24. General insurance companies (non-life insurance, property/casualty insurance): automobile policies.

Automobile accidents can cause great financial and economic insecurity. Financial loss may include property damage, medical bills, and legal costs if a lawsuit arises. Anyone who owns a car should purchase auto insurance so that these important financial protections are provided. Most of countries require the owner of a vehicle to purchase insurance and provide proof of financial responsibility. In addition, your auto lender may require you to purchase auto insurance to protect them against damage to a financed vehicle.

There are three types of coverage: liability coverage, coverage for car and other optional coverages.

Most auto liability insurance policies contain three major parts: liability insurance for bodily injury, liability insurance for property damage, and uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage.

Bodily injury liability insurance does not protect you or your car directly. If you cause an accident in which other people are injured due to your negligence, this insurance protects you against their claims for damages, such as medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

Property damage liability insurance pays for any damage you cause to the property of others, such as damage to another vehicle, fence, or tree caused by acollision.

• Uninsured motorist coverage protects you directly. This coverage pays if you are injured by a hit-and-run driver or a driver who does not have auto liability insurance. This coverage, in effect, takes the place of the liability insurance that the other driver should have purchased but did not. Underinsured motorist coverage applies when the other driver is at fault and whose limits of liability are lower than the damages you sustained.

There are two types coverage that you can choose to purchase to protect your car.

• Collision Coverage pays for physical damage to your car as a result of your auto colliding with an object, such as another car or a tree.

• Comprehensive Coverage pays for damage to your auto from almost all other losses other than collision. Covered losses under comprehensive coverage include the following: theft, fire, vandalism, weather related losses such as hail, water (flood), falling objects, damage caused by a bird or animal, and glass breakage.

25. General insurance companies (non-life insurance, property/casualty insurance): homeowner’s policies.

Homeowners insurance is designed to protect your home from what is called “perils.” A peril is your exposure to risk or something that causes loss or destruction. As a homeowner, you can typically purchase three different types of home insurance policies. They are:

Basic policy: With this policy, your property is covered against basic perils.

Standard home insurance coverage policies provide the following types of coverage, up to the limits outlined in the policies:

Dwelling — Pays for damage or destruction to your house and any unattached structures and buildings, such as fences, detached garages, and storage sheds.

Personal Property — Covers the contents of your house, including furniture, clothing and appliances, if they are stolen, damaged, or destroyed.

Liability — Protects you against financial loss if you are sued and found legally responsible for someone else's injury or property damage.

Medical Payments — Covers medical bills for people hurt on your property. Medical Payments coverage also pays for some injuries that may happen away from your home, such as if your dog bites someone.

Loss of Use — Pays for additional living expenses if your home is too damaged to live in during repairs. Most standard home insurance coverage pays 10 to 20 percent of the amount of your dwelling coverage.

Extended homeowner’s policy: This policy protects your property also against additional perils.

Guaranteed Replacement Cost — Provides the most complete coverage for your home. Your home insurance company requires you to meet specific underwriting rules and conditions to qualify for this coverage. For instance, you may need to increase your home insurance amount on a monthly, quarterly or yearly basis to keep up with the inflation rate.

Inflation Guard Endorsement — Automatically adjusts your home insurance limits during your policy period so they are at 80 percent or more of your home's replacement cost, which is the amount most home insurance companies require you to have. This coverage is beneficial if your home's replacement cost is increasing with inflation.

Scheduled Personal Property Endorsement — Also called a personal article floater. With this coverage, possessions, including jewelry, furs, stamps, coins, guns, computers, antiques, etc., are covered. Each article is itemized and detailed in the floater, and excluded perils also are outlined. Personal article floaters often do not have deductibles.

Increased Limits on Money and Securities — Increases coverage amounts for money, bank notes, securities, deeds and more.

Secondary Residence Premises Endorsement — Covers a secondary residence, such as a summer home. Insurance for secondary homes is not automatically provided by the home insurance policy you have for your primary or principal residence, so it's important to consider this endorsement if you own more than one home.

Watercraft Endorsement — Expands personal liability and medical payments coverage for small sailboats and outboard motor boats only.

Theft Coverage Protection Endorsement — If items from your motor vehicle, trailer or watercraft are stolen, theft coverage protection broadens theft coverage without requiring proof of forcible entry.