So we all know a ton about Auto Insurance, Home Insurance, Classic Auto Insurance, and Commercial Insurance. Do we? Are there other policies you don’t know about? Are there endorsements on policies you are not aware of? You bet your fur, Pal, and I’m here to make sure you know. Oh, yeah, you’ll know a lot when I’m done. A whole lot.
Let’s start with one of the easy ones – a policy that lots of people “know” about, but few buy unless forced to.
1. Flood Insurance. “Oh, I don’t need that” you say, “I have water damage on my home insurance.” Well, that’s great, but water damage isn’t flood insurance. Flood insurance covers rising groundwater that enters your house. While it’s not required unless you are in a flood zone, you still might have need of it if you are not in a flood zone anyway. On my street, the gutter drains get clogged all of the time during heavy rains. When that happens, the water gets up over the curb – and if it gets a little more aggressive and comes into my house, my homeowners insurance isn’t going to replace the floor – and it doesn’t take much water to ruin a floor. The good news in all of this? You can get $75,000 worth of coverage on your house for under $300 a year.
2. Umbrella Insurance. “I never use an umbrella – they are a pain to store when it’s not raining. And why insure one anyway, aren’t they cheap?” Actually, umbrella insurance is “excess liability” insurance that goes above and beyond your normal liability coverage on your home and auto insurance – so if you are car number five in a five car pileup of Mercedes Benz and Porsche and Maserati cars, you will have enough money to pay for all of the damage that your normal auto insurance policy would not be able to cover, due to limits.
3. Sporting Goods Equipment Insurance. Now, you do have to buy an “underlying” policy for this one – it’s part of your homeowners insurance. Let’s say, though, that you are a cyclist, and you have the disposable income, wherewithal, and equipment knowledge to purchase a $10,000 bicycle. (Those of you that don’t’ cycle may laugh a little at that number, but trust me, that’s not the most expensive bicycle you can buy). So you buy your five figure bicycle, then what? Is it covered on your home policy? Yes. However, if you schedule it on your homeowner’s policy, then you can set it outside your deductible – which is nice. By scheduling, you also get breakage coverage – so if you are moving a little too fast down the path and have to quickly swerve to avoid some moron who brought his kid out to play in the damn bike path and isn’t paying attention to the people who are there to exercise, for God’s sake, and you have to go off of the path and wreck your bike, it would be covered for that wreck, with no deductible, on your homeowner’s policy. For the price (pennies on the dollar) you can’t beat the coverage.
There are lots of different, interesting ways that your insurance can protect you (and your stuff). You may not need all of the interesting insurance coverage for your home and auto that are out there, but it’s better for you to know about it and make an informed decision up front than it is to find out about the insurance coverage you could have bought after it’s too late.