Home, Renters, Condo, Flood, PUP, Boat

Property insurance usually refers to your home, condo or your contents if you rent. We have also included in this section Flood, Personal Umbrella Policies (PUPS) and Boats.

Challenges facing SC Homeowners

Living in the Lowcountry presents many challenges when trying to secure homeowners insurance. As scientist predict more severe hurricane seasons to come along the coast of SC, many insurance companies have decided to reduce the amount of coastal homes they are willing to insure to reduce their potential losses/risk. Therefore, many companies have tight guidelines and in some cases have stopped writing homes all together.

Our agency will do our best to secure the coverage you need. Often we are able to place your home with one of our carriers. In the event we cannot, we will do our best to refer you to another source.

Just remember, these restrictions vary from one company to another and are always changing. If our agency cannot place your home now, we will follow up with you when and if we able.

The SC government has designated an area known as the SC Wind and Hail Pool. This area is usually close to the coastline. If your home falls in this area, many companies will exclude wind and hail from your homeowners policy and write a separate policy through the state of SC Wind and Hail Pool. Any damage occurring from wind and hail will be paid from your Wind and Hail Pool Policy minus your deductible for this policy.

HOMEOWNERS

Homeowners insurance will cover you from losses such as fire, smoke, lightening, vandalism, wind and hail, falling objects, theft, liability and guest medical.

Dwelling protection covers the house itself. This value is based on the cost of the house itself and does not figure in the value of the land. This value should be determined by a price per square foot based on the type of features in your home. Often an appraisal is a good idea in determining the value of your home.

Content coverage will cover your valuables; from clothes, furniture, kitchen supplies, appliances, rugs, guns, jewelry etc. Our agency highly advises you to document all of your contents, either by video or on paper. Keep this documentation in a separate location. Know the value of your contents and document what you own.

Both dwelling and content coverage will carry a deductible. Ask one of our agents to help you decide what is the best deductible for you. Some companies we represent will have a separate deductible for wind and hail due to the high hurricane risk along the SC coast.

Liability coverage is offered on most homeowner policies. This coverage is for you and your family in the event you are held liable for an accident. This could be anything from a dog bite, a broken handrail on the porch that caused an accident, or that nasty golf slice that took out a window. Ask our agent to evaluate what level of liability coverage you should have on your policy. Our agency may recommend that you take out an additional policy to give you more liability protection. This policy is called a Personal Umbrella Policy, PUP for short. (See PUP below.)

Medical coverage is also a part of most homeowner insurance policies. This gives you a small amount of medical insurance in case someone is injured on your property who is not covered under the policy; ie- your family living with you or additional insureds living in the household.

Flood insurance is NOT a part of your homeowner insurance policy. Our agency can provide you a flood insurance policy through FEMA. All homes are in a flood zone that carries a certain rate. Although your bank may not require you to carry flood insurance, every home is in a flood zone! After obtaining a Flood Elevation Certificate, we can determine your rate for flood coverage. Our agency would advise you to get a quote on flood insurance before buying a new home. Call our agents to get more information on flood insurance.

Personal Umbrella Policy (PUP) will extend your liability protection. Often these limits are $1,000,000 or $2,000,000 in coverage. Ask one of our agents which limit is right for you.

Renters insurance covers your valuables(contents) in a dwelling that you do not own but rent. Renters insurance covers your clothes, furniture, appliances, jewelry, guns, rugs, etc.. You assign a value that you think is equivalent to your content value and your premium is based on that value. Evaluate and document your belongings and decide how much insurance is right for you. Ask one of our agents to help you determine the value.

Renters insurance usually comes with liability and medical insurance similar to the same coverage as a homeowner policy.

Most renter insurance policies have a deductible; what you are willing to pay out of pocket in the event of a loss. Often deductibles are $250, $500, $1000, but may vary from company to company.

Condo insurance is much like homeowners insurance. You have some coverage for the dwelling (the condo you own) that is not covered by your condo association’s insurance policy on the building your condo is a part of. In addition to that, you have content coverage, your valuables. As with homeowners and renters, a condo policy also has liability coverage, guest medical coverage and a deductible.

Boat insurance

Boat insurance is as necessary as auto insurance and works very much the same way. It is important to cover your boat for damages that may occur in and out of the water, on the trailer and off the trailer.Boat insurance has several components.

Liability coverage will cover you in the event you are at fault in a boat accident. This will cover property damage to the other persons property and bodily injury to others injured in the accident due to your negligence. This usually does not include immediate family members living with you.

Physical damage will cover your boat and motor, if you are in accident, your boat/motor is stolen, vandalized, there is a fire or the boat sinks.

Medical payments and liability are also a part of your coverage. This coverage is for medical expenses arising from injuries in a boat accident that you are responsible for or for water skiers being towed by your boat that are injured.

Ask our agents to help you choose the right coverage for your boat.

What We Offer You

• We offer the best product available to us and back it 100% with our customer service team.
• We feature 24 hour service for the companies we represent.
• Our agency represents companies that offer the best in claim service, fast and fair is what our clients expect and we deliver.

To learn more about the various products of property insurance, please read more in the NEWS section of this web site.