Erwin Insurance

After a 10 year stint on 10th Avenue South, we have moved back downtown.

Our agency has been in many locations over its 118 year history… most of them in our downtown business district. It is great to be back, and this time in a incredibly historic building.

The Lee Forest building is on the National Register of Historic Places, and is describe as follows:

Lee Forest Garage (119 1st Ave. N.)

Winged automobile wheels frame the word “Garage” above this building’s center bay. Two other terra cotta panels, reading “Lee Forest” and “Machinists,” offer additional clues to the building’s original owner and use. Ford distributor Lee Forest hired architect George Shanley in 1916 to design a two-story addition to what had been a one-story garage. Three years earlier, Ford had revolutionized the auto industry with the introduction of the assembly line. Business boomed for distributors like Forest, who sold five hundred cars in the first quarter of 1916 alone. The dramatic increase in Forest’s business made the $20,000 addition necessary. The unusual design included a rear elevator to bring cars to the third-floor repair shop or second-floor showroom. The second floor also included a parking garage, which held up to 150 cars. The concept was new enough that the newspaper called the parking garage “storage … for patron cars and for transient cars … and for machines that Mr. Forest keeps for hire or for automobile livery service.”

Come visit our new location…

You can purchase auto liability limits that combine bodily injury and property damage into one limit (Single), or list each individually (Split). The advantage of “Single” limits, is you never know whether your next accident will involve more injured people or more damaged property. If the limits are “Split”, then you have a specific limit for each. I’ve listed an example below:

Let’s say the accident injured two people and two vehicles. Person #1 had $150,000 in injuries, person #2 $50,000. Car #1 $30,000 in damage, car #2 $25,000. With Single limits all injuries/damages would be fully covered. With Split limits, person #1 would be $50,000 short in having their costs covered, and the policy would have run out of money ($5,000) for property damage to the two vehicles once the $50,000 in coverage was exhausted.

In Montana, you are required to buy Liability and Uninsured Motorist coverage. Many will also buy Physical Damage coverage on their vehicle as well. A description of each of the coverages are on our Auto Definitions page.

Any good understanding of insurance begins with understanding the terms. A page has been set up for both Auto an Homeowners definitions. Visit it at this link.

Policies are categorized by the type of property they cover; home, auto, motorcycle, boat or recreational vehicle. With one of our companies, you can package all these coverages into one policy, but most times they are separate policies. In addition, many people buy an “Umbrella” policy. Umbrellas provide liability coverage, usually $1,000,000, over the coverage already provided by an existing auto, home, boat, motorcycle or recreational vehicle policy. If the limits you purchased on one of those policies run out, the Umbrella then takes over.