In an emergency, police, fire and rescue workers depend on house numbers to find YOU as quickly as possible. Finding your home - especially at night - can be challenging if address numbers are unreadable, hidden, unlighted or have missing numbers and may delay emergency responders from getting to you as quickly as possible.

Are your house numbers visible from the street? Are they set on a background of contrasting color? If your house is hidden from the street, are your numbers attached to a visible fence, mailbox or gate? Is your mobile home identified with your house number? If you live on a corner, does your house number face the street named in your address?
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If you've answered "no" to any of these questions, please follow the guidelines below to make sure your house number is easy to read:

1. Numbers must be visible from the street. Existing residential home numbering can be 3 1/2 inches high, however new residential homes must be at least 5 inches high and if you replace existing numbers they must be at least 5 inches high.
2. Numbers should be placed on a contrasting background, with a reflective coating on the numbers for easy visibility at night.
3. Repair or replace aging address number placards, especially on mailboxes that are a distance from the front of the residence.
4. Prune any bushes, tree limbs or other growth that has covered your house numbers.
5. Numbers should be placed on or beside the front door. If your door is not easily seen from the street, put the numbers on a post, fence or tree at the driveway entrance so they can be clearly seen from the street. In addition to numbers on the front door of your house, if you have a rural-style mailbox, reflective and contrasting numbers should be placed on both sides of the box so they can be seen by an emergency vehicle approaching from either direction.

Most of us will never own a Picasso or a Rembrandt. But we may own (or someday own) a pricey piece of art. And that brings up the issue of how to insure fine art.

When you think of separately insuring a pricey item, many people think of engagement rings and other kinds of jewelry. But extra coverage can also come in handy for anything from a valuable stamp collection to an expensive fur to—you guessed it—fine art.


At ERIE, your art coverage is included in your personal property limit on your homeowners policy or renters policy. That should be sufficient for the vast majority of people who own fine art.
Yet maybe you inherited or bought a piece by a real master. If that’s the case, you’ll want to consider a separate endorsement for your fine art.
Even if your fine art is covered under your homeowners or renters policy, you may still want to endorse it under your policy. Doing so can let you choose a different deductible for your fine art than the regular policy deductible, modify the coverage or change how a loss would be settled.

Getting your fine art appraised
When it comes to how to insure fine art, one thing you’ll definitely want to do is get it appraised. An appraisal can help ensure that you’d be properly compensated if your art was stolen or damaged.
An appraiser may authenticate your art to make sure it’s not forged. There are several ways to check a painting’s authenticity:

• Examine the signature
• Check the artistic style and ability
• Look at the construction and back of the canvas (A forged painting often has irregular or uneven paint on the edge of the canvas and is stark white on the back—forgers typically don’t vary the heaviness of paint used.)
• Assess the past history of sale (known as the provenance) and any certificate of authenticity

A similar process is used if you own an original, limited edition print. An extra step an appraiser will check is the fraction number at the bottom of the print that indicates how many prints were made.
It’s a good idea to get an appraisal every few years since fine art prices can fluctuate. Make sure to save any appraisal documents with the bill of sale, certificate of authenticity and past history of sale. It’s also a good idea to take some photos of your art and include them in your home inventory.


Have more questions about how to insure fine art? Then contact an insurance professional like an Erie Insurance agent in your community.