Home and Auto Insurance

Maybe you are newly on your own, a first time home or car owner, or maybe you just have never quite understood why personal insurance is important. Either way, you probably have some questions about personal insurance: What does homeowners insurance really cover? What does my car insurance legally have to cover?

Homeowners Insurance

First let’s discuss homeowners insurance. This is a particular kind of insurance policy that combines the different personal insurance protections that come along with owning your own home. There are many different ways to tailor a homeowners insurance policy to your particular situation.

Every insurance agency is different but we can take a look at what our agency can offer you. Homeowners insurance policies will cover the cost to repair or rebuild your house in the event that is damaged, your personal property inside the home, the increase in your living expenses while you cannot live in your home, any liability to others because of bodily injury or property damage emerging out of your premises or the personal activities of you and your family, and any medical expenses of guests that are injured in your home.

To simplify that a bit lets tell an anecdote. Say that, God forbid, a tornado touches down in your area and damages your home and your friend was inside your home! Don’t worry your friend is fine but she did need to go to the emergency room. Your homeowners insurance is there so that you don’t have to pay all of the expenses that accumulate with such an occurrence. Your home is repaired, your increased living expenses while you have to stay in the nearby hotel are compensated, your friend’s medical expenses are handled, and that flat screen you had in your living room that is now rubble is replaced.

Now of course each claim is different and this blog is not meant to tell you exactly how much your insurance will cover but this gives you an idea of how homeowners insurance works and of course why it is so important! Last time we checked, no one can control a tornado, earthquake or fire but you can control the coverage you have.

Every situation is different so you should talk to your agent and figure out exactly what coverage you need for your home.

Auto Insurance

Now Auto Insurance. A personal insurance that everyone is required to have. Each State has different requirements. In Kentucky your auto insurance requirements are as follows (according to dmv.org):

Liability Insurance

To meet the state requirements for car insurance in Kentucky, you’ll need to have at least these liability insurances:

Bodily injury liability insurance – If the other person in the accident is hurt or if the accident is fatal this covers those costs.
Property damage liability insurance – If the other person’s car is damage or if someone’s property is damaged then this covers those associated costs.

This may be combined with bodily injury coverage into single limit liability (SLL) coverage.
Kentucky requires that you hold these coverage types at these minimums:

$25,000 for bodily injury, per person.
$50,000 for total bodily injury, per accident.
$10,000 for property damage.

So what happens if you don’t have auto insurance? In Kentucky if you are caught driving without insurance, you can be fined up to $1,000, serve up to 90 days in jail, have your license plates suspended and it can make it really difficult for you to get insurance in the future.

Every insurance agency is different but we offer some add ons to your auto insurance that can really help you out like lease/loan payoff coverage and replacement cost coverage. We also offer multi-car, good student/graduate, more cars than drivers, and safe driver discounts!

There are many different types of personal insurance other than homeowners and auto. Check out our website or contact your agent to find out what else we can cover and what coverage you really need for your personal situation.

Resources: Kentucky Department of Motor Vehicles