Personal Perspective

With extreme storms such as Hurricane Sandy and the Nemo snowstorm becoming the “new normal” in the U.S., homeowners are increasingly vulnerable to bogus repair work by shady contractors.

A report by Environment America finds that extreme rainstorms and snowstorms have become 30% more frequent on average since 1948. Moreover, the biggest storms are producing an average of 10% more precipitation during the past 65 years. Higher damages from this extreme weather make the pickings ripe for home repair and rebuilding scams, often by dishonest drifters who go from door to door.

Insurance fraud experts warn against these seven common rip-offs:

• Disappearing down payments A contractor demands a large down payment (often to “buy materials”), and then disappears after doing little or no work.
• Doing shoddy work  A contractor uses cheap materials to provide low-quality repairs, leaving the job to be redone, often at your own expense.
• Creating “phantom damage, – For example, by nicking sidewall or roof shingles with a screwdriver to mimic destruction from hail).
• Worsening damage Such as a contractor enlarging holes in a roof to increase his billings.
• Billing for phantom work This one is self-explanatory.
• Offering to pay your Homeowners deductible This is a con to lure your business.
• Acting as a go-between with your insurance company  Taking control of your claim.

Fixing bad repair work can mean months of headaches – and your Homeowner’s policy might not cover fraudulent repairs! Also, bear in mind that even routine home fix-ups and remodeling can be an invitation for contract scammers.

If you have any questions or would like professional advice about dealing with a home repair contractor, just get in touch with us.

Have you ever wondered about the three numbers that are part of your Auto Liability insurance, usually written in this form: XX/YY/ZZ?

The first number refers to the maximum amount of Bodily Injury Liability (BI) for an individual injured in an auto accident; the second is BI per coverage per accident; while the third covers Property Damage Liability (PD) per vehicle. For example a policy with 30/60/15 Liability coverage would pay up to $30,000 in BI per individual, $60,000 worth of BI per vehicle, and $15,000 in PD per vehicle.

Every state requires drivers to carry a minimum amount of Liability coverage under their Auto policy. Limits by state vary from 10/20/10 in Florida to 80/100/25 in Maine. These numbers have remained fairly stable for a number of years.

However, because a car accident can cost far more than the Liability minimums that most states require, people usually carry more coverage. The Insurance Information Institute recommends that you have at least $100,000 of BI protection per person and $300,000 per accident (known as 100/300).

If you hold the minimum coverage required by your state and you’re involved in an accident in another state that requires higher minimum coverage, the chances are that your policy limits will increase automatically to meet the other state’s minimum requirements.

We’d be happy to make sure that this feature applies under your Auto insurance– and to discuss the most cost-effective ways of protect yourself and your family from liability for accidents behind the wheel (such as increasing your Liability coverage or choosing higher deductibles).

For a complimentary review of your policy, just give us a call.

If a disaster covered under your Homeowners insurance wrecks your home, you don’t have to couch-surf until repairs are finished.

The standard Homeowners policy will pay for loss of use or Additional Living Expenses (ALE) – such as rental and hotel costs– while your dwelling remains uninhabitable

Check out these guidelines for using this valuable coverage:

1. Know the amount of your ALE. The Homeowners policy caps additional expenses as a portion of the Dwelling coverage (usually 20%) and sets a time limit, such as 12 months. If you believe that you’ll need more coverage, increase the amount before disaster strikes.
2. Look for comparable digs. Staying in a hotel gets old rapidly, so you’ll want to get settled quickly. However, don’t decide too soon– you’re entitled to stay in a place that’s comparable in size and quality to your house.
3. Count all your extra expenses. In addition to the cost of housing, don’t overlook other expenditures – everything from restaurant meals while living in a hotel and fees for boarding pets to the expense of coin-operated laundry and extra mileage for driving further to work.
4. Remember that the key word for ALE is “additional.” The insurance company can deduct any money you save from living in temporary housing (such as the amount you would have spent on groceries from your reimbursement for restaurant meals while you’re staying at the hotel).
5. Keep your receipts. The insurance company will generally reimburse you for expenses as they’re incurred, rather than paying a lump sum. Keep meticulous records of every expenditure, save all your receipts and store them in a waterproof, zippered pouch.

For more information on your Additional Living Expenses coverage, please feel free to get in touch with us at any time.

Although gun control remains a controversial issue, when it comes to insuring firearms, Homeowners coverage offers some clear guidelines.

If you have rifles and pistols in your home, your policy will insure them against fire damage or theft, usually up to $2,500. Although a Homeowners application might not ask specifically about firearms, the higher liability risk that guns present means that failing to inform your agent or insurance company in advance about them could result in denial of a claim for loss or damage to them.

Because of this greater liability exposure, your insurer might require you to show that you’ve taken such sensible precautions as installing trigger locks, securing firearms properly in locked gun cases, and keeping them away from children. If you have a collection of guns that’s particularly valuable (for example, antique sidearms), you might need to buy a policy rider that ensures their replacement or reimbursement — much as with other big-ticket items, such as jewelry and fine art.

If you shoot someone else or yourself accidentally while in the home, your policy might pay for some or all of the damages, (medical bills, property damage, liability claims, and so forth), depending on the amount of coverage. However, to guarantee full protection, you would need additional policy riders, such as “Sporting Firearm insurance,” “Collector’s Firearm insurance,” or “Gun Club Liability insurance.”

To learn more about firearms coverage in your home, please give our agency a call.

Wrecking a car and lying about it or staging an accident to get a payout are crimes that can cost a perpetrator dearly. Similarly, any inaccuracies reported (about a child’s GPA, ZIP code where a car is garaged, etc.) for financial gain is also technically fraud.

This type of “soft fraud” is far more common than hard fraud — and is much harder for the industry to deal with because it’s so difficult to detect. Consider “claims padding,” such as urging a body shop to fix dents that never happened after a car accident or claiming more serious pain or injuries than actually suffered.

Although perpetrators might think of these as victimless crimes, everyone with an Auto policy pays for them in higher rates needed to offset the cost of phony claims.

Here are a few common examples of soft fraud, as described by Allstate and the auto buying and research site, CarsDirect.com:

• Grade faking: A parent or student lies about high grades to get a good-student discount.
• Location lies: A policyholder tries to get a premium cut by using a parent’s address in a rural, less-traveled area to register and insure a car that’s usually driven in a more accident-prone city. He also tells his insurer that he drives half the miles that he really does.
• Missing drivers: A family fails to inform their insurance company that there are two teen drivers in the household, not just mom and dad.

Soft fraud is usually treated as a misdemeanor. Depending on the seriousness of the offense, it could cost the scammer a fine of up to $15,000, jail or prison time, and probation — not to mention the humiliation of going through the legal system.

Say you operate a vehicle frequently, but don’t actually own one. Nonowners Auto Insurance is the product you’re looking for.

These policies generally provide Liability coverage only, which protects you if you’re at fault for any injuries or property damage suffered by another driver or pedestrian. Nonowners Auto usually does not include Comprehensive, Collision, Towing reimbursement, or Rental reimbursement coverages. In many cases, you won’t have to pay a deductible.

If you occasionally borrow the car of a friend or family member, the owner’s Auto policy will cover any accidents. However, a Nonowners Auto policy can still pay off in such situations; for example, if the owner has low Liability limits.

This coverage might make sense if you rent cars regularly. Insurance sold by a rental agency is often expensive — from $7 to $14 a day for a Liability policy.

However, bear in mind that Nonowners Auto insurance will not cover damages to a car you rent. For this reason, it often makes sense to purchase a Collision Damage Waiver — commonly known as a “loss damage waiver” — from the rental agency. Although this is technically not insurance, it will protect you from responsibility for damage to or theft of your rental. Some waivers also offer coverage from “loss of use” fees charged to renters while the car is being repaired. Waivers usually cost $9 to $20 per day.

For more information about Nonowners Auto coverage, please feel free to get in touch with us.

You’re probably familiar with the basic discounts that most insurance companies offer on Homeowners coverages, such as bundling Home and Auto insurance, loyalty rewards, and installing smoke detectors and/or home security systems.

However, a growing number of companies offer significant premium discounts on Homeowners insurance to policyholders who are:

• Senior citizens. If you’re 60 or older, you could lower your premium by as much as 15%.
• Non-smokers. If you’ve given up the habit — or have never picked up a cigarette, cigar, or pipe — you might qualify for a discount.
• Married couples or widows/widowers. Could be eligible for discounts of up to 5%.
• New buyers who have closed a home purchase within 60 days.
• Willing to increase coverage to reflect a rise in inflation.
• Ready to buy coverage for the full value of a home.
• Prepared to buy from a new carrier before the policy with your current insurance company expires.
• New policy holders with the company (the “welcome” discount) and purchasing coverage for the entire value of your home.

You might also be eligible for a discount if you don’t have a Property damage claim for a specified period, such as three years.

Bear in mind that many insurance companies might not offer some (or any) of these discounts.

To see if you’re eligible, check with the professionals at our agency. We might be able to save you some big dollars.

As traffic increasingly approaches gridlock in urban areas, and higher housing costs cause workers to push their homes ever further from work, it’s no surprise that commuting times have lengthened considerably. Longer trips to work mean that more and more car-bound commuters are looking for ways to pass that seat time either productively or pleasantly. Hands-free cell phones, enhanced stereo systems, laptop computers, PDAs, and (hopefully only in the back seat) DVD players and video games are standard equipment in many vehicles.

Have you considered how your Personal Insurance coverage will cover losses to these often-expensive additions?

To determine how much coverage, if any, your Auto or Homeowners policy will provide for these tech “toys,” you’ll need to determine:

• The value of the device.
• Whether it’s “built-in” to the vehicle, or powered through an adapter.
• The value of any media (such as CDs, DVDs, or game cartridges) used with the device.
• Whether the device is for personal or business use, or both.

Be sure you have the coverage you want before a loss reveals a possible gap in your protection. Contact one of our Personal Insurance professionals today.

If you’re building a new home, congratulations! However, if you don’t insure your new residence during construction, you’re exposing yourself to a huge risk if a fire, theft, or other event damages or destroys your partially-completed home.

You can protect yourself by buying a standard homeowners policy on the new dwelling. This will cover you for any damage to the home as it’s being built, and might also provide some coverage for theft of building supplies (although the building contractor’s insurance should also cover this). The policy includes liability insurance, which would come in handy if one of your friends trips during a “tour” of your dream house and decides to sue you. However, homeowners insurance will not cover your personal property until the building is secure or “lockable.” Once construction reaches this point, you can add coverage for your personal property.

As an alternative, consider a dwelling and fire policy, which covers damage to the physical structure, but provides no theft coverage. This might be an appropriate choice if you’re living in your old house during construction, because the homeowners policy on this dwelling would cover theft of items from the construction site. Dwelling and fire insurance also provides liability coverage.

Once your new home is complete, it makes sense to re-evaluate your coverage. If you chose dwelling and fire coverage, you might want to replace it with a homeowners policy. If you have a standard homeowners policy, make sure that you have insured the home to its full value, especially if you have altered the original building plans (for example, by adding a room or upgrading building supplies).

If you have any questions about protecting your new home while it’s being built, just give our insurance professionals a call. We’re always here for you.

Despite the explosive growth of online identity theft, the great majority of personal information is stolen or lost in other ways, according to one recent study.

A nationwide survey of claims data by Travelers insurance company found that nearly three in four cases of identity fraud (73%) did not involve cyber-crime. According to Travelers, such stolen or misplaced items as wallets and pocketbooks were the most common known causes of these claims. The theft of drivers licenses, Social Security cards, or other forms of personal identification ranked second. Burglaries ranked third, followed by cyber breaches, including Internet scams and old-fashioned forgeries.

To protect yourself against all varieties of identity theft, experts recommend these guidelines:

• Check your monthly financial statements to detect any suspicious activity (in case you find any discrepancy, contact the financial institution immediately).
• Carry only essential credit cards
• Keep critical documents in a secure place
• Avoid scams by not disclosing personal information if you receive an unsolicited request
• Shred old bills and financial statements
• Store purses and wallets in a safe place
• Never print account information on an outgoing mail envelope
• Be careful about sharing personal information on social media
• Ask for a free report annually from the national credit reporting agencies.

You might also consider purchasing Identity theft insurance. Many policies provide coverage for lost or stolen funds; long distance calls to resolve, report, or discuss the fraud; the cost of notarizing fraud affidavits, certified mail, or other documents needed to restore compromised credit; loan re-application fees due to incorrect credit information; and attorney fees (if pre-approved).

For more information, please get in touch with our agency.