Tim McElhinny, CIC, LUTCF
Partner, McElhinny Insurance Agency LLC
tim@mcelhinny.com
412-650-5700
A meteor hits your home. Are you covered? You hit a deer with your car. Covered? While we’re always here to help walk you through the intricacies of your ERIE policy, here are some basic rules of thumb about home and auto coverage. Specifics depend on your policy, and please call us if you have questions.
Home Coverage: Home insurance typically falls into two broad categories: coverage for your home itself, and coverage for your possessions. For structural coverage, you’re usually covered for damages caused by fire, wind, hail and lightning, but earthquake and flood insurance must be purchased separately. For your personal property, if your possessions are stolen or damaged by a covered disaster, you’ll typically receive 50-75 percent of your total insurance amount to replace them. Expensive items like fine art or jewelry may require additional coverage.
Auto Coverage: Auto insurance covers a broader set of circumstances, including collision (accidents), comprehensive (damage not caused by an accident, like a rock hitting your windshield or damage from theft), uninsured motorist coverage, property damage coverage (to repair someone’s damaged property, like a light pole or a mailbox), medical coverage (to cover injuries you or your passengers sustained in a collision), and bodily injury liability (to protect you from lawsuits). Seems like a lot? It is!
One of the best things that you can do to protect both your home and your auto is to bundle your coverage. Why? It means that you have one go-to person to explain your insurance questions, and you can save some serious cash. In the meantime, we do hope you’ll call if you have questions about what’s covered in your auto or home policy.
