Tuesday, November 24, 2009

First Accident Forgiveness - For North Carolina Auto Insurance This Is The Law, Not A Special Policy Feature

You hear it on the television commercials, how this company or that company will forgive your first accident and not charge you extra for it. But the fine print is hard to read and flies by your screen far too quickly. What they don’t tell you is that every North Carolina auto insurance policy offers you first accident forgiveness. What they also don’t tell you is that this rule is full of clauses that can put the charges back on your policy later. So here’s the truth about first accident forgiveness.

All North Carolina personal auto insurance policies are governed by the same policy form. Part of this policy form and its rules cover exactly when the insurance company can surcharge your policy with extra charges for past or current accidents and moving violations. One of these sections discusses what is called a non-chargeable accident.

Anytime you have an at fault accident or a moving violation, insurance points can be added to your policy. These points remain on your policy for 3 years and they generate additional charges to your policy. This of course is an attempt to raise the rates for risky drivers while keeping them as low as possible for safer drivers. When you have an accident that is your fault, there are a few exceptions that allow you to avoid the associated insurance points. This is the first accident forgiveness section and these are the rules:

If the accident is your fault and the total damages are under $1800 then it might be a non-chargeable accident. The next requirement is that the accident caused property damages only, in other words, no one was injured. Some minor bodily injury charges are allowed, such as an ambulance bill and doctor checkup but only if the result is that no one was actually hurt. The last requirement is that no drivers on the policy have a chargeable accident or ticket in the past 3 years.

Now if all of the above conditions are met, then you should receive no additional charges on your policy for that accident. But there is one additional caveat. If in the three year period following this non-chargeable accident, you or any other driver in your household has an at fault accident of any kind, or a moving violation, then the old accident becomes a chargeable accident and the points associated with that accident are now added to your policy for the remainder of their 3 year term.

So, now you have a better understanding of that fine print that flies by your screen during commercials. Just know that some companies have chosen to use a policy provision to which you are entitled and dressed it up as a special feature that they offer you. It’s a marketing gimmick and nothing more. Don’t bite on that hook for that bait.

At Clinard Insurance Group in Winston Salem, NC, we work hard to help all of our clients become informed insurance consumers. If we can help you with your auto insurance, your home insurance or your business insurance or life insurance, please call us, toll free at 877-687-7557 or visit us on line at www.ClinardInsurance.com.

The source information for this article was pulled from information which can be found at www.InsuranceAnswerGuy.com.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

When It Comes To Insurance Policies, You Need The Middleman

The old saying, cut out the middleman, might seem at first blush to apply to insurance buying, but a second look will prove that you not only need a middleman, you need an independent middleman. The middleman will not cost you money here, it will actually save you money, not only on your insurance purchase, but even more so if you experience a claim. Read on to find out exactly why.

First of all, let me say that when I discuss the middleman in an insurance policy purchase, I am talking about a truly independent middleman, in this case an independent insurance agent who can represent your needs and protect your rights. Direct writer insurance agencies that represent only one company are not independent enough to save you from yourself. In addition, if you purchase insurance from an 800 phone number or a company that has you quote your own policy online, you are not going to cut out the middleman cost, you will only be cutting out the service. This is true no matter if you are purchasing an auto insurance policy, a home insurance policy or even a business insurance policy.

There are two ways that an independent middleman can help you and in both cases, the middleman does not raise the cost of the insurance. That’s evident when you compare the rates of direct writing insurance companies against those offered by independent insurance agencies.

The first way that you will be better served by a middleman is in the purchasing process. Let’s face it, insurance is a complicated legal contract, designed to protect you from certain types of financial ruin. Buying insurance is not like buying a head of cabbage at the grocery store. Each person’s situation and insurance needs are different and if you don’t have the help of someone who understands the contract intimately, who is there to help you figure out your specific needs, then chances are you will make a mistake somewhere. And the mistake could cost you everything you have worked so hard for. This is a corner you just don’t want to cut.

The second way an independent middleman can protect you is as a buffer between you and the insurance company when it comes to claims questions or claims help. Let me give you an example. Recently a friend of mine came to me and asked for help with her homeowners insurance rates. As I began to work out her needs with her and develop quotes, we found that she had several water damage losses listed in the public record as losses. She complained that she never received any claim payment and so they shouldn’t even show up. She just called her agent to ask if the water damage would be covered. In both cases it wasn’t. But the problem is that her agent was not an independent agent. He represented only one company and as such was an employee of the company. When she called to ask if the water damage was covered, he was compelled to advise his company of this event and this information was entered into her loss file as well as into the shared loss information called a CLUE report.

These water damage losses on her CLUE report made her house uninsurable for all of the companies that we represented and her current insurance company was able to keep increasing her rates every year since she had no option to go anywhere else for her homeowners insurance. But that is not the end of it. When she went to sell her home, the realtor who represented the buyer discovered the clue report information and she was required to implement costly mold eradication procedures in order to sell her home. If she had been our client, and called about the water damage to her home, our independence would have allowed us to tell her that the claim wasn’t covered and that she shouldn’t file the claim because of the other costs she might incur in doing so. In this case, her lack of a truly independent middleman cost her money not only on her home and auto insurance policies, but also when she decided to sell her home.

Remember, with insurance a middleman will not cost you money, an independent middleman will actually save you money. At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC, we are an independent middleman for our clients and we add value to their insurance buying experiences every day. If we can help you with your homeowners insurance policy, your auto insurance policy, your life insurance policy, or any of your business insurance needs, please call us toll free at 877-687-7557 or visit us online at www.ClinardInsurance.com.

The source information for this article was pulled from articles which can be found at www.TheInsuranceAnswerGuy.com

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

When It Comes To Insurance Policies, You Need The Middleman

The old saying, cut out the middleman, might seem at first blush to apply to insurance buying, but a second look will prove that you not only need a middleman, you need an independent middleman. The middleman will not cost you money here, it will actually save you money, not only on your insurance purchase, but even more so if you experience a claim. Read on to find out exactly why.

First of all, let me say that when I discuss the middleman in an insurance policy purchase, I am talking about a truly independent middleman, in this case an independent insurance agent who can represent your needs and protect your rights. Direct writer insurance agencies that represent only one company are not independent enough to save you from yourself. In addition, if you purchase insurance from an 800 phone number or a company that has you quote your own policy online, you are not going to cut out the middleman cost, you will only be cutting out the service. This is true no matter if you are purchasing an auto insurance policy, a home insurance policy or even a business insurance policy.

There are two ways that an independent middleman can help you and in both cases, the middleman does not raise the cost of the insurance. That’s evident when you compare the rates of direct writing insurance companies against those offered by independent insurance agencies.

The first way that you will be better served by a middleman is in the purchasing process. Let’s face it, insurance is a complicated legal contract, designed to protect you from certain types of financial ruin. Buying insurance is not like buying a head of cabbage at the grocery store. Each person’s situation and insurance needs are different and if you don’t have the help of someone who understands the contract intimately, who is there to help you figure out your specific needs, then chances are you will make a mistake somewhere. And the mistake could cost you everything you have worked so hard for. This is a corner you just don’t want to cut.

The second way an independent middleman can protect you is as a buffer between you and the insurance company when it comes to claims questions or claims help. Let me give you an example. Recently a friend of mine came to me and asked for help with her homeowners insurance rates. As I began to work out her needs with her and develop quotes, we found that she had several water damage losses listed in the public record as losses. She complained that she never received any claim payment and so they shouldn’t even show up. She just called her agent to ask if the water damage would be covered. In both cases it wasn’t. But the problem is that her agent was not an independent agent. He represented only one company and as such was an employee of the company. When she called to ask if the water damage was covered, he was compelled to advise his company of this event and this information was entered into her loss file as well as into the shared loss information called a CLUE report.

These water damage losses on her CLUE report made her house uninsurable for all of the companies that we represented and her current insurance company was able to keep increasing her rates every year since she had no option to go anywhere else for her homeowners insurance. But that is not the end of it. When she went to sell her home, the realtor who represented the buyer discovered the clue report information and she was required to implement costly mold eradication procedures in order to sell her home. If she had been our client, and called about the water damage to her home, our independence would have allowed us to tell her that the claim wasn’t covered and that she shouldn’t file the claim because of the other costs she might incur in doing so. In this case, her lack of a truly independent middleman cost her money not only on her home and auto insurance policies, but also when she decided to sell her home.

Remember, with insurance a middleman will not cost you money, an independent middleman will actually save you money. At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC, we are an independent middleman for our clients and we add value to their insurance buying experiences every day. If we can help you with your homeowners insurance policy, your auto insurance policy, your life insurance policy, or any of your business insurance needs, please call us toll free at 877-687-7557 or visit us online at www.ClinardInsurance.com.

The source information for this article was pulled from articles which can be found at www.TheInsuranceAnswerGuy.com

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

NC Homeowners Insurance Rates Are Changing - Here Are Tips For Getting The Best Quotes

The North Carolina Homeowners Insurance market has undergone wild gyrations this year as insurance company rate makers have tried to react and prepare for regulatory changes with the NC Beach Plan. The uncertainty of the legislatures actions and the slow motion change of the rate bureau in North Carolina have led to some crazy rate changes for homeowners policies in North Carolina. As a consumer, you want to tread carefully before switching companies.

For those NC homeowners who watch the bottom line costs of their home insurance policy, 2009 might have held some real sticker shock surprises. As our fragile Beach Plan Insurance Program threatened to take down the entire system of home insurance in North Carolina, the insurance companies reacted with rule changes, rate changes and the dreaded consent to rate forms. It’s enough to make my head spin, little wonder that it has caused great confusion for the insurance consumer.

If you are thinking of shopping for a better rate on your homeowners insurance policy, here are a few tips that you might want to consider:

First of all, if you are thinking of getting a NC homeowners insurance quote online, be careful. Insurance is a complicated contract and there is a reason that agents are heavily regulated and must be licensed by the state. Don’t put your largest assets at risk in a do it yourself disaster. I suggest that looking for a knowledgeable agent on line is a good idea, but trying to rate and issue the policy yourself is at best ignorant and at worst financial suicide.

Secondly, take a good look at the covered value of your home on your current policy. Make sure that this number makes sense in the context of what it would take to rebuild your home at today’s prices. Many people simply ask for a quote that matches their current coverage amount with questioning if that is the correct coverage limit for them.

Third, don’t forget to carry the highest liability limits that you can afford. Liability coverage is truly protecting you for the unknown and possibly unlimited loss. It is cheap protection and it makes no sense to skimp pennies here.

Fourth, if you have unusual valuable items like musical instruments, stamp or coin collections for jewelry, you should consider having it scheduled for an agreed amount on your policy.

Fifth, you will always save money on both your home and your auto policy if you combine them with the same insurance company. There are times when you may not be able to do this due to prior losses or a specialized need on one policy or the other, but those cases are rare.

Last of all, I would recommend that you use an independent agent to help you with your homeowners insurance quote. An independent agent represents many different companies and can help you find the company that is really targeting your type of home, not only from a pricing standpoint but from an underwriting rules standpoint.

At Clinard Insurance Group in Winston Salem, NC, we want all insurance consumers to be educated consumers. If you need help with your NC homeowners insurance policy, please feel free to call us, toll free, at 877-687-7557.

The source information for this article can be found by visiting www.InsuranceAnswerGuy.com.