It seems that the cost of just about everything is on the rise these days. We can help you make sure that your auto insurance premium isn’t one of them. With ERIE’s new Rate Protection Endorsement, you can lock in your auto insurance rate so you’ll pay the same premium year after year.

Here’s how the Rate Protection Endorsement works. With this endorsement, you lock in your auto rate until you do one of the following:

• Add or remove a vehicle from your policy
• Add or remove a driver from your policy
• Change your primary residence

Even if you have a claim, your premium will not change until you make one of the changes listed above. If you have purchased this endorsement and ERIE’s rates increase or decrease, your rates will remain the same.

One of the benefits of this endorsement is that you can add or delete the endorsement when one of the above changes occurs or when your policy renews each year. You are in the driver’s seat – you can lock in your rate when it suits your situation.

You can still make the same kinds of changes to your auto policy that you’ve made in the past without losing the benefits of the endorsement. If you request one of the following changes, or if you gain or lose eligibility for a multi-policy or pay plan discount, your premium will only be adjusted to reflect that particular change:

• Add or delete coverages
• Change a policy limit, deductible, multi-policy status or payment plan

What a nice addition to your household budget – stable auto insurance rates.

Talk to your ERIE Agent about adding the Rate Protection Endorsement to your ERIE auto policy and take control of your auto premium.

Download the Erie Rate Protection Coverage PDF

With the new Allstate® eBill you will receive an electronic version of your paper bill, delivered securely online.

Why use Allstate eBill?

• Receive and view your bill online
• Keep your personal information safe
• Save time and paper
• Be notified by e-mail when your bill is ready

Learn more about Allstate eBill.

If a fire, flood, earthquake, or some other natural disaster were to destroy or damage your home, would you have the right insurance coverage to rebuild your house?

This brochure, based on the questions consumers most frequently ask, explains what is covered in a standard home-owners policy and what is not.

Questions include:

• Am I covered for direct losses due to fire, lightning, tornadoes, wind storms, hail, explosions, smoke, vandalism and theft?
• Are my jewelry and other valuables covered?
• If my house is totally destroyed in a fire and I have $150,000 worth of insurance to cover the structure, will this be enough to rebuild my home?
• Am I covered for flood damage?
• A pipe bursts and water flows all over my floors.  Am I covered?
• What if water seeps into my basement from the ground, am I covered?
• A neighbor slips on my sidewalk or falls down my porch steps and threatens to take me to court for damages.  Does my policy protect me?
• And more frequently asked questions.

Download the Am I Covered brochure to find out if you have adequate coverage.

The following home safety articles by Erie Insurance will help you maintain a safe home while protecting your investment and potentially decreasing your insurance premiums.

• Home heating tips
• Protect yourself from home fires
• Smoke detector safety
• Mold, Moisture and Your Home
• Barbeque grill safety
• Home playground safety

For more tips on safeguarding your home and family visit the Erie Insurance Home Safety and Maintenance website.

If you’ve never had an auto insurance policy before—don’t worry. It isn’t as complicated as it seems. Understanding what you’re buying is important. But with a little research, Allstate’s online tools and your local agent, it can be easy.

Where Do You Start?

Before you start comparing auto insurance quotes and companies, take a little time to figure out what you need. The Bumper-to-Bumper BasicsSM tool helps you do exactly that. It only takes a couple minutes and any one of our virtual guides can explain auto insurance so it’s easy to understand.
After that, you’re ready to start a Ballpark estimate. It’s quick and you won’t even have to give your name. It’ll also help you quickly understand what rates you can expect to pay, along with what features and coverages are available.

What Coverages Should You Consider?

Every auto insurance policy has several different coverages that protect you, your passengers, other drivers and your vehicle. Some coverages are required by the state you live in, and some are optional. Here’s a short list of common auto insurance coverages, along with what they typically cover:

• Bodily Injury Liability — Costs that you’re legally responsible for, resulting from bodily injury or death to another person.
• Property Damage Liability Coverage — Damage to another person’s vehicle or property that you’re legally responsible to pay for.
• Medical Payments Coverage & Personal Injury Protection Coverage — All reasonable medical expenses resulting from a bodily injury, sickness, disease or death of your passengers or a driver on your policy, as the result of an accident.
• Underinsured / Uninsured Motorist Coverage — Costs resulting from bodily injury caused by another driver who doesn’t have enough insurance (or any at all).
• Collision Coverage — Damage to your vehicle caused by a collision with another object or from the vehicle rolling over.
• Comprehensive Coverage — Damage to your vehicle from anything other than a collision. Things like a windstorm, fire, theft, hail, flood or vandalism.
• The insurance coverage you choose depends on your situation. Even though you’re just starting out, getting the bare minimum might not be right for you. Take a look at what each one covers, and decide whether or not that protection is something you need. Sometimes, adding an optional coverage only amounts to a few extra dollars a month.

How Much Auto Insurance Coverage Should You Consider?
Once you know what you’re interested in, the next step is to choose how much insurance protection you want. Typically, you’ll be choosing a limit or a deductible.
A limit is the maximum amount an insurance company will pay out for a particular coverage. A higher limit means you’re better protected from high costs, and that protection will cost you more money.

A deductible is the amount you’ve agreed to pay out of your pocket before the insurance company pays for any other covered losses. You usually have to choose one when you get Collision or Comprehensive coverage. After you pay a deductible, the insurance company typically pays the rest, up to the actual cash value of your car. Choosing a higher deductible typically means your premium will be lower.

How Do You Know If You’re Paying Too Much?

Make sure you’re comparing “apples to apples” when you’re looking at rates from different auto insurance companies. In other words, when you get quotes to compare, make sure they include the same coverage, limits and deductibles. Even though a quote might look lower, it might not offer you the same protection as a more expensive one.

Most auto insurance companies, including Allstate, will offer a variety of discounts. Try using the personal quote tool to find out all the discounts you qualify for, or talk to your local agent.

Rethinking Your Auto Insurance Coverage

Most insurance policies are renewed every six months, and some people go back over their policy then to make sure their needs are still being met. Others check it less often—when they have a major life change. Like getting married, having a baby, buying or selling a car, buying or selling a home—anything that affects their assets.

What If You Need to Make a Claim?

Making a claim is the exact reason you carry auto insurance—it’s what you do when you have a loss that’s covered by your policy. You might not be thinking about it now, but after an accident, having an experienced company with a smooth claims process can help get things back to normal much easier.

Allstate has a 24/7 Customer Information Center that is always available to help you with your claim, and your local agent is there for you too. If you sign up for Allstate’s free Customer Care website, you can even make and track your claim online anytime, anywhere.

Motor vehicle crashes are the number one cause of death for teens in America today. Every year, nearly 6,000 teens are killed and about 300,000 are injured in crashes.

When parents play an active role in helping their teens learn to drive and set driving guidelines, they can help reduce their teens’ chances of being involved in a crash. And, believe it or not, in a recent survey by The Allstate Foundation, teens said their parents have the strongest influence on their driving behavior. So it’s vital for parents to take the lead in this rite of passage for their teens.

Here are some important things parents should consider before their teen gets their license:

Decide if your teen is ready

Not all teens should drive solo when the law says they can. Some characteristics to look for when determining if your teen is ready for a license:


• Good judgment in general

• Ability to resist peer pressure

• Control of emotions

• Ability and willingness to follow state driving laws and your rules

• Comfort and self-assurance (not overconfidence) behind the wheel

Understand your state’s laws

Every state has Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) laws that restrict newly-licensed teens from driving in high-risk times and situations until they gain valuable on-the-road experience. Familiarize yourself and your teen with the laws in your state.

Establish your family’s rules

As a supplement to your state’s GDL laws, complete our Interactive Parent-Teen Driving Contract that outlines your own rules about when, where, how and with whom your teen may drive — and consequences for breaking them. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the most important rules are to restrict night driving starting at 9 or 10 p.m. and allow only one teenage passenger for the first year after your teen is licensed.

Stick together

Be sure to encourage other parents in your community to set appropriate rules for their teens so you can present a united front.

Keep talking

Continue to discuss the risks and responsibilities of driving with your teen even after he or she gets a license. Be sure to encourage your teen to speak up and discourage risky behaviors—both as a driver and a passenger.

For more information about ways to help teen drivers come home safely, visit The Allstate Foundation’s teen driving resource center, where you’ll find lots of information to download and other information to share.