The sirens could be heard from blocks away, and then about ten fire trucks, ambulances and a hook and ladder truck came down my street and stopped, the firemen jumping out of their trucks, grabbing tanks, hoses and axes, and headed inside to the loft building across the street. Quite a commotion, that luckily was either very minor, or a total false alarm. Ten minutes later they started re-emerging, packed up and were soon on their way. Phew! But it made me think, what if there had been some disaster, to persons or property. You need to have renter's insurance. Obviously, when you own a home or condo, insurance is required by the lender if you have a mortgage. But so many renters skip or skimp on renter's insurance. Key components are coverage for your belongings, and payment for medical bills if a guest is injured in your unit. It…Read More
My client called me a couple months ago with the bad news. She had been rear ended by an uninsured driver. I told her that somewhere around 20% of all drivers on the road in Illinois are driving without insurance. Shocking. So my client, after being taken by ambulance to the ER, xrayed and examined there, including an CT Scan because she had hit her head, then treatment and physical therapy by her doctor including an MRI because her shoulder pain wasn't responding to treatment, called this morning, asking how the claim was coming along. I'm glad that the injuries weren't actually worse, it was a bad crash, but the bad news from the standpoint of her claim is that she has coverage for Uninsured Motorist accidents, but the limit is capped at $50,000. That's less than her medical bills alone! Her case is easily "worth" over $100,000, but $50,000…Read More
It is MOST important that you have enough coverage for your UM and UIM part of your auto policy. You are protecting yourself, your family and your passengers against the low limits (or no insurance) that far too many people in Illinois drive with. Call your agent, make sure your limits are 100/300, at least. and rest easier should the unexpected happen.Read More
Several years ago, the State of Illinois amended their statutes regarding minimum limits on automobile liability coverage. The minimum limit was raised from 20/40 to 25/50. Along with that raise in liability limits, the limits for uninsured motorist coverage was automatically raised to $25,000 per person/ $50,000 per occurrence. That's important, but it still isn't enough. When you select your limits for auto coverage, your UM coverage is the most important part of the policy. Go higher than $25,000, protect yourself and your family with $100,000 per person coverage. It's not much more in premium, and you'll be doing yourself a favor if you ever should need to use it.Read More
