What you should know about insuring your jewelry:

Jewelry can be covered in a standard homeowner policy under your existing policy. Types of  losses are theft, fire, windstorm,  and vandalism. However, all policies have limitations.

Steps you can take for the right coverage:

Have jewelry appraised and keep a copy of the appraisal in case you need to file a claim.
Ask your agent about adding an endorsement to cover your new item.
It is always good practice to review your policy whenever you purchase new, expensive items.

If you are an Erie Insurance Policyholder, you probably have a $3,000 limitation for the theft of personal items unless you have purchased an endorsement for the policy. If you own jewelry, watches, furs or precious stones that are worth more than $3,000 combined, or any one item is more than $3,000, you may want to purchase an additional endorsement on your existing homeowner’s policy.

Erie Insurance offers Policyholders various options to protect valuables. Those choices include:

1. Purchasing an expanded or enhanced endorsement. For an additional premium, Policyholders can increase their coverage limits from $3,000 to $5,000 for extra theft coverage. With this option, the most a Policyholder can claim on any one item is $3,000 and the homeowners deductible applies.
2. Purchasing a personal inland marine policy. Erie Insurance Policyholders can add an endorsement to an existing homeowners policy or purchase a separate personal inland marine policy for expensive items such as jewelry, furs, watches or precious stones. This type of policy provides all risk coverage, including theft, misplacement or losing a valuable item. The policy can be purchased with no deductible; or, for a premium credit, a deductible can be applied.

When you purchase an item with considerable value like jewelry, you should contact your Agent immediately. Find out how much coverage you have and if any additional coverage is needed.

With ERIE Rate Locksm auto insurance feature, you can lock in your current insurance rate and be protected from rate increases – even if you file a claim or have a violation– until you add or remove a vehicle or driver or change your primary residence. ERIE Rate Lock is applied through the Rate Protection Endorsement, available in the District of Columbia, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia or Wisconsin for both new Customers and current Customers making a change to a vehicle, driver, or their address.

Why lock my rate in?
When you have a fender bender or submit a claim, you shouldn’t be punished with increased premiums, right? Everyone makes mistakes. The only damage should be to your car, not your insurance rates.

ERIE Rate Lock offers you pricing stability during economic times that are anything but stable. As gas prices go up and up, you can feel good knowing your insurance premium will remain intact (up to three years in Va.), until you make a change to your policy.

Once the endorsement is in place, if you add or remove a vehicle or driver, or change your primary residence, ERIE will re-rate your policy.

Especially helpful for youthful drivers and fixed income customers
With Rate Lock, you can lock in your insurance rate beyond our usual 12-month policy term. As a result, when you add a young driver to a policy, ERIE can build in the rates for that driver over several years, lessening the initial rate impact. (After all, wouldn’t it be nice to have one less new gray hair over adding your young driver to your policy?)

Plus, if you’re on a fixed income, this endorsement will allow you to budget your annual auto premium knowing you won’t have unexpected increases.

Tell a friend (or two or three)
If the idea of a little stability in these rocky times sounds good to you, be sure to ask us about ERIE Rate Lock next time you are making a change to cars, drivers or your address. Then tell your friends and family who aren’t insured by ERIE. They can take advantage, too, if they’re smart like you and insure with the Gannon Agency. Tell them to check out the company that locks it in.

Because you can be held legally responsible for your guests’ actions after they leave your party, hosts need to be particularly careful, while a social host is not liable for injuries sustained by the drunken guest (as they are also negligent), the host can be held liable for third parties, and may even be liable for passengers of the guest who have been injured in their car.

Before planning a party in your home, it is important to speak with your insurance agent or company representative about your homeowners coverage and any exclusions, conditions or limitations your policy might have for this kind of risk. Homeowners insurance usually provides some liquor liability coverage, but it is typically limited to $100,000 to $300,000, depending on the policy, which might not be enough.

Whether you are hanging out with a small group of friends for cocktails or throwing a big family bash, remember that a good host is a responsible host, and needs to take steps to ensure guests get home safely if they have been drinking.

How to Protect Yourself and Your Guests
If you plan to serve alcohol at a holiday party the I.I.I. offers the following tips to promote safe alcohol consumption and reduce your social host liability exposure:

-Make sure you understand your state laws. Before sending out party invitations, familiarize yourself with your state’s social host liability laws. These laws vary widely from state to state. Some states do not impose any liability on social hosts. Others limit liability to injuries that occur on the host’s premises. Some extend the host’s liability to injuries that occur anywhere a guest who has consumed alcohol goes. Many states have laws that pertain specifically to furnishing alcohol to minors.

-Consider venues other than your home for the party. Hosting your party at a restaurant or bar with a liquor license, rather than at your home, will help minimize liquor liability risks.

-Hire a professional bartender. Most bartenders are trained to recognize signs of intoxication and are better able to limit consumption by party-goers.

-Encourage guests to pick a designated driver who will refrain from drinking alcoholic beverages so that he or she can drive other guests home.

-Be a responsible host/hostess. Limit your own alcohol intake so that you will be better able to judge your guests’ sobriety.

-Offer non-alcoholic beverages and always serve food. Eating and drinking plenty of water, or other non-alcoholic beverages, can help counter the effects of alcohol.

-Do not pressure guests to drink or rush to refill their glasses when empty. And never serve alcohol to guests who are visibly intoxicated.

-Stop serving liquor toward the end of the evening. Switch to coffee, tea and soft
drinks.

-If guests drink too much or seem too tired to drive home, call a cab, arrange a ride with a sober guest or have them sleep at your home.

-Encourage all your guests to wear seatbelts as they drive home. Studies show that seatbelts save lives.

Q. I thought all you did was car and home insurance! (OK. Not really a “question”, but we hear it all the time.)
A: The Gannon Agency is an Independent Insurance Agency. Always has been. A good portion of our business is Auto & Home Insurance with Erie Insurance but we also represent Travelers, Grange, Progressive, The Hartford, Foremost, Modern American and others for personal lines. AND..we help our clients buy a lot of life insurance! We represent many life insurance companies to get the best deals we can find. Plus, we also handle Business Insurance (i.e. Commercial Auto, General Liability, Workers Comp, etc.) and more. I hope you’ll give us a chance to help with whatever you need!

Q. What is your fax number and mailing address?
A. The Gannon Insurance Agency’s fax number is (215) 891-9995. Our office address is: 2383 Pasqualone Blvd. Bensalem, PA 19020

Q. What is a deductible?
A. In insurance policy terms, it is the amount that must be paid out of pocket before the insurer will pay for any damage to your home or vehicle. In practical terms, insurance companies include a deductible in the policies to keep premiums down by avoiding payouts on relatively small claims. A typical auto insurance policy for example, may carry a $500.00 collision deductible. If the owner of that car noticed that his vehicle was hit while in a parking lot, he would have to pay the first $500.00 of the repair bill out of his own pocket.

Q. If I borrow a vehicle from a friend and I am involved in an accident, whose insurance pays?
A. In most cases, insurance follows the vehicle first so your friend’s insurance would be the primary coverage. Your policy would be secondary. Always check with your agent on your policy specifics.

Q. Why is my mortgage company requesting that I supply a copy of my insurance policy?
A. Mortgage companies want to make sure that their interest in the property is properly protected by insurance. At renewal, insurance companies sell mortgages to other companies or change addresses without notifying the insurance agency. Any request for proof of coverage should be mailed or faxed to the Gannon Insurance Agency. We will send the proper evidence of insurance to your lender.

Q. Why does my homeowner’s coverage continue to increase each year?
A. The increase in coverage reflects the increase in the replacement cost of your home. The replacement cost was originally determined at the inception of your policy using a replacement cost estimator. Insurance companies automatically update the replacement value of your home each year based on the inflation guard for this region for that particular year. This is due to the fact that the cost of building materials, supplies and labor often increase even when the real estate value may have decreased.

Here’s the question…”Why do you want to know about the other people living with me?” They don’t drive my car.” The answer to that question takes us to some core concepts about insurance that everyone needs to understand. It’s simple-it’s all about analyzing RISK!

Though the details are complex, at its foundation insurance is quite simple. Your policy is a contract with the insurance company. The company assumes the risk of paying your covered claims in exchange for your premium-the price of your insurance. What is and isn’t covered is the complex part, but the principle is very simple.

The risk to the company is enormous…tens or hundreds of thousands, even millions, of dollars! So, before they take on such risk by selling you a policy, they analyze your “risk of loss”. They ask, “What’s the chance you’ll have a claim as compared to the general population?” And they continue to analyze your risk of loss as your actual claims experience and life circumstances change.

If your risk is comparatively low, you pay a lower price. If you risk is comparatively high, you pay a higher price. And in some cases-or with some companies-you may not be able to get insurance at all, because your risk is too great.

Enter the Other Household Members

Other household members are simply people who live with you. Usually they’re family members, but they can also be unrelated, like roommates.

Like it or not, these people represent potential additional risk to the insurance company. Statistically speaking you can’t argue with that statement… And that’s what insurance companies work with…statistics.

For example, compare two groups of 100,000 people. Each group is exactly the same in every way…The same car, the same distance to work, the same age, the same driving experience, etc. The only difference is the members of the first group live alone, while the members of the second group each have a licensed roommate.

It’s a statistically proven fact that the members of the second group will have more claims than the first group, just because they have a roommate. Why? Because the roommate is more likely to drive the insured car than that of a non –roommate.

No matter how much you insist that your roommate-or brother, parent, child, whomever-does not drive your car, the insurance company, frankly, isn’t listening. They primarily base their decisions on statistical analysis. After all, everybody says their roommate doesn’t drive their car, but the statistics prove otherwise. Therefore, the company wants to know about your other household members, so they can analyze the risk those people represent. Remember, risk analysis is a core concept of insurance.

Higher Prices? Not Necessarily

Interestingly, each company treats other household members differently. The principles on which they analyze them, as I explained above, are the same, but how they handle their findings can be quite different.

What they do boils down to qualification, pricing or both.

For example, some companies analyze other household members only for qualification, but don’t charge for them. In this case, all household members must qualify the same as the applicant, because the company does not want the risk of any bad drivers in the household.

Other companies don’t really care about other household members as long as those members have their own car insurance. However, uninsured household drivers are considered as if they were the applicant. And the company charges additional premium for them.

Still other companies will allow you to voluntarily exclude a bad driver from your policy to avoid paying a higher premium. In this case your claims are not covered if the excluded driver gets behind the wheel of your car.

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is insurance companies analyze risk.  All household members increase risk, so the companies want to know about them.  And what a company does about a household member can be quite different from company to company.

-Mop up spills quickly
-Keep gutters clear
-Keep a/c drip plans clean
-Keep indoor humidity below 60% (ideally around 40%)
-Vent appliances that produce moisture
- Use air conditioners and dehumidifiers
-Open a window or run a fan in the bathroom during bathing
-Use exhaust fans when cooking or using a dishwasher
- Prevent condensation by covering cold surfaces.
-Take immediate action to remove mold if you spot it.

You can clear mold from hard surface with non-ammonia soap or detergent.  Remove and discard affected porous areas like drywall and carpet padding.  Some molds are downright dangerous and you can buy kits to test for them at your local hardware store.  When in doubt consult a professional.

Q: What’s more upsetting than a claim that’s not paid? A: One that could have been…but isn’t!
Three important starting points:
1) Your insurance policy doesn’t “cover everything”, though many people mistakenly think it does. And that mistake can be quite costly. Your policy is a contract that spells out what is and isn’t covered.
2.) Your policy is not a one-size-fits-all purchase. There are many optional coverage’s that do not come with a standard policy, especially on home insurance.
3) You may say we’re trying to sell you something. You’re right! If we don’t tell you what’s available, and try to “sell it” to you, then you could have unpaid claims!
Our job is to help you protect your stuff and your financial security. If you don’t want to buy the protection available to you that’s OK. But don’t say we didn’t tell you about it.
Here are some of the more common areas that lead to unpaid, or partially paid, claims. This list is by no means a total policy review. It’s just some food for thought.

Dwelling Value
This is the amount of insurance you have for the home itself. This number needs to be enough to rebuild your home-considering demolition, site cleanup, reconstruction costs and more. Construction costs have increased over the past decade, despite the flat real estate market, and many homes are now underinsured. It’s an easy fix. We can run a new replacement cost estimate and adjust your policy appropriately. Otherwise, you may find yourself paying for some of the damage to your home out-of-pocket.

Home Improvements
Perhaps the biggest cause of unpaid claims is home improvements. Those that you didn’t tell us about! Why? Such improvements usually, but not always, increase the amount of insurance you need. But if you don’t tell us about it, we can’t advise you one way or the other. If you have Erie’s Ultracover policy, you may know that you get guaranteed replacement cost on the dwelling..a very nice feature. But!Have you read the contract, your policy? Here’s what the policy says in part…
“You are required to notify us or our agent of any improvements..which exceed $5,000…If we are not notified we do not cover loss to such improvements…” Have you notified us?

Finished Basements
Unfortunately, this one gets a lot of people. Home insurance does not cover water damage caused by surface, or below surface water that enters your home, including your beautiful, finished basement.
If you have sump pumps in your finished basement you can purchase an endorsement, call Water Backup or Sewer & Drain Backup, that can give you some protection. But you have to buy the endorsement! Otherwise, you’re on your own when such damage occurs. We also recommend getting a backup system on your sump pump, which should help if there is a power outage.

What Should You Do?
Talk to us. That’s why we’re here. We’ll go over the options available to you, and we’ll explain your risk versus the price to protect against that risk.That’s what insurance is all about.
Sure, nobody likes to talk about insurance. We know that. But isn’t talking about it now better than having an unpaid claim later? You bet. Ultimately, the choice is yours.

*This article provides general educational information only as a service to our clients. When conflicting language exists, your policy takes precedence over any information in this article. You should always obtain advice from a licensed Insurance Agent before changing your policy.

Swimming
-The best thing you can do to be safe around the water is learn to swim. Make sure your kids, grand-kids, nieces and nephews know how to swim. It could save their lives!
-Always swim with a buddy, never alone.
-Pay attention to the weather. Get out of the water and under shelter at the first sign of bad weather. Lightning kills.

Heat
-Drink water or Gatorade even if you do not feel thirsty. Avoid alcohol and caffeine because they dehydrate your body.
-Avoid strenuous activity when possible. Otherwise take breaks frequently, stay hydrated and try to work during the coolest part of the day-early in the morning.
-Watch for signs of heat problems in your body…cramps, dizziness, headache, nausea. Stop what you’re doing immediately and cool off it these occur.

Heat Stroke
-The next stage is heat stroke, which can be fatal! Symptoms of heat stroke include vomiting, rapid pulse, shallow breathing and possible loss of consciousness. In cases of heat stroke…
-Call 9-1-1 immediately!-Move the person to a cool place. Wrap wet sheets around their body and fan it
-Place ice or cold packs on the wrist and ankles, in the armpits, and on the neck, and keep the victim lying down.

You can find a ton of great safety advice at www. Redcross.org, or by doing a web search. Have a great summer!

The life expectancy of a wooden deck is around 10 to 15 years and the Home Safety Council reckons that in any one year 20 million decks may be a risk of collapse. It’s a serious business. On average, one or two people die every year and about 60 people are injured when their deck collapses. You can improve your safety factor and achieve the highest deck life expectancy, and maybe even extend it, by doing an annual check, replacing damaged or missing items and by cleaning and treating the wood with preserver.

The First thing to check out is the overall structure, starting with the state of the wood or composite material and the fixtures that hold the whole thing together, especially the connection – the ledger- that fastens the deck to your house. Make sure you look underneath your deck, using a flashlight, checking for metal corrosion or missing fixtures, and rot or ignore cracks in the boards and posts. Don’t try to repair any of these items-replace them. With ground-level patios, usually concrete or tile, the main safety issues are slippery surfaces and cracks. Broken tiles can be replaced but slab cracks are a bigger challenge. You can use a filler to seal the cracks but, in the longer term, the patio will have to be replaced, especially if cracks cause part of it to slope towards the house. Slippery surfaces, usually the result of moss, are best dealt with by a high-pressure cleaner. You can buy solvents at your local hardware store to loosen or even remove moss but there’ll likely be a residue to be pressure washed. None of these jobs is particularly peasant but by doing them now you’ll be able o sit back and enjoy the outdoor experience when the time comes!

Why? Because it involves a conflict.

On the one hand, you don’t want to waste money or feel like you’re being ripped off. And on the other hand, you want to make sure you’re protected. What’s this important question?

“Does my auto policy cover my rental car, or should I buy the rental company’s insurance at the counter?”

If you’re going on vacation this year, or just traveling in general, you’ll find yourself asking this very question. Unfortunately, the answer can be trickier than anybody would like it to be! A simple yes or no simply won’t do. And what you decide to do depends on several things.

Where are you going?

Your Pennsylvania auto policy applies only to accidents or losses that happen in the United States, its territories and possessions, Puerto Rico and Canada.

If you find yourself driving anywhere else, your auto policy does not protect your rental car – or you while you’re driving it. So, in these cases be sure to buy insurance from the rental company.

How will you use the rental vehicle?

Generally, there are two ways to use your rental car – personal or business use.

If you use it for business, then you must insure your own vehicle for business use to get coverage from your policy on the rental.

You could insure a vehicle for business use on your personal auto policy or have a business auto policy.

Your Policy Options & Limits

Let’s say you’re traveling in the United States, and you’re not using the rental car for business. Great. Now, will your personal auto policy protect your rental car?

Yes! BUT … only if you’ve purchased protection for yourself.

For example, if one of your cars is protected for collision claims, then your rental car is protected in a collision. If one of your cars is protected for comprehensive claims, then your rental car is protected for damage other than collision. Keep in mind, your deductible will apply just like driving your own car.

For liability – i.e. somebody sues you or you damage other people’s property – the liability limits on your car will apply.

Hidden Costs You Won’t Like

Unfortunately, things get a little more complicated…

Rental car companies have little tricks up their sleeves when you don’t buy their insurance. These tricks could stick you with hundreds of dollars of unexpected charges on your credit card if you wreck their car.

First, the rental car company receives income by renting their cars – obviously. If you wreck their car, they can’t rent it to anybody else until it’s fixed or replaced. In theory, they’re losing money and they’ll charge you for that “loss of use”.

And that makes sense. Business insurance commonly pays for such losses – when they’re real. However, insurance companies don’t pay for theories. They only pay for actual economic loss.

The rental company has many cars sitting on its lots un-rented. It’s not ACTUALLY losing money because the one car you wrecked is out of commission.

So, your insurance company won’t pay a “loss in use” charge. But that won’t stop the rental car company from charging you for it. And it could be hundreds of dollars.

The second trick is administrative fees. These fees compensate the rental company for processing claims paperwork to get the car fixed or replaced, etc.

Again, your insurance company isn’t going to pay that fee. It’s not an insurance loss. It’s the rental car company finding a way to get more money out of you. Such fees could be as high as $250 … or more!

So, should you buy the rental company insurance at the rental counter or not?

First, call us before you leave to make sure of your personal situation. That’s why we’re here, to help you!

Second, if you’re willing to risk paying “loss of use” and administrative charges – which could be hundreds of dollars – then don’t buy it. But if you’re not willing to take that risk, buy the insurance and sleep well on your vacation!

*This article provides general educational information only as a service to our clients. When conflicting language exists, your policy takes precedence over any information in this article. You should always obtain counsel from a licensed insurance agent before changing your policy.

The Gannon Agency’s
Circle of Safety
Your consumer Awareness Advisor