Know How To Make A Storm Claim

Know what to do before you have to make a claim because of a hurricane or heavy storm.

Storms abound in the summer months, and hurricanes or tropical storms can appear on the radar well into this time of the year. Since it's the heart of hurricane season, take precautions — if you haven't already — to protect your belongings, including boats and other vehicles, from damage caused by hurricanes or other heavy storms. Here are a few things you can do ahead of time to help you plan for an evacuation. That way, if you have to evacuate, you can focus on the safety of you and your loved ones during that time.

 Take Vehicles With You if You Can

 

Cars, motorcycles, RVs — no matter what you own, bring it with you if you have the means.

 

Not only can RVs serve as a comfortable shelter, they can accommodate several people. Don't forget to keep safety in mind while you stay in your RV: Remember to have safety accessories, such as fire alarms and carbon monoxide detectors, installed and checked first.

Boats and motorcycles can be trailered behind your car or RV, too.

Secure Your Boat, RV or Other Vehicles Staying Behind

If you're not able to bring your car, boat, RV, motorcycle or other type of vehicle with you, follow these measures to secure them:

· Park vehicles indoors when possible.

· If it's not possible to park inside, choose higher ground that's located close to a sturdy building for more protection. Make sure your vehicle is secured away from trees, poles or other large objects that could fall on it.

· Secure RV awnings so the wind won't tear them away.

· It's best to remove your boat from the water and move it inland before a storm hits. Boats left unsecured can not only be damaged by wind or flying objects from hurricane forces, but they can float away if waters rise. If it's secured properly, your boat is much more likely to survive a storm inland than on water. To secure it, have extra lines, chafe protection, fenders, anchors, port plus, duct tape and extra batteries.

 

Remember this simple tip: If you can't take it with you, make sure you secure it as safely as possible. Prepare for a claim, too regardless of whether you have a car, motorcycle or luxury RV, these tips can prepare you — and help expedite — any claims you might have to make after a hurricane or heavy storm.

· Verify what kind of insurance coverage you have.
If you've taken all the precautions but still find yourself in a situation where you have to make a claim after a storm, it’s vital that you have Comprehensive coverage. Comprehensive coverage covers damages resulting from high winds, flooding or other weather-related factors. With this coverage, you'll likely have to pay a deductible out of pocket, but deductibles often start as low as $50.

 

· Don't just take important documents with you. Waterproof them, too.
If you have to evacuate, you should take documents — including your insurance papers — with you in a waterproof bag or container. Even if you don't have to evacuate, it’s a good idea to keep these documents in a waterproof container, to help minimize time spent on the phone or working through a claim if you have to make one after the storm. With select insurance companies, you can also access important documents online. So, if you don't have your papers on hand, you can find them online by logging in to your policy any time.

 

· Report damage as soon as possible.
If any of your vehicles are damaged, report the damage as soon as you can. The sooner your insurance company knows about it, the sooner it can begin resolving your claim. Some insurance companies offer 24-hour claims reporting by phone or online, so you can access your company and your claim at any time. If you're not sure whether your company has 24/7 service, make sure you have a phone number for your agent or your company on hand to report the claim during business hours.

 

· Take pictures of everything.
Pictures can help your insurance company identify and find your vehicles if they've floated or flow away during a storm. They also can provide insight on items attached to your vehicle that may have been lost or damaged during a hurricane or heavy storm.

 

Make Safety Your Top Priority

Your safety should always be your major concern when preparing for and evacuating because of a hurricane. Remember to give yourself plenty of time to implement your evacuation plan, and make sure your family members or others who plan to leave with you also know the drill. You may even want to practice a couple of times to ensure things run as smoothly as possible.

Following these tips well before a storm hits your area can help you stay calm during an evacuation. Plus, knowing you've done what you can to prepare for a storm, as well as for any claims you might have to make afterward, can provide much-needed peace of mind during turbulent times.

See How Your Current Auto Insurance Policy Extends To Your New Vehicle

Shopping for a new car to replace your 10-year-old model can generate the kind of excitement that few other tasks do. When you're ready to sign the papers, you'll need to show the dealership you have insurance before you drive away. Does this mean you should notify your insurance company before buying a new car, or will your current auto insurance policy suffice?

While the safest bet is to check with your insurance company before you buy a car, here are a few things to remember about auto insurance and how it transfers from your current vehicle to a new one.

 

 

How Far Does Your Current Insurance Policy Go?

The first thing you should know is that your current auto insurance policy will temporarily cover a new car, regardless of whether you're replacing an older vehicle in your household or simply adding another one. So, you don't need to purchase new insurance before you buy a new vehicle. However, your current policy only goes so far.

Even though you may not be required to tell your insurance company before you buy a new car, you should keep the following points in mind:

· Your insurance policy transfers exactly as is to the new car. If you only have Liability coverage with minimum limits for your old car, you'll only have Liability with minimum limits for your new one — until you notify your insurance company to change them. If you're financing your vehicle, banks won't loan you money for the car without adding at least Comprehensive and Collision coverage to your policy first. So, in this case, you may need to add coverage to your policy before you can complete your car purchase.

· Certain coverages may become ineffective if you don't contact your insurance company within a specific period of time. If you fail to notify your insurer within the proper amount of time, certain coverages may no longer protect you and your new vehicle. The amount of coverage you carry over after your grace period has elapsed may depend on whether you're replacing a vehicle in your household or simply adding another one.

If you replace your old car with a new one and you have Comprehensive and Collision on your policy, some carriers will extend these coverages to your new car for 30 days without notification of the purchase. After 30 days, Comprehensive and Collision will not apply to your new vehicle, even though you may still be paying for them. If this happens, you'll be driving around without protection for damage to your own vehicle — a recipe for a bad financial predicament if you're at fault for an accident.

If you add a car that's not replacing another vehicle on your policy but you forget to call Boccarossa Insurance within 30 days to notify us about the purchase, none of the coverages on your current policy will apply to your new vehicle.

Every insurance company has different restrictions involving replacement or additional vehicles, so make sure you discuss them with your insurance company if you have questions.

Bottom Line: Update Your Policy as Soon as Possible

To continue uninterrupted auto insurance coverage, your best option is to notify your insurance company of your new car purchase as soon as possible. It's not a requirement, but it can help you drive comfortably knowing your new car is properly covered.

Plus, when you update your policy, you can tailor it specifically to your new vehicle, whether it's increasing your Liability limits because you purchased a larger vehicle or adding Loan/Lease Payoff coverage for added peace of mind.

Progressive and Snapshot

When you are a market leader, why not press your bet? That appears to be what Progressive Insurance is doing through its new program that allows drivers not currently insured by Progressive to try out the carrier’s usage-based personal auto insurance program —known as Snapshot— for a month to determine if the potential customer is eligible for a good-driving discount.

 

Progressive doesn’t need anyone else to praise their marketing skills; they’ve done quite well for themselves over the last decade promoting the company with a style that makes their name match the kind of company they strive to be.

 

This is also another warning shot for the mid-tier personal auto carriers that are not equipped to do battle with giants such as Progressive and State Farm, particularly when it comes to the use of telematics technology to determine if a driver is a good risk or not.

 

We are seeing more examples of insurers using telematics on a regular basis, particularly on the commercial lines side. Indeed, fleet insurance may be the perfect use for telematics because it allows carriers to offer customers a variety of benefits —not just the quality of the person behind the wheel.

 

But make no mistake, the money is in personal auto and the mad rush to gain more market share in the personal auto field continues unabated. In an interview recently conducted with Novarica’s Matt Josefowicz, he brought up an important point pertaining to the pricing battles that are going on. The tier-one insurers in the personal auto market are battling hard for their competitors’ customers, but eventually there has to be a point reached where carriers can no longer lower their prices. What then?

 

The good risks are going to be gobbled up by a handful of insurers and the rest of the personal auto market will be fighting over the scraps. It also appears likely that those scraps will contain a lot of bad risks.

 

Trying to determine which risks are worse than others will be the next battleground for the mid-tier insurers. Can old underwriting methods make it worthwhile for carriers to stay in the market? The difference between risks and gambles will cause a continued battle, one the mid-tier and smaller insurers may not want to take part in.

Does Your Friend's Auto Insurance Policy Cover You If You Borrow His Car?

Occasionally, you may need to borrow your friend's car to run an errand, go to work or complete some other task. When you do this, do you know if you're covered by your neighbor's auto insurance policy?

In most states, the answer to whether you're covered or not depends on how much you're using the vehicle and what you're using it for.

As always, auto policies may differ by state, so be sure to check your state's policy to see how you're covered.

For states that don't require you to use your own auto insurance policy, regardless of who's at fault for an accident, here are things to consider before you borrow a friend's car.

How Often Do You Use the Car?

If you only borrow your friend's car once a month, most likely your friend's policy will cover you when you drive the vehicle. An auto policy will define who it covers, which you can find in the definitions sections. In this instance, look for the definition of an "insured person" to see who's covered.

For example, an "insured person" may include "any person with respect to an accident arising out of that person's use of a covered auto with the permission of you or a relative." Under this definition, if someone else gives you permission to drive his vehicle, you're covered by his insurance policy — as long as your other actions with the vehicle also fall within policy allowances.

How Long Do You Borrow the Car?

Another consideration is how long you're borrowing your friend's car. If you use the car for a day or two, most likely that's not considered regular and frequent use. However, if you borrow your friend's car for several weeks, you may not be covered by his auto policy. In cases like this, you most likely would be considered a regular user, which means you should be added to your friend's insurance policy if you use his vehicle in this manner.

Why Are You Using the Car?

Finally, consider why you're using your friend's car. If you're using the vehicle to conduct business, like delivering pizza or hauling equipment for a landscaping business, you'll need to make sure the vehicle is covered under a commercial auto or business insurance policy. Personal auto policies typically don't cover anyone for conducting business with their vehicles.

Auto policies have long lists of actions and circumstances that aren't covered, so make sure you check to see what's covered before you drive your friend's vehicle.

CT Among Leaders in Health Insurance

HARTFORD - Connecticut is far ahead of other states in designing a health insurance exchange, a long-awaited option for people stuck in the expensive individual health market or who have no health insurance.

Major decisions on the exchange are being made now to have it up and running by October 2014 when open enrollment will take place until March 2015.

 

To read more the rest of the article click the link below:

Connecticut Among Leaders in Developing Health Insurance Exchange

Busting Car Insurance Myths!

Have you ever heard that if you drive a red car that your rates will be higher? What about age: who pays more; seniors or teens?

 

Find out the answers to these myths and more when you click here: Five Car Insurance Myths.

How to Know if You Have Enough Auto Insurance

When is the best time to find out if you have enough car insurance? Most people wait until they're pulled over on the side of the road following a vehicular accident or after a careening tractor-trailer scares you into checking the coverage in your policy.

Does it really make sense to pay more for maximum coverage? And what does it really mean to be underinsured anyway?

Some of this isn’t up to us, because most states require you to have at least some auto insurance. Still, it’s worth looking at a couple of areas where vulnerability can be particularly high: liability insurance (in case you hurt or kill someone else) and the uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage.

Then, we can see what our odds are of needing to make a claim and how comfortable we are making bets accordingly.

First, the facts. The approximately 210 million licensed drivers in the United States had an estimated 5,419,000 crashes that police took reports on in 2010, the most recent year that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has data. Those crashes killed 32,885 people and injured 2,239,000.

For every 100 million vehicle miles that people traveled, there were 75 injuries, including those to pedestrians, and there were 1,066 injuries for every 100,000 licensed drivers. How costly were those injuries? When accidents happen and the disputes wind up in court, they don’t tend to generate enormous payouts. According to a service called Jury Verdict Research, the median jury award for liability cases in 2010 for vehicular accidents was just $19,806.

That said, outsize awards are common enough (topping out at just over $13 million that year) that the average award was $181,197. And according to ISO, an insurance risk information service, about 5 percent of bodily injury claims in 2010 were for more than $100,000 while about 2 percent reached $300,000.

The odds of running into people with no insurance at all to pay for your claims against them are probably higher than you think. The Insurance Research Council’s most recent estimate, from 2009, is that 13.8 percent of all United States drivers have no insurance at all. In Florida, it’s 23.5 percent, and in Michigan it’s 19.5 percent.

ISO estimates that about 20 percent of people who do have insurance purchase just the minimum liability coverage in case they hurt someone else. Their policies may pay out as little as $25,000 in many states. That’s why Kirby Francis remains glad six years later that his parents had $500,000 in underinsured motorist coverage back when someone crossed a highway line in Oregon and plowed into him head-on while he was driving home from college.

The other driver, who ended up dead in a canyon 200 feet below the road, had just $50,000 in coverage. By the time Mr. Francis punched his way out of his burning vehicle, with a lacerated spleen, a broken tibia, and his elbow in six pieces, he was in need of $130,000 in operations and other medical care, including radiation treatments for his arm that his health insurer wasn’t going to pay for. He also said that he received a $200,000 settlement for his troubles, beyond the reimbursement for medical costs that mostly went to his health insurance company.

So we begin with these basic facts, and then there are other people’s stories. But in the end, there’s just you and me, and if we’re honest with ourselves, we’ll acknowledge the specific risk factors that leave us particularly vulnerable. We may drive drunk, tired, quickly, at night or with a mobile phone in one hand.

Perhaps there are children in the back who are distracting, maybe even an entire car pool full of ones whose parents would sue pretty quickly if they were injured on your watch. Or your children have just learned to drive. Or you’re starting to make the same mistakes behind the wheel that you did 60 years ago.

So what would it cost to lock in better coverage? The industry-supported Insurance Information Institute figures it costs about $200 extra annually per vehicle to take your liability limit from $50,000 to $1 million per accident. Gonzo drivers with sketchy records may pay more. Raising your uninsured and underinsured coverage by similar amounts could cost less than half that amount.

Taken together, that’s not an enormous amount on a percentage basis on top of what may be an annual insurance bill of $1,000 or more.

Still, many of us will tell ourselves all sorts of stories about why this isn’t necessary. For instance, we may figure that no one is going to come after us beyond whatever minimum amount our insurance policy will pay. But if you’re at fault and don’t have enough insurance, the job of plaintiff’s lawyers is to track down both the assets you have now and the ones you may accrue later. They may keep an eye out for any future windfall long after any judgment and then try to use it to satisfy whatever you still owe.

Or perhaps we think we’re suckers for buying more insurance, since those same lawyers will then inflate claims in order to extract money from both the insurance company and our assets.