Yes.  Liability and coverage for Physical Damage (i.e. Comprehensive and Collision) always follow your car.  If the driver of your car is insured, his/her policy will also be able to cover the cost of damages and injuries.

The same rules apply when you borrow someone else's vehicle; your own insurance follows you no matter whose car you're driving.  But the vehicle owner's policy is the key coverage in the event of an accident.

If you own the home, then the contents are automatically covered under your homeowner's policy.  However, if you are a renter, you will need to purchase renter's insurance to protect your personal belongings from any loss to your building.

If you are a renter, then your personal belongings are NOT covered, unless you purchase a renter's insurance policy.  In the event of a loss, your landlord's insurance will only cover the damage to the building (unless the loss is due to negligence on his/her part) However, some lease agreements specify that you are responsible for your belongings in the event of a loss.

Further Explanation:
Coverage A: Dwelling Property
Dwelling coverage protects your house and any structures attached to your home, like the garage and the screened porch. Materials on your property that are being used to expand or repair the house - - the lumber being used to add another wing, for example, would also be covered.

Coverage B: Other Structures
Separate structures on your property - - like utility sheds, guest houses, gazebos and pool houses - - are covered under other structures coverage. Dwelling coverage in a homeowner's policy only protects your house and attached structures.

Coverage C: Personal Property
This part of your homeowner's policy protects your belongings anywhere in the world, but there are a few limitations you should know about: (1) There are restrictions on the amount a standard homeowner's policy will pay on some items - - jewelry or furs, for example (you can buy additional coverage for them separately). (2) The standard reimbursement for items that are damaged, lost, or stolen is their actual cash value - - (original value minus depreciation). If you want to be reimbursed for what it will cost to replace them, select the replacement cost option. (3) Although the policy covers your possessions everywhere, it pays less for losses incurred off your property. For example, a homeowner's policy might pay only 10% of its usual limit for loss on an item that your child took away to college.

Personal Property Exclusions and Limitations
There are some important exclusions and limitations on the coverage for personal property. A homeowner's policy does not cover:

• Software or disks
• Animals, birds, or fish
• Motor vehicles
• Aircraft and aircraft parts
• Property of persons who are your tenants, unless they are related to you
• Paper records, drawings, account books

Coverage for other personal items is also limited. It is important to read the list of exclusions and limitations on your individual policy. You may want to purchase additional insurance for items you own that have only limited coverage in a homeowner's policy.

Coverage D: Loss of Use
All homeowners policies provide essentially the same coverage for loss of use.  Loss of use provides protection for such things as additional living expenses related to maintaining the normal standard of living of the household after a loss.

Coverage E: Personal Liability
Liability insurance covers you for money you are legally obligated to pay because a court has found that you were responsible for damage to another person's property.  Personal liability insurance applies separately to each insured, but total liability coverage resulting from any one occurrence may not exceed the coverage limit stated in the policy.

Coverage F: Medical Payments to Others
Medical payments insurance is homeowner's coverage that compensates others who sustain an injury while on your property, or whom you injure accidentally. (Like a delivery boy who slips on a banana peel in your kitchen, or a guest your child accidentally hits with a badly pitched ball.) This coverage excludes the people who live in your house.

HO1 Form (Basic)
This form covers your property based on a limited number of "basic" perils.  Those perils include:

• Fire or lightning
• Windstorm or hail
• Explosion
• Riot or civil commotion
• Aircraft
• Vehicles (not owned by insured)
• Smoke damage
• Vandalism or malicious mischief
• Theft
• Volcanic eruption

*It is important to note that special exclusions apply to certain covered perils.  Check your policy or contact an agent for further explanation.

HO0002 Form (Broad)
This form covers your property based on a limited number of "basic" perils, as the HO0001.  However, this form also includes "broad" perils not found on the HO0001 form.  Those additional perils include:

• Damage from falling objects
• Damage to a building or its contents caused by weight of ice, snow, or sleet
• Accidental discharge or overflow of water or steam from a plumbing, heating, air conditioning system, or from a household appliance
• Sudden and accidental tearing apart, cracking, burning, or bulging of a steam or hot water heating system, an air conditioning system or automatic fire protection sprinkler system, or an appliance for heating water
• Freezing
• Artificially generated electrical current

*It is important to note that special exclusions apply to certain covered perils.  Check your policy or contact an agent for further explanation.

HO0003 Form (Special)
This form covers your dwelling and other structures based on any peril not specifically excluded in the policy.  This form provides a wider variety of perils, than the HO0001 and HO0002, that your home is protected from.  However, personal property is covered under the "broad" form perils found in the HO0002.

H0003 W-15 OR NYCH07 Form
This form covers your dwelling, other structures, and personal property based on any peril not specifically excluded in the policy.

HO0004 (Renter)
A renter's policy is a homeowner's policy that has been adapted to the needs of people who rent.  It provides coverage for both your personal property and/or personal liability, but excludes damage to the structure itself, since that belongs to the landlord.  It is also called a tenant's policy.  This form protects those that rent and need coverage for their own personal property.  Since there is no financial interest in the actual building or other structures rented, no coverage is provided for those items.  This form protects the renter from a specified number of perils as found on the HO0002 form.  However, the HO0004 form contains additional conditions that the HO0002 does not contain, and each policy should be read carefully.

HO0006 (Condominium)
A condo unit owner's policy is a homeowner's policy that has been adapted to the needs of people who own a condominium.  It provides coverage for your personal property and/or personal liability, but only provides limited coverage for damage to the structure itself.  These individuals have a limited financial interest in the building itself, therefore a limited amount of coverage is provided for the dwelling.  This form primarily protects the owner for a specified number of perils, as found on the HO0002, for the personal property of the condo owner.  However, this form contains unique conditions, and each policy should be read carefully.

How Good Is Your Homeowner’s Policy?

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No matter what part of the country you live in, severe weather is always a threat. Whether from a hurricane, tornado, flood, or blizzard, weather-related occurrences may leave behind a trail of widespread damage. Sometimes, weather-related damage to a house and property is minor; at other times it may be catastrophic. In any event, it is always good to know what natural perils your homeowners policy covers and what may be excluded. Let’s take a closer look.   Wind, Lightning, and Hail. Damage to your home and property caused by winds associated with thunderstorms, tornadoes, and hurricanes, or by lightning or hail, is generally covered. You might wonder, “What happens if one of my trees falls down and damages my neighbor’s house?” In some cases, your homeowners policy may pay to remove the debris and repair any damages the falling tree caused, just as it may pay if your mailman were to fall on your icy walkway and become injured. Your policy generally will pay (within specified limits) for losses to your own property, as well as those for which you might be held liable. Snow. If part of your roof collapses under the weight of snow, sleet, or ice, your homeowners policy will generally pay for any necessary repairs. In most cases, you may also be covered for living expenses, should you have to vacate your home and temporarily live in a hotel or rental apartment.   Generally, some weather-related risks or other natural disasters are excluded from coverage. You need to look for these potential hazards under “policy exclusions.” Some typical exclusions are:   Earthquake, Flood, and Sewer Backup. Most homeowners policies do not cover damages caused by earthquake, flood, or sewer backup, although you may be able to add earthquake or sewer backup coverage to your policy by special endorsement. On the other hand, if you need flood insurance you may have to buy a separate policy through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Landslides, Mudslides, Tidal Waves, and Ocean Storms. Landslides, mudslides, tidal waves, and wave damage in coastal areas are excluded from most homeowners policies. Like earthquakes, these hazards generally affect individuals in only certain geographic areas. Give us a call to see if separate coverage for one or more of these risks is available where you live.   Ultimately, it is important to remember that not every policy is the same and that coverages may vary from state to state. Review your home or rental property insurance periodically. We can help you identify the most important areas of coverage and assist you in updating your policy, if needed.

UMBRELLA

Umbrella Insurance

A Personal Umbrella Policy goes beyond the normal limits of coverage provided for personal liability hazards. An Umbrella increases the amount of liability coverage acquired through underlying policies.

The Protection Provided:

• Provides up to $1,000,000 additional coverage beyond personal liability insurance that you ordinarily carry.
• Protects you and your family by making payments of judgment against you resulting from personal activities.
• World wide coverage of Automobile and Watercraft is included.
• Legal defense costs, in addition to indemnity, are covered in many areas where there is no underlying coverage.

Do you have enough liability insurance? If there were a vehicle accident for which you were at fault, and a child were permanently disabled, would your auto liability policy have enough coverage to pay for the skilled care the child would need for years to come? If a young parent were killed in a freak fall on your property, would your insurance cover the support he would have provided his children as they grow up? We’d all like to believe that such catastrophic losses would happen only to other people. But there is nothing we can do to totally eliminate the risk of this type of event in our own lives.

Consider what would happen if there were a settlement (or judgment, if it goes to court) of $800,000 as a result of an auto accident for which you were liable. Let’s say you have insurance with a limit of $300,000 per accident. What would happen? The auto insurer would pay its $300,000. Then virtually everything you own would be fair game for seizure to pay off the additional $500,000, except for assets that may be protected in some states, such as your home. Furthermore, your earnings could be garnished for years to come. With stakes this high, and considering the relatively modest cost of additional liability coverage, it just makes sense for many people to purchase the added protection of an umbrella policy.

An umbrella policy is insurance that provides additional coverage once the liability limits on your homeowners or auto insurance policy are exhausted. Umbrella policies are typically sold with limits of $1 million to $10 million. In the example above, if you had a $1 million umbrella policy, once you satisfied the deductible, the auto insurer would pay the auto policy limit of $300,000, and your umbrella insurance would pay the other $500,000 of the $800,000 settlement or verdict. Your assets would not be at risk.

One myth about an umbrella policy is that it’s only needed by the wealthy. These days the cumulative value of homes, vacation homes, rental property, cars, boats, savings, investments, and so on, owned by many people, who don’t consider themselves wealthy, make them vulnerable to liability beyond their auto or homeowners insurance limits. A good question to ask yourself is whether you have assets that you don’t want to put at risk in the event of a catastrophic liability.

Life style also plays a role in determining liability risk. Do you have a swimming pool, trampoline, swing set, or other recreational equipment that can lead to accidents? Are there frequent guests on your property? Do you engage in sports that could injure others? Do you live in a wealthy town where you might be more of a target for a liability lawsuit?

 How Much Do You Need?

People often reason that the amount of umbrella coverage they need should be the value of their assets, but this might not be adequate. If, for example, you have assets of $1 million and buy $1 million of coverage, what happens if you’re found liable for a $2 million judgment? Insurance would pay the first $1 million, plus the limit of the underlying homeowners or auto policy, but you could lose a significant amount of your assets for the second million. If you were found liable for $3 million, you could lose not only a significant portion of your assets; you’d still owe $1 million. Both your future income and any inheritance you might receive would be jeopardized. Just how much coverage you need depends on all your risk factors, your own financial planning, and your tolerance for risk.

There is usually a substantial premium discount if you buy your auto, homeowners, and umbrella policy all from the same company. Additionally, if you have a claim, you eliminate the potential problems of dealing with different insurance companies where each might be trying to shift payment responsibility to the other, leaving you caught in the middle.

The cost of an umbrella policy depends on such criteria as the amount of coverage, the insurance company issuing the policy, and your own “personal risk factors” (such as the number of traffic tickets you’ve gotten in the past few years, and possibly your credit report). A million dollar policy often costs less than a dollar a day.

For some people another attractive feature of an umbrella policy is that it provides coverages not found in their homeowners or auto policies. You are covered if you cause bodily injury, property damage, or personal injury. Generally, the types of personal injury covered include false arrest, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, defamation, invasion of privacy, wrongful entry, or eviction. Some umbrella policies also provide coverage if you face liability arising from your service on the board of a civic, charitable, or religious organization.

Your insurance agent can help you decide whether an umbrella policy makes sense for your life style and financial needs.

Flooding is nature's most common disaster, but most companies' homeowners insurance policies do not cover flood damage. 

 Here's how "flood" is defined by the National Flood Insurance Program:

"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 (at least one of which is the policyholder's property) from:

• Overflow of inland or tidal waters; or
• Unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source; or
• Mudflow; or
• Collapse or subsidence of land along the shore of a lake or similar body of water as a result of erosion or undermining caused by waves or currents of water exceeding anticipated cyclical levels that result in a flood as defined above."

So, in plain English, a flood is an excess of water (or mud) on land that's normally dry.

Floods often happen when bodies of water overflow or tides rise due to heavy rainfall or thawing snow. But you don't have to live near water to be at risk of flooding. A flash flood, which can strike anywhere without warning, occurs when a large volume of rain falls within a short time.

More and more buildings, roads and parking lots are being built where forests and meadows used to be, which decreases the land's natural ability to absorb water. Coupled with changing weather patterns, this construction has made recent floods more severe and increased everyone's chance of being flooded.

Dangerous or damaging floods don't always mean dramatic, rushing waters through the streets of your hometown. Just a single inch of water can cause costly damage to your home! Keep this in mind when you're considering flood insurance

Unlike a standard homeowners policy, flood insurance covers losses to your property caused by flooding.

Some of the things a standard flood policy will cover include:

• structural damage
• furnace, water heater and air conditioner
• flood debris clean up
• floor surfaces such as carpeting and tile

You can also buy a flood insurance policy to cover the contents of your home, such as furniture, collectibles, clothing, jewelry and artwork.

Policies are available in three forms: Dwelling (most homes), General Property (apartments and businesses), and Residential Condominium Building Association (condominiums).

It's important to know that if you have a federally backed mortgage on a home located in a high-risk area, federal law requires you to purchase flood insurance. Also, if you've received a federal grant for previous flood losses, you must have a flood insurance policy to qualify for future aid.