Auto Insurance has two distinct coverage options; full coverage and liability-only. Full coverage is required on vehicles with liens on them. It covers your vehicle against collision and comprehensive claims. Collision is when your vehicle strikes another vehicle or object and comprehensive is when an act of nature occurs- damage from a deer, hail, lightning, fallen tree, etc. Liability-only covers when you get in a collision-type accident that results in damage to another's property or self that requires the insurance company to step in and make the payments on your behalf- but payments are not given to repair your vehicle or property. Full coverage and liability-only payouts are subject to you meeting your deductibles specified on your auto insurance policy.
Both full cover and liability-only have bodily injury limits (BI limits). These limits are based on the state requirements and also personal preference. The State of IL requires you to carry $25,000/$50,000/$20,000. This means your insurance would pay $25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident, and $20,000 for any property damage in the accident. You will see/hear these limits listed as 25/50/20 often. We typically offer 25/50/25, 50/100/50, 100/300/100, and 250/500/100 based on your expressed wishes, prior coverage, and general assets. If you feel like these options still don't offer the coverages you need, we have even more options or offer umbrella policies to offer even more liability on your home and auto.
Home Insurance has two distinct coverage options, replacement cost and actual cash value (ACV). Knowing the difference is very beneficial as a homeowner. Replacement cost coverage will cover you to rebuild your house from any covered damage caused- typically up until the amount specified on your declarations page. This could mean paying to rebuild the house from a devastating fire or paying to replace shingles that came off in a storm. Actual cash value coverage will pay you the value of your damaged property. This could mean getting paid the value of your house prior to the incident that caused the claim or getting paid the money that the shingles were worth before they blew off. Many homeowners with mortgages are required to have replacement cost coverage on their homes.
Most homeowner policies have specific amounts of coverage for the dwelling itself, your personal property in the dwelling, other structures on your property (e.g. a garage), and hotel/rent costs to keep you sheltered if your home because unlivable due to a covered loss.
We also offer several additional coverages in our office to add to your homeowner's policy. Please note, that each company has its own rules and rating about these endorsements and not all are available due to company coverage and rating state.
- Guaranteed Replacement Cost: A modified version of a replacement cost policy that will pay above and behind what you're insured for in case of inflation, high lumber prices, or unforeseen circumstances.
- Sewer and Sump Pump Backup: An endorsement that covers you, typically up to a specified limit and with a certain deductible, for damage resulting from water backup through sewers, drains, or sump pumps.
- Scheduled Personal Property: An endorsement that covers your special/highly valued personal property in the event of a covered loss. This endorsement covers specified jewelry, guns, furs, tractors, silverware, tools, watercraft, and trailers up to their appraised value. This can also be endorsed to cover farm personal property.
- Earthquake: An endorsement that covers your home in the event of an earthquake, typically has a significantly higher deductible than the rest of your policy.
- Mine Subsidence
Recreational Insurance is a broad term for many types of coverages. In-office, we typically see these policies for motorcycles, boats, golf carts, trailers, RVs, and ATVs (we'll refer to each of these as a "vehicle"). The coverages for these are typically similar to what you would see in auto insurance, as discussed above. However, most of the vehicles we're talking about here perform operations very different from that of a car. For instance, when your boat is on the water, you're probably not going to hit a deer. This being said, comprehensive coverage is still relevant. Whether your boat is stored on the water or in your yard, it can be subject to comprehensive perils such as hail or falling trees. Each type of vehicle presents different risks that need to be insured in a specific way. When considering if your vehicle needs insurance or not, think about state requirements/local ordinances, the value of your vehicle, the hazards your vehicle may face, and your loan requirements, if applicable.
Life insurance has two very distinct plan options. You can have a term or a whole life policy. The term policy covers you for a given amount of time assuming the named insured on the policy dies in that specific time frame. If the named insured outlives the term, the policy is no longer valid and you do not receive a refund. The whole life policy covers you for the rest of your life (or until age 121- depending on the company). The whole life may have payment options where you pay 15, 20, 30, or a custom number of years before you no longer owe the company, yet still have the same amount of life insurance. Please call our office at 618-983-8000 and speak to Cathy for advice and quoting options for your scenario.
Business insurance comes in many different forms, as listed below.
- General Liability: This policy offers coverage for the liability of your company's actions throughout your work. It covers the operations you and your employees perform as well as the completed products and advertising injury.
- Business Auto: This policy covers vehicles used for/owned by your business in the event of an accident. See "Auto Insurance" above for a more in-depth summary.
- Worker's Compensation: This policy covers you in the event an employee (or yourself- depending on the policy) gets injured due to a work-related accident.
- Commercial Property: This policy covers buildings used for/owned by your business in the event of a loss. See "Home Insurance" above for a more in-depth summary of what coverages are available.
- Event Insurance: This policy covers the liability of your event during its specific dates and times. This could be for weddings, farmer's markets, sports, etc.
Please call our office at 618-983-8000 and speak to Amber or Julia for a more in-depth understanding
of these coverages and how they apply to your business.
Farm Insurance has a couple of different components. The first of them is coverage for your home. You can find more in-depth information above in the Home Insurance section. The second coverage to review is the coverage for other structures. Home insurance does automatically include other structures, but this coverage is increased on a farm policy by scheduling (listing) your barns or any other outside structure you would like covered. The third coverage is farm liability. Liability coverage is also part of typical home insurance. Farm liability however offers coverage for even more possible risks. Most of the time, farmers specifically want coverage for the liability of livestock getting into the road and causing an accident. This coverage is found under farm liability. The fourth, and final coverage, that will be listed here is farm equipment. Once again, this is a coverage offered under your home insurance. When you have multiple tractors that are very valuable, it is important to consider having a farm policy to cover them correctly. Home insurance and farm insurance both offer very similar coverages. It is important to consider whether you're farm is better insured as a home or a farm policy. Please contact our office at 618-983-8000 to discuss your assets and exposures to decide what policy suites you better!