noticed that the number of golf carts in my neighborhood has increased dramatically over the past couple of years.  Families are using them as an alternative to driving their cars to the pool, to swim meets, or to visit a neighbor.  With the price of gas, I can understand why. 

However, the safety issues involved with a golf cart concern me, particularly when I see so many children behind the wheel**.   Almost every serious golf cart accident I have heard or read about involved someone falling out of a golf cart and hitting their head on the ground or curb.  I know Travelers, one of our companies,  had two large umbrella losses in the community of Savannah, Georgia, that involved people falling out of a golf cart and dying from hitting their head.    

Neither of these accidents were caused by people playing around.  Rather, the accidents resulted from the drivers making an unexpected turn.  

Recently Insurance Journal ran an article regarding the deaths that have occurred as a result of golf cart accidents in South Carolina.  Click here to read the entire article.  While I don’t think we need to require helmets to drive a golf cart, I do think seat belts in golf carts are a great idea – but they only work if you use them.

**South Carolina law states that those who wish to operate a golf cart must be at least 16 years old and possess a valid South Carolina driver’s license. The driver of the golf cart must have the registration card of the golf cart and his or her driver’s license while operating the golf cart on highways. 

(We learned this the hard way a few years ago when we allowed our son to drive a rented golf cart down the street and back at the beach.  When he returned to the house, he was not alone.  He was being escorted by a policeman because he was under age.)

Did You Know?

The state of South Carolina requires a permit for a licensed driver to operate a golf cart during daylight hours on a secondary highway or street within two miles of his residence or place of business.  For more information on how to obtain a permit from any DMV office, click here.

The Turner Agency Inc. will be closed on Monday, December 26 in observance of the Christmas holiday. We will reopen on Tuesday, December 27 at 8:30 a.m.

The Turner Agency Inc. will be closed on Monday, September 5, in observance of the Labor Day Holiday.  We will reopen on Tuesday, September 6 at 8:30 a.m.

The Turner Agency Inc. will be closed on Monday, July 4, in observance of the Fourth of July Holiday.  We will reopen on Tuesday, July 5 at 8:30 a.m.

The Turner Agency will be closed on Monday, May 30 in observance of Memorial Day.  We will reopen on Tuesday, May 31 at 8:30 a.m.