Monthly Archives: October 2011
Why You Need Renters Insurance
Your stuff isn’t protected by your landlord’s policy, so make sure you have the coverage you need.
By Cameron Huddleston, Contributing Editor, Kiplinger.com
Just because you’re renting your apartment or home doesn’t mean you’re off the hook when it comes to insurance. Your landlord’s property insurance policy will cover the building if disaster strikes, but it won’t cover your belongings. That’s why you need renters insurance.
This affordable insurance — a policy costs less than $200 a year, on average — covers renters against losses from fire or smoke, lightning, vandalism, theft, explosion, windstorm and water damage (not including floods), according to the Insurance Information Institute (III). If your home is damaged by a covered event and you have to live somewhere else, most policies will reimburse you the difference between your additional living expenses and normal living expenses. Plus, renters insurance helps cover legal costs if you’re taken to court because someone is injured at your home.
If you don’t have a policy — 57% of renters don’t — here’s a checklist from III to help you choose the right coverage:
Figure out how much coverage you need for your possessions. Create a home inventory to determine the value of all of your belongings (furniture, electronics, clothing, jewelry, etc.). A replacement-cost policy will pay to replace your possessions (up to the policy’s dollar limit), whereas a cash-value policy will pay only what the items are worth when stolen or damaged. Expect to pay about 10% more for replacement-cost coverage. If you have expensive jewelry, collectibles or art, consider adding a floater to your policy to provide more coverage. Standard policies offer only a limited amount of coverage for these items. You’ll need receipts or appraisals for items to be covered by the floater.
Understand the deductible. The deductible is the amount you’ll pay out of pocket before insurance kicks in. The larger the deductible, the lower your premium. So if you can afford a $1,000 deductible, you’ll cut your premium by as much as 25%, according to III. But considering how inexpensive renters insurance is, the savings might not be worth the large amount you’ll have to fork over to pay a high deductible.
Know what disasters are covered. Although losses from fires, lightning, windstorms, theft, vandalism, explosions and certain types of water damage are covered, standard policies don’t cover floods or earthquakes. You can get flood insurance through the federal government’s National Flood Insurance Program, and check with your insurer (like Jon Jepsen at SentryWest Insurance) about getting separate earthquake policy.
Make sure you get enough liability coverage. Most policies provide at least $100,000 of liability coverage (if someone sues you) and about $1,000 to $5,000 worth of medical payments coverage (which allows someone who gets hurt on your property to submit medical bills to your insurance company). If you need more than $300,000 worth of liability coverage, consider getting an umbrella policy for an additional $150 to $300 a year for $1 million worth of coverage.
Be aware of limits on living-expense reimbursements. Although most policies will help renters pay for living expenses if they have to live elsewhere as a result of property damage, insurers will either limit the amount of time they’ll provide coverage or place a cap on the amount that they’ll pay.
Ask about discounts. Many insurance companies offer a variety of discounts. For example, you might have to pay less if you have a security system, smoke detectors and deadbolt locks. Insurers also offer discounts to customers who have multiple policies with them, have good credit or are 55 or older. So be sure to ask about ways to lower your premium.
You can compare costs by contacting Jon Jepsen at SentryWest Insurance for multiple quotes. If you have a roommate, ask whether the insurer will allow you to purchase a single policy for both of you (then you can split the cost).
Read more: http://www.kiplinger.com/columns/kiptips/archives/why-you-need-renters-insurance.html#ixzz1bu47s2Vw
Car Insurance Can Be Funny.
Here are three crazy stories:
• A driver claimed they were leaving for work one morning and drove into a school bus parked at the end of their drive. A claim was filed against the bus driver, since the bus was five minutes earlier than they had expected and therefore obviously at fault. (as told by English comedian Jasper Carrott)
• A woman meeting her husband, a Navy crewman who was coming into port that day, parked at the end of the slip where the submarine was due in to berth. There was an inexperienced ensign at the helm who overshot his landing and hit the end of the slip, breaking a section away and sending the car plunging into the water. Needless to say, those damages were on Uncle Sam! (as told at www.businessballs.com)
• A driver parked by the side of the road was relocated to Oz when a home fell off the back of the truck that was relocating it. Eventually the insurance company paid the claim, but only after confirming with the moving company that the car had, in fact, been totaled by a house (as told by English Comedian Jasper Carrott)
Here at SentryWest Insurance in Salt Lake City, Jon Jepsen offers many options for your personal auto insurance, including:
- Bodily Injury
- Medical or Personal Injury Protection
- Property Damage
- Collision
- Comprehensive
- Uninsured / Underinsured Motorist Coverage
Deciding exactly what type of coverage you need may be confusing, that’s why my staff and I are dedicated to helping you find the best auto insurance in Utah, as well as make you, and your unique needs, our top priority!
Young Drivers: The High Risk Years
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, “Teenage drivers have the highest crash risk per mile traveled, compared with drivers in other age groups. The problem is worse among 16 year-olds, whose driving experience is the most limited and whose immaturity often results in risk-taking.”
The following is a great video that teen drivers and parents of teen drivers should watch. Thanks to Chubb Insurance for posting.
Am I Paying Too Much for Insurance?
That’s a question that every consumer asks from time to time. Everyone is curious and concerned as to whether he or she is getting a good value for the money, whether it’s for a candy bar, a car or an airline ticket.
It’s a good question to ask about insurance, too. After all, Americans spend a lot of money on insurance for homes, autos and businesses. In 2008, American drivers spent $161 billion for personal automobile insurance, reported the A.M. Best Co., an insurance research and ratings firm.
This large market for auto insurance is highly competitive. Consumers play a large part in keeping insurance rates competitive by virtue of shopping—whether online, by telephone or on the World Wide Web. More than one of four (about 28 percent) of auto insurance buyers shopped around for car insurance in 2009, reported J.D. Power & Associates in its 2009 national auto insurance study.
But consumers aren’t the only ones shopping around for auto insurance. So too do independent insurance agents, including Trusted Choice® insurance professionals.
On average, Trusted Choice® insurance professionals provide consumers with property/casualty insurance options from eight different insurance carriers, reported the 2008 agency universe study conducted by Future One, a collaboration of the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America (the Big “I”) and leading independent agency companies. For automobile insurance, those agents may compare rates and coverages at even more insurance companies, through their use of software that allows them to compare multiple policies and multiple carriers.
For auto insurance buyers, research showed that independent agents rank most highly on the most important element of customer satisfaction. The J.D. Power study measures customer satisfaction with auto insurance companies across five factors (in order of importance): interaction, policy offerings, billing and payment, price and claims. Insurers who sell their auto insurance products through agents performed “stronger in the interaction factor than do direct insurers,” reported J.D. Power.
Overall, customer satisfaction with auto insurance companies reached a five-year high in 2009, reported the J.D. Power study. The biggest improvement in satisfaction among the five factors has been in price. Interestingly, 42 percent of customers in 2009 reported that their auto insurance premiums declined without switching insurers.
Are you overpaying for auto insurance? Thanks to a competitive market that includes Trusted Choice® insurance professionals, the answer probably is no. If you’re not sure, ask Jon Jepsen at SentryWest (a Trusted Choice® insurance professional) to review your options.
Traffic School
Allowing local governments to manage their own traffic fines (and traffic schools) could be a good thing – especially if traffic school helps keep your driving record clean (right on!). Perhaps this is just another area in which State government should mind its own biz.
http://www.heraldextra.com/news/opinion/article_70ac0fee-973a-596b-aa92-7b36df01b00b.html
