Many Americans take a vacation during the summer, heading out of town, often a few hundred miles away - or sometimes further afield. While you are away, your home will likely be sitting empty and that could be a target for thieves. But there are precautions you can take to thwart them.
 
Buy a home security system
A home security system is probably the very best way to protect your home, aside from having someone stay there while you are gone. There are a number of systems and services on the market, so you should take your time to figure out which one best suits your needs and budget.
 
Keep quiet about your plans
While you may find it hard to resist the urge to tell all of your contacts on social media that you are heading off on an exotic holiday, you should not announce your plans - and should also refrain from providing daily updates and selfies of your adventures. It won't hurt you to post that information when you return.
While you likely don't have to worry about your friends and family robbing your home, criminals online may lurk among your friends' contacts. Remind your children to also refrain from posting their activity on social media.
 
Make your home look lived in
Make your home look occupied by:

• Installing timer switches on a few lights and even your TV, so that they turn on and off at certain times.
• If you park your car outside your home, ask a friend to periodically back out and park it differently to make it seem like someone has driven the car.
• If there's a swimming pool, keep the water in it circulating.
• Don't cancel your lawn service and make sure to keep your automatic sprinklers going on their timers.
• Ask the post office to put a hold on delivering mail.

 
Additional security measures

• Make sure all windows and doors are security locked.
• Put in a secondary blocking device on sliding doors and windows so that they can't be opened if a burglar successfully unlocks them.
• Install exterior security lights with motion sensors that turn on when someone approaches the house.
• If you have a security system in place, call the security company to let them know you'll be gone.

 
If you want to go even further in protecting your home, you can:

• Disconnect the garage door opener and lock it manually.
• Move valuables like expensive jewelry to your bank safety deposit box or a home safe.
• Move any valuable furnishings out of sight from anyone peering through your windows. 

 When you hire contractors, electricians or other home repair specialists, you may shop around on price and go with the least expensive one. But if a contractor comes in with a bid that is much lower than the competition, it could mean they are cutting corners - and one of the top ways for them to do this is in the insurance they carry, or are supposed to carry.Consider these scenarios:

• An electrician's faulty work starts a fire that guts your kitchen and dining room.
• A contractor's worker breaks a leg while working on your home.

If either of these events occurs and the contractor doesn't have insurance, you'll be on the hook for the damages. Even if a contractor tells you they are insured and bonded, you need to verify that it's true. After all, they could be stretching the truth by just having their vehicle insured, and they could be bonded for another project they have worked on in the past.

While your homeowner's policy provides some liability coverage, it may not cover all the costs in an especially costly event. The first thing you should do when hiring a contractor is to ask to see their certificate of insurance. If they don't have it, they can call their insurance agent and ask them to send it to you. A certificate doesn't provide all the insurance details, but it's a good start.

However, if you are having major work done on your home, you need to delve further. You should look for the following:
Coverages on certificate of liability insurance 
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Current dates - Check to see that the coverage is current. If it's past the policy expiration date, then it doesn't tell you if they currently have insurance.

General liability coverage - The contractor should have this insurance, which covers bodily injury to you or third parties and property damage arising out of their operations. Check also to see if their coverage includes "products and completed operations," which covers damages that may arise out of their finished work. If this is not included, then the contractor's liability ends when they finish the job.

Workers' compensation - This coverage is mandatory for all employers, except under very rare circumstances. It covers medical expenses and lost wages if an employee is injured on the job. If the contractor doesn't have this coverage, you could be on the hook for these costs.
Sometimes small contractors will tell you that they don't need to have it, but that is typically true only if they have no employees and it's a sole proprietorship.
 
Other coverages to look for
Builder's risk - If you are building a new home or adding onto your home, this provides protection for the new construction and building materials while it is being built. While most contractors will buy this coverage, some of them will ask the homeowner to do so. Make sure you are clear who should buy this coverage and, if it is the contractor, make sure you ask for proof that it's been purchased.

Fidelity bonds - The most common type of bond you could encounter provides protection if a contractor's workers steal from you. While better than nothing, actually getting paid from these bonds can be somewhat difficult. It's probably a better bet to lock up or remove your valuables when contractors are working in your home. Although you have hopefully picked a contractor you trust, he or she is probably not going to be the only one that enters the job site.

One Saturday afternoon your friend calls you up and asks: "Dude, can I borrow your car for a few hours today? Mine's in the shop." You don't think much about it and hand over your keys.
But what do you do if your friend has an accident? Will your insurance cover the damage, or does theirs?

Though policies will vary, the general rule is that anyone living in your house is typically covered when driving your car, unless expressly excluded on the policy. In many cases, everyone in the same household is actually required to be included on the vehicle's insurance policy.

For those friends or family members who don't live with you but use your car every once in a while, you can typically loan them your vehicle and not worry that they'll be covered. Permissive use generally applies in these cases. This means that if you give another driver permission to take your car, they will be covered by your car's insurance coverage. However, it's not that simple if your friend causes damage that exceeds your policy limits.

In general, the vehicle owner's policy is primary and pays first in the event of a loss. If your owner's policy does not cover the loss or provide enough insurance to fully cover it, the borrower's policy will apply.
For example, assume that your policy has a bodily insurance limit of $250,000 for injuries to one person, and your friend's policy has a limit of $100,000.

Your friend borrows your car and has an accident three blocks from your home, and severely injures the driver of the other vehicle. The medical bills alone are $300,000. Your policy will pay first up to the $250,000 limit, after which your friend's insurance will kick in to pay the rest.

Deductible
Your insurance will also be primary for damage to the car itself. However, the borrower's insurance can make up for a difference in deductible. Suppose your friend has a $500 collision deductible on his car, and you have a $1,000 deductible. The damage to your vehicle is $6,000, so your insurer will pay $5,000 for the repairs. Your friend's insurance would pay you an additional $500 (your deductible, minus your friend's).

Reasonable belief
One very important part of all this is that anyone who borrows your car must have your permission in order for the insurance to cover them. The key here is that the insurance company will cover your friend using your car if your friend had a "reasonable belief that he could use the car."

So, if you told your friend: "Steve, you can use my car whenever you need to," and Steve did borrow it a few times before, that would mean that Steve had reasonable belief that he could use your car.
Permission must come from the vehicle's owner, not from a member of the owner's family. Steve will not have coverage if your son gave him permission to use it. Before borrowing someone else's car, we advise people to do the following:
•          Make certain you have the owner's permission.
•          Make certain the owner has insurance.
•          Check your own insurance to see if it will cover damages the owner's policy doesn't cover.

The staged car accident scam is growing as perpetrators are getting craftier about entrapping unsuspecting motorists. Scammers usually meticulously plan their staged car accidents, leaving nothing to chance. They practice until they get it right and even if you can see the accident was staged, onlookers or witnesses may only catch a glimpse and think they see something they didn't.

Here are some of the most common staged accidents.
 
The T-bone
In this staged accident, the scammer will wait for your car to proceed through an intersection and then floor it and T-bone your vehicle. When police arrive, the scammer's helpers will claim you ran a red light or ran the stop sign.
 
The wave
In this scenario, the scammer will see you are trying to switch lanes and they wave you ahead. But when you do switch lanes, they will accelerate and hit your car. Once police arrive to take the accident report, they'll lie and say you switched lanes when it was not safe to do so and they didn't have time to brake.
 
Dual-turn sideswipe
In this set-up, you have to be in a dual left-turn lane on the inside and if you are close to the lane marker, the other driver will veer into you and claim you came out of your lane and hit them.
They may also have "witnesses" stationed at the intersection to back up their yarn.
 
Stopping short
The scammer will slam on their brakes when your car is close behind so that you will crash into the rear of the vehicle.
 
Swoop and stop
In this scenario, a car will suddenly pull in front of yours and stop. Another vehicle will simultaneously pull up alongside your car, preventing you from swerving to avoid an accident.
 
Furthering the scams
These scammers and their "passengers" will often also claim injuries they didn't incur. They may also be in cahoots with shady doctors and chiropractors, who will inflate their billings and order all types of medical services to that end.
Others may go to legitimate doctors and claim back injuries, which are difficult to prove. They may also sue for damages. 

These car crash scams can leave you paying for damages you didn't cause. They also take time. Even if your insurer covers the crash and the damage to your car, you will still be without your car for a time and dealing with insurance paperwork and the repair shop. And the "accident" can lead to higher insurance premiums for you later.
 
How to avoid accident scams
One of the best ways to avoid being the victim of a fake accident claim is by exercising caution while driving.
Tailgating or failing to leave enough space between your vehicle and a vehicle ahead of you leaves you vulnerable to becoming the victim of a staged accident. All the driver ahead of you has to do is abruptly stop to cause you to crash into the rear of their vehicle.

If you believe you are being targeted by someone staging an accident, do not leave the scene. Call the police and let the officers who respond handle taking a report of the accident.
Keep a camera (if you don't have a smartphone), pen and paper in the car so that you can take photos and notes at the scene.

More motorists are also installing dash cams that turn on when the car starts and are constantly recording. These can be all the proof you need to refute the scammer's side of the story.
Take pics from every angle of the involved vehicles, with special focus on the damage. Also, capture on camera the license plate, as well as photos of the driver and all the passengers in the other vehicle.
Take down the following information:

• Driver license number.
• Vehicle registration information.
• Car insurance information.
• Name, address and phone number.
• The general height and weight (as well as the ethnicity) of the other car's driver and passengers.

 
Also, be sure to call the police if you suspect that you were in a staged accident. Whatever you do, don't offer cash to the other driver to settle the damage. When you report the accident to your car insurance company, you should tell them if you suspect a scam.

Getting a company car is a coveted perk for employees, but it can also cause some coverage issues with your personal auto policy.

The standard auto policy excludes coverage for non-owned vehicles furnished or available for your regular use. This means you are relying solely on the company's insurance for protection. If for any reason the company's policy does not respond if you are in a traffic accident, you have no coverage.
The company's business auto coverage will also not provide you protection if you use the vehicle outside the scope of the employer's permission. This can leave a big gap if you or a family member use the vehicle in a way that wasn't part of the original agreement.
 
Nightmare scenario
Your company gave you permission to use the car, but you are the only one allowed to drive it. Your spouse takes the company car to the grocery store and on the way she crashes into another vehicle.
Unfortunately, you have no coverage on either your policy or the company's policy. In other words, you would be on the hook for damage to the vehicle and possibly the other vehicle, as well as for medical costs for any injuries sustained by either party in the accident.
 
The solution
If you are given a company car, you should consider adding an "extended non-owned coverage for named individuals" endorsement to your policy. You should name each member of your family of driving age.
This endorsement will fix the gap in coverage when an employee is furnished an auto for their regular use (or even has one available for their regular use out of a pool of vehicles). But, note that this is only for liability coverage and there is not going to be any physical damage coverage for the vehicle.
This endorsement is inexpensive and can provide peace of mind. It is a good idea anytime you have regular access to a vehicle you do not own.

If the insurance company won't add the extended non-owned endorsement (or a similar one) to the personal auto policy, or can't add it, the next option would be to buy a named non-owned policy to fill the gap in coverage. In effect, this accomplishes the same thing as the extended non-owned coverage for a named individual, but may be more expensive.

You may have auto insurance and home or renter's insurance in place to make sure you are covered in case of an accident. But, depending on the circumstances of a claim, you may have coverage gaps in your insurance, and policyholders that do put themselves, their family and their possessions at risk.
You should review your policies to see if you have any of the following gaps in your coverage:
 
Coverage for your valuables
This would include:

• Any collections (coins, stamps, art, etc.),
• Pricey jewelry or watches,
• Electronics.

 
Most homeowner's policies will typically have a set limit for loss or theft of personal items, such as $3,000.
 
Umbrella policy
Regardless of whether or not you're at fault for an accident, you can still get hit with a personal injury or liability lawsuit. And when that happens, you can expect extra costs to mount quickly, what with lawyers' fees, hospital bills, pain and suffering payments.
All of that combined could quickly exceed your homeowner's or auto policy limit, and then your assets would be at stake.
 
Transportation expenses coverage
Does your policy cover a rental car or other form of transportation if your vehicle ends up in the shop after an accident? If not, some carriers offer a transportation expenses rider.
Transportation expenses coverage can apply to two types of claim: a comprehensive claim (resulting from something other than collision, such as fire, theft or vandalism) and a collision claim (resulting from physical damage to your vehicle caused by rolling over or hitting another vehicle or object).
After a comprehensive occurrence, a transportation expenses policy kicks in to provide a set coverage for a rental car.

Flood insurance
The federal government offers coverage through the National Flood Insurance Program. It's definitely worth considering, as people who live outside of high-risk flood areas file more than 20% of claims with the program.
 
Not keeping your homeowner's insurance up to date
If you've made upgrades to your home, tell us about it before your next policy renewal. If you don't, you run the risk of coming up short if you have to rebuild after a total loss.
Report to us all remodeling or renovations, so we can help determine the effect on your home's replacement cost. Typically, guaranteed replacement cost rules require that you report home improvements worth more than $5,000 within 90 days of completion.
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As you can see, there is plenty that's easy to overlook when it comes to your insurance and protecting yourself and your assets. If you're concerned about any of these issues, call us today.