Insurance Bundling for Investors

If you turn the TV on for 2 seconds you will hear all about you can bundle and save on insurance, and that is a great way to save. For investors this can also be true. Imagine having multiple investment properties on one insurance policy, with one renewal date, one payment. We have several options that can make this a reality.

The first is called the 10+ program. If you have more than 10 properties, we can put all your properties on one commercial policy that makes life easy. This program can include single family homes, apartment units with up to 6 dwellings, condos and manufactured home policies all in one place. You can even have a vacant home or two if they plan to be filled.

The second is a program that can have as few as 1 unit, but as many as you have. This program is a little different than the 10+, and is a great option for investors that are flipping houses on a regular basis.

These programs allow us to save you money and get you great coverage, but almost as important it allows you to simplify your insurance. It’s these programs that allow us to become more than your insurance agent, but a member of your team.

Have questions about your current coverage? Contact us or request a quote on our website.

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Auto Insurance Medical Payments

AUTO INSURANCE MEDICAL PAYMENTS

Medical payments is a simple coverage that is often over looked. Medical payments pays for the reasonable medical expense and funeral services of any “insured” while they are occupying a vehicle, as a pedestrian OR any other person while occupying your insured vehicle.

It is often overlooked as many people say they have health insurance and therefore is a redundant coverage. To that we say, there is a certain logic to that, BUT there are several reasons medical payments makes a lot of sense.

REASONS MEDICAL PAYMENTS MAKES SENSE

  1. While you might have great healthcare, who is getting in your car, and what kind of coverage do they have? Remember medical payments covers anyone occupying your vehicle, so if you car pool or often have non-familial passengers in your car Medical Payments can be extremely important. What if they don’t have health insurance? Medical payments might be the only coverage they have in the event of an accident.
  2. When you are in an accident and the other guy is at-fault, his liability policy will be what kicks in to pay for your medical bills, but what if you are at fault. The only thing to help you with your medical bills may be Medical Payments on your policy.
  3. What is your deductible on your health insurance policy? As healthcare costs have increased many people have increased their deductible and now have HSA plans with $5,000 deductible or higher. Is your heath savings account full funded? If not, medical payments on your auto policy may become a very important “bridge” that can help cover the cost of your health insurance deductible.

So to those that say its redundant we say, maybe think twice. Medical Payments coverage is a very cheap, coverage that can become very important in the event of an accident.

Have questions about your current coverage? Contact our agency. We are here to help you & ensure you have the proper insurance coverage.

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4 REASONS WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND UNINSURED / UNDER-INSURED MOTORIST COVERAGE

According to the most recent statistics provided by the Insurance Information Institute (2012), 11% of driver’s are uninsured in Arizona. That means that just over 1 in 10 drivers don’t have insurance, at all. Nationally that number is closer to about 12%. There are a lot of uninsured motorists! There are probably many more that are under-insured, but until there is an accident, we don’t actually know if a driver had enough insurance. So, long ago insurance companies invented this thing called uninsured and under-insured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage.

Essentially, this coverage is provided by YOUR insurance company to act as if the OTHER GUY had insurance (uninsured) or enough insurance (under-insured) to cover the damage they caused. State laws vary about how this is treated, so we are going to focus on Arizona for a second. In Arizona UM/UIM coverage does not protect your vehicle for the physical damage, if you want that you need Comprehensive and Collision coverage. However, UM/UIM does provide coverage are for your medical bills, loss of earnings, pain, suffering, and other personal injury damages. It also can provide the same coverage if you are a victim of a hit-and-run situation.  UM/UIM is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT; here are 4 reasons why.

  1. It’s a law that it’s offered – In Arizona, UM/UIM, must be offered to clients, and clients must accept or reject this coverage in writing. It is mandatory to purchase liability if you will be driving on public roads, but it is mandatory that UM/UIM must be offered. I believe reasons 2, 3 and 4 explain why.
  2. State minimum limits are too low – Arizona’s state minimum limits are 15/30/10. Meaning that if you get in an accident and the other guy has “just what the state requires” you have a total of $15,000 to cover your medical bills. On a side note, I think that’s about the cost to get a hang nail treated these days, so imagine if you got really hurt.
  3. This coverage is for catastrophic events – There are two types of injuries, those that you take an anti-inflammatory for, and all others. When UM/UIM coverage is triggered its usually because someone was seriously injured in a car accident. Meaning the insurance companies aren’t usually paying out $20 UM/UIM claims.
  4. My Experience – Let me take this personal for a second. My wife has a leg worth 1 million dollars from a boating accident. I know, completely unrelated, or is it? Stick with me for a second. My wife was injured wake boarding. She fell in a very routine manner. In fact, when we came around we asked her if she wanted to go again. She very calmly said she was “broken” and as we looked into the water we understood what she meant. She had dislocated her knee tearing all the ligaments, but one, and was bleeding. She was rushed to the ER, helicoptered to a trauma center, and underwent surgery that night. Long story short she almost lost her leg. She was able to keep it after 8 surgeries. At the time, we had 5 kids. While my wife was in surgery I was left in a waiting room. Understanding the gravity of the situation, I wondered how I would be able to work. How I would keep my Job. How I would be Dad and Mom through recovery and rehab. Our family lives in a rural area. I imagined all the follow up appointments, missed days at work, cost to drive back and forth to the doctors. Now, let’s pretend it was a car accident. Imagine getting a check for $15,000. Yeah, you may have other insurance for that, but health insurance doesn’t cover all the personal injury you know other stuff, but UM/UIM does. Remember UM/UIM covers medical bills, other out-of-pocket expenses, and pain and suffering. That’s HUGE.

WE NEVER KNOW WHAT LIFE HOLDS. MY WIFE IS OKAY, WE ARE BLESSED WITH FAMILY THAT HELPED US, BUT STUFF HAPPENS, AND WE PURCHASE INSURANCE TO PROTECT US. UNINSURED / UNDER-INSURED (UM/UIM) COVERAGE CAN HELP IN THESE CRAZY SITUATIONS, AND WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND YOU PURCHASE IT.

For more information on uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, contact us!

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Coverage Checklist for Manufactured Home Insurance

We will work off of a Coverage Checklist for Manufactured Home Insurance when reviewing coverage with you. It will help us figure out what’s most important to you and helps you understand how you are covered. Below is a copy of the checklist we use for Manufactured Home Insurance. Even if you don’t buy from us please use this checklist to make sure you have the coverage you want and need.

Property _______
How Much would it cost to replace your manufactured/mobile home? _______
Loss Settlement –  How much will you actually get if there is a loss? _______
Deductible – How much of a loss are you responsible for paying? _______
Water Backup of Sewer or Drains Coverage – Yuck… buy this. _______
Earthquake  – Not automatically included. _______
Flood – requires a separate policy _______
Ordinance and Law – does your city have any weird requirements for remodels or rebuilds? _______
Other Structures
How much would it cost to replace your Garages, sheds, Fences, and other structures? _______
Personal Property
Personal Property – How much is all your stuff worth? _______
Loss Settlement – How much will you actually get paid if there is a loss? _______
How is your property protected (hint its probably not for everything you think)? _______
Do you have anything really valuable or a collection of valuables items (think guns or electronics, etc)? _______
Loss of Use/Additional Living Expense – What happens if you can’t stay in your house after a loss? _______
Liability
Liability – You can get sued and this coverage is pretty cheap. _______
Can you get Personal Injury Coverage? _______
Medical Payments _______
Umbrella – Lawsuits can get nasty, do you have enough coverage? _______
Loss Assessment, do you live in a park or an HOA? They can actually assess you when stuff happens to them. _______

 

Start your manufactured home insurance quote now.

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Who Offers Manufactured Home Insurance?

Manufactured Home Insurance Safford, AZIf you have done any research at all you may be wondering, who offers manufactured home insurance? There are basically 6 companies that offer manufactured home insurance, but only 5 that understand the ins and outs of manufactured homes and offer specialty coverage for Manufactured home. Unfortunately many customer are left wondering who these companies are as they don’t spend millions on Super Bowl ads.

Here’s the breakdown:

Foremost – These guys have been doing manufactured home insurance for a long time. In fact, they claim to be the first to have an insurance policy for manufactured home. Foremost is based out of Michigan. They have been in the business for a long time and know the ins and outs. They are a part of the Farmers family of companies.

American Modern Insurance Group – These guys have been around for a long time and Manufactured Home Insurance is their bread and butter. They are based in Cincinnati Ohio, have excellent rates in most states, and address the major coverage issues that manufactured homeowners face. They are apart of a huge multinational corporation called Munich Re.

Aegis – Aegis is a relative new comer to this space formed in 1977. They are based out of Pennsylvania. They are financial strong and have a specialty policy. They have recently made some changes to make their products more competitive and have policies very similar to the other specialty companies.

American Reliable – American reliable has been around since 1952. Based in Scottsdale Arizona, they specialize in manufactured homes and specialty dwellings (rental properties). They have some very unique offerings with their manufactured home policies. In addition to the standard specialty stuff they also offer coverage like service line, and other things that are more like what you might see offered on a standard homeowner’s policy. American Reliable is a member of a bigger company called Global Indemnity.

Assurant – This is the company that Progressive and GEICO use in many states for manufactured home insurance. They do offer some coverage designed for manufactured homeowners, so like any of these companies be sure select it, otherwise your coverage can be lacking. Assurant is a large publicly-traded company.

Others – Yes there are others. In some cases, and states companies like State Farm, Farmers, Allstate, Metlife, Safeco and other MIGHT offer manufactured homes. Usually there are lots of limitations. For example, the home may need to be brand new to qualify. In other cases the companies don’t allow homes that have additions, or sun rooms. In the other cases they require specific type of foundations. In some cases, these limitations limit coverage, and while in some cases the coverage MIGHT be better for the most part you will be better off purchasing coverage from one of the 5 specialty carriers.

The good news

Gila Insurance Group, as a broker actually represents 5 of the 6 manufactured home markets available. For example, we work with Foremost, American Modern, Aegis, American reliable, and in some rare cases can help you get coverage through a Safeco or another standard homeowner’s insurance. So, there is no need to run all over the place getting quotes, you can actually get coverage from 1 place, Gila Insurance Group LLC. Start Your Quote Online Now!

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What is Manufactured Home Insurance

Two common questions we get is what is manufactured home insurance and how is it different than regular homeowner’s insurance? Great questions here are the answers.

What is manufactured home insurance?

Manufactured home insurance is similar to home insurance that covers manufactured or mobile homes. However, there are several differences that while seemingly small, make a big difference when you go to purchase manufactured home insurance.

First What is a Manufactured Home?

To better understand this question two, we have to understand what a manufactured home is. Manufactured homes include single-wides, double-wides, park models, and all the variations in between. They can be on private property or in parks. Manufactured homes are built in accordance with code set forth by Housing and Urban Development (HUD), a part of the federal government. While similar mobile homes were built before 1976 and were not required to comply with HUD standards.

There are several things that distinguish a manufactured home from a regular home is that they are not built on a foundation, but rather on a steel chassis. They are built in a factory and moved the site of the home mostly completed. The net effect of this several distinguishing features from a regular stick-built home.

First, they depreciate or go down in value over time, rather than appreciate in value. Very important for insurance. Second, by their nature losses to the home tend to have a greater and tend to result in more total losses.

In summary, manufactured homeowner’s insurance is like regular homeowner’s insurance, but takes into account several very important differences like the concept of depreciation.

How is Manufactured Home Insurance coverage different than regular homeowner’s insurance?

On the surface, it may not seem like there are many differences between Manufactured Home Insurance and regular home insurance. After all, both cover the home, your stuff, loss of use of the home, liability, and medical payments. Sometimes homes are even written on what’s called an “HO3” policy form which would make it the same. But there are some differences.

  1. Because manufactured homes depreciate you have to watch the valuation of the home. What does that mean? It means are you getting replacement cost, meaning the home burns to the ground you get a new home of “like kind and quality?” Or are you getting what it is worth today. For older home replacement cost might not be available. You need to know how your policy responds because most regular homeowner’s policies cover replacement regardless of the age of the home.
  2. Because of the depreciation what happens if it’s a partial loss. You want replacement cost for partial losses. Here’s what I mean. Hail storm destroys your roof. On manufactured homes policies you would get paid what the roof is currently worth rather than what it would cost to replace. So, a roof valued at 10,000 that is 10 Years old and has 20 Year shingles, you pay out $5,000 – minus the deductible. On the other hand, if you have full repair cost or replacement cost for partial losses you get $10,000 minus the deductible.
  3. Because of the nature of the HO-3 Policy form your stuff will be covered at actual cash value. Meaning in the event of a loss you might be left haggling with an adjustor. While this can happen on a regular homeowner’s policy too, this is something to look at.
  4. Personal Injury coverage is often not available. It usually can be purchased on a regular homeowner’s policy.

There are more differences, but the differences are very subtle. Your best bet is to ask your agent if they understand the ins and outs of manufactured home insurance and make them explain it to you. At Gila Insurance Group we work with a number of specialty Manufactured home insurance companies and can provide better answers with answers to these questions. Call us today, or start your manufactured home insurance quote now!

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What does Manufactured Home Insurance Cover

Manufactured Home Insurance coverage is not too different than what you might find on a regular homeowner’s insurance policy. While not all companies are the same if you get an actual manufactured home insurance specialty company like American Modern, Foremost or American Reliable, you should get some of the following coverage and coverage options.

The Home

The home is going to coverage for what is known as special or comprehensive coverage. This means unless we exclude the coverage, we are going to include the coverage. Things like fire, lighting, exclusion, damage done by water, hail, etc. are all going to be covered. This that are not covered are things like flood. A broken pipe that floods your home is going to be different than if the rains fall, causing flooding.

The question is how much will the policy pay out if there is a total loss. You want replacement cost on total losses and partial losses. Not all companies are going to be able to provide this, and especially if the home is older. So ask your agent how its covered.

Other Structures

Other structures are things like sheds, detached garages, and other “structures” that are not going to be connected to the home. They should be covered in the same way as the home, but make sure you have enough coverage because coverage for other structures isn’t automatic and when its included is can also be for low limits.

Personal Property

Question if you had a loss for your manufactured or mobile home do you want to negotiate with an insurance company how much your TV was worth. OF COURSE NOT. So here’s the thing. Manufactured Home insurance policies coverage personal property, but usually cover them for the actual cash value. BUT they can also cover it for replacement cost. For $20 bucks a year this is a heck of a deal.

Liability

What if you get sued. That’s what liability does. It protects you, and can pay for your defense and the pay out if you are found to be negligent. Also available for manufactured homes.

Medical Payments

Something that goes right along with liability. It pays for medical costs of people that don’t live at the home in case they get injured. The hope is if we help cover the deductible or part of the deductible maybe they won’t sue.

There are other coverage options as well. We at Gila specialize in manufactured home insurance, but even if you don’t go with us, find an agent that understands the unique coverage options provided by a manufactured home insurance policy.

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5 Ways to Save on Your Insurance

Loss of Use Insurance ArizonaNo one likes to pay more than absolutely necessary for insurance. It’s one of those necessary evils, until that is you have a claim. Then it’s heaven sent. So how do you save on your insurance premiums. We have had many a client try to negotiate with us, unfortunately insurance rates are filed with the state insurance department and not really subject to negotiation. So how can you actually save? Here are 5 ways that can help you today.

Deductible

The quickest and easiest way to save on your insurance is to change the deductible. A higher deductible for you means less risk for the insurance company, so your rate goes down. A lower deductible for you means more risk for the insurance so your rate goes up. This isn’t a silver bullet, but if you are looking to save just a few bucks a month changing your deductible might do the trick. That said be careful with this. A higher deductible has real consequences in the event of a claim.

Payment Method

The payment method you choose can actually have a very REAL affect on your rate, and is a great way to save on your insurance. Did you know paying the entire premium upfront can save you 7-10% depending on the company. Auto pay can save you some as well. The bottom-line if the company is confident you will pay your bills they are usually willing to cut you a break.

Bundling… or not

Another cool 5% discount in a lot of cases. And a way to save on your insurance, some times. That said, sometimes your best bet is to shop your home and auto separately. While agents that can only sell you 1 company would like you to think that bundling is a must sometimes you can save money by having one here, and one there. Another benefit of an independent agent

Telematics

Big word. This discount is for auto insurance. What it means is that you let the insurance look over your shoulder at your driving for a period of time (technologically speaking) to see what kind of driver you are. Some people don’t feel comfortable with this, but here’s how it works. You get a device or download an app. Usually, the companies track just a couple of factors, such as speed, sudden starts or stops, and time of day you drive (between 12AM and 5AM not usually good). The discounts related to good driving can be awesome. With some companies up to 20%, but if you turn out to be not a great driver your rate can go up… depending on the company so ask if there is a possibility that your rate can go up. There are companies that won’t increase your rate, just decrease it.

Watch your Credit

Credit isn’t a discount or really a surcharge, but it is an element of what is called the insurance score. Insurance companies have found a connection between your credit and the likelihood you file a claim. Not every state allows it, but in those states that do, the better credit score you have the lower the rate, and in some cases by A LOT.

There are many, many more kinds of discounts insurance companies allow for, so ask your agents what discounts have been applied, and what discounts you qualify for. That said ask about these ones because these few can help you start saving money today.

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Rental Property Insurance Checklist

THE MUST-HAVE CONVERSATIONS WITH YOUR INSURANCE AGENT!

RENTAL PROPERTY INSURANCE –

PROPETY COVERAGE
Proper Investment Valuation:  __________
The Coverage Form – DP3- What’s Covered:  __________
Loss Settlement Option for Home:  __________
Deductible:  __________
Water Backup of Sewer or Drains Coverage:  __________
Earthquake:  __________
Flood:  __________
Building Code Upgrade Coverage (Ordinance and Law):  __________

OTHER STRUCTURES
Value of Other Structures (Garages, Fences, and other structures):  __________

LANDLORD FURNISHINGS
Value of landlord contents (Appliances, Furnishing)  __________
Loss Settlement Option for Property  __________

LOSS OF USE/LOSS OF RENTAL INCOME COVERAGE

  __________

RENTAL PROPERTY INSURANCE-

LIABILITY COVERAGE
Liability Insurance sufficient to cover your assets:  __________
Premise Liability:  __________
Personal Injury Coverage:  __________
Medical Payments:  __________
Umbrella:  __________
Loss Assessment:  __________

ANNUAL PREMIUM

  __________

Why we use a Rental Property Insurance Checklist

Insurance can be mystifying. Many people have described it as a completely different language. Insurance is really just a complicated legal contract between you and the insurance company. The insurance company is bound to respond per the contractual terms, but because it is explained in legal terms it really is a different language, which is why many people fail to even put for the effort in understanding their insurance policy. While it is true that insurance policies are complicated, we at Gila Insurance believe there are some core things that every customer should understand, which is why we have created this checklist.

This checklist is designed to help you have the conversations with your insurance agent that will allow you to know what is covered BEFORE you have a claim. No checklist is fully comprehensive, these are things we believe are important that you understand, but please read your policy to ensure there are other questions that you have. The best time to understand your policy is BEFORE YOU HAVE A CLAIM.

If you are shopping for landlord insurance start your quote now, and let us quote several companies for you or check out some of our other landlord specific content.

Gila Insurance Group LLC specializes in insuring rental properties, Fix & Flips, Manufactured Homes, and Vacation Rentals, if this is what you do, give us a shot and get a quote today!

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Rental Home Insurance Coverage Simplified

Insurance is complicated but understandable if broken down into small portions. That’s what we try to do. It’s rental home insurance coverage simplified, really!

RENTAL HOME INSURANCE COVERAGE SIMPLIFIED… REALLY

Let’s be real about the insurance purchasing process for investors. You know you need it or more likely your lender requires it, so you buy it. You work through the process with an agent that asks way too many questions, half of which you’re not sure of (you just bought the property, you don’t know when the roof was replaced, or plumbing and electrical was updated), you muddle through only to get a big stack of papers which you may or may not intend on reading, but is seemingly complicated and convoluted. Look, what I am about to write doesn’t apply to every policy. The best way to know what is insured is to read your policy. This doesn’t replace that, but hopefully, it can demystify things and make your insurance policy understandable.

While there are MANY parts to a policy, there are only two sections. Hopefully, we can break it down into understandable bite-sized pieces, and not bore you to death in the process. I hope it’s not too late for some of you. I know some are visual learners, so let me break down a policy visually.

Rental Home Insurance in Safford, AZ

That’s it… kind of… two sections; 6 coverage parts, plus a bunch of extras. For example, there’s the declarations page, the insuring agreement, definitions, perils insured against, exclusions, and conditions… for both sections. Simple right? RIGHT! Baby steps. If you can understand this diagram, you are well on your way to understanding the coverage that you have.

To get an incredible quote these coverage sections start our online quote form. To talk to a licensed agent about this coverage call us at 1-877-784-6787.

This coverage explanation is for illustration purposes only and is general in nature. Coverage explained here may not apply to your policy, State, company, or situation. For more information about how your policy would respond in the event of a loss, please refer to the terms and conditions and declarations page of your policy.

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