Personal Insurance

• What is the minimum required auto insurance coverage I need to purchase?

The state of Alaska requires all personal licensed vehicles that operate on its' roadways to carry at least $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident for bodily injury liability and at least $25,000 per accident for property damage liability.  With rising costs of vehicles and medical care and the increased number of mult-car accidents, you should consider an even higher limit like $100,000/$300,00 for bodily injury and $50,000 for property damage.

• Why should I have uninsured motorists coverage?

The last known estimation of uninsured drivers on Alaska's roads and its' cities was 40%.  That means approximately every 4 out 10 vehicles you drive by is not insured for their liability to you if they cause an accident that causes damage to you.  Adding uninsured motorists coverage to your policy buys back the liability coverage the other driver should have purchased for you.

• How do I know how much coverage to purchase for my home?

This depends on how your property policy is being written - on an age depreciation calculation or a replacement cost calculation.  It is very important that this number be fairly accurate so you are not penalized by your insurance company on a claim for underinsuring your home.  This is definately a topic you should be open to discussing at length with your professional insurance sales agent.

• People say my homeowner insurance covers my 4-wheeler.  Is that true?

Your homeowner insurance policy will only cover the liability arising out of the operation of your 4-wheeler if it is used solely to service your primary residence.  Purchasing a 4-wheeler insurance policy is the best way to protect yourself and your 4-wheeler.

Business Insurance

• Do I really need a commercial insurance policy for a small in-home business?

Most homeowner insurance policies either exclude business use or extremely restrict the coverage provided for the in-home business.  A commercial insurance policy is the best way to protect yourself.

• What is a commercial umbrella policy for?

It provides liability coverage above the limits of your other commercial policies for typically a lower premium than just increasing the coverage on all the other policies.  You should consider how high your risk of being sued is and discuss this with your insurance agent.

• Why do I need a commercial auto policy when I have a personal auto policy?

Personal auto policies exclude most all business type uses.  If you are involved in an accident, you may find yourself uninsured and then cancelled by the personal auto carrier.

• Why doesn't my market, loan, and insurance values match on my commercial building?

Market value is how much someone is willing to spend for your property, loan value is the balance of your loan, and insurance value is how much it will cost to rebuild your building.  To say you just want to cover the loan balance is like saying you just want to cover the bumper on your car.

• Do I really need a worker's compensation policy?

If you have anyone provide employment related services for you and you compensate them in any manner (even buy them a refrigerator full of groceries), they are by nature an employee and you would be subject to worker's compensation laws.  And even if you don't compensate them, they could still sue you if they got hurt helping.  If you are an individual small contractor and you never have anyone help you, you can elect to not cover yourself; however, some general contractors may require a policy in place to protect their work comp coverage.