Theodore & Associates - A Relation Company
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • Team
    • History
    • Summerville office
    • Why an Independent Agent?
    • Featured Carriers
    • Trusted Choice® Pledge of Performance
    • Introducing Health, Life & Employee Benefits
    • Our Columbia Office Has Moved!
    • Midlands Green Business
  • REQUEST A QUOTE
  • INSURANCE
    • Vehicle Insurance >
      • Auto Insurance
      • Motorcycle Insurance
      • Classic Car Insurance
      • Boat & Watercraft Insurance
      • Motorsport & ATV Insurance
      • RV and Mobile Home Insurance
    • Property Insurance >
      • Homeowners Insurance >
        • How Much Home Insurance is Enough?
      • Renters Insurance
      • Condo Insurance
      • Landlord Protection
      • Flood Insurance
      • Earthquake Insurance
      • Personal Umbrella Insurance
      • Pet Insurance
      • Home Warranty
    • Business Insurance >
      • Condominium Homeowners Association Insurance
      • Cyber Liability Insurance
      • Business Owners Insurance
      • Commercial Property Insurance
      • Commercial Umbrella Insurance
      • General Liability Insurance
      • Commercial Auto Insurance
      • Workers' Compensation Insurance
      • Surety Bonds
      • Specialty Insurance
    • Health, Life & Employee Benefits Insurance >
      • Individuals >
        • Health Insurance
        • Short Term Health Insurance
        • Dental Insurance
        • Vision Insurance
        • Life Insurance >
          • How Much Life Insurance is Enough?
        • Disability
      • Employers >
        • Group Health Insurance
        • Group Dental Insurance
        • Group Vision Insurance
        • Group Life Insurance
        • Group Disability Insurance
        • 401(k)
        • Worksite Marketing Plans
      • Seniors
    • Insurance FAQs
  • ONLINE SERVICES
    • Pay My Bill
    • Report a Claim
    • Applications
    • Customer Reviews
    • Social Media
    • Blog
    • Flood Claim Information
    • Helpful Links
  • CONTACT
COLUMBIA:803.799.9979 SUMMERVILLE:843.871.3950
Visit RelationInsurance.com
THEODORE THURSDAYS
blog

COMMON INSURANCE MISCONCEPTIONS

10/19/2018

3 Comments

 
How to Avoid Dreadfully Frightful Surprises From Your Insurance

Halloween can bring out the scary side in us all. As independent insurance agents, we like spooky, too, but certainly not when it comes to your insurance coverage. Some of the insurance misconceptions floating around out there are downright scary. Here are three in particular that make our blood run cold, and that’s because they could put you at serious financial risk:

Misconception 1: “I have an umbrella policy, so I’m covered for everything.”

Eeek! Though the intent of a personal umbrella policy is to provide an additional layer of liability protection on top of what your other personal insurance policies provide, there can still be coverage gaps.

  • Business activity is typically excluded from personal insurance policies, including umbrella. If an incident occurs while using your home or vehicle for business purposes, you likely won’t receive any coverage. Spooky!
  • Umbrella coverage is never your first line of defense. It kicks in after you’ve exhausted your coverage on a primary policy, such as homeowners or auto. If you don’t have a primary policy in place for, say, a boat and you are at fault for a severe accident, your umbrella policy won’t come to your aid until a minimum amount has already been paid toward the liability costs (typically $250,000 per person or $500,000 per accident). This is regardless of whether the damages were paid out of your own wallet or by the insurance company. Yikes!
  • Umbrella doesn’t assist with your own injuries or losses. It is strictly coverage for when you are sued by another party and found legally at-fault for injuring others or damaging their property. An umbrella policy would never extend to your uninsured jewelry if it’s stolen, or to your home if your dwelling coverage is not enough to fully cover a loss. Oh no!

Misconception 2: “I don’t need to buy rental car insurance – my auto policy will cover it.”

Oooooh! Like most things in insurance, yes and no. The coverage on your personal auto policy will likely follow you any time you drive any car (at least a car that you have permission to use). But, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re free and clear to decline the rental car coverage.

  • If you don’t have collision and comprehensive coverage on your own policy, you wouldn’t have any coverage for the rental vehicle either. If you’re hit with a repair bill for the rental, you’ll have to pay it yourself. Now that should really make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up - especially if the rental is a brand new vehicle!
  • A rental car agreement may leave you liable for things that your policy just doesn’t cover. Things such as administrative fees, loss of use, and diminished value, to name a few.

One way to take the fright out of standing behind the car rental counter is to understand what your personal auto policy covers before you rent a car. We can help you with that. Your credit card company may also offer some coverage as well, assuming you use your card to pay for the rental. Do your research beforehand so you understand if you have enough coverage or if you should consider purchasing more through the rental agency.

Misconception 3: “No need to review my policy at renewal. I bought the right coverage the first time around.”

Like the boogie man hiding under a bed, an insurance claim could be lingering in the darkness. And, if your policy hasn’t kept pace with your life, you could be looking at an uncovered claim. Gasp!

Maybe you inherited a diamond ring from your great aunt but never scheduled coverage for it. Maybe you built an addition on your home but never updated your dwelling coverage. Maybe you bought a car with cash and forgot to insure it since there was no lender requiring proof of insurance.

A lot can happen in our busy lives. And, when you take the time for an annual insurance review, you may find your coverage is no longer up to the task of protecting the life you have today. Instead, it’s designed for the life you had a few years ago. So, connect with us any time a big life change occurs. We’d much rather have a pleasant conversation about coverage options and solutions for your changing life than explain why something is not covered.

Insurance misconceptions are scary. There’s just too much on the line. But, your own insurance experience doesn’t have to be a fright. Work with your local independent agent to understand what you have and to select additional coverage as needed.

​for more information, visit the SafeCo blog.
3 Comments
Max borhan link
3/30/2019 07:38:13 am

You must make your insurer fully aware of a pre-existing condition. If you need medical help for an illness or injury you haven’t declared, your Wooster Business Insurance insurance will not cover the costs. Declare any pre-existing condition when applying and you will be covered for all eventualities.

Reply
THEODORE & ASSOCIATES link
4/1/2019 09:58:40 am

Hey Max,

Thanks so much for your comment! You are absolutely correct - you should always disclose any pre-existing conditions to your insurance agent so that the coverage will adequately cover you.

Thanks!

Reply
Vanessa Newton link
7/15/2021 10:18:01 am

Nice post tthanks for sharing

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018

    Categories

    All
    Absense
    Act
    Adult
    Advantages
    Agency
    Agent
    Aggresive
    Air
    Airline
    Alarms
    Alcohol
    Alert
    Amount
    Appearance
    Appliances
    Appraisal
    Assistance
    Auto
    Automatic
    Automobile
    Autumn
    Awareness
    Bad
    Barn
    Batteries
    Beach
    Belongings
    Beneficiary
    Benefits
    Bicycle
    Bike
    Biking
    Bill
    Bite
    Boat
    Boating
    Bracelet
    Budget
    Building
    Burn
    Business
    Business Income
    Buy
    Buying
    Cancel
    Cancellation
    Car
    Carbon Monoxide
    Carrier
    Cars
    Carshare
    Case
    Cash
    Caught
    CDC
    Celebrate
    Check
    Checkup
    Child
    China
    Christmas
    Claim
    Claims
    Clean
    Cleaning
    Cloud
    CO
    Cold
    Commercial
    Common
    Communication
    Commute
    Company
    Comprehensive
    Computer
    Concerns
    Contagious
    Coping
    Corona
    Coronavirus
    Cost
    Coverage
    Covered
    COVID
    COVID19
    Create
    Creek
    Cyber
    Cyber Liability
    Cybersecurity
    Dad
    Damage
    Dams
    Dark
    Deadline
    Death
    Decay
    Decorations
    Deducation
    Deductible
    Definitions
    Destruction
    Diamond
    Disability
    Disability Insurance
    Disadvantages
    Discounts
    Disease
    Distance
    Dog
    Drive
    Driver
    Driverless
    Driving
    Earthquake
    Easy
    Emergency
    Emotional
    Employee
    Employees
    Employer
    Employers
    Enrollment
    Equity
    Event
    Exterior
    Facemask
    Facemasks
    Facts
    Fall
    Falling
    Family
    Father
    Father's Day
    Faucet
    Financial
    Find
    Fire
    Fire Department
    Fixes
    Flame
    Flameable
    Flames
    Flashlight
    Flood
    Flooding
    Food
    Football
    Freeze
    Freezing
    Fryer
    Furnishings
    Future
    Gap
    Garage
    Gas
    Gear
    Gift
    Give
    Glossery
    Group
    Gutters
    Health
    Healthy
    Heat
    Heavy
    History
    Holiday
    Holidays
    Home
    Homemade
    Homeowner
    Homeowners
    Homeownership
    Homeowners Insurance
    Hot
    House
    Hurricane
    Hygiene
    Ice
    Ideas
    Illness
    Improvement
    Income
    Increase
    Indemnity
    Independent
    Individual
    Inexpensive
    Infection
    Innovation
    Inspect
    Inspection
    Insurance
    Interior
    Internet
    Inventory
    Jewelry
    Job
    Kid
    Kit
    Kitchen
    Laid-off
    Lake
    Liability
    Life
    Life Insurance
    Life Jacket
    Lightning
    Lights
    List
    Local
    Long Term
    Long-term
    Loss
    Lower
    Maintenance
    Map
    Materials
    Medical
    Mental
    Misconceptions
    Misunderstanding
    Money
    Motorcycle
    Natural Disaster
    Necklace
    Night
    Nighttime
    Ocean
    Online
    Open
    Organization
    Outside
    Oven
    Owner
    Package
    Pandemic
    Party
    Pay
    Pedestrian
    Peril
    Period
    Perishable
    Personal
    Pet
    Plan
    Plans
    Poison
    Policy
    Pool
    Porch
    Possessions
    Power
    Premium
    Preparation
    Prepare
    Prepared
    Presents
    Prevent
    Prevention
    Property
    Protect
    Protected
    Protection
    Purchase
    Rain
    Rate
    Rental
    Rental Car
    Resistant
    Resources
    Respond
    Ride
    Rideshare
    Ring
    Risk
    Risks
    River
    Roadtrip
    Safe
    Safety
    Sanitary
    Sanitize
    Santa
    Satisfaction
    Save
    Security
    Service
    Share
    Sharing
    Shed
    Shelter
    Shelter In Place
    Shop
    Short Term
    Short-term
    Shut Down
    Sick
    Sleet
    Slow
    Small
    Snow
    Social
    Solutions
    Special
    Special Event
    Species
    Spread
    Spring
    Storm
    Summer
    Sun
    Supplies
    Support
    Surfaces
    Survival
    Swim
    Switch
    Tailgating
    Tax
    Technology
    Temperature
    Temperatures
    Term
    Terms
    Thankful
    Thanksgiving
    Thaw
    Thunder
    Tips
    Tornado
    Toxic Free
    Tradition
    Travel
    Tree
    Trees
    Trip
    Turkey
    Twister
    Umbrella
    Underinsured
    Underwriter
    Uninsured
    Unsafe
    Upright
    Utilities
    Vacant
    Violent
    Virus
    Visible
    Warm
    Warmer
    Warning
    Watch
    Water
    Watercraft
    Weather
    Website
    Wedding
    Wheels
    WiFi
    Wind
    Winter
    Work
    Workplace
    Yearly

Columbia
3020 Devine Street
Columbia, SC
​29205
803.799.9979
Summerville
204 N. Gum Street
Summerville, SC 29483
843.871.3950
Home
About
​
​Contact
Request a Quote
​Insurance
Online Services
Picture
© 2020. RELATION INSURANCE, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Privacy Policy | Disclaimer
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • Team
    • History
    • Summerville office
    • Why an Independent Agent?
    • Featured Carriers
    • Trusted Choice® Pledge of Performance
    • Introducing Health, Life & Employee Benefits
    • Our Columbia Office Has Moved!
    • Midlands Green Business
  • REQUEST A QUOTE
  • INSURANCE
    • Vehicle Insurance >
      • Auto Insurance
      • Motorcycle Insurance
      • Classic Car Insurance
      • Boat & Watercraft Insurance
      • Motorsport & ATV Insurance
      • RV and Mobile Home Insurance
    • Property Insurance >
      • Homeowners Insurance >
        • How Much Home Insurance is Enough?
      • Renters Insurance
      • Condo Insurance
      • Landlord Protection
      • Flood Insurance
      • Earthquake Insurance
      • Personal Umbrella Insurance
      • Pet Insurance
      • Home Warranty
    • Business Insurance >
      • Condominium Homeowners Association Insurance
      • Cyber Liability Insurance
      • Business Owners Insurance
      • Commercial Property Insurance
      • Commercial Umbrella Insurance
      • General Liability Insurance
      • Commercial Auto Insurance
      • Workers' Compensation Insurance
      • Surety Bonds
      • Specialty Insurance
    • Health, Life & Employee Benefits Insurance >
      • Individuals >
        • Health Insurance
        • Short Term Health Insurance
        • Dental Insurance
        • Vision Insurance
        • Life Insurance >
          • How Much Life Insurance is Enough?
        • Disability
      • Employers >
        • Group Health Insurance
        • Group Dental Insurance
        • Group Vision Insurance
        • Group Life Insurance
        • Group Disability Insurance
        • 401(k)
        • Worksite Marketing Plans
      • Seniors
    • Insurance FAQs
  • ONLINE SERVICES
    • Pay My Bill
    • Report a Claim
    • Applications
    • Customer Reviews
    • Social Media
    • Blog
    • Flood Claim Information
    • Helpful Links
  • CONTACT