Individuals & Families

An Illinois couple traveled to the Dominican Republic, expecting to have a great time. What they had, instead, was a medical emergency that cut their vacation short. The wife suffered an aneurysm and needed immediate care. Because the couple was unfamiliar with the foreign medical system and hampered by the language barrier, the husband chose a medical evacuation (MedEvac) to get his wife to a Miami hospital. This couple was lucky enough to have a travel policy that included provisions for this type of situation.

A short, 15-minute MedEvac flight can cost in excess of $8,000, depending on the level of care required.

As successful families travel more frequently, especially internationally, the odds of encountering a burdensome medical emergency or even an attack or kidnapping increase. Handling an emergency overseas is daunting; unfamiliarity with the medical system, the standard of care, the language and laws can leave one feeling vulnerable. The right travel policy eases the financial, logistical and legal issues associated with an overseas travel emergency.

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While traveling abroad, Lucy and Ricky got engaged. Sometime during that day — between the hike with the breathtaking views, the swim in the secluded lagoon, and the dinner at the Michelin-rated restaurant — that gorgeous ring that didn’t quite fit slipped off Lucy’s finger. Luckily, Ricky had added the ring to the couple's renter's policy before heading out of town, so it was covered.

A renter’s policy not only covers your belongings within the walls of your home, but also extends beyond the premises, covering property stolen from your car, or lost or damaged anywhere you happen to be. Your homeowners or rental policy may have limits to coverage for certain items such as jewelry. Whether you have a large collection or just a few very valuable pieces, consider investing in a “floater” policy to cover the items whose value exceeds the limits of your home or rental policy.

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Some friends decided to take a little road trip to a lake house in Michigan's upper peninsula. Chandler volunteered to drive if Joey navigated and played DJ. While merging lanes due to construction in Indiana, Chandler accidentally merged straight into a vehicle traveling in a blind spot. In trying to overcorrect the mistake, Chandler pulled into the concrete median and the vehicle flipped. Joey and Chandler were hospitalized. Joey's injuries were extensive and required surgery, followed by weeks of rehab. Joey's total medical bills far exceeded Chandler's minimal bodily injury limits. Luckily, Joey's auto insurance included underinsured motorist coverage, which responded and covered all the medical bills.

Approximately one in seven drivers on the road are completely uninsured, and the number of underinsured drivers is estimated to be about the same.

Your uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage steps in when you are in an accident and the at-fault driver’s liability insurance limits are not high enough to cover your medical bills and/or other losses — even in accidents in which you are only a passenger.

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Return of premium life insurance is a term life policy that pays the benefits to your beneficiaries if you pass during the policy term. If you outlive the policy term, you receive the premium money you paid.

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This type of policy protects your organization’s solvency in the event you lose a key person or people without warning, as well as the investments made by lenders and investors to the company. The policy’s payout can be applied toward finding, hiring and training a replacement employee, for financing timely business transactions, or as compensation for lost business during the transition stage.

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These types of policies offer coverage often at a lower premium and with more coverage options than individual plans. They are often offered as part of a benefits package to employees and do not necessarily need an employer premium contribution. Certain plans offer tax savings to the employer and employee and can be an excellent benefit incentive and employee retention tool. Coverage of this type can also be available to associations and certain organizations.

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An insured’s daughter hated math class and her teacher. The daughter made several disparaging and false remarks about her teacher online. The teacher sued her parents for personal injury, resulting in a $750,000 judgment. The excess liability policy responded and covered the defense costs as well as the judgment awarded.

An excess liability policy responds primarily for defense and judgments relating to defamation allegations that are not covered by your homeowners liability policy.

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Jim and Pam closed their lake home at the end of the season and headed back to the city. After an especially harsh winter, they returned in the spring to reopen the cabin and discovered that the pipe to their kitchen sink had frozen and subsequently burst. The kitchen and finished basement below suffered enormous damage. While Jim and Pam had remembered to shut off the water for the winter, unfortunately, they forgot to drain the pipes.

Homeowners are 40% more likely to experience water loss due to cold weather, and water loss damages are on average two times more severe when due to frozen pipes.

While homeowners insurance policies typically cover damage caused by frozen burst pipes, they often do not cover the cost to repair the pipes. Homeowners may need to demonstrate that they took reasonable precautions to prevent frozen pipes, such as maintaining heat in the home, turning off the water supply and draining the pipes. Typically, a policy covers the cost to repair damages to your home and any costs incurred should you need to reside away from your home while repairs are being made.

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Fred and Wilma diligently planned for their retirement. However, when Fred was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, they did not anticipate all the help they were going to need. At first, they relied on home health care but as his condition deteriorated, they were forced to move Fred into assisted care. Within just a few years, all the money they had saved to enjoy in their retirement was spent. Wilma was forced to return to work full time.

The average cost of home health care is $20 per hour and the average cost of a private room in an assisted living facility in Illinois is $84,000 per year.

Long-term care insurance applies when you become chronically ill or disabled. This type of insurance policy can prevent your savings from being depleted.

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Quinn went on a medical school buddy's pontoon boat over the Independence Day holiday weekend. As she was sitting on the bow, the boat hit a nasty wake, which sent her overboard. The boat’s propeller caught her arm as it passed over her and Quinn began to sink to the bottom of the lake. Another passenger dove in and pulled Quinn to safety. After some quick CPR and proper attention to her wounds, Quinn survived the accident, but her arm suffered lasting damage. She was forced to change professional direction as she could no longer perform surgery. In the end, Quinn recovered for her medical costs, pain and suffering, and lost future wages from her friend's liability policy.

In 2015, the Coast Guard counted 4,158 accidents involving 626 deaths, 2,613 injuries, and approximately $42 million of damage to property as a result of recreational boating accidents.

A personal watercraft policy covers property damage, bodily injury and medical payments. A personal excess liability policy is a crucial component of a complete personal insurance portfolio. An excess policy provides you with higher limits of liability coverage. Make sure to list all your vehicles and watercraft on your excess policy.

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A resident of a drug rehabilitation center filed suit against the organization’s Board of Directors, claiming discrimination on the basis of religion and gender when his request for a room reassignment was denied. The case was dismissed but the Board’s defense had already cost $15,000.

Within the past decade, more than 60% of not-for-profit organizations have experienced a Directors & Officers (D&O) claim.

Directors and officers of an organization owe a duty of care to clients, employees and shareholders. If this duty of care is breached (or allegedly so), those serving on the board are open to a lawsuit.

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Gifting a life insurance policy allows you to make a significant charitable donation that may provide some tax deductions in the process. There are four methods of gifting through insurance policies: (1) appointing a charity as beneficiary so you retain ownership and the charity receives the death benefit; (2) naming a charity as owner of the policy in which you transfer complete ownership of an existing policy to the charity; (3) funding charitable trusts using a gift plan and a life insurance policy to benefit both the charity and your family; and (4) purchasing a new life insurance policy making the charity the owner and beneficiary.

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Often used to enhance benefits packages for professionals, group excess policies can also be applied to larger families with many households. These group policies often qualify for higher shared limits than individual personal excess policies while carrying lower individual premiums.

Lawsuits, as well as judgment awards, are on the rise in the United States. With group excess insurance, large damages awards against you or a family member could be covered above the primary liability limits on your auto, home, renters and watercraft policies.

Property Damage and Bodily Injury. Coverage applies in the event you are liable for someone being injured on your property.

Personal Injury. This applies to situations such as lawsuits involving accusations of libel, slander or negligent infliction of bodily injury.

Defense Costs. Covers the cost to defend a lawsuit, even if it is groundless, false or fraudulent. This includes legal counsel and coverage for all expenses incurred.

Excess Uninsured/Underinsured (UM/UIM) Motorist Protection. Provides benefits directly to the policyholder and covered passengers if involved in an accident with an uninsured or underinsured driver.

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