Insurance Tips
Help maximize your coverage and minimize your risk with these insurance tips:
Home Tips
Market value vs. replacement cost
Your home's worth can be determined in two different ways:
- Market value
The home's market value is the price agreed to by a buyer and seller. This price may have been influenced by many different factors (location, age of the home, etc.)
- Replacement cost
The replacement cost is the actual cost of rebuilding the house after a complete loss. This cost will fluctuate depending on the cost of materials, construction, etc.
Homeowners should have enough coverage to rebuild their house in the exact style and quality of the original home, after taking inflation into consideration. You should review your homeowners policy with your insurance agent to ensure that you have adequate coverage in case of an emergency. Often such a review will prompt a phone call to our agency for a welcome insurance discussion. We invite you to do just this.
Man's best friend may take a bite out of your homeowners policy
Every year, 4.5 billion people in the United States are bitten by dogs and 334,000 of those people end up in the emergency room. Here are some tips to minimize your risk: and maximize your dog's happiness:
- Most homeowners policies cover dog bites under personal liability coverage. Do not take this for granted — check with your insurance agent to lean more about your policy.
- Give your dog a secluded part of the house and/or backyard. This should be a place where your dog can relax without being disturbed.
- If your dog is outside and unsupervised, keep him or her on a leash or behind a fence.
- Intervene when children are harassing or teasing your dog. Don't encourage roughhousing with your dog.
- Teach your dog to be sociable by taking it on a leash near areas with children making noise.
- Avoid having certain breeds of dogs with temperamental or aggressive tendencies. American Straffordshire Terrier (Pit Bull), Mastiff, Rottweiler, Akita, Doberman Pinscher, German Shepard, Wolf, Wolf Hybrid are high–risk dog breeds.
Protect your home from theft
Team up with a neighbor
- Concerned neighbors can make or break a burglar by organizing a block watch. All you need is an agreement among your neighbors and a list of their addresses and phone numbers in case someone spots suspicious activities.
Sound the alarm on a burglar
- Having an alarm is one of the best ways to scare away a burglar. It also may entitle you a discount on your homeowners, rental or condo insurance policy.
- Before you buy, get estimates and ask questions. Make sure you're dealing with a reputable firm.
- Company background: How long has the company been in business? Is it licensed and bonded?
- Warranties and service: Do warranties include parts and labor? Is 24–hour response or repair service offered? Maintenance contracts? Central–station monitoring?
9 Tips to Lower Your Homeowners Insurance Costs
Credit Tips (Insurance Scoring)
So what's credit got to do with insurance?
- It is an accurate predictor of future claim filing
- It lowers costs for the majority of consumers
- It fairly allocates the cost of coverage based on a consumer's claim potential
- It provides an objective tool for decision making
- It increases the availability and affordability of insurance for consumers
- It allows insurance companies to underwrite some consumers who would not receive coverage using more traditional underwriting criteria
Auto Tips
Auto insurance terms made simple
These explanations will help you understand some of the insurance terms you'll find in your policy.
Liability — If you're found even partially at fault in an accident, this coverage pays if you damage another driver's car, injure, or (heaven forbid) kill someone.
Underinsured or uninsured motorist — Pays what you are entitled to record for bodily injury or property damage in an accident if the responsible party isn't insured, doesn't have enough insurance, and can't fully compensate you out–of–pocket, or in case of a hit–and–run driver, can't be found.
Medical payments/personal injury protection (PIP) — Pays for you and your passengers' medical expenses — regardless of fault — from an accident or if you're injured as a pedestrian or bicyclist.
Comprehensive — Pays for losses to your car caused by something other than collision — for example, vandalism, theft, and acts of nature like fire, flood, windstorms, hail, or even hitting a deer.
Collision — Pays for damage to your car resulting from being hit, hitting another object, or if your car overturns, regardless of fault.
Rental reimbursement — Pays a preset daily limit toward the cost of a rental care while your car is in the shop under a covered collision or comprehensive claim.
Boat Tips
For the crew
- Coast Guard–approved life jackets for everyone on board
Before you leave port
- Fill your fuel tank
- Get a Coast Guard boat inspection
For the boat
- Coast Guard–approved signal flares
- Spare oar or paddle
- Bilge pump or bailer
- Fire extinguisher
- Air horn
- Flashlight
Distress signals
- In daylight — black smoke or red flares
- At night — rockets or a waving flashlight
- A whistle or horn blown continuously
- Repeated arm waving
INSURANCE PRODUCTS ARE: NOT DEPOSITS; NOT OFFERED AS A CONDITION TO ANY BANK LOAN, PAYMENT OR SERVICE; NOT FDIC INSURED; NOT BANK GUARANTEED; AND MAY GO DOWN IN VALUE.
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