Personal Insurance Services
Amity Risk Management provides insurance to all types of personal risks. Our goal is to identify and analyze all of the risks and exposures that an individual may face. These services coupled with our agencies attention to detail separate us from our competition. We do so much more than just quote business.
Our experience and expertise within the industry allows us to service the insurance and risk management needs of all classes on an individual basis. In addition, our strong market relations and networking provide us the ability to offer the right competitive and comprehensive insurance coverages available within the marketplace.
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Automobile Insurance |
Home Owners Insurance |
Condo Owners Insurance |
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Renter & Tenant insurance |
Traveler & Trip Insurance |
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Long Term Care Insurance |
Retirement Insurance |
Life Insurance |
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Automobile Insurance
Compulsory Insurance
- Bodily Injury: Provides up to $20,000 per person/$40,000 per accident for medical expenses to anyone injured or killed by your car while driving on Massachusetts public roads.
- Personal Injury Protection: Provides up to $8,000 for lost wages, medical expenses, and replacement services.
- Uninsured Motorist Protection: Pays for losses to you and your passengers if struck by an uninsured or unidentified (hit and run driver). We recommend minimum limits of $250,000 per person/$500,000 per accident.
- Property Damage: This covers damage caused by your vehicle to property. We recommend limits of $250,000.
Optional Insurance
- Optional Bodily Injury: Extends liability protection for injuries to others caused by you anywhere in the United States, its territories or Canada. We recommend limits of $250,000 per person/$500,000 per accident.
- Medical Payments: Covers medical expenses for you, your household members and passengers over and above the limits provided under Personal Injury Protection, no matter who caused the accident. We recommend limits of $25,000 per person.
- Collision: Pays for damage to your car, less any applicable deductible, no matter who causes the accident. We recommend that you also purchase the Waiver of Deductible option.
- Limited Collision: Pays for collision damage to your car when you are no more than 50% at fault and the owner of the vehicle is identified
- Comprehensive: Pays for damage or loss of your car, less any applicable deductible, resulting from perils other than collision or upset ( fire, glass breakage, theft, vandalism, striking an animal). This coverage allows up to $15 per day (up to $450) for substitute transportation if your vehicle is stolen until your stolen vehicle is recovered.
- Substitute Transportation: This reimburses you for auto rental expenses while insured auto is being repaired due to a covered loss or if your vehicle is stolen.You may purchase coverage for up to $45.00 per day. Coverage allows for other modes of transportation (taxi, bus, train).
- Towing and Labor: You can purchase up to $100 for towing and emergency repair of your vehicle.
- Bodily Injury Caused by Uninsured Motorist: Pays for for bodily to you and your passengers if injured by another vehicle that does not carry adequate limits to pay your medical expenses. We recommend that you consider limits of at least $250,000 per person/$500,000 per accident.
Discounts
- Safe Driver Insurance Plan Step
- Anti-theft Devices
- Multi-Car Discount
- Low Mileage Discount
- Airbags/Passive Restraint (Automatic Seatbelts)
Home Owners
The Basics
Homeowners insurance provides financial protection against disasters. A standard policy insures the home itself and the things you keep in it.
Homeowners insurance is a package policy. This means that it covers both damage to your property and your liability or legal responsibility for any injuries and property damage you or members of your family cause to other people. This includes damage caused by household pets.
Damage caused by most disasters is covered but there are exceptions. The most significant are damage caused by floods, earthquakes and poor maintenance. You must buy two separate policies for flood and earthquake coverage. Maintenance-related problems are the homeowners' responsibility.
What is in a standard homeowners insurance policy?
- A standard homeowners insurance policy includes four essential types of coverage.
- They include:
- Coverage for the structure of your home.
- Coverage for your personal belongings.
- Liability protection.
- Additional living expenses in the event you are temporarily unable to live in your home because of a fire or other insured disaster.
The information above was provided by the Insurance Information Institute, Inc.
Condo Owners
Co-op or condo insurance
If you have purchased a condo or co-op, the bank will require insurance to protect its investment in your home. You may, however, need more insurance to cover your personal items, liability or fees that may be charged to you regarding shared areas of the building like the lobby.
You will need two separate policies to protect your investment:
- Your own insurance policy. This provides coverage for your personal possessions, structural improvements to your apartment and additional living expenses if you are the victim of fire, theft or other disaster listed in your policy. You also get liability protection.
- A "master policy" provided by the condo/co-op board. This covers the common areas you share with others in your building like the roof, basement, elevator, boiler and walkways for both liability and physical damage.
To adequately insure your apartment, it is important to know what structural parts of your home are covered by the condo/co-op association and what are not. You can do this by reading your association's bylaws and/or proprietary lease. If you have questions, talk to your condo association, insurance professional or family attorney.
Sometimes the association is responsible for insuring the individual condo or co-op units, as they were originally built, including standard fixtures. The individual owner, in this case, is only responsible for alterations to the original structure of the apartment, like remodeling the kitchen or bathtub. Sometimes this includes not only improvements you make, but those made by previous owners.
In other situations, the condo/co-op association is responsible only for insuring the bare walls, floor and ceiling. The owner must insure kitchen cabinets, built-in appliances, plumbing, wiring, bathroom fixtures etc.
Also ask your insurance professional about the following additional coverages:
- Unit assessment. This reimburses you for your share of an assessment charged to all unit owners as a result of a covered loss. For instance, if there is a fire in the lobby, all the unit owners are charged the cost of repairing the loss.
- Water back-up. This insures your property for damage by the back-up of sewers or drains. Water back-up may not always be included in a policy. Check to see that it is included.
- Umbrella liability. This is an inexpensive way to get more liability protection and broader coverage than is included in a standard condo/co-op policy.
- Flood or earthquake. If you live in an area prone to these disasters, you will need to purchase separate flood and earthquake policies. Flood insurance is available through FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program . Both flood and earthquake insurance can be purchased through your insurance agent.
- Floater or endorsement. If you own expensive jewelry, furs or collectibles, you might consider getting additional coverage since there is generally a $1,000 to $2,000 limit for theft of jewelry on a standard policy.
When purchasing insurance, it is important to find an agent or company that specializes in condominiums or co-ops. Also don't forget to ask about all available discounts. You can reduce your rates by raising your deductibles and by installing a smoke and fire alarm system that rings at an outside service. If you insure your unit with the same company that underwrites your building's insurance policy, you might also get an additional reduction in premiums.
The information above was provided by the Insurance Information Institute, Inc.
Renter & Tenant
For more information on Renter/Tenant Insurance email Kathy Gerstl at kgerstl@amityinsurance.com or call directly at 1-800-940-4010.
Traveler and Trip Insurance
www.specialtyrisk.com/insurance/
Long Term Care
The average cost for one year in a nursing home is $40,000, but can be close to $100,000 in some big cities. Round-the-clock care at home can be just as expensive. Medicare does not pay these bills beyond a short period of time after a hospital stay. Health insurance rarely pays any of the cost. Unless you have so little money that you will qualify for Medicaid, or so much money that you can pay the bills out of your own pocket, you should consider long-term care insurance.
Four key reasons to buy long-term care insurance:
- Preserve your assets for your family instead of spending the money on long-term care.
- The odds are one-in-three that a man over 65 will need long-term care; for a woman over 65, the odds are one in two.
- New rules make it hard to qualify for Medicaid.
- Premiums may be partially tax-deductible.
Typical policy features
The best policies pay for care in a nursing home, assisted living facility or at home. Benefits are typically expressed in daily amounts, with a lifetime maximum. Some policies pay half as much per day for at-home care as for nursing home care. Others pay the same amount, or have a "pool of benefits" that can be tapped as needed.
Eligibility triggers
Make sure you know when benefits kick in. The policy should state the various conditions that must be met.
- The inability to perform two or three specific "activities of daily living" without help. These include bathing, dressing, eating, toileting and "transferring" or being able to move from place to place or between bed and chair.
- Cognitive impairment. Most policies cover stroke, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, but other forms of mental incapacity may be excluded.
- Medical necessity, or certification by a doctor that long-term care is necessary.
- Prior hospitalization. Some older policies require a hospital stay of at least three days before benefits can be paid. This requirement is very restrictive and should be avoided.
- A benefit period that may range from two years to lifetime. You can keep premiums down by electing coverage for three to four years — longer than the average nursing home stay — instead of lifetime.
- A waiting or "elimination" period. Premiums will be lower if you pay for an initial period of care yourself instead of electing first-day coverage.
- Inflation protection is an important feature, especially if you are under 65 when you buy benefits that you may not use for 20 years or more. The best inflation provision compounds benefits at 5% a year.
- Guaranteed renewable policies must be renewed by the insurance company, although premiums can go up if they are increased for an entire class of policyholders.
- Waiver of premium, so that no further premiums are due once you start to receive benefits.
- Third-party notification, so that a relative, friend or professional adviser will be notified if the policyholder forgets to pay a premium.
- Optional features
- Restoration of benefits. This feature ensures that maximum benefits are put back in place if you receive benefits for a time, then recover, and go for a specified period (typically six months) without benefits.
- Non forfeiture benefits return a portion of premiums or keep a lesser amount of insurance in force if you let the policy lapse. This provision, required by some states, adds to the cost of the policy.
The information above was provided by the Insurance Information Institute, Inc.
Retirement
For more information email Kathy Gerstl at kgerstl@amityinsurance.com or call directly at 1-800-940-4010.
Life Insurance
Many financial experts consider life insurance to be the cornerstone of sound financial planning. It is generally a cost-effective way to provide for your loved ones after you are gone. It can be an important tool in the following ways:
Income replacement
For most people, their key economic asset is their ability to earn a living. If you have dependents, then you need to consider what would happen to them if they no longer have your income to rely on. Proceeds from a life insurance policy can help supplement retirement income. This can be especially useful if the benefits of your surviving spouse or domestic partner will be reduced after your death.
Pay outstanding debts and long-term obligations
Consider life insurance so that your loved ones have the money to offset burial costs, credit card debts and medical expenses not covered by health insurance. In addition, life insurance can be used to pay off the mortgage, supplement retirement savings and help pay college tuition.
Estate planning
The proceeds of a life insurance policy can be structured to pay estate taxes so that your heirs will not have to liquidate other assets.
Charitable contributions
If you have a favorite charity, you can designate some of the proceeds from your life insurance to go to this organization.
The information above was provided by the Insurance Information Institute, Inc.