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What have you done this summer

Do you need to update your insurance policy?

Fix and Flip Home InsuranceAhh summer time. A time of fun, sun, and DIY projects around the house. The extra light in the evenings lends itself to getting stuff done. So, I have a question: What did you do this summer? Maybe you’re not a DIY sort of person. Maybe you had a contractor or handyman do it for you.

 

Did you add a shed? Did you add on to your home? Did you add a block fence or a pool? Heck did you buy a new car? Did you get Married? Did you get a new Girl Friend?

 

Now for the most important question: Did you tell your insurance agent?

 

What Why would I do that, dude’s a square (and clearly uses insults from the 1950’s… loser).

 

Because it can affect your insurance. Consider this lesser known insurance clause:

 

Your house has to be insured to at least 80% of its value or you can be penalized in the event of a claim.

 

Yes penalized. Well that wouldn’t happen to me. Did you tell your insurance agent about your addition? Because if not, you just change the ratio of the insurance coverage to the value of your house.

 

“Well, I just added a pool.” Will your insurance company cover you if you have a pool? Some don’t or have strict rules about fences.

 

Did you get married? You probably need to make sure your spouse has been added to the policy? You also need to combine your policies for savings purposes. Finally, do you need to cover that rock you just bought her? There may be coverage on a homeowner’s or renter’s policy, but there may not be depending on the value.

 

If your girlfriend just moved in with you did you know that she may not be covered if she drive’s your car? Or that coverage can be limited? (this can vary GREATLY by company).

 

See. Your insurance agent may be a goober, but you need to tell him or her stuff because if you have done something to your cars, home, or if you have just had some changes in life, talk to us about how that impacts your insurance needs. He/She can help you anser the question do you need to update your insurance policy.

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Small Savings Big Consequences The Value of an Independent Insurance Agent

We all want to save money on things like insurance. It is rarely used, so we feel like we can and should cut corners on coverage options that we don’t think are necessary or that we don’t understand. Heck if I am honest I considered doing that this very week myself, BUT I didn’t, and the reason why is because there is real value in insurance. But we must remember insurance is for the catastrophic. It is designed to protect you and your assets from ruin.  So, it’s for when you have a total loss and you are facing BIG losses that you don’t want to be skimping on things that can cost pennies a month. Enter the Value of an Independent Insurance Agent

 

Here are a few things for auto insurance.

 

  1. Liability limits – Do you know what the numbers 15/30/10, 25/50/25, 50/100/50, 100/300/100, or 250/500/100 mean? Did you know the cost from one to the other can be VERY little? When was the last time you increased your limits. GASP! Increase insurance?!? Many of us purchase state minimums when we are struggling college students, then later become business owners, professionals, or just increase what we are earning, and never adjust our insurance to protect us. This has particularly been an issue recently as more of us purchase our insurance online. Don’t cut corners on liability insurance ever, ever, ever. Medical bills are increasing and its almost criminal that the state minimum limits are so low, because they barely cover anything.

 

  1. Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist coverage – There are uninsured and underinsured driver’s everywhere (see point number 1). What if you get hit by one. We recently had a lady come into the office that had been hit by an uninsured driver on her way to Phoenix she sustained injuries that cost millions of dollars in medical bills. She didn’t have any uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. Heath insurance covered much of this, but uninsured and underinsured motorist is SO much more.

 

 

  1. Medical Payments – Medical payments is a no-fault coverage, meaning you don’t have to be at fault for it to pay out. But I have medical insurance, so. Do you car pool? Do have other people’s kids in your car? You see where I am going? If not, your medical payments coverage might be the only or best coverage they have. Even if you do have health insurance, medical payments can pay your deductible. With health insurance deductibles increasing more and more every year this can be a HUGE benefit.

 

The list can go on and on. I will spare you. But this much I will say. Changes to your policy are often made with the intent to save money, not being fully understanding the consequences until after a loss. So, my plead to you is that before you go changing your policy please ask your insurance agent for examples of how the coverage works and an example of when it would be used. Ask for the worse case they have seen. Yes, it can happen here, and yes it can happen to you.

What’s the answer? Look, if you need to save on insurance, ask us, let us shop for you. Sometimes in the best-case scenario you can save money AND increase your coverage. Imagine. That’s the benefit of an independent insurance agency, like Gila Insurance Group LLC.

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All homeowners insurance is the same, Right?

5 Coverage options to ensure you have on your policy!

Home Insurance Exclusions in Safford, AZHomeowners insurance is all the same, right? So, I should always buy on price, right? Wrong. It’s true that most stick-built homeowner’s insurance policies have a similar base. It’s called an HO3 policy form. It covers your house and other structures for everything, unless its excluded. It covers your personal property for a list of specific things that could happen and pays their actual cash value, it has liability, and medical payments. That’s about everything you need right? Well, not really. While the base policy is very similar from company to company most customers have higher expectations of how their insurance policy will respond. So here are 5 things most customers should consider purchasing to ensure your policy responds like you think and expect it will.

 

  1. Personal Replacement Cost – We don’t like leaving insurance companies with the ability to wiggle out of paying things they should. Personal property replacement cost does exactly that. Imagine your TV is 4 years old. It is damaged by a fire in the kitchen. Can you imagine the company coming in and saying your TV new cost $500, but its 4 years old so here’s $100 bucks, and we all hate insurance companies again. Adding Personal property replacement cost eliminates this possibility. You have a TV that cost $500 we will buy you a new TV of like kind and quality. Meaning we aren’t going to buy you a 70inch Sony if you had a 35 in Vizio. We will get you as close to what you had before. Personal property replacement cost awesome addition.

 

  1. Special Form on Personal Property – This is tricky, but remember I said on a basic HO policy your personal property, your stuff is insured for a list of things. Your house on the other hand is insured for everything unless its excluded. Question: Why would you insure the house differently from how you insure the couch inside the house… seems odd. Again, this is about meeting your expectations, and make sure your policy responds in the way you want it to.

 

  1. Extended or Increase replacement cost – When your house burns down, and you choose to rebuild you understand the idea of replacement cost. Before that it can be a fuzzy concept, so here goes my attempt to explain. You may have purchased your house for $200,000, but how much will it cost to rebuild? In times where the cost of things is going up (like now) it might cost you $225,000 to rebuild. Your agent may have even run a “cost estimator” to determine that it would cost $200,00 to rebuild the house when you bought it, but who pays for the additional $25,000? Extended or Increased replacement cost will if you have it. What this endorsement or change to the policy does is create a slush fund of a little extra cash in case it costs a little more to rebuild. There are some rules about this add on. So, don’t think you can underinsure the home to save money and be saved by extended replacement cost.

 

  1. Personal Injury – Did you know libel, slander, defamation, and cyber bullying are excluded on your insurance policy? Here’s a question for you have you ever said something bad about someone? What about on a social media site? What about your kids, have they? If so you have probably been guilty of defamation. These lawsuits can be hard to prove the social media has opened a whole new can of worms. Adding personal injury to your policy can ensure that you are prepared and covered for even the weirdest of lawsuits. I mean people are sensitive these days, but not you ; ).

 

  1. Water backup of sewers and drains – Gross. Yeah it is, and its typically not covered unless you add it to your policy. It can get expensive but $5,000 or $10,000 of this coverage can be worth every cent.

Just because you think it should be covered, doesn’t mean that it is. Be sure your policy will respond the way you think it will and start with these 5 coverage options.

 

 

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Coverage C Personal Property Insurance

Personal Property Insurance is important, but often overlooked. What’s included in personal property? It’s what you put in the moving truck, or what would fall out of the home if you could pick it up and turn it upside down. Your clothes, furniture, electronics, toys, some appliances, and all the stuff in your garage. So how do you cover it?You will be asked to figure out what your stuff is worth. This can be a tough exercise. Let’s be real, it’s difficult to even keep track of what stuff you have. Lots of questions; few answers. So let’s get to some answers:

First off let’s start with taking inventory. We recommend taking a look at KnowYourStuff.org its a great website from the Insurance Information Institute, and they have several tools and an app and lots of information that can help you figure out what stuff you have, and what should be insured.

From there you can determine the value of your stuff and what it would take to replace it in the event of a claim, like a fire. Typically insurance companies will include a percentage of the value of the home for your personal property. In some cases its 70%, 50% or for others its 40%, but these are just rules of thumb, and more coverage can be purchased, but you have to have some idea of how much coverage you need.

There are two ways that personal property can be covered.

1. Replacement Cost – As always the replacement cost option is always the best option. In the event of a claim it replaces what was damaged with like kind and quality. Meaning you would be able to replace what was damaged with a new version. It does not account for depreciation.

2. Actual Cash Value – What is the value of your TV you purchased 5 years ago today? What’s the value of the shirt you’re wearing, if its the most comfortable you own, probably not much. In an actual cash value loss settlement situation, that’s the question that comes to mind. Take what it cost new and depreciate it to figure out what it is worth today, and that is what the insurance company pays. That often means you are getting pennies on the dollar for your stuff. Not great for sure, but it is what is the cheapest, and most common way for people to insure personal property.

Typically you have a choice between Replacement Cost and Actual Cash Value for your personal property. This is a choice you should make based on your personal property and how important it is to you.

A few other cool things about insurance for personal property.

  1. If you have special property like jewelry, guns, furs, and other super cool stuff you will need to “schedule it.” This means that you will want us to make a special note saying this stuff is covered,  because its usually is subject to limits.
  2. Your stuff, or at least a percentage of your stuff is often covered worldwide, even when its out of the house. Okay, it’s not much, but 10% worldwide coverage can go a long way if you have a weird loss.
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Who we represent and why?

 

The insurance industry is weird or is it? Like any industry there are those that want to sell direct through exclusive distributors, those that wholesale through non-exclusive distributors, and those that sell direct online to the consumer. As an independent agent we work with companies that wholesale non-exclusively. Here we try to introduce you to the Insurance Companies We Represent and Why. We represent many different companies to try to ensure you get the best coverage at the best rate year after year.

 

Thing is some people have never heard of the companies we represent. So they have to be small and unheard of, right? Not really. We actually work with some of the most reputable companies in the market. In this blog we try to give you an idea of who we represent and how large they actually are.

 

Let’s start with auto insurance. There is a group called the NAIC that reports how large companies are in the US. The data below is from that list.

 

Auto Insurance Company Ranking by Size in 2017
Rank Company Premium in Billions
1 State Farm 41
2 Berkshire Hathaway Grp (GEICO) 29
3 Progressive 22
4 Allstate 21
5 USAA 13
6 Liberty Mutual/Safeco 11
7 Farmers 10
8 Nationwide 7
9 Travelers 4
10 American Family 4
11 Auto Club (AAA) 3
12 Erie 3
13 Amtrust/National General 3
14 CSAA (AAA) 3
15 Autoowners 2.5
16 Mercury 2.4
17 Metlife 2.4
18 Hartford 2.3
19 Auto Club Michigan (AAA) 1.7
20 Mapfre 1.7
21 Kemper 1.4
22 Amica 1.3
23 Infinity 1.2
24 Country Ins & Financial Services 1.1
25 The Hanover 1.1
Bolded and italicized  companies are represented by Gila Insurance Group

 

 

 

We represent Progressive, Allstate, Liberty Mutual, Travelers, National General, Mercury, MetLife, Kemper, and Infinity. Yes that’s right, we represent 36% of the top 25 auto insurance companies in the US. 9 of the top 25.

 

Let’s look at homeowners.

 

Homeowners Insurance Company Ranking by Size in 2017
Rank Company Premium in Billions
1 State Farm 17
2 Allstate 8
3 Liberty Mutual/Safeco 6.4
4 USAA 6
5 Farmers 6
6 Travelers 3.5
7 Nationwide 3.2
8 American Family 3
9 Chubb LTD Group 2.7
10 Erie 1.6
11 Autoowners 1.4
12 AIG 1.1
13 Metlife 1.1
14 Progressive 1
15 Hartford 1
Bolded and italicized  companies are represented by Gila Insurance Group

 

With homeowner’s insurance there are still a lot of companies, but they tend to get small quick. We are going to focus on only those that write over 1 billion dollars in insurance, which leaves us with the top 15 carriers. We represent Allstate, Safeco, Travelers, and MetLife.  Of the top 15 homeowner’s carriers Gila Insurance Group represents 27% of the top 15.

 

With 36% of the top auto carriers and 27% of the homeowner’s carriers represented by Gila, the question stands… why would you need to go anywhere else?

 

Remember we shop these carriers to ensure you get excellent coverage at an affordable price. If one of these companies decides to drastically change your rate, we will monitor that and start shopping the rate for you. Each of the companies we represent and work with are large recognized carriers with the financial stability to be there when you have a claim.

 

We can provide quotes for many of these companies online at GilaInsurance.com.

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Scheduled Personal Property

Yes is Matters

For some, this article will not make any sense whatsoever. Everything you own is cheap, and nothing you own is worth anything. Put me in that camp. Maybe it was my upbringing, or maybe its because I live in a rural town with Walmart and Home Depot. In short, a dollar in a mutual fund is more important to me than a nice Dewalt Table saw. For my wife’s sake I hope I can get to the point where I can spend a little, but that day hasn’t arrived. For others you own property that is actually worth something. This could be jewelry, furs, guns, collections, rare items, tools, antiquities, and the list goes on. Did you know there are limits on your policies for some of these items, but regardless of the limit If you have something that’s actually worth something. You should make sure its covered like you need it to be.

Sometimes this will require a long drawn out process. This is going to depend on what it is you are trying to insure, and how much you want to insure it for. Meaning you may need an appraisal, but your great grandfathers gun is really worth that much is going to be invaluable, but if something happens a replacement might be the next best thing. Same thing could be said for the rock on your wife’s hand. New or old somethings are worth covering, and making sure you have the right coverage.

Other times adding coverage for these things can be as simple as increasing predetermined limits That exist on your policy. For example, without changing the policy you only have $1500 in coverage for theft of jewelry and furs. That isn’t per item, that’s total. Or $2500 in for theft of firearms and related equipment. That really isn’t a lot.

So, before you purchase your homeowner’s insurance policy, be sure to actually think about what matters to you.

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Understanding Comprehensive & Collision Coverage

Comprehensive & Collision Insurance Coverage in Safford, AZSomewhere along the way people started asking for “full coverage.” Usually this coverage refers to what an auto insurance policy refers to as collision and other than collision (comprehensive). These are pretty straight forward so we will take a look at these coverage options together.

Collision is defined as impact with another vehicle or object. Pretty straight forward, but it also includes upset, which is a roll-over accident. One piece as we will see in a second is that collision with an animal is actually covered in the other than collision section of the policy.

 COMMON OTHER THAN COLLISION (COMPREHENSIVE) COVERAGES

Other than collision is about the most comprehensive coverage package that is found in any insurance policy. It specifically states there are things covered, but then leaves the door open to a lot more. Things that are specifically covered under other than collision (comprehensive) included:

  1. Missiles or falling objects
  2. Fire
  3. Theft or larceny
  4. Explosion or earthquake
  5. Windstorm
  6. Hail, water, or flood
  7. Malicious mischief or vandalism
  8. Riot or civil commotion
  9. Contact with a bird or animal
  10. Glass breakage*

Again, not an all-inclusive list of what the comprehensive policy might cover, but rather things that are specifically covered under Other than collision (comprehensive)

* A comment on glass breakage. Today most companies make this an optional coverage and charge an additional premium for it. In the state of Arizona if glass coverage is purchased it comes with no deductible applied in most cases. Also if the glass breakage is cause by a collision in most cases you can elect to have it considered a loss covered by collision.

If it’s covered why split things into collision or other than collision? Well if you look at the other than collision vs collision in most cases there is not a lot of things that you can do to prevent the other than collision losses. On the other hand, collision is very much in your control. So the losses are treated differently when it comes to how the companies determine what your rate will be. It’s not to say that an other than collision loss with never have an impact on your rate, but it’s likely to have a LOT LESS of an impact.

A final thought on collision and other than collision coverage (comprehensive), these coverage options are subject to a deductible. The higher the deductible, the lower the cost, and the lower the deductible the higher the cost. What is a deductible? In the event of an accident the deductible is the part of the claim that you will be responsible for paying.

This is a general explanation of coverage and different companies may treat these coverage options differently for information on exactly how your policy will respond please refer to your policy declarations page as well as the terms and conditions of your insurance policy.

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How to File an Insurance Claim

HOW TO FILE AN INSURANCE CLAIM

Insurance claims don’t have to be difficult. They are never going to be convenient, but they can go smoothly. Knowing what to expect is half the battle, and being proactive can help things move along. There are a few basic steps in the claims process.

  1. Preparing to call – Before you call to file your claim it doesn’t hurt to have a few things on hand to make the process go smoother.
    1. Your Policy Number
    2. The date the loss happened
    3. A description of what happened
    4. Your contact information
    5. Contact information for any witnesses or other people involved.
  2. Filing a claim – As soon as you have had a claim you will need to file it with your company. Today that can be done in a number of different ways. Sometimes the easiest is to simply pick up the phone. Below are phone numbers for each of the companies that we represent. How to file an insurance claim in Arizona
  3. Getting an Adjuster – Once you have filed your claim you will be assigned an adjuster that will handle your claim. Depending on the type of claim this could be a team or an individual.  Once you have filed your assigned adjuster will reach out to you to introduce themselves and explain the process related to your claim.
  4. Gathering information – The adjuster’s responsibility is to gather information about the claim, determine the value of the loss, make sure that coverage applies to the loss, and to settle the claim. They will ask lots of questions, explain coverage, and suggest ways to minimize further damage. If needed they might schedule an appointment to come review the damage.
  5. Estimating the damage – Once it has been determined that your loss is covered they the adjuster will work with you to get estimates for repair.
  6. Settling the claim – Once estimates for repair have been received, the company will then pay you for the loss (remember there will be a deductible).
  7. Closing the claim – Once the claim has been paid, the claim will be closed. If there are additional costs related to that claim, your claim can be reopened to investigate if coverage applies.

HOW LONG WILL YOUR INSURANCE CLAIM TAKE TO CLOSE?

It depends on how complex of a claim it is, so ask the adjuster when you talk to them. Staying on top of things, getting estimates in a timely manner can have a big impact on how quickly it takes to close the claim.

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Understanding Debris Removal

Debris Removal Insurance Coverage in Safford, AZSome coverage is hard to explain, it’s much easier to just say see! That is exactly the case with debris removal. Debris removal isn’t difficult to explain, it’s just the cost to remove the pile of trash your insurance claim just left. If there is a fire, it’s going to be the ashes and rubble, but also the mess the fire department caused while putting it out. Let’s be real they are great a putting out fires, but they aren’t exactly tidy. If there is a flood, we might be looking at all the damaged drywall and installation. Some of it might be moldy or muddy. The point is there is a cost to haul it away. But there is also going to be a cost for the demolition, which can get pretty costly.

Recently near my office there have been two fires. The first was in a second level apartment. The second was in a single-family home rented to a young couple. It was on one of my many strategy walks that I decided to explain debris removal through picture.

Debris removal is usually included in most property insurance policies, but like most things with an insurance policy there are limits. Depending on where it is commercial insurance or a homeowner’s policy it can vary, but here are some things to consider when it comes to debris removal.  How unique is your building? How old is your building? How much space is around your building. All of these and more can cause additional costs in removing debris from your property. Another consideration is building materials. Is there any asbestos in the building? The cost of asbestos disposal adds additional cost to debris removal.

As is not unusual, insurance policies provide coverage for a number of different situations that you probably hadn’t even considered. While we may often complain about insurance the truth is that the benefits provided by our insurance policies are amazing.

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Communicating with your insurance company – You have options

Insurance companies can rightly be described as technological dinosaurs. I mean for years one company has been extolling the virtues of getting a quote in 15 minutes. On a side note did you know you can get a quote from multiple companies on GilaInsurance.com in just a few minutes as well? Again, dinosaurs. I mean my patience for 30 second in a microwave is almost nil. Don’t even get me started on when the internet decides to have a traffic jam (super highway. It’s supposed to be a super highway, that means no buffering, right?). Moreover, in our office we have often made the joke that we are in the tree killing business.  Why because it seems that insurance companies feel the need to print reams and reams of paper of stuff that you will likely never read (Gila Insurance Group LLC does not endorse this practice and highly encourages you to read your policy the writer was unwittingly feeling that pragmatism was witty). My favorite is the part of the insurance policy that states this page is left intentionally blank… why?

 

That said, increasing insurance companies are getting better at communications. They will text you, email you, mail you, allow you to access their app, and try to get you to sign in to their insurance portal. Basically, all the ways that you are likely to communicate insurance companies will now do. The question is, how do YOU communicate. Because that is the option you need to select.

 

Insurance companies do tend to send a lot of communication, but once you are a customer you are only likely to receive important documents. Your actual policy, bills, and renewal offers. All things that you should pay attention to. But more importantly, you may be receiving communications where the company may cancel or change the policy. These are thing that you must pay attention to. Why? because Murphey’s law dictates that the day your policy expires is the day you have something happen. State Law dictates how and when insurance companies can cancel a policy, and part of that is that they have to notify you.

 

While previously it could be said, hey, I was on the road I didn’t get that in the mail. Today there are too many ways that insurance companies communicate with their customer to blame the mail.

 

Moral of the story is, choose the communication method that works for you and be sure to pay attention to the communications you receive. It might be something annoying, but it might be something important.

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