Consumer Insurance Agency: Consulting, Quotes, and Advice

Disclaimer

The materials in the questions and answer date base are the proprietary information of Erie Insurance Group and its member companies. The materials and information shall remain the sole property of Erie Insurance. The information in this question and answer data base is designed to assist in answering general questions about personal property. The information contained in this question and answer data base is generic in nature and is not to be construed as a representation or warranty of coverage in a particular claim situation. Each claim will be decided on its own merits and coverage for a particular claim will be decided upon the facts of the claim and the language of the applicable declarations, policy, and endorsements. A change in facts can alter the result of whether a particular claim is covered. Questions concerning particular claim situations should be referred to the appropriate claims office.

1. Alarm System

Question: What does "alarm system type 2" mean on the policy declarations page?

Answer: Credits are applied to a HomeProtector premium for the existence of alarm systems in the home. The types of alarms are:

Type 1 Central station fire or burglary alarm is one that rings into a security office for notification of police or fire department. Direct alarm is one that directly and automatically alerts the Fire Department or Police.

Type 2 Fire or Burglary Alarm system that does not directly or automatically alert fire or police departments; local alarm including smoke detectors.

2. Claim Increasing Premium

Question: Will my premium increase if I report a loss on my HomeProtector Policy?

Answer: HomeProtector policies may be subject to a surcharge if there has been 2 or more paid claims in the past five years.

3. Clothing in Storage at Dry Cleaners

Question: Does the Personal Property Coverage of my HomeProtector cover my clothes while they are in storage at the dry cleaners?

Answer: Loss to personal property caused by a covered peril such as fire or theft would be provided.

4. College Student's Property

Question: Does the parent's HomeProtector Policy cover personal property of a student who lives at college?

Answer: A college student is someone we protect under the parent's policy as long as the full time student is under 24 years old and a resident of the parents' household. As such, the student's personal property is covered under the Personal Property Coverage of the parent's HomeProtector.

5. Declarations has Dollar Amount for the Dwelling

Question: Why does the Ultracover declarations show an amount of insurance on the dwelling?

Answer: The Ultracover policy provides guaranteed replacement cost on the dwelling. The replacement cost is the cost to actually rebuild a house. It is not limited to specific value. The value shown on the declarations represents the dwelling value used to calculate the premium and represents the estimated replacement cost of the home.

6. Divorce or Separation

Question: When Policyholders have separated or divorced, and one spouse has moved out of the home, do we remove that spouse from the HomeProtector?

Answer: If the spouse moving out is still an owner of the home, we would not just remove the name from the policy. That spouse should no longer be shown as a named insured, but should instead be listed as an additional insured non-occupant.

7. Dog Bites

Question: Does the HomeProtector Medical Payments cover dog bites?

Answer: The Medical Payments Coverage would apply to injury caused by an animal owned by or in the care of anyone we protect as long as the injury did not occur in the course of a business involving that animal, such as grooming, boarding, breeding.

Medical payments coverage applies to a third party and as such would not cover the insured or residents of the household.

8. Earthquake

Question: Does The ERIE offer earthquake coverage?

Answer: Earthquake coverage is available by endorsement to the HomeProtector Policy. The endorsement may be purchased with a percentage deductible of the amount of insurance.

9. Eyeglasses, Hearing Aids, Prosthetics

Question: Are hearing aids or eyeglasses covered on the HomeProtector Policy? Answer: Hearing aids, eyeglasses, and prosthetics are considered personal property. As such, loss by a policy peril would be covered under the HomeProtector Policy, subject to the policy deductible.

10. Farm Land

Question: Can an insured be covered for a farming exposure?

Answer: The HomeProtector Policy does not automatically provide liability coverage for farmland. When the Policyholder conducts farming at or away from the residence premises, liability can be extended by the attachment of Farm Operations Coverage Endorsement or the Incidental Farming Activities Endorsement.

11. Flood

Question: Is there a way to provide coverage for losses involving surface water and flood?

Answer: The ERIE HomeProtector Policies specifically exclude water damage caused by flood and surface water. There is no endorsement to buy back that exclusion. Flood coverage is underwritten by the Federal Government.

12. HomeProtector Discounts

Question: What discounts are available on the HomeProtector?

Answer: A fire or burglar alarm system that rings into a security facility or into the Fire Department or Police Department will earn a 10% discount. An alarm (including smoke alarms) that does not relay to a security system or into the department will earn a 5% premium discount.

Other available discounts include:

New Home
Multi-Policy
Sprinkler Systems
Earthen Homes
Higher Deductibles

13. Horses

Question: Does the HomeProtector Policy provide liability for personal riding horses?

Answer: Yes, the HomeProtector Policy would pay under Medical Payments Coverage for injuries to a third person caused by an animal owned by the insured.

Also, if the insured is sued because of injury to another person or damage to that person's property caused by the insured's horse, the Personal Liability Coverage would respond and pay damages if the insured was legally responsible.

Key here is that the coverages apply if the horses are personal use horses, but would not apply if the damages arose out of a business such as breeding, raising, boarding, of horses.

14. Incidental Business

Question: What type of incidental business can be covered under the HomeProtector Policy?

Answer: Many types of small incidental business qualify for coverage under the HomeProtector. Some of the common incidental businesses are: insurance office, beauty shop, day care, music studio. Only those businesses listed in the manual are eligible for coverage.

Keys to a business being eligible are:

Purpose The primary purpose of the structure is as a home; the business use is secondary.

Ownership Insured owns and operates the business; cannot be a partnership or corporation.

Size Area used cannot exceed 500 square feet. Employees No more than one full-time employee.

15. Items in Storage

Question: How is property in storage covered when the insured's primary dwelling is in the course of construction?

Answer: Personal Property Coverage is extended from an existing policy as long as the individual or family has a policy in effect. The insured will have coverage for that property in storage.

16. Loss of Use Coverage

Question: What is Loss of Use Coverage on the HomeProtector policy?

Answer: Loss of Use Coverage has three parts:

Additional living expenses the insured actually incurs when a covered loss renders the home uninhabitable. Part of the expenses may be the cost of a motel or hotel room.
Reimbursements for loss of rent on a portion of the house that is rented to someone else, if that person must vacate due to a covered loss to the premises; and
Up to two weeks of additional living expenses when the insured's neighbor suffers a covered loss and a civil authority prohibits our insured from living in his home.

17. Moving

Question: How is personal property covered during a move?

Answer: Personal property on an inforce HomeProtector is covered for the perils of the policy prior to the move, during the move, and for 30 days after the move commences.If the move is within a state or to a state where The ERIE does business, the Policyholder should secure a new HomeProtector Policy within 30 days after the move begins. If the move is to a state where The ERIE in not licensed to do business, the Policyholder should contact an agent writing for a company in that state.

18. Other Structures

Question: What are "other structures"?

Answer: Other structures are buildings or swimming pools at the residence that are not connected to the house. Such a structure might be a detached garage, tool shed, and even an in-ground pool.

19. Paint Spills

Question: Is there coverage for paint spills damaging wall-to-wall carpeting?

Answer: Under a Broadcover Policy the damage done to carpeting by spilling paint would not be covered. Under an Extracover Policy and an Ultracover Policy, we would pay for such damage to wall-to-wall carpeting.

20. PCL Coverage

Question: What does a Personal Catastrophe Liability Policy cover?

Answer: A PCL policy covers liability claims that exceed the limits on a primary policy, such as Personal Auto, HomeProtector or Boat Protector policies, which are scheduled or underlying policies on the PCL Declarations.

21. Personal Property in Another State

Question: Will the HomeProtector extend coverage for personal property to a temporary apartment in another state?

Answer: Yes, a Policyholder's personal property is covered anywhere in the world, subject to a 10% limitation when the property is usually at a residence owned or occupied by the insured. If the Policyholder is on vacation in another state the, personal property would be protected without the 10% limitation.

Question: Does a Policyholder have to rebuild on the same land if the home burns down?

Answer: No. The Policyholder has the right to take the settlement and build elsewhere. However, it should be pointed out that the loss settlement will not include the value of the land, and the limit of insurance may not be sufficient to totally rebuild in another place. When replacement cost is computed, values of foundations, excavations, and items below the surface of the ground are not added in. It is presumed that even when a house is totally destroyed, some of the site items (sewer lines, water lines, footings, foundations...) may remain and need not be replaced

Answer: The ERIE will pay up to $500 per tree and $1000 per occurrence to have fallen trees removed if windstorm, hail or weight of ice, snow or sleet cause trees to fall on your premises. If the trees or branches fall on and damage your dwelling, detached structures, or other covered property, The ERIE will pay the expense of having the debris removed.

Question: Is there a way to provide coverage on the HomeProtector policy for stereo equipment that has been permanently installed in an auto?

Answer: The HomeProtector will only provide coverage for electronic devices, such as a stereo or cellular phone, if they can be operated from a power source other than from the auto electrical system.

Question: If personal items are stolen from an auto, why are they covered under a HomeProtector policy?

Answer: The auto policy provides $350 of coverage for loss to personal effects in or upon an auto. However, such coverage does not apply to theft, unless the entire vehicle is stolen.

In order to protect a Policyholder's personal furnishings, the HomeProtector provides coverage when such a theft loss occurs.

Question: How is theft of building materials covered under a HomeProtector for a dwelling in the course of construction?

Answer: If a HomeProtector is written on a dwelling in the course of construction and the Policyholder wishes to have coverage if the building materials are stolen, the Agent would need to endorse the policy with the Theft of Building Materials Endorsement. Without the endorsement the HomeProtector policy provides no coverage if the building materials are stolen from the building site.

Question: When the insureds sell their home, is the HomeProtector policy transferable to the new owner?

Answer: When a Policyholder sells his home, the existing HomeProtector policy is cancelled. The ERIE will not transfer the policy to new owners; they are responsible for securing their own insurance.

Question: Can an unmarried couple or roommates have a tenant's policy in both names?

Answer:. The preferred method for providing coverage in this situation is to write separate Tenantcovers on each party. This would ensure that in the event of a loss each would be fully compensated for their loss.

Answer: Excavation of yards and lawns is covered if it is necessary to repair a covered loss to covered property. If damage to an underground pipe or some other part of the system is caused by a covered cause of loss (such as vehicle or damage by digging) and access to the pipes is required to repair the damage, then excavation of the underground pipes, lawns, driveways, etc., will be covered to the extent necessary to repair the covered property.

There are many exclusions that would apply to damage to underground pipes such as wear and tear, earth movement, latent defect (polybutylene), and tree roots.