Insurance 101 – Part 1

Buying insurance is an important decision but it is often misunderstood or never really explained.
Hopefully this series of articles will help.

Part 1 – Insurance Basics
You purchase property insurance to help protect your physical assets in the event of an insured loss. Liability or casualty insurance is to cover damages that you may be required to be pay as a result of owning property or your unintentional acts.

An insurance policy is designed to put you back into the same financial position you were in just prior to the event that caused a loss. The intention is not for the insured to profit from an insured loss.

An insurance policy is a contract between the you and us as your insurance company.  In exchange for the premium you pay, we are responsible to pay for losses caused by an insured peril.

An insurance policy is meant to cover losses resulting from a sudden and accidental event. It is not meant to cover wear and tear or to act as a substitute for maintenance.

Not all property or every unplanned event is covered, it is important to know what your specific policy will & won’t respond to. Certain property & events are specifically excluded. For example, illegally obtained property is not insurable and damage caused by war is not covered.

Who is covered- the insured is the person(s) or business specifically listed on the policy documents. In the case of a residential policy, the definition of an insured also applies to the named insured’s spouse, dependents under 21, students temporarily away at school or relatives of named insured or their spouse that live in the insured household. Anyone else living in your household should be disclosed to your insurer as their interests are not be protected by your insurance policy.
Stay tuned for further articles that we hope will make insurance easier to understand.