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Should you purchase the CDW insurance offered by the rental company?

First, let’s look at what a rental company may hold our customer responsible for in the event of a loss involving a rented vehicle, under the law and the rental contract’s language. The rental contract often obligates the renter to pay for items not covered under the policy. The two most common and costly are diminished value and administrative fees. First party collision and comprehensive coverage’s do not cover these. Also, rental companies often pursue undocumented or artificially calculated loss of use-related loss of income. This may be disputed and is sometimes less than fully covered under the policy’s first party transportation expense coverage, particularly when all the rental company’s vehicles are not rented out or when the rental company provides insufficient documentation of having suffered a real loss of income. We have seen examples of coverage gaps, particularly related to diminished value, where thousands of dollars have been charged directly to the customer’s credit cards, a charge often difficult to ever have reversed. Some customers say, “I have full coverage.” Diminished value, the biggest uncovered exposure, is specifically excluded in our Family Auto Policy, and is not a covered first party loss under any of our other policies. The policy also affords no coverage for payment of administrative fees that a rental company may seek. Some loss of use may be covered; however the rental company would have to document their loss of use for us to consider payment for it under transportation expense, a coverage not designed to match that exposure at all. The rental contract may automatically entitle the rental company to large amounts for loss of use, diminished value, admin fees, and possibly even total loss related costs for fairly minor damages not anywhere near the vehicle’s total value, with no requirement that they have to substantiate these charges before they can collect them from the renter. In summary, when a customer rents a vehicle and asks, “Should I purchase the collision damage waiver the most accurate answer is “Yes, you should, if you want to make sure that you so not experience any difficulties or coverage gaps in the event of a collision or comprehensive loss.” The purchase of this coverage should eliminate practically and costs, including those discussed, should a rental vehicle be damaged. No doubt about it, CDW can sometimes be pretty expensive. But the uncovered costs that a policyholder may face if a loss occurs can be far greater. Having a conversation with the customer about this exposure helps them understand what risks they take upon themselves if they decide not to purchase this coverage. (This summary was jointly written by the ERIE Claims & Law departments)

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Posted Friday, January 06 2012 8:39 AM
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Thank for attending our Holiday Balanced Breakfast

Thank you to everyone who attended our Holiday Balance Breakfast!

Thank you also to our host Cardinal Stritch University and their College of Business and Management.

We all learned a great deal from our presenters, Push Functional Fitness, the Glendale location of Joseph A. Bank, and Global View Capital Advisors.

We cannot improve our business until we first improve ourselves. All of our speakers gave us great ideas on how to look better, feel better about ourselves from a health perspective and feel better financially.

Thank you for bringing your gifts to the breakfast which have been donated to the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. The holidays are about friends, family and being thankful for all that we have. Your gifts will help bring great joy to children who need it most during this holiday season.

Please remember to follow through on what we learned. Get up from your chair without using your arms…don’t eat handfuls of cookies…do not wear clothes that do not fit…cashmere, cashmere, cashmere…improve your own personal and business economies…plan, design and protect. If you were not able to attend and are interested in receiving the information from the breakfast please let us know and we will get that out to you.

We are planning additional workshops next year and would welcome ideas for topics. Please let us know what you would be interested in learning about to improve yourself or your business.

Above all have a wonderful holiday season and a great start to 2012!!!!

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Posted Friday, December 16 2011 2:01 PM
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Bronson Insurance is presenting a Holiday Balance Continental Breakfast on Tuesday, December 6

Holiday Balance Breakfast.pdf

Bronson Insurance is presenting a Holiday Balance Continental Breakfast on Tuesday, December 6 from 7:30am-9am at Cardinal Stritch University in Glendale.

The goal of this event is to provide ideas on holistic balance for business owners and other professionals during the holiday season. Attendees will leave knowing how to better maximize their business while maintaining their personal balance during the holidays. Attendees will also have the opportunity to network with other professionals.

This continental breakfast is primarily geared toward business owners and other professionals as we learn how to maximize business opportunities and networking during the holidays while also maintaining a good balance with friends, family, health etc. We have great speakers lined up to discuss four timely topics:

Networking/Etiquette

Looking your Best

Feeling your Best

Holiday Finance

We would love to see you there as we all learn how to network and maximize our time during the holidays. To RSVP and for additional information please contact Andrei at 414-332-3822 or Andrei@bronsoninsurance.com.

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Posted Monday, November 21 2011 4:11 PM
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I Phone app NOW Available! Coming Soon to Android!

Developer's Notes for: Erie Insurance Mobile

Erie Insurance Mobile

iPhone, iPod Touch
Category: Utilities

Developer's Notes

ERIEmobile is ERIE Insurance’s new auto insurance claim and assistance app for the iPhone!

With ERIEmobile, Erie Insurance Customers can:
• Quickly contact their ERIE Agent and ERIE Insurance
• Collect auto accident claim information
• File an auto glass or auto accident claim
• Display auto insurance IDs
• Locate nearby repair shops and roadside services

CONTACT YOUR AGENT AND ERIE QUICKLY!
ERIEmobile provides:
• Phone numbers, e-mail addresses and directions to your agent’s office
• Direct phone contact to ERIE for Customer Service, Billing, and Claims Services

COLLECT AND FILE AUTO CLAIM INFO.
If you have an auto glass claim or are in an accident, ERIEmobile allows you to:
• File an auto glass claim
• Quickly call local emergency assistance
• Record the accident location
• Take accident scene photos, or import photos into ERIEmobile
• Record voice descriptions of the accident and vehicle damage
• Collect witness, injured persons, and police report information
• Send accident information to ERIE Insurance to start the claims process or save the information to help you file a claim later

DISPLAY YOUR INSURANCE CARD.
• This app displays a copy of your insurance card, should you need it. Proof of Insurance is always with you. No more fumbling through the glove box!

FIND VEHICLE ASSISTANCE, REPAIR STATIONS AND SERVICES.
• ERIEmobile locates repair facilities or services such as tow trucks, rental cars, gas stations, locksmiths, taxi service, hotels or hospitals

SPECIAL NOTES:
An ERIE personal auto policy and an Erie Insurance Online Account are required to fully access the features offered by this Erie Insurance app. The Online Account is simply a registration process for ERIE Customers that allows you to connect to your auto policy information with this app. You would not be able to file a claim without completing this process.

If you do not already have an Erie Insurance Online Account, the app will direct you to create a new account. Be sure to do so right away!
Visit https://www.erieinsurance.com/Account/Create/Default.aspx? to set up or modify your online account today.

Questions or comments? Email us: ERIEmobile@ERIEInsurance.com.

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Posted Friday, October 21 2011 3:24 PM
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Rate Protection Endorsement from Erie Insurance

Have you ever filed an auto claim only to have your rates hiked by your automobile insurance carrier?

What if your car insurance company allowed you to lock in your rates for as long as your policy was in force, with a guarantee that your price would change only if you add or remove a vehicle, change drivers on your plan or change your address.

Sounds too good to be true, right? Fortunately it is true. Erie Insurance offers Rate Lock, where your premium will not change until you add or remove a vehicle or driver, or change your primary residence. Rate Lock protects you from increases due to accidents and also from inflationary increases that often come at renewal time.

In this economy, where your gas, milk and most everything else is going up in price, wouldn't it be nice to know that one cost will remain constant until you change vehicles, drivers or your address?

If you are budget-minded, on a fixed income or want some stability in this ever-changing world give us a call and we will be happy to further discuss this option to you!

Not all endorsements are available in all territories. Ask us if you can benefit from this endorsement?

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Posted Monday, September 26 2011 3:48 PM
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