How To Determine Who Is At Fault In An Auto Accident

Auto accidents happen every day.  Hopefully you will never be involved in one but if you are, what you do and say after an accident could have a big impact on who is ultimately found to be at fault. Here are a few tips and ideas to help you better understand the process and what you should do after an auto accident.

Call the police.  I have seen situations where people were so sure that they were at fault that they agreed to pay for all damages, only to be shocked later that the other party’s insurance paid for the damages instead.  I have seen accidents where one person denied even being in a wreck in the first place.  The police report is designed to protect you and to provide the insurance adjuster with enough information to figure out which driver caused the accident.  Make it a rule to always call the police, no matter how small the accident.  The police report will provide the insurance adjuster with the drivers names and contact information, witness information as well as a brief summary from the officer.  If you don’t think the accident was your fault, then tell the police officer why.

Gather the other driver’s information.   Even if the other driver is in a hurry and doesn’t want to wait for the police, make sure that before they leave you get as much contact information about them as you can.  Write down the make and model of the car and the license plate number as well as the driver’s name and contact information.   If it is you that is in a hurry, try to find the patience to wait for the police officer.  Recently one of our clients was hit by a driver who ran a red light.  She was in a hurry and didn’t wait around for the police officer to arrive.  She was shocked to read the police report later as it indicated that she was the one who ran the red light.  

Take as many pictures as you can.  Almost everyone has a camera on their phone.  Include photos of skid marks, debris fields as well as photos of the cars both before and after they are moved from the scene of the accident.  It is hard to know just what might become important later so the more photos you can take, the better.

Make your statement to both the police officer and the insurance adjuster.  Tell the officer what happened in logical step by step order.   You will need to record a statement later with the insurance adjuster.  When you do this, be sure to include everything you can think of, no matter how trivial it may seem to you.  The adjuster will study your statement with the summary provided by the police report and along with that and the other party’s statements and photos will then decide who is at fault.

At Clinard Insurance Group we want all of our clients to be informed consumers.  If you have a claim on any of your policies, from auto insurance to home insurance or even business insurance, we will be there with you through each step of the claims process.  If you need help with any of your insurance needs, please call us, toll free, at 877-687-7557.  We look forward to serving you.

Two Large Insurance Companies In NC Will Now Require You To Tie Your Auto Insurance To Your Home Insurance Policy

For the last several years, insurance companies doing business in NC have lost money on homeowners insurance as a group.  The rates are just too low to pay for all of the losses that occur under those policies.  After a year like 2011, when weather related losses were so frequent and so costly, insurance companies are now beginning to take more drastic action to protect their bottom lines.   Also, although the NC General Assembly slyly pushed a lot of the risks of the underfunded beach plan on to the backs of the homeowners in the state, there is still a substantial risk assessment for hurricane losses to insurance companies who write home insurance in NC.  This is just another incentive for the insurance companies to trim their book of home insurance policies.  All of this adds up to the fact that insuring homes in NC is a good way to lose money quickly.  And we are now beginning to see the various strategies that the insurance companies are employing to protect themselves from home insurance losses.

Recently, two of the 5 largest home insurers in NC announced that they are changing their rules to require that their policyholders also buy auto insurance from them or the homeowners policy will be cancelled at the next renewal.  Between these two insurance companies is it estimated that about 72,000 households will have their home insurance policies cancelled in 2012.

Your first question may be if it is legal to require auto insurance to go with a homeowners insurance policy?  The answer is that this is perfectly legal if morally questionable.  The NC Department of Insurance does not regulate the underwriting rules that each insurance company uses.   There is little doubt that in most cases you will be better off if you combine your home and your auto insurance with the same insurance company since you will generally receive discounts for doing so.  But there are many cases where the insurance company may not be willing to write your auto insurance either because they don’t like your driving record, your claims record or even the type of car you drive.   If this happens to you, then you are going to find it much more difficult to find insurance for your home at the low rates you have been used to in the past.

So where do I think the NC homeowners insurance market is headed?  Well, already we see much tougher underwriting guidelines for home insurance.  Many companies will not write a new home policy without the auto insurance.  Of course most are currently willing to leave their stand-alone home insurance policies on the books for now, but that could change and this would mean even more cancellations and nonrenewals for NC home owners.   If you have a large insurance account with several late model cars and a high value home, then you shouldn’t have much trouble finding home insurance, unless you have a poor claims or driving history.  But homeowners rates are going up and will continue to do so for the near future.  The rates that most people are paying today will seem like a real bargain 2 years from now.  Many insurance companies raised their homeowners insurance rates in December and we are likely to see even more rate increases next year.   In contrast, South Carolina home insurance rates are nearly twice what they are in North Carolina.  Our weather systems and home values are similar so I think you can expect steady increases in your NC home insurance rates until they are nearly twice what they are now.  Of course some of this is dependent on the NC Department of Insurance which sets the maximum rates that can be charged for home insurance.  If over time, those maximum rates are not high enough to allow insurance companies to make a profit on homeowners insurance, then you will begin to see a lack of availability in the marketplace which could leave some home owners with no insurance options at all.

If you have a bad insurance claims history or a bad driving record, there are still some good options available to you for your home insurance There are several insurance companies in NC who will write stand-alone homeowners insurance policies without the auto insurance being included.  Over time there will be less and less of these options as the home insurance marketplace begins to tighten up and consumers flock to and then overrun the last  companies to take action to reduce their homeowners policy count.  But for the short run, there is still plenty of availability if you have a good, independent insurance agent who can shop the marketplace for you.

The uncertainty in the home insurance market just serves to underscore how important it is for you to find and establish a relationship with a professional, independent insurance agent that can protect you from the market place gyrations that can create havoc with your insurance budget.    At Clinard Insurance Group, we insure thousands of households all across North Carolina and our homeowners insurance market is healthy and open for business.  If you received a homeowners nonrenewal letter from your insurance company, or if you need any help with your home or auto insurance then please, give us a call, toll free at 877-687-7557.  We will be glad to help you and with us you will have your own, personal insurance agent who is professional, kind and will get to know you and your situation.  We will take as much time as you need to make sure that you fully understand what you are buying and that you are happy with your choices.  And you get all of this and still save money.  You save twice, once on price, once on advice.  Call us now at 877-687-7557.

Does Your Auto Insurance Policy Include OEM Parts Coverage For Your Car?

Most people buying a new auto insurance policy don’t stop to think about the parts will be used to repair their cars if they are involved in an accident.  Most of us assume that our vehicles will be fixed and put back on the road, as good as new.  But in North Carolina, the law and the auto insurance policy language could leave you with some bad feelings after the dust has settled on your claim. 

OEM stands for original manufacturer’s equipment.  This terminology is used for parts that were manufactured by the original car company for your car.  In NC, car insurance companies are not obligated to pay for OEM parts when paying for damages to your wrecked vehicle.   Since OEM parts usually cost more than non OEM replacement parts, most repairs are not done with replacement parts that were manufactured by the original car manufacturer.

Now these non-OEM replacement parts may or may not be as good or even better quality than OEM parts.  But that’s not the point.  The point is that most people have expectations that include OEM parts being used to repair their cars.  Let’s face it, many of us have personal relationships with our cars and don’t want to feel cheated after an accident and repair work.   There is a simple solution to this problem but it requires that you take action before your car is damaged.  Most insurance companies doing business in NC have an OEM parts endorsement that you can add to your auto policy to make sure that the costs of these parts is covered if you have a loss.  Some restrictions apply to the OEM endorsement on the North Carolina auto insurance policy.  For instance, most insurance companies will require that you add this endorsement within 60 days of the purchase of a new vehicle.  Usually you can only add the endorsement to a vehicle that you purchased brand new.  Also, most companies will drop this coverage once your car is over 7 years old.  One company that we represent will let you add OEM coverage at any time and will allow you keep it on the policy until your vehicle is 10 years old, so there are some exceptions to these rules.

The cost of this protection is usually about 5% additional on your comprehensive and collision insurance premiums.  Now, keep in mind this other issue:  Even if you buy OEM coverage for your car, if you are hit by another person and that person is at fault, then your claim will be handled by the other person’s insurance company.   Letting them settle the claim with you will mean your OEM protection will not apply.   You can get around this by filing a collision claim with your insurance company so that you can benefit from the OEM endorsement on your policy.  If you do it this way, then you will have to pay the collision deductible on this claim out of your pocket and wait to be reimbursed by the other party’s insurance company if and when your insurance company files a subrogating claim against them and collects.  This may take some time or might even never happen, depending on the size and complexity  or the claim.

This is just one illustration of how complex North Carolina auto insurance really is.  There are many things for you to consider when buying your auto insurance policy.   From just this one example you can see that do it yourself car insurance is a bad idea.  Here at Clinard Insurance Group,  we write thousands of auto insurance policies for our customers located all across the state of North Carolina.  We will take as much time as you need to make sure that you understand all of your options and that you are completely comfortable with your choices.  Please give us a call for help with your auto insurance or your home insurance.  You can reach us toll free, at 877-687-7557.

What Are The Insurance Companies Leaving Out Of Their TV Ad Offers?

I am amazed at the number of TV ads that are devoted to convincing you to switch auto insurance companies to save money.  They are almost so common place that we don’t even notice them anymore.   While I think that anyone who shops long enough can always find a lower rate on their car insurance, a 2009 survey discovered that only 14 percent of people who shopped around for a better rate on their car insurance found that they could save money by switching companies.  Still, the ads continue to bombard us with new and interesting gimmicks and twists that will entice you to start shopping.  So what about these gimmicks, do they save you money or are they just marketing tricks?  I want to pull back the curtain on a few of them to give you an idea of what you are up against.

One of the newer gimmicks is the Nationwide Insurance vanishing deductible trick.  It seems like a great idea; Nationwide will reduce your deductible by $100 for each year that you don’t cause an accident or turn in a comprehensive claim like windshield, vandalism or theft of your vehicle.  Of course if you have a claim like that then your deductible will then go back up to the original level, minus a $100 sign up reduction.  No more than $500 of your deductible can ever disappear.  What the blurry fine print on the screen says is that this program will cost you $60 per year per car.  So this means that you would be paying $60 per year for $100 of protection that you will probably never need.   This is a great deal for Nationwide and not such a  good deal for you.  If you are truly a safe driver and have few claims, then I would advise that you take the highest deductible that you can afford and apply some of the savings to making sure that you have very high liability limits.

Another interesting ad is the Progressive Insurance snapshot program.  Right now, this is only available in 39 states and North Carolina is not one of them.   This program installs a big brother like device into your car’s diagnostic system and sends your driving information to the insurance company.  Now in theory, I like the idea of rewarding good drivers for their good driving habits.  But the problem with this program is that your driving habits will have to be the crème de la crème of all drivers in this program for you to see the huge discounts that they project in the ad.  Under a system like this which is voluntary, only the safest drivers will sign up and those drivers are now your competition for the discounts.  Let’s not forget the creepiness of having your insurance company checking out all of your driving habits.  It would be like me riding around in your back seat everywhere you go, making quiet notes on my clipboard and giving you disapproving looks in the rear view mirror.

Another highly advertised program is the accident forgiveness program.  Allstate insurance pushes this program but the details reveal that it may not be such a great deal for you.  First of all, you will have to pay extra to enroll in this program.  And in North Carolina, there is already a first accident forgiveness program built into the regulations.  To learn more about that, click here.   If you are generally a safe driver, then this program usually means that you end up paying for something that you will never need.  And the offered rebates for safe driving have to come from somewhere.  As you may have guessed, the insurance company will need to collect this money from you in advance in order to give it back to you later.  As evidence, Allstate recently reached an agreement with California regulators to stop selling their Your Choice program there after a lawsuit alleged that the program overcharges policyholders and that the costs for this program were deceptive.

A critical view of these programs might lead you to believe that these special programs are not designed to save you money on your car insurance, but rather to get you to call them for a quote in the first place.  I would advise that you take the time to find an independent insurance agent that you trust.  Choose one that will take the time to listen to you and discover your needs and then go out and shop the marketplace of insurance companies to find the program that is best for your unique situation right now, and in the future.  Car insurance is complicated and critical to your financial wellbeing.  You are trying to protect all of your possessions and your income stream and this should not be a do it yourself project.

Clinard Insurance Group is an independent insurance agency.   We insure more than 5000 families all across North Carolina and we want for all of our clients to be informed insurance consumers.  We will take as much time as you need to be sure that you are comfortable and have a full understanding of the insurance policies that you purchase from us.  If we can help you with your homeowners insurance, your auto insurance, your life insurance or even your business insurance, please call our office, toll free at 877-687-7557 or visit us on the web at www.ClinardInsurance.com.

How Well Will Your Insurance Policies Protect You From Your Vicarious Liability Exposures?

What is vicarious liability?  Well, it is a legal term that for situations when you or your business becomes liable for the actions of another person or business simply because of a special relationship that you have with this other party.  Here’s an example;  suppose your grading company is behind on a deadline and one of your backhoe operators is out sick.  You hire a temporary worker to work on your job site and you don’t know take the care to discover that he has a drinking problem.   The temp gets drunk on the job and injures another worker with the back hoe.  Now  you can be held responsible for the injuries. 

There a lot of different ways that vicarious liability can harm your business and it’s important that you brainstorm these exposures and scenarios to learn how you can avoid these losses and how you can tailor your business insurance policies to protect your company.

One place to start is to understand that the interactions your own employees and managers with each other carries risk for your company.  If you have a manager, or an employee who is harassing another employee with sexual remarks, then you and your company could face lawsuits for sexual harassment.  The insurance policy that can protect you from this type of loss is called Employment Practices Liability Insurance or EPLI for short.  Not many NC businesses understand this coverage and even fewer have bought an EPLI Insurance policy. 

Vehicles that you don’t actually own also present another common form of vicarious liability risk.  Let’s say you  send your receptionist out to pick up the company  mail at the post office each day.  This presents a vicarious liability risk for you since she is now running a company errand, even though she is using her own car.  Now if she runs a red light and injures several people, her auto insurance policy may not have high enough limits to pay this claim.  If that happens, then your company is probably next in line to pay for the injuries and damages.   You can protect yourself from this type of vicarious liability by adding  non owned auto liability coverage to your business auto policy or to your businessowners insurance policy.

Companies who handle personal identity information for clients have special risks.  If this describes your business, then you must carefully vet those employees who handle personal identity information as well as those who might be able steal this information.  If you hire a temporary worker during a busy time or a holiday season, then your vicarious liability risks will increase during that time.  You should take steps to protect your company like performing background checks on the temporary worker before they begin work for you.

Vicarious liability is a legal reality that handcuffs you to others with whom you have special business relationships.  And your relationship won’t feel so special when you are being dragged into court because of that person or that firm’s actions.  You need to do your homework on the front end to protect yourself from this exposure.  Learn all that you can about a person or company who may bring vicarious liability into your orbit.  Also take some time and run through the risk scenarios with your insurance agent to make sure that you have the protection that you need and want from your insurance policies.

Clinard Insurance Group is an independent agency serving families and businesses all across North Carolina.  It is our mission to help all insurance consumers to be informed buyers.  If we can help you with your insurance and protection needs for your family or your business, please call us, toll free, at 877-687-7557 or visit us on the web at www.ClinardInsurance.com. 

Facebook And Your Personal Insurance Policies – Is There A Connection?

Most of us would agree that what you say and do on Facebook should have no effect on your insurance policies or your rates.   But the truth is more complicated.  Your Facebook actions can have an effect on your insurance rates and coverages in some circumstances.  And my guess is that the impact will only grow over time.

I want to begin by assuring you that as of this moment, I am not aware of an insurance company that using Facebook as an underwriting tool for personal insurance policies such as home insurance and auto insurance.  There may come a time when they automate that process and if so, will begin to use it if they can.    Insurance for businesses though is a very different scenario.  Businesses want to attract people to their FB pages and so their Facebook information is easy for anyone to see.   Commercial insurance underwriters will routinely study a business Facebook page to be sure that they are comfortable insuring that enterprise.  Here is a list of some of the things you want to consider vis-à-vis your personal insurance and your safety on Facebook.

Start by understanding that Facebook data is a rich source of opportunity for crooks and thieves.   Once again, one bad apple spoils everyone else’s fun.  But you can still have a great time but not give up the information so easily.  The thieves are out there looking for the easy targets.  So here are some ideas to help keep you from being the low hanging fruit for the bad people out there who are looking for ways to steal from you. 

You should start with a very strong password.   Obviously you don’t want to share that password with anyone.   The strong password will help prevent a thief from guessing your password based on the information that can be publicly obtained.  Also, while it is ok to show your birthday, don’t show the year you were born.  That is just an invitation for identity thieves to go to work on you. 

Take the time to understand just how the privacy controls work  and try and limit as much access about yourself to just your friends.  Restrict access to photos, birth date, family information and religious views.  Remember, the more pieces of the puzzle you give out, the easier it is for a crook to steal from you.  It is also a bad idea to post your children’s names in photos as tags.  If someone else does this, you should ask them to delete the tag.    Your children are the weakest link in the information protection game and letting a thief link your information to theirs just makes their job all the easier.

This next reminder should be obvious but people break this rule all of the time.  Don’t post the dates you will be out of town.  If you must share the pics from your recent trip, just wait until you get home to share them.  If you are talking about a future trip online, be as vague as possible about the actual dates you will be gone.

Right now, my experience tells me that the things you say and share on your personal Facebook page are not a threat to your home insurance rates or your auto insurance rates.   I hear rumors out there, which I cannot confirm, that some life insurance companies may be trying to track applicants on Facebook to help decide, based on lifestyle choices, which applicants should get the preferred rates and which should be charged more.  However, at this point in time, I think the biggest threat to you at this comes from theives.  Please use good common sense with your Facebook account.

Clinard Insurance Group is an independent insurance agency located in Winston Salem, NC.  We try very hard to pull back the curtain on the insurance industry so that you can be an informed insurance buyer.  If we can help you with your home insurance, your life insurance, your auto insurance of even your business insurance needs, please call us, toll free, at 877-687-7557.

NC Auto Insurance Advice – 5 Things To Do If You Have An Accident

Since most of us just aren’t frequently involved in auto accidents, if this happens to you then you might find yourself pretty flustered.  If you know what to do ahead of time, perhaps it may help you navigate those first few minutes after the collision.  So, here are the broad categories of things you should do if you find yourself in an auto accident.

At the top of the list of course is that you should call the police.  But read on, as there are a few caveats. If the accident was your fault, and there are only minor property damages; no one has been injured,  and you think you will want to pay for the damages yourself, then not calling the police might work out in your favor.  NC insurance rules dictate that you will be charged insurance points for accidents that are your fault.  Now if the accident only created property damage and the total damage is under $1800 and you have no other tickets or insurance points on your record, then you will not be charged for this accident.  In those cases, by all means, call the police right away.   But, if all of those conditions are not true and you want to avoid the insurance points, then avoiding a police report increases your odds of avoiding the insurance points.  The insurance company will only know about the accident if you file the claim or if the accident shows up on your motor vehicle record.  Calling the police means that your record will indicate you were involved in an accident.

The next step to cover is avoiding additional damages and risks to you.  Move your car away from the roadway to avoid additional accidents.  Stay safely away from the street or highway while you are out of your vehicle.

Step 3 is to  get the correct information about the other driver.  Of course this becomes even more important if you don’t think the accident is your fault.  Be sure to obtain the other driver’s name, his or her driver’s license number, phone number and insurance information and license tag number.  In addition, be sure to verify the name of the owner of the other vehicle.  So often we find that the driver is not the registered owner of a vehicle after an accident.  Knowing the owner’s name is going to speed up the process of filing a claim against his or her insurance policy.

Now you need to fully document the event.  Take as many photos as possible document the damages to each car as well as the accident site. If you use the video camera on your phone, then you can make comments as you go that may be helpful to the investigation.   Find and interview any witnesses and be sure to get their full names and contact numbers so that you can reach them later if needed.  The more information you can obtain, the better.  Clinard Insurance Group customers can request a vehicle claim kit, complete with a camera and other tools to help you in an accident.  Click here to learn more about this kit.

Last of all,  file an accident report.  If you are not at fault, then call the other party’s insurance agent and file a claim with them for your damages.  You should expect the insurance company to contact you and perhaps ask you to provide a recorded statement of what happened.

Clinard Insurance Group is an independent insurance agency located in beautiful Winston Salem, NC.  We service thousands of NC auto insurance policies for clients all across NC.  We can also help you with your home insurance and your life insurance needs.  Give us a call, toll free, at 877-687-7557 or visit us on the web at www.ClinardInsurance.com.  

How Electronic Funds Transfers Can Save You Money On Your Insurance Policies

Insurance bills are no one’s favorite mail. And paying those bills is a chore no one relishes. Most people these days opt for a monthly bill option on their insurance policies; from homeowners insurance and auto insurance to the policies covering their business insurance needs. And while it helps the cash flow to pay monthly there are risks and costs associated with this choice. For instance, in NC, every insurance company can charge up to $3 per installment on each monthly bill. And believe me, almost every insurance company takes advantage of this and charges the full $3 on each installment. If you have several policies that are billed separately on 12 monthly bills, this can add up pretty quickly. If you measure what that comes out to on an interest rate basis, you will quickly decide that this fee is highway robbery.

But the more insidious problem with monthly bills that few consider is the risk of missing one. What if you are out of town and miss a due date, or your mail gets lost? If you don’t pay an insurance bill on time your policy could be cancelled and leave you without protection. Imagine experiencing the worst loss of your life right after your policy cancelled? Think how you would feel if you had carefully bought insurance for years and years and then the one time you missed a payment your house burned? That would be tough to handle, both financially and emotionally.

The EFT payment option, which is available for most insurance policies is a great solution to all of these costs and risks. EFT stands for electronic funds transfer. This is an agreement you have with your insurance company, allowing them automatically draft your checking or savings account each month for the monthly amount due. Insurance companies love EFT because it saves them money on printing, mailing and collecting the monthly bills. As a result, almost all of them will waive the $3.00 per installment service charge if you sign up for EFT with them. And this option has other benefits for you. With EFT you can rest easy knowing that you don’t have to worry about your insurance being cancelled because a bill was lost or mislaid. Just keep an adequate balance in your account to cover the monthly bill, it will be paid whether you are at home or off on a Bahamas vacation. Not only that, but you will have saved yourself the trouble of keeping up with another monthly bill, writing the check and having to get it in the mail on time.

EFT programs also usually offer you the option of picking the day of the month on which the money will be drafted from your account. So, for instance if your paycheck is always deposited on the 1^st of the month, then you could choose the 4^th or the 5^th of each month as your draft date. You pick what works best for you. Set it and forget it. Occasionally people tell me that they don’t want an insurance company get their hands on their bank information because they just don’t trust them to play fair. In the 15+ years that we have been working with insurance companies and our clients with EFT programs I have never experienced a situation where someone was ripped off by the insurance company because of this bank account access. This fear has just not proven to be a realistic one.

Another way to handle the month to month payment risks is to have your insurance company charge your credit card monthly. This is the way I handle my insurance payments because I like to pick up the credit card rewards on that money that I will be paying anyway. When you choose this option, the insurance company will simply charge your credit card each month for your monthly bill amount due.

At Clinard Insurance Group, located here in beautiful Winston Salem, NC, we want all insurance consumers to be informed purchasers. We work hard to help educate the general public about their insurance options and choices. If we can help you with your auto insurance, homeowners insurance, life insurance or even your business insurance, please call us, toll free, at 877-687-7557 or visit us on the web at www.ClinardInsurance.com.

Does Your Homeowners Insurance Cover Your Kids In College?

Getting a child ready for college is stressful and exciting and insurance is probably the last thing on your mind. That’s expected; after all beyond all of the emotions you feel, you still have to help them buy bedding, a laptop, and all the dorm room decorations and necessities. But after you have spent a small fortune on their personal items, do you wonder if your insurance policy will cover these things while they are off at school? Unfortunately the answer is that it depends. And this vague answer means you really need to be sure that you are clear on the rules of the NC homeowners policy as it applies to children away at school.

A few years back, the North Carolina homeowners insurance policy form was changed and one of these amendments was a change in the wording regarding your child’s possessions while off at school. The new policy form changed the definition of an insured, (a person covered by the policy), to state that a student who lives away from your home is covered as an insured only if her or she attends school on a full time basis and is either your relative and 23 years of age or younger; or not your relative and 20 years of age or younger if still in the care of an insured. An older student or a part time student who lives away from home may be added to the policy as an additional insured for an additional charge on your policy.

Now I’ll be the first to admit that the last sentence in that paragraph above was a long stringy one that really ought to be read a second time. Go ahead and reread it, then I’ll show you just how people get caught by legalese in insurance policies. So, go ahead, reread the paragraph above, then come back here, I can wait.

Ok, the easy part to understand, and the part that most people notice first is the age parameter. You probably thought, ok, my child is 19 years old and is also my relative so my policy protect them. But did you also notice that the student must be a full time student? So what, surely your kid is full time. But what does full time really mean? I’m sure when you pay that tuition bill you had no doubt that you were paying for a full time student. But it doesn’t matter what you think is full time, what really drives the coverage is how the insurance companies define full time student. I have talked with several insurance company claims departments to better understand the answer to this question. And what they tell me is that insurance companies will go by the child’s school’s definition of a full time student. And that definition can vary a great deal from one school to the next. Some schools might define a full time student as one taking at least 12 credit hours that semester while others might require your child be registered for 16 or more hours to reach that designation. Summer school can have its own unique designation as well. This means it is up to you, the parent, to find out for yourself where you stand in your own particular situation and plan ahead for it with your homeowners insurance policy.

So what do you do to protect your child’s posessions if you determine that he or she is not covered by your homeowners policy? There are two options for you. One option is to add the endorsement number HO 0458 to your homeowners insurance policy. This endorsement will name your child as an insured. This endorsement usually costs around $75 per year. The other option, and I like this one better, particularly for older students, is to buy an HO-4 insurance policy for your child in his or her name. The HO-4 form, sometimes referred to as a tenant homeowners policy, is a homeowners policy designed for renters. This will allow them to choose a contents property limit and a liability limit as well as a deductible that best suits them. This may cost more or less, depending on the amount of coverage you need for your child but it can stay with them for as long as they keep renewing and updating it. I like this option also because it teaches your child early on, just how important it is to have both property and liability insurance for their particular household at all times. This also removes the doubt about coverage as the child moves back and forth and out to other places in the Summer and so on. As long as they keep renewing and updating the address on that policy, they will have protection.

It’s exciting and sometimes emotionally exhausting to get one of your children ready to go to college, believe me, I’ve done it 3 times now. And for those of you with children in college, I don’t want you to forget to carefully consider the insurance issue. Losses happen in colleges just as anywhere else and you may not be able to easily afford to buy all of their possessions all over again. Here at Clinard Insurance Group, located in lovely Winston Salem, NC, we try our best to educate our customers and the general public about insurance issues that affect their lives. We want every insurance consumer to be an informed buyer. If we can help you with your auto insurance, your home insurance, your business insurance or even your life insurance, please call, us, toll free, at 877-687-7557 or visit us at www.ClinardInsurance.com.

Consent To Rate Letter – Don’t Just Sign Over A Blank Check To Your Insurance Company

The consent to rate letter in North Carolina is the legal way for your insurance company to get you to agree to let your insurance company charge you more than the highest rate allowed by the NC Insurance Department. If you receive this form from you insurance company, don’t sign it without first checking in with an independent agent that you trust. There are usually many much better options than to sign this letter and watch your rates skyrocket. I’ve written about the consent to rate letter and what you should do in the past and you can, click here to read past blogs. Now, however some insurance companies are employing the consent to rate letter in a more insidious fashion. Their new technique uses this form as a way to get around ratemaking rules in North Carolina. Be careful; don’t sign this without a second opinion.

To understand the consent to rate form, it helps to understand how insurance rates are generated at in North Carolina. This state is unique in that the NC rate bureau holds most of the power in the rate making process. Here, the rate bureau decides the maximum rate that insurance companies can charge for each type of policy. After that, each insurance company then files their deviations from this rate. Usually, the rate bureau maximum rate is far above what any insurance company would be able charge for a policy and still be competitive. What happens is that insurance company rates are discounted down from the maximum rate, often as much as 55%. There is a loophole to the maximum rates that can be charged though. If an insurance company can get you to agree in writing to pay rates above the rate bureau maximum rate, then they are allowed to do so. The consent to rate form is the vehicle for getting your written consent. So, whatever you do, don’t sign a consent to rate form without first exploring all of your alternatives.

There are legitimate uses for the a consent to rate form. Imagine if you have had a few insurance claims and you are not able to buy insurance anywhere from any other company because they all think you are just too risky for the rates that they have filed with the rate bureau. Using the consent to rate letter allows them to charge a high enough rate to accommodate the riskiness of your particular situation. In that situation, the consent to rate form can allow you to buy insurance when otherwise you might not be able to.

Right now, the marketplace for homeowners insurance in NC is currently in a state of turmoil. The biggest reason for this is because the high risk beach houses that are covered by the market of last resort provided by the government do not have a high enough rate to cover their risks for wind and hail and hurricanes. This wind pool is extremely underfunded and will result in billions of dollars of losses in the event of a large hurricane hitting our coast. The underfunded risk of loss used to be pushed on to the backs of the insurance companies on an unlimited basis. Insurance companies of course do not like unlimited liabilities so a few years ago the law was changed to allow wind pool shortfalls to be assessed to all homeowners policies across the state. This means if there is a large hurricane, then your homeowners policy, no matter where in NC you live, will be assessed with an annual assessment of up to 10% of the policy premium each year until the wind pool is made whole again. If we have more than one hurricane then you could see multiple assessment charges on your policy each year. This sneaky and horribly unfair approach will still not cover the shortfall that the wind pool might face and so insurance companies remain on the hook for a large share of this risk as well. This drives the insurance companies to want higher rates for all North Carolina homeowners policies but they have trouble getting around the rate bureau. They need a loophole for an end run around the rating process. Now I am hearing that some insurance companies are using the consent to rate form to do just this. They plan to have their customers sign a consent to rate form on every policy, then they can hold these consents in your file until they need to use it to dramatically increase your rates.. If you sign one of these forms on an open ended basis like this, then your insurance company has essentially hung the sword of Damocles over your head. You will be agreeing to a rate increase above the maximum rate, sometime in the future, to be used when the insurance company wants it or needs it. I have to believe that eventually the rate bureau will not tolerate this kind of rate meddling but until they do, you should do whatever you can to be sure that you don’t let them take advantage of you. DO NOT SIGN A CONSENT TO RATE FORM UNTIL YOU HAVE EXPLORED YOUR OPTIONS WITH AN INDEPENDENT AGENT!!

At Clinard Insurance Group, we are an independent insurance agency located in Winston Salem, NC. We represent dozens of different insurance companies and we can help you with your home and auto insurance, no matter where you live in NC. If you have received a consent to rate form and are not sure what to do, please call us, toll free, at 877-687-7557 or visit us on the web at www.ClinardInsurance.com.

Did Your Homeowners Deductible Go Up To $1000 While You Weren’t Looking?

Pity the poor insurance companies trying to make a buck selling homeowners insurance in North Carolina. These policies tend to lose money as a group, year in and year out due to tornadoes and hurricanes and they also subject the insurance companies to the risk of large assessments to help pay for the underfunded beach plan which picks up the wind and hail exposure to the beach houses on our coast. But, if they can’t sell you a homeowners policy, then they are not likely to be able to sell you an auto insurance policy. And that’s where they make their real money. For the past decade or so, personal auto insurance has been the most profitable line of business for insurance companies doing business in North Carolina.

Now a new cost reducing solution is sneaking up on those who purchase NC homeowners insurance. The latest insurance company strategy is to apply a minimum deductible requirement to all homeowners policies. This stragegy first appeared several years ago with a few insurance companies that wanted to reduce their homeowners presence in certain higher risk areas of the state. Instead of just cancelling all of the policies in that area in a wholesale fashion, they began adding wind and hail deductibles that were based on a percentage of the total loss. So, if you have a 5% deductible and a $100,000 loss, then your total deductible will be $5000. With the more aggressive companies, these percentages went as high as 15%.

Now we are hearing that one of the largest homeowner writing insurance companies in NC is considering implementing a minimum $1000 deductible on all of its policies, both new policies and renewal policies. Now a change of this type will certainly be accompanied with some notice in the renewal and an insurance company spin that tells you how this is best for you, but the sad reality is that very few homeowners will take the time to read this notice and so they will be blissfully unaware of this new, higher deductible until after they experience a loss. Then the surprise will sting.

So, as a buyer of NC homeowners insurance, what can you do to protect yourself? Well, first of all, you should always check your renewal policies very carefully and read and understand any notices of changes to that renewal. If your insurance company has forced a higher deductible on your policy, and if that’s not what you want, then call your agent and see if they can provide you with another option. We represent dozens of companies and so far, none of ours are implementing these new, higher minimum deductibles except for a few exceptions in coastal counties.

Clinard Insurance Group is located in Winston Salem, NC and we help homeowners every day, all across North Carolina with their home and auto insurance needs. If your insurance company is ramming a new $1000 deductible down your throat and you don’t like the way that tastes, please give us a call. We will take as much time as you need to go over your home insurance in detail and help you make sure that you get the policy you want at rates that will truly surprise you (And I mean surprise in a good way, not in a higher minimum deductible way). Give us a call, toll free, at 877-687-7557 or visit us on the web at www.ClinardInsurance.com.

Rent House Insurance – Did You Forget About Liability Insurance

Landlords come in so many types, from the accidental landlord, stuck with a property he can’t sell and must rent, all the way to the professional landlord who owns many houses. Most landlords tend to focus first of all on the insurance for the structure itself, often called Dwelling Fire Insurance. This is a known loss exposure, meaning that if the house burns to the ground, you know exactly what you have to lose. But there is another danger out there for the landlord, and overlooking this open ended exposure can present a large and unknown loss, one that cause you to lose values far beyond what you have in the rent house itself.

What we are discussing here is the liability exposure that comes from owning and renting a dwelling to others. Your tenant could be injured, they could have a friend over who is injured, as well as all kinds of other potential types of losses. In North Carolina, most dwelling fire insurance policies, which cover the house itself and sometimes the landlords personal possessions inside, often do not have a mechanism for protecting you from liability exposures that are related to owning and renting the house. So how do you protect yourself against this exposure?

If you are a landlord with just a few policies, the easiest approach is to use your homeowners insurance policy to extend the liability from your homeowners insurance to your rental property. Most homeowners policies will allow this up to some total limit of locations, usually no more than 4. This strategy is a good one if you have an umbrella policy as well since this will extend the liability protection for your rental house directly to the umbrella policy, thus giving you much higher limits of coverage.

Another approach is to find an insurance company that will allow you to add liability to the dwelling fire policy form. Not every company can or will do this, but if you look hard enough, you should be able to find a company that can do this for you. Typically this will cost more than adding the protection through your home insurance but prices do vary so perhaps you should check both. If you add the liability protection to your dwelling fire insurance policy, then you should be sure to remember to add the dwelling policy to your list of underlying policies on your umbrella policy if you have one. This approach may also be more expensive on the umbrella policy, or it may make no difference at all to the costs.

For landlords with many locations to insure, usually the best approach is to purchase a general liability insurance policy to list all the locations on one policy.

Take the time to evaluate carefully how much liability insurance to buy for your rental property. It is relatively cheap to move to higher and higher limits so purchase the most insurance that you can afford. Remember, you are insuring a large, unknown loss here. There is no way of knowing how high the loss could go and ultimately this means you are trying to protect everything that you own, so don’t scrimp on limits here.

At Clinard Insurance Group, located in beautiful Winston Salem, NC, we want all of our clients to be informed insurance buyers. We want you to have the information that you need to make wise, and informed decisions about protecting your assets from loss. If we can help you with insuring your rental property in North Carolina, please feel free to call us, toll free, at 877-687-7557, or visit us on the web at www.ClinardInsurance.com.

You can read more detailed blogs about personal and business insurance products by visiting our onsite blog at www.InsuranceAnswerGuy.com.

Borrowing A Friend’s Trailer? Will Your Auto Insurance Cover It?

Has this ever happened to you? You have something too large or too messy to move with your car and you can’t find a truck to borrow, but you do have a buddy with a trailer. Most people don’t remember to even question if they have insurance on the trailer, they just hitch it up and go. So, if you took the time to seek an answer to this question, congratulations, you are one of the few worries about the details.

This talk is based solely on the North Carolina personal auto insurance policy. I can’t provide an all inclusive coverage analysis in this blog as there are always lots of variables from one situation to the next, and there may be specific exclusions or limitations that apply to your policy or your situation. But, generally, the following will tell you what to expect about how your insurance will come in to play when when you hitch up a friend’s trailer to your car.

The NC personal auto policy will extend the liability protection afforded to your car, to the trailer that you are pulling so long as you are not pulling the trailer for commercial purposes. But here’s the catch: your personal auto policy does not provide any physical damages protection for the trailer. This means that if you damage someone’s person or property with that trailer, then your personal auto policy will respond and protect you. If damage to the trailer itself you will not have coverage for that loss.

So the best plan is to ask your friend if there is collision and comprehensive coverage on the trailer you will borrow. If not, then you are going without coverage as far as the trailer’s damage is concerned and you should make a plan with your friend about how you will repay those damages.

At Clinard Insurance Group in Winston Salem, NC, we are an independent insurance agency. We help our family clients with home insurance, auto insurance and life insurance all across North Carolina. We also write business insurance and have niche specialties in used car dealers, restaurants, repair shops and small contractors. We want to help all insurance consumers be informed buyers. If we can help you with any of your insurance needs, please feel free to call us, toll free, at 877-687-7557 or visit us on the web at www.ClinardInsurance.com.

Insurance For Your NC Rent House – Did You Remember Personal Injury Coverage?

If you own a rentl house in North Carolina, then surely you bought a dwelling fire insurance policy in case it burns. I hope you also extended liability protection from your homeowners insurance policy to that rental house location. But there is one other step that most landlords forget to take when setting up insurance on their rental properties. I’m talking about the personal injury endorsement that can be added to your homeowners insurance policy.

The NC personal injury endorsement on your homeowners policy is good option and a super deal for incidental landlords who own just a few properties and who have already extended the liability protection from their homeowners insurance to their rental locations. Start with the fact that it is usually very inexpensive, rarely more than $25 a year. Second of all, the coverage that this endorsement adds seem tailor made for landlords. Let’s take a quick look at some of what this endorsement adds in terms of protection for the incidental landlord.

NC endorsement number HO3282, edition date 05/03, defines personal injury among other things as false arrest detention or imprisonment, malicious prosecution, wrongful eviction or wrongful entry into or invasion of the right to private occupancy by a landlord or lessor. These are all perils for which the landlord has high risk. In NC, the law is complex regarding tenant eviction procedures so the wrongful eviction protection of this endorsement alone makes it worth the money in my opinion. There are other actions included in the definition of personal injury but those I mentioned above are the ones most important to landlords. The way the endorsement works is simply to add these definitions to what is included in the liability coverage of your homeowners policy.

But a word of caution is needed here. Just adding this endorsement to your policy doesn’t give you carte blanche to proceed against your tenants without concern for their rights. The exclusions section of this endorsement makes it clear that prior knowledger that your actions will violate the rights of another and will inflict personal injury voids your from coverage. This can be found in the exclusions section of the endorsement and you should read and understand all exclusions on this endorsement before you add it to your policy.

Landlords have plenty to worry about day to day. If you own a rental property, then please make sure that your agent takes the time with you that you need to fully understand and explore all of your options for protection. At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC, we work hard to help all insurance consumers to be informed insurance buyers. We insure many incidental landlords and have helped people in this position for many years. If we can help you answer your questions regarding homes you rent to others in North Carolina, please feel free to call us toll free, at 877-687-7557 or visit our web page for dwelling fire insurance.

Your Life Insurance Premiums – Are You Paying The Salaries of Workers Who Have Already Been Fired?

Most people who are still paying premiums on older life insurance policies are paying for long gone data entry workers. When I first entered the insurance business, back in the early 80’s, one of the truths that was preached by the older guys was that everyone should purchase as much life insurance as they can afford and do it as soon as possible and then plan to hang on to that policy for the life. The reasons were that you never know when you might die or get sick and become uninsurable of course, but the other reason was because life insurance rates were always going to be more expensive the older you got. This makes good sense, even now, I mean the older you get the more likely you are to die.

But a strange thing occurred in the life insurance industry over the past 30 years that no one ever considered back then. It turns out, that for most people who are in good health; life insurance rates may actually be going down as they get older. Now this seems counterintuitive but there are a couple of reasons for this. I’ll explain them for you

Life insurance rates are driven by lots of things but mostly there are two important factors. The two things that have a huge impact on life insurance rates and which have changed dramatically in the recent past are mortality tables and the expected expenses in the policy. Let’s take a quick look at each of these and how changes in them might now represent a huge opportunity for you save some money on your current life insurance policies.

Life expectancy has been increasing steadily with improving safety, medical technology and patient care and preventative medicine. As this changes, we see corresponding changes in the mortality tables that used to calculate the rates on life insurance policies. But remember, since a life insurance contract by nature is a long term contract, all the calculations have to be done at the beginning of the policy and these remain unchanged over the life of that policy. So, if 15 years ago your life expectancy was 2 years less than it is today, this means that your 15 year old life insurance policy rates are based on old data. A similar new life insurance policy, with rates based on an updated mortality table, would likely cost you less money each year for the same or better protection.

Now let’s look at how technology changes life insurance rates. Thirty years ago, when I first got into the insurance business, life insurance companies employed vast numbers of data entry clerical staff to make calculations and updates on life policies regarding their cash values, surrender values and other features that change over time. Today, those same calculations are done in seconds by computers. Close your eyes for a moment and just envision floor after floor of empty desks and cubicles in the buildings of these large life insurance companies. Yeah, those workers are gone and have been gone for nearly a decade but you are still paying for them. Remember who earlier I explained that life insurance contracts, because of their long term nature, have to include all of the expected expenses from the beginning for the life of the policy. The longer you hang on to these older policies, the more money the life insurance company makes and the more you spend over and above what you might need to spend on a newer, more modern life insurance contract. Makes no sense for you to continue to do this does it?

So what do I see from day to day from my vantage point in this business? Well, usually, people in good health who come to us and want us to update their older life insurance policies end up with several options, all of which are good. In most cases they can reduce or eliminate their life insurance premiums, or keep on paying the same premium but let their new policy build up a much larger cash value. Also, in most cases they can add a long term care rider to a new life insurance policy for free.

The take away message here for you is that if you have a life insurance policy that is 10 or more years old, you really should take 5 minutes of your time and give us a call and let us take a look at your situation. It is unusual when we are unable to provide better coverage at a lower cost. I know that messing with life insurance is boring and paperwork seems like a hassle, but the next time you worry about how much of your money is burning away with these increasing gas prices, I want you to remember this easy way to perhaps put some money back in your pocket. For more help with your life insurance needs, please call Clinard Insurance Group, toll free, at 877-687-7557. Or you can visit us on the web at www.ClinardInsurance.com. We will be more than happy to help you figure out if you are still paying the salaries of workers who were fired years ago.

Rental House Insurance – Which Form Is Which

If you own a rental house, then you probably have an insurance policy covering the house itself. You may have set this up in a hurry when you realized that you were keeping the home instead of selling it as happens to so many accidental landlords, or you may be a landlord with multiple properties with a more measured and considered approach. Either way, one part of the insurance process that you need to take a moment to understand, is which dwelling fire insurance form is covering your rental house property. Too many landlords just assume that the coverage on their rental property is the same as the protection on their homeowners insurance with which they tend to have more familiarity, but this is not true. Dwelling fire insurance for rental property is almost always more restrictive than homeowners insurance so it is important to understand the differences before a claim occurs.

The three different dwelling fire forms most commonly used in North Carolina are called the DP1, DP2 and DP 3 forms. Each successively higher numbered form provides broader coverage in terms of which types of perils are included with DP-1 being the most basic coverage form and DP-3 being the most advanced. You should read your policy carefully to be sure that you have the insurance that you need and want and this blog should help to give you an overview of the different types of forms available in North Carolina. This way, you can begin your discussion with your insurance agent from a semi-informed point of view. Please note that this discussion centers on the perils for each form as regards the dwelling itself and we are not focused here on the perils that may apply to personal property within the house.

Let’s start with the DP-1. After that, each successive form will build on the others so you can get a quick overview of the increasing protection provided by each form. The DP-1 is often referred to as the basic form. This form will provide coverage to your rental property for the following types of perils: Fire or lightning, Internal Explosion, Windstorm or Hail, Explosion, Riot or Civil Commotion, Aircraft Damage, Vehicle Damage, Smoke Damage, and Volcanic Eruption. You may also, for an additional premium, add protection for Vandalism and Malicious Mischief.

Now let’s take a look at the DP-2 form in NC. We can start with all of the perils insured against in the DP-1 form and then add the following additional perils: Damage Caused by Burglars, Falling Objects, Weight of Ice Sleet or Snow, Accidental Discharge or Overflow of Water or Steam, Sudden and Accidental Tearing Apart Cracking, Burning or Bulging, Freezing, and Sudden and Accidental
Damage from Artificially Generated Electrical Current. As you can see, this form has broadened the list of possible perils that may occur to your rental property.

Now, for our discussion of the DP-3 form, we have to take a different approach. The DP-3 form is much closer to the homeowners 3 from that so many people are familiar with in North Carolina. This is because, unlike forms DP-1 and DP-2 which spell out which perils are insured, the DP-3 form says all perils are covered unless they are specifically excluded. This requires you to read the form with a bit more creativity. Now, instead of focusing on the perils covered section of the policy form, you really need to read the exclusions section of the policy language to see what is not covered. You will need to read the form in detail to discover all of the excluded perils, but here is a short list of some of the exclusions: Water Damage, Collapse, Wear and Tear, Smog, War, Nuclear Explosion and many others.

Now that you have a brief overview of the differences in the insured perils in the 3 different NC dwelling fire insurance forms, you can have a better idea of what type of insurance policy you want to purchase for your rental house. The higher the form number, then the broader the coverage will be and of course, the higher the cost of the insurance. Take the time to review the insurance policy on your rental property to be sure that it provides the protection that you want and expect.

At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC, we want all insurance buyers to be educated consumers. If we can help you with your rental property insurance policy, please feel free to call us, toll free, at 877-687-7557 or visit us on the web at www.ClinardInsurance.com.

This article was written from other information and articles which can be found in their entirety at www.InsuranceAnswerGuy.com. Please check there for more detailed information on this topic.

Need Insurance For Your NC Rent House? – Here Are The Basics

We see it so often, what I call the accidental landlord. By various means people end up owning a house that they rent to others. I’m fairly sure that most of these accidental landlords would do better to sell out and move on but for various reasons, many prefer to try their hand at this new business that they find themselves thrust into due to divorce, inheritance, declining neighborhood and many other reasons. So if you find yourself with a house you own and can’t or don’t want to sell, then you need to understand the insurance angle of this new house rental business that you have created.

The starting point for this discussion will be an assumption that your rental dwelling is located in North Carolina. The rules and programs will differ from state to state but this discussion will focus on rental houses located in NC.

Most accidental landlords get started by searching out the most obvious insurance need - insurance for the structure itself. The policy that they seek is often referred to as a dwelling fire policy. Start by evaluating your worst case scenario, a total fire loss to the house. Will you build it back? Will you just settle with the bank if there is mortgage? Answering these questions will help you to decide if you want to purchase full replacement protection or just cover the amount that you think the home would be worth. Most dwelling fire policies will also allow for a limit of coverage for the contents in the home. If you are leaving behind your refrigerator, washer, dryer and other items that are not permanently attached to the house itself, you should consider adding a contents limit on your dwelling fire policy to cover losses to these items.

Next you should give consideration to the policy form that you will want to purchase. In NC, most dwelling fire policies are written on the DP-1, DP-2 or DP-3 form. Each higher number form provides coverage for more different types of perils that the form before it. Also, the higher the form number, the higher the cost of the insurance. I will take up a detailed explanation of these different form types in a future blog, so please stay tuned for that information.

Now, take a moment and consider the deductible that you will choose for this policy. The deductible is simply the amount of each loss that you will pay out of your pocket before the insurance kicks in. It is wise here to work carefully with your agent to understand exactly how much money you will save by moving to each higher level of deductible. Then you can pit those savings against the additional amount of money that each higher deductible will require from you in a claim, to determine which best fits your budget.

After the property coverage has been taken care of, you now need to think about the liability coverage for your rental house. You need protection in case someone is injured on your property and you are found to be legally liable for the injuries. You will need to select a limit of liability from those offered by your insurance company. Many companies don’t allow you to add the liability coverage to your dwelling fire policy so you may have to add this protection to your homeowners policy that covers the home where you live. Be very careful here to purchase the highest liability limit that you feel you can afford as this is an area where the amount of maximum loss to you is an unknown number.

Last of all, if you carry an umbrella policy to add higher limits to your home and auto insurance protection, don’t forget to call your agent who handles your umbrella insurance and have them add this rental location to your umbrella policy so that the umbrella protection will cover liability losses at your rental property.

At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC, we want all insurance buyers to be informed consumers. We advocate the use of a licensed, independent agent to help you with your insurance questions and decisions. Insurance is too important to be a do it yourself process as so many TV ads would have you think. If we can help you with your auto insurance, your home insurance, or the insurance on your rental properties, please feel free to call us, toll free, at 877-687-7557.

The basic source information for this article can be found in other articles posted at www.InsuranceAnswerGuy.com.

Workers Compensation Insurance – When It Comes To Claims, Time is Money

The old adage that time is money is certainly true when it comes to handling workers compensation claims. While the Form 19 claims form no longer states that the claim must be filed within 5 days of the accident or injury occurrence, moving fast on a workers compensation claim has a big impact on the size of the claim and the subsequent loss costs that will affect the employer. If you are an employer with employees and have a workers compensation policy, you should take a little bit of time before a claim happens to discuss with your agent what you will need to do to move the claim forward quickly.

Take a quick look at some insurance industry statistics related to the speed of claims reporting.

Claims reported two weeks after the occurrence had an 18% higher payout than claims reported in the first week.

Claims reported three weeks after the injury had a 47% increase in total loss costs over those reported in the first week.

And to drill down further, claims reported in days 5 through 7 after the occurrence had a larger claim cost than those reported in days 1 through 4.

Claims reported with only a 3 day delay had an increased medical cost of 16% over those reported on the day of the occurrence.

And we can also see this trend in terms of litigation costs associated with late reporting of workers compensation claims. Claims with a only a 3 day delay in reporting have a 50% greater chance of ending up in litigation. And litigation will increase the total costs of the claims and drive up your workers compensation premiums over time. To see how claims costs affect your premiums, click here.

So how does quicker reporting help to reduce the costs of a workers compensation claim? First of all, it allows the insurance company to contact all parties involved more quickly and this reduces the costs and chances of litigation. Once the injured worker has hired an attorney to represent him, then the claims process slows down considerably as the communication process now has another step involved. Quick claim reporting also allows the insurance company to get involved with the injured worker sooner and begin to develop plans to get the injured worker back to work in a shorter time. This not only reduces the costs of your future workers compensation claims, but it also cuts your downtime costs right away.

Last of all, consider that the longer the employee is out of work, the greater the burden on other co- workers in your company. This negative impact can hurt morale and can also lead to a higher risk of injury to the remaining workers on the job. In addition, hiring and training a temporary replacement worker can be very expensive.

At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC we want all insurance buyers to be informed consumers. Looking only at the policy costs can be a deceiving way to purchase insurance and might leave your company out in the cold. If we can help you with your business insurance, your workers compensation insurance, your general liability insurance, commercial auto insurance or life insurance, please call us, toll free at 877-687-7557 or visit us on the web at www.ClinardInsurance.com.

The source information for this article was pulled from other articles that can be found in their entirety at www.InsuranceAnswerGuy.com.

Does Your Credit Score Match Your Insurance Company’s Appetite?

There is an awful lot of talk these days about credit scores. You see the ads with the people walking around with a number over their head, indicating their particular credit score. While these ads really have more to do with borrowing money or protecting your credit, a little known fact is that these scores also have a huge impact on your auto insurance policy rates and your home insurance rates.

Now, to clarify, most insurance companies don’t work straight off of your credit score, but rather a more complicated formula that is called your insurance score. They pool data that includes but is not limited to your credit score from database companies like Experian and Equifax. And your insurance score can actually vary from company to company. Add to this the fact that your rates are directly affected by your credit score. Insurance companies now have so many different rating tiers that it is almost as if they have a specific rate for you that is different from the rate that any other customer might receive.

So why is this important? I was recently at an annual meeting for a very large insurance company that specializes in auto insurance and home insurance. One of the graphs that came up on the overhead showed the percentage of policies that they wrote in many different insurance score bands. I guess that is no real surprise, but then they showed which bands of insurance score they wanted to grow in next year. And guess what, it wasn’t the highest score band. Now what that should tell you is that most insurance companies are not just trying to write all the policies they can, far from it. In fact, they are trying to write policies for people who fit their niche in the insurance score universe.

So this got me thinking. If every insurance company has a sweet spot in terms of insurance score, and almost every insurance buyer has his or her own unique insurance score, how in the world can the two match up so that the insurance company gets just the consumer that it is targeting and of course the consumer, by being in that company’s sweet spot, gets the best possible rate? There is no place where people can go and have their insurance score run and then plug those numbers into a data base that sorts them to the best insurance company. So, at best, this is an inexact science. But it does underscore the need for you to have an experienced advocate working for you in the process of buying your auto or your home insurance. And if you use an independent agent, then their access to and experience with the multiple insurance companies that they represent will give you a huge edge over the direct writers who only have access to one insurance company. So, who are the direct writers who are not independent? Well, they will be names that you recognize, State Farm, Allstate, Nationwide, Progressive and Geico. These companies spend a lot of money on TV talking about saving money and low prices, all designed to steer the conversation away from their weak point, the fact that they have only their one product to offer you and thus they minimize your chances of making a good match between your insurance score and your insurance company.

At Clinard Insurance Group, Inc, in Winston Salem, NC, we want insurance consumers to be informed consumers, whether or not they choose to buy from us. We believe the independent agent gives you the best possible chance to purchase the most coverage at the lowest price consistently over the long term. If we can help you with your NC auto insurance or your home insurance, please call us, toll free, at 877-687-7557, or visit us on the web at www.ClinardInsurance.com.

You can read source information for this article among other articles at www.InsuranceAnswerGuy.com.