HOME INSURANCE

Whether you own a house, a condominium or rent an apartment, for most people their home is their most important investment. As a leader of quality protection we have developed one of the most outstanding reputations of offering the highest rated homeowners insurance plans in America today. We believe that an insurance company should do more than pay for financial losses incurred in the home: It should help prevent losses and accidents, and offer policies flexible enough to meet your individual needs.  And above all, it should provide you with the security that comes only from the knowledge that your home is safe.

For this reason, the companies we represent continue to receive the highest ratings from the insurance industry's leading analysts and rating authorities.

We can offer you...

• Many coverages to protect you and your property.

• Responsive and caring Claims service.

• Property insurance at an affordable price.

How much homeowners insurance should you have?

If your home is completely destroyed, you want to be able to rebuild it to its original condition. This requires having enough insurance to replace your home, which may cost more than its value on the open market. The cost of rebuilding is usually more expensive than new construction, especially if your home was destroyed along with many others in a single neighborhood or town. In the wake of a flood, for example, simple supply and demand can drive the cost of materials and labor up and cause the price of rebuilding to skyrocket.

• Typically, a homeowners policy covers possessions whose total value equals 70 or 75 percent of the homeowners coverage. In simple terms, that translates to $70,000 to $75,000 worth of coverage for your personal possessions if you have $100,000 in coverage on your home.

• If you collect art, have valuable jewelry or keep other things of special value, consider expanding your coverage to protect those items.

• When the value of the things you own exceeds the 70 to 75 percent coverage included in a typical policy, additional coverage can be critical. I

• A standard policy will probably insure your possessions at actual cash value, which is the value of an item at the time of a loss. To make sure you can fully replace lost or stolen items, you may want to add an endorsement for replacement cost coverage, which will replace the item with one of similar make and model, regardless of the stolen or damaged item's actual cash value. In many of our companies homeowners policies, replacement coverage is included at no extra cost. Check with us, about your policy, to be sure.

Finally, we suggest that you take the time to inventory your possessions.

• In the wake of a catastrophe such as a fire, it can be very difficult to create a list of all the things you owned. Now is the time to walk through your house and make an inventory of your possessions.

• One easy way to do this is to videotape the contents of your home. When you're done, place a copy of the tape in a safe deposit box. Or make a copy of your tape or inventoried documents, and store them at a family members home.  Then, if the worst ever does happen, you'll have a record that can help us to help you in the replacement of your possessions.