Pair introduces new insurance coverage to area
A local business duo is offering insurance covering every aspect of a wedding – except the bride or groom’s cold feet. Charlotte Pinardi-Burgess and Stacey Bortz, sales consultants of Fayette Insurance Associates Inc., say they are the first in the area to provide insurance covering nearly all potential wedding day disasters.
“We feel there is a need for wedding insurance,’ Pinardi-Burgess said.
“Someone is paying thousands of dollars for the wedding and a for a few hundred more they can have the peace of mind that if anything goes wrong, it will be covered,’ Bortz said.
The policies, which can range in a one-time charge from about $155 plus an application fee to nearly $1,000, offers protection against such wedding disasters as lost wedding rings, damaged clothing, unexpected postponements and even the weather. Clients can purchase policies covering property or liability or both. Policies can also extend coverage beyond what a venue might already offer for property or liability.
The policies are also designed to protect against lost or stolen gifts, loss of deposits if a vendor goes bankrupt or ceases doing business, and, maybe most importantly, problems caused by a guest who had too much to drink.
“If someone leaves your wedding drunk, you could be financially responsible. When a couple is just starting out, it could wipe them out financially,’ Bortz said, if an incident occurs leading to a law suit.
Just a few real-life wedding calamities, Bortz and Pinardi-Burgess related, include:
– A couple was forced to postpone their wedding when the groom was notified his military leave was being withdrawn due to revised deployment plans.
– The bride’s wedding gown was stolen and could not be located. She recovered the cost of the gown.
– A crystal gift was broken in transit to the wedding couple’s home. They recovered the value of the gift.
– The caterer scheduled to provide food went out of business and could not be reached. The couple recovered their lost deposit, using it to hire a replacement caterer.
– The audio portion of a video of the wedding was severely impaired. The couple received payment to cover professional treatment of the video to repair the audio track.
“The policy even covers the photographer if he doesn’t show up. We will get another photographer, or, if we can’t locate one, we will restage the entire wedding later,’ Pinardi-Burgess said.
She said she became aware of the need for such coverage while attending a cousin’s wedding in Massachusetts.
“The venue where they were having the event told my uncle he was responsible for any damage done to the facility, anything that could go wrong, he would be responsible. My uncle said, ‘That’s a big responsibility that I have to take on. If something happens to the gifts or basically if anything happens at the wedding, I am responsible,” she related.
Pinardi-Burgess said she showed her uncle a site on the Web detailing wedding insurance.
That gave her the idea of bringing it to this area.
After learning more about the coverage and what parts of the wedding it included, Pinardi-Burgess said, “That was something I wanted to get into.’
“It has grown in popularity over the past five years. When we got together, we saw how this can help people starting their life together. It’s not just for young people but people of any age who are getting married,’ she said.
Pinardi-Burgess, who lives in Brownsville, and Bortz, of Uniontown, both have about 10 years of experience in the insurance industry.
They are licensed insurance agents. Bortz works out of Fields Financial Services in Uniontown. Familiar with other insurances, they felt adding wedding coverage would give them a total package to offer clients.
“We feel this will be our niche market. We are targeting new couples. We specialize in developing a good program for them,’ offering not just wedding insurance, but all forms.
“We offer everything they may need, from life insurance to auto to health. That way they can deal with one company rather than jumping around’ for the various coverages, Pinardi-Burgess said.
Member agencies in Fayette Insurance Associates, she added, include Brown-Smiley-Nedley Insurance Agency LLC, John A. Fiesta Agency Inc. and S&S Financial Services LLC.
Fayette Insurance Associates offers wedding insurance, auto/homeowners/renter coverage, life and health insurances, motorcycle/RV/ATV coverage, commercial coverage and financial planning.
While the pair touts the wedding aspects of the coverage, it can also be used for many other special events, ranging from birthday parties to holiday gatherings.
However, Pinardi-Burgess and Bortz are focusing efforts on the wedding insurance by setting up information booths at bridal fairs and wedding shows. They will be at one such gathering at the Expo Mart in Monroeville this weekend.
“We want to offer wedding insurance. Our motto is ‘securing your life together, your future together.’ When you are married, we want to be there to help and consult on all your insurance needs: auto, life, home. We want to be the ones to help people with that,’ Pinardi-Burgess said.
For more information, contact them at Fayette Insurance Associates Inc., 648 Morgantown Road, Uniontown, 724-425-1100; fax at 724-425-2550; or by email at cburgess@fayins.com or sbortz-ffs@yahoo.com.