What do I give up by not using a licensed independent agent to purchase insurance?

The disadvantage of not using a licensed agent to purchase insurance is that the policyholder does not receive as much, or often any, personal service. A licensed agent with whom there is direct contact can be vital when purchasing a product and absolutely necessary when filing a claim. Without an agent to act as your personal advocate during the claims process, you are left to take care of the details on your own. You may be unsure who to contact at the insurance company or who you can really trust to help you during the times in life when you need help the most. Without an agent you are on your own to absorb the frustration and expense of resolving your problems.

The disadvantage of not using a licensed independent agent to purchase insurance is that agents who only represent one insurance company can only offer insurance based on that one company’s policies and rate structures. As an independent agency we represent numerous insurance companies and are deeply familiar with the intricate differences between them. Therefore we are able to match your needs with the best company to meet those needs and your budget without having to sacrifice coverage in order to find affordability.

What’s the risk in not using an agent?

Many insurance companies that can be called directly as a customer fail to tell you that the “call center personnel” who will take your information and issue the policy ARE NOT licensed to sell insurance, therefore lacking the professional knowledge to guide you toward an acceptable level of protection. These companies are conducting business using a loophole within the law which allows the company to have one license while everyone else works without it. Going this route can place your financial future at risk because unlicensed personnel are trained to simply sell you a policy without being aware of what “real” protection means.

For instance, imagine you own a $150,000 home and your auto insurance policy’s liability limits are $50,000. When you purchased the policy you were told this was plenty of protection considering your state’s minimum requirement for liability is $20,000. Yet if you have an accident and are sued for $200,000 your policy is only going to pay out $50k, leaving you responsible for the remaining $150k. Since your home would cover the difference, a court judgment could force you into selling your home as a way to settle the suit. If your policy’s liability limits had protected you at a minimum of $200,000, the policy would be paying for the total suit.

Because direct writers are typically located nowhere near where you live, many won’t hesitate to sell you a policy with low liability limits as a way to simply make the policy cheaper while convincing you to buy it. Leaving you extremely vulnerable to financial disaster.

Looking for an agent with your best interests at heart? That’s exactly why we’re here.

Recreational vehicles (RVs) can be a fun way to see the country and spend time with your family. However, because they’re bigger and heavier than an average car, there are additional hazards that come with owning and operating an RV.

Many RV accidents can be avoided by following these helpful tips:

• Know the weight capacity of your RV.
• Perform a complete pre-trip inspection. Check the tire pressure, tread depth, headlights, tail lights, turn signals, belts, oil levels, hitch and other towing equipment, and windshield wipers before leaving.
• Know the height of your RV and pay close attention to overhangs and clearance heights.
• Watch your speed, especially at night and during dusk.
• Slow down on blind curve areas of the roadway.
• Use your high beams at night to see animals and other obstructions.
• Always wear a seat belt.

Dropping some of your coverage—like comprehensive or collision—to the lowest legal level can cut your premium, but it could also put you at serious risk.

An automobile insurance policy is designed to provide you with a level of protection against property, liability and medical costs if you are involved in an accident.

• Property coverage pays for damage to or theft of your car.
• Liability coverage pays for your legal responsibility to others for bodily injury or property damage.
• Medical coverage pays for the cost of treating injuries, rehabilitation and sometimes lost wages and funeral expenses.
• Underinsured motorists coverage pays for property damage and bodily injury caused by another driver whose coverage is insufficient to cover damages suffered.

Selecting the correct liability limits is fundamental. 100/300/50 means you are covered for up to $100,000 in bodily injury coverage per person, $300,000 in bodily injury coverage per accident and $50,000 in property damage per accident.

Many states have minimum liability limits of 25/50/10, although some states are higher or lower than this. While it may lower your premium, reducing your liability limits to minimum legal levels and dropping underinsured motorists coverage could open you up to substantial risk.

Collison Insurance – Know the Value of Your Car

Your policy will not pay for repairs that exceed the value of your vehicle. For this reason, if you are driving a vehicle that isn’t worth more than a few thousand dollars, it may not make sense to purchase collision coverage. BHC Insurance can help you determine whether or not collision insurance makes sense for you.

Top Ways to Save on Your Auto Premium:

• Consider raising your deductible.
• Keep up your good driving record.
• Drive less to qualify for a low-mileage discount.
• Drive a car with safety features such as anti-lock brakes and airbags.
• Install an anti-theft device.
• Ask about our multi-policy discounts.

We’re Here to Help

Accidents happen to cautious drivers, too, and having adequate insurance can save you from serious financial burden should one happen to you.

We can help you determine which automobile insurance coverage is needed and what limits you should consider for your policy.

Obtaining the peace of mind financial stability brings starts with reviewing your current financial resources. This is important because your financial resources affect not only your ability to reach your goals, but your ability to protect those goals from potential financial crises. These are the resources you will draw on to meet various life events.

Start by calculating your net worth—this isn’t as difficult as it might sound. Your net worth is simply the total value of what you own: your assets, minus what you owe (your liabilities). It’s a snapshot of your financial health.

First, add up the approximate value of all of your assets. This includes personal possessions, vehicles, homes, checking and savings accounts, and the cash value (not the death benefits) of any life insurance policies you may have. Include the current value of investments, such as stocks, real estate, certificates of deposit, retirement accounts, IRAs and the current value of any pensions you have.

Now add up your liabilities: the remaining mortgage on your home, credit card debt, student and personal loans taxes due on the profits of your investments if you cashed them in and any other outstanding bills. Subtract your liabilities from your assets. Do you have more assets than liabilities? Or the other way around? If so, don’t beat yourself up. According to Forbes Magazine, a person with no debt and $10 in his or her pocket has more wealth than 25 percent of Americans.

Your aim is to create a positive net worth, and you want it to grow each year. Your net worth is part of what you will draw on to pay for financial goals and your retirement. A strong net worth also will help you through financial crises. Review your net worth annually as a good way to monitor your financial health. Websites like Mint.com help you keep track of your income, expenses and net worth on a daily basis.

Identify other financial resources. You may have other financial resources that aren’t included in your net worth but that can help you through tough times. These include the death benefits of your life insurance policies, Social Security survivor’s benefits, health care coverage, disability insurance, liability insurance, and auto and home insurance. Although you may have to pay for some of these resources, they offer financial protection in case of illness, accidents or other catastrophes.

10 Things to Know About Hurricane Insurance Claims

After the devastating hurricanes in Texas and Florida, residents are now assessing the damage, contacting their insurers, and starting on the long process of physical and financial recovery. If you were affected by Hurricane Harvey or Hurricane Irma, here is how to get the money you deserve from your insurance company and ways to make the most of other assistance to fill in the gaps.

Keep reading to learn more about the 10 things you need to know about hurricane insurance claims.

Flooding Isn’t Covered by Homeowners Insurance

In general, damage caused by wind, wind-driven rain and water that comes into your home through the roof, windows, doors or holes in the walls is covered by homeowners insurance. But damage from flooding or water that rises from the bottom up–from the overflow of a body of water, for example, or a storm surge–is not covered. A lot of the damage in Houston was from flooding and will be covered if you had flood insurance, such as through the FloodSmart.gov National Flood Insurance Program. But even if you didn’t have flood insurance, it’s still worthwhile to contact your home insurance company to see whether some of your expenses will be covered, such as wind damage to your roof or the additional living expenses you incurred while you were out of your house. See Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Wind Damage vs. Flood Damage fact sheet. Also see Lessons From the Floods for more information about how flooding affected Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and other Midwestern towns, as well as what types of damages were and were not covered by insurance.

Flooding Is Covered by Auto Insurance

If your car insurance includes comprehensive coverage (which insures against the type of physical damage not caused by an accident), then flooding would be covered. In many cases, the water damage can be so bad that the insurance company will declare the car a total loss and pay the claim for the value of the car (minus the deductible). Also, be careful if you’re buying a used car in the next several months as cars with flood damage enter the market; such damage could pose major safety risks.

You May Have a Much Higher Deductible for Hurricane Damage

Until a few years ago, many people in high-risk areas of Florida had to buy separate policies to cover windstorms. Now, more insurers are offering windstorm coverage in Florida as part of their homeowners policies, says Chris Heidrick, an independent insurance agent in Sanibel, Fla. But you may have a higher deductible for hurricane damage. For example, you may have a $500 deductible on most claims, but a deductible of 2% to 5% of your coverage amount for damages caused by a hurricane. In Texas, people in some coastal areas, such as Corpus Christi, may have three separate policies: homeowners insurance, separate hurricane coverage from the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association and a flood policy with the National Flood Insurance Program. For more information, see What You Need to Know About Homeowners Insurance in Hurricane-Prone States.

Find Out If You Qualify for Other Assistance

See the Texas Hurricane Center and Florida’s Hurricane Irma Disaster Resources for information about emergency housing, medical and financial assistance from a variety of nonprofits and government agencies. You may also be able to get financial assistance from FEMA.gov if you don’t have insurance. Type your address in the tool at DisasterAssistance.gov to find out about aid in your area, including money for living expenses and rebuilding. You can also get in-person help at a FEMA disaster recovery center. Look up the nearest one using the recovery center locator. You may also qualify for SBA Disaster Loan Assistance, a low-interest loan available for homeowners and renters to repair or replace damaged property. (Even though it’s offered by the U.S. Small Business Administration, you don’t need to be a business to qualify.) Also see links to the state emergency management agencies.

Understand the Rules for Fallen Trees

Even if a hurricane didn’t destroy your home, you may have some damage from fallen trees. If your tree damages a neighbor’s property–say, crushing a garage or fence–your neighbor should file a claim with his insurance company, which will generally pay to fix the damage. When a tree falls and doesn’t hit anything, insurance policies will typically pay just $500 to $1,000–or sometimes nothing–for the cleanup. See Your Tree, Your Neighbor’s Property: Whose Insurance Pays? for more information.

Your Insurer May Pay for Living Expenses While You’re Out of Your Home

Most homeowners policies pay for additional living expenses–including rent, food and other costs–for up to a year while you’re unable to live in your home, or up to a certain percentage of your total coverage amount. This may be the first money you get from your insurance company before it determines how much to pay to rebuild your home. These living expenses can really add up if you’re out of your home for a while as you wait for your house to be rebuilt. Keep the receipts for reimbursement. Some insurers provide debit cards for these expenses.

Contact Your Insurer and Start Documenting Your Claim Right Away

Insurers usually want you to make temporary repairs, such as putting up a tarp, to stop any further damage to the house, even before an adjuster assesses the property. But take pictures before you make those temporary fixes. See the National Association of Insurance Commissioner’s apps and other resources to help you document the damages. Also keep receipts of any supplies you had to purchase for repairs, which may be reimbursed by your insurer. See Make Your Insurer Pay for strategies that helped people get their claims paid after Hurricane Katrina. Also see the “Managing the Post-Storm Insurance Claims Filing Process” consumer alert, important contact information and other resources at the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation’s Hurricane Season Resources page.

Get Credit for All of Your Possessions

If you had a home inventory listing your possessions, and you kept it online or outside of your home, you’ll have a great head start when filing your claims. Otherwise, you may be able to piece together information that can help with your claim. Any photos you have of the rooms in your home can provide evidence to the insurer about items that were damaged. Also look for any receipts for valuable items. And take pictures after the hurricane but before removing debris so that you have some documentation that the items were damaged in the storm. See How to Get Your Insurer to Pay Your Claims to read about how people have pieced together inventories after tornados and water-damage claims–and what they wish they would have done differently.

Take Advantage of In-Person Support

The state insurance department generally has consumer protection staff in disaster areas to answer questions and help you contact your insurer. Many insurance companies also have mobile claims units on the ground to assist with filing a claim and to answer any questions. See the Texas Department of Insurance’s Disaster Assistance Mobile Unit Locations and Help After Harvey resources. Also see Florida’s FloodSmart.gov Hurricane Irma Insurance Resource page and call the state’s insurance consumer helpline (877-693-5236; 850-413-3089) for more information about filing a claim and protecting yourself from scams.

Get Help From the State Insurance Department Throughout the Process

The state insurance department can help you with questions as you start to file your claim, and it can also step in if you’re having trouble contacting your insurer or getting your claim paid. Many insurance departments also set up special mediation programs to help resolve disputes between residents and their insurance companies after a major disaster. For more information, see the Texas Department of Insurance and the Florida Department of Financial Services. Also see the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ insurance department map for contact information in other states.

Source: Kiplinger.com

You can insure just about any kind of vessel, whether you have a yacht, speed boat or personal watercraft like a JetSki. Every type of boat has the potential to be stolen or damaged, and can be involved in an incident that results in harm to another person or their property. Even if your boat is docked or stored in your garage, it can potentially be vandalized, damaged in a fire or storm, or stolen.

Many owners of small watercraft such as canoes, rafts and kayaks assume they will be covered under a homeowners or renters policy. This may be the case, up to a specified limit in your home policy. However, when it’s time to make a claim, you don’t want to be surprised to find out that this limit is not adequate to cover the value of your investment.

Be sure to consider the amount of coverage you would need to repair or replace each of your boats and recreational vehicles if damaged or stolen and ask your agent to help you get the right coverage for those items.

What Does Boat Insurance Cover?

The exact boat coverage you need depends on multiple factors. Small boat insurance is very different from yacht insurance, for example. However, for most types of boats, the three kinds of coverage in a basic boat insurance policy include:

• Bodily injury liability for expenses related to the injury of another person
• Property damage liability for expenses related to harming another person’s property
• Physical damage for damage to your own property, including your boat and trailer.

You also may want to add additional types of coverage to your boat insurance policy in order to fully protect yourself and your property. Here are some examples of additional coverage:

• Property coverage for equipment such as tools, life preservers, anchors and oars
• Insurance for fishing equipment like your rods, lures, nets and tackle
• Towing coverage when your boat becomes disabled and needs servicing
• Medical payments coverage for hospital and funeral expenses for you or your passengers
• Uninsured/underinsured boaters coverage if you have an accident with another boater whose insurance is not sufficient to cover damages

As with all insurance, the amount of benefit or reimbursement you have in the event of an incident is set at the time you buy your policy.

Summer Water Safety Refresher

• Teach children water safety and swimming skills as early as possible.
• Always brief babysitters on water safety, emphasizing the need for constant supervision.
• Appoint a “designated watcher” to monitor children during social gatherings at or near pools.
• Equip doors and windows that exit to a pool area with alarms.
• Install a poolside phone, preferably a cordless model, with emergency numbers programmed into speed-dial.
• Post CPR instructions and learn the procedures.
• Keep rescue equipment poolside. Don’t wait for the paramedics to arrive because you will lose valuable life-saving seconds. Four to six minutes without oxygen can cause permanent brain damage or death.
• Keep a first aid kit at poolside.
• Install four-sided isolation fencing, at least five feet high, equipped with self-closing and self-latching gates, that completely surrounds the pool and prevents direct access from the house and yard.
• Maintain constant visual contact with children in a pool or pool area. If a child is missing, check the pool first; seconds count in preventing death or disability.
• Don’t use flotation devices as a substitute for supervision. Never allow a young child in a pool without an adult.
• Don’t leave objects such as toys that might attract a child in the pool and pool area.
• Never prop the gate to a pool area open.
• Don’t rely on swimming lessons, life preservers, or other equipment to make a child “water safe.”
• Never assume someone else is watching a child in a pool area.
• Don’t leave chairs or other items of furniture where a child could use them to climb into a fenced pool area.
• Don’t think you’ll hear a child who’s in trouble in the water; child drowning is a silent death, with no splashing to alert anyone that the child is in trouble

Prepare Yourself for IRS Phone Scams

Your phone rings. When you check, the caller ID shows it’s the IRS calling. (Three letters that can give you a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach.) But you think to yourself: I don’t believe I owe any taxes. And I haven’t even submitted this year’s return. Why are they calling me? But it says it’s the IRS, so it must be them… right?

WRONG.

For a number of years scammers have been calling people across the country, spoofing the caller ID, claiming to be IRS officials, and demanding immediate payment of fines or back taxes. Their goal is to trick you into giving them personal information and/or get you to send cash.

So the REAL IRS has assembled a number of tips to help you understand what the criminals are doing and how to avoid becoming a victim of one of their scams:

• Scammers try to scare you. Many phone scams use threats to intimidate and bully you into paying a bogus tax bill, usually through a prepaid debit card or wire transfer. They may even threaten to arrest, deport, or revoke your license if they don’t get the money. (If they don’t get through to you, they may also leave “urgent” callback requests through phone “robo-calls,” or via phishing email.
)

• Scams use caller ID spoofing. Scammers often alter caller ID to make it look like the IRS or another agency is calling. The callers use IRS titles and fake badge numbers to appear legitimate. They may use your name, address and other personal information (even your Social Security Number) to make the call sound official.

• Cons try new tricks all the time. Some schemes provide an actual IRS address where they tell you to mail a receipt for the payment you make. Others use emails that contain a fake IRS document with a phone number or an email address for a reply. These scams often use official-looking IRS letterhead in emails or regular mail that they send you. They try these ploys to make the ruse look official.

• Scams cost victims over $23 million. You probably think “I’ve heard this before; they won’t fool me.” But the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has received reports of about 736,000 scam contacts between October 2013 and November 2015. Nearly 4,550 victims have collectively paid over $23 million as a result of the scam. The crooks get more sophisticated every year. The communications look and sound more real all the time too. And we’ll bet that a certain number of those 4,550 victims thought they wouldn’t be scammed either.

So to protect yourself, remember the following:

• The IRS will NOT call you to demand immediate payment. The IRS will not call you if you owe taxes without first sending you a bill in the mail.

• The IRS will NOT demand that you pay taxes and not allow you to question or appeal the amount you owe.

• The IRS will NOT require that you pay your taxes a certain way. For instance, require that you pay with a prepaid debit card.

• The IRS will NOT ask for your credit or debit card numbers over the phone.

• The IRS will NOT threaten to bring in police or other agencies to arrest you for not paying.

Phone scams first tried to sting older people, new immigrants to the U.S. and those who speak English as a second language. But it has become such a profitable enterprise, the crooks now try to swindle just about anyone. And they’ve ripped-off people in every state in the nation. Stay alert. Don’t let the next victim be you!

Seeking Applicants for the GuideOne Foundation Scholarship Program

Once again, the GuideOne Foundation will be awarding four $2,500 scholarships to students who are actively pursuing a future career in ministry. If you know someone who is seeking a leadership role in one of America’s religious organizations, please encourage them to apply for the scholarship. To gain more program awareness among church congregations and students of higher education institutions, commercial agents also are urged to share this information with their customers. Examples of how churches can share this with their members include putting announcements in Sunday bulletins, adding information to their website, and creating fliers about the scholarship and distributing them to congregation members.

To be eligible, students must meet the following criteria:

• Must be a junior, senior or graduate religious studies student, or an individual in seminary.
• Students must be attending accredited colleges, universities or seminaries within the United States and District of Columbia.
• Minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.25 is required.
• Essay, transcript (official or unofficial) and one letter of recommendation are required.

More information, including the online application, can be found on GuideOne.com under the GuideOne Foundation page. The deadline to apply is April 15, 2016. Applications must be received online and in full. Please note that GuideOne agents or children of agents are eligible to apply.

There are a wide variety of silly and somewhat funny things we can do from time to time, like telling people that dihydrogen monoxide is coming out of the sink (dihydrogen monoxide is the chemical name for water), but one thing you should avoid falling for as a consumer is being told that carrying only the state mandated minimum coverage is adequate auto insurance protection.

In an auto accident, drivers can be legally liable for their passengers’ injuries. While most states have mandatory minimum limits of liability required of all drivers, many of these requirements may not be sufficient in covering injuries sustained in an auto accident. In some states, this required amount may be as little as $25,000 per person and $50,000 total for all injuries in an accident – which may not be enough when you consider the severity of certain injuries and the number of passengers that could be involved. Remember that this limit also applies for all injuries caused by an accident for which you are liable, including passengers of other cars.

So what are the right limits? Like many answers… It depends. Everyone’s situation is different, but as an independent insurance agency we can help you understand what issues you should consider when evaluating what liability limits to purchase.

For Instance:

1. How much would it take to compensate a victim? If you were to cause a severe, life altering injury to someone, consider how much money it would cost over time to compensate them. It’s likely higher than $25,000.
2. What assets do you have and what is your net worth? Think about your home, your car, savings, investments, etc. Having adequate insurance to protect these assets is something you should consider.

Naturally you might wonder if increasing your liability limits will increase the price of your insurance premiums. While you’ll pay more for the additional coverage, it’s likely that it won’t be very much to raise your liability limits, and in the long run it offers you more financial protection. You may be able to offset some of those expenses by raising your deductible or through other discounts. This is where we can help identify the different options available to you.

There is no definitive rule of thumb for making sure you have “enough” insurance but it’s important that you feel comfortable with the amount you have, because nobody likes to be made a fool of when it comes to an insurance claim.

Source: trustedchoice.com

TRYING TO SAVE MONEY? AVOID THE FIVE BIGGEST INSURANCE MISTAKES.

With far too many Americans out of work, and others forced to make ends meet with less money, many people are looking for ways to cut costs. There are smart ways to save on home and auto insurance; however, there are also mistakes that can result in being significantly underinsured.

When money is tight, it is extremely important to be financially protected against a catastrophe with the right amount and type of insurance by taking a few simple steps, it is possible to cut costs and still be protected should disaster strike.

Following are five of the biggest insurance mistakes that consumers should look out for:

Insuring a home for its real estate value rather than for the cost of rebuilding. When real estate prices go down, some homeowners may think they can reduce the amount of insurance on their home. But insurance is designed to cover the cost of rebuilding, not the sales price of the home. You should make sure that you have enough coverage to completely rebuild your home and replace your belongings.

A better way to save: Raise your deductible. An increase from $500 to $1,000 could save up to 25 percent on your premium payments.

Selecting an insurance company by price alone. It is important to choose a company with competitive prices, but also one that is financially sound and provides good customer service.

A better way to save: Check the financial health of a company with independent rating agencies and ask friends and family for recommendations. You should select an insurance company that will respond to your needs and handle claims fairly and efficiently.

Dropping flood insurance. Damage from flooding is not covered under standard homeowners and renters insurance policies. Coverage is available from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), as well as from some private insurance companies. Many homeowners are unaware they are at risk for flooding, but in fact 25 percent of all flood losses occur in low risk areas.

A better way to save: Before purchasing a home, check with the NFIP to check whether it is in a flood zone; if so, consider a less risky area. If you are already living in a flood zone area, look at mitigation efforts that can reduce your risk of flood damage and consider purchasing flood insurance.

Only purchasing the legally required amount of liability for your car. In today’s litigious society, buying only the minimum amount of liability means you are likely to pay more out-of-pocket—and those costs may be steep

A better way to save: Consider dropping collision and/or comprehensive coverage on older cars worth less than $1,000. The insurance industry and consumer groups generally recommend a minimum of $100,000 of bodily injury protection per person and $300,000 per accident.

If you don’t own your home, neglecting to buy renters insurance. A renters policy covers your possessions and additional living expenses if you have to move out due to a disaster. Equally important, it provides liability protection in the event someone is injured in your home and decides to sue.

A better way to save: Look into multi-policy discounts. Buying several policies with the same insurer will generally provide surmountable savings.