All North Carolina homeowners now face a personal burden for beach house hurricane losses.

The North Carolina State Legislature is crafting legislation, House Bill 1305, that will push the burden of catastrophic hurricane losses of beach property on to the backs of all unsuspecting property owners statewide. While there are some positive changes in this legislation, it feels like to me that they are sticking it to the people who are not there watching this legislation be made, and that is all the people who own property in North Carolina that is not coastal property.

The good news here is that the NC legislature has finally admitted that the North Carolina Beach Plan is broken and needs a fix. The Beach Plan insures $75 billion worth of property in coastal areas and has a meager $1.5 billion in reinsurance and reserves to pay claims. Clearly if a large storm hits our coast, there will not be enough money to pay the claims. To find out how we got to this point and read more details of this problem, click here.

The major parties working on this legislation are the coastal property owners and their lawmakers and the insurance companies. Right now, if a storm hits and the beach plan goes under, the bill must be paid by all the insurance companies doing business in North Carolina writing homeowners insurance and other property insurance including commercial property policies. This assessment is presently unlimited and this unlimited exposure is scaring the insurance companies in North Carolina into taking dramatic action which impacts all of their policyholders. One drastic example is the consent to rate letters that some major insurance companies are now sending to their homeowners policyholders.

House Bill 1305 which sailed through the house on July 15th will take care of some of the uncertainty for the insurance companies. Right now the insurance companies face the uncertainty of unlimited assessments to bail out the Beach Plan after a major storm. If this bill becomes law, then their assessments will be limited to $1 billion per storm. Still quite a lot of money but now it is a number that they can plan for. So all in all, I think the insurance company lobby did a pretty good job of getting what they wanted.

But if you add another billion dollars to the amount available for a major storm, you will see that we still now have only $2.5 billion to protect over $75 billion in assets. So where does the rest of the money come from? Well the biggest chunk is a new storm assessment that can be added to every property insurance policy in North Carolina. If this bill becomes law, and we have a major storm, then you can expect to see an extra charge added to your homeowners insurance of up to 10%. And it is unclear in the wording of the bill as to whether or not that is a one time charge or can go on and on until the Beach Plan is made whole again. The open ended nature of the wording leads me to believe that this charge could remain on your policy for years and years to come.

Those owning property at the coast, who are insured through the Beach Plan, will have to give up something as well. In the event of a major storm, they will face a deductible of no less than 1% of the total value of the property. There is a clause that allows for even higher deductible percentages if needed.

I disagree with the legislators who say that our coastal property is a state treasure for all of us and all of us living in this state should be on the hook to support the coast. I think that the fairest solution is to raise the rates on beach property to more accurately reflect the risks and let those who own property or rent property at the beach carry the burden. In South Carolina the Beach Plan rates are about 10 times what ours are and their Beach Plan is adequately funded. This is the fairest way to handle this problem. In all cases of insurance, the system works best when those in control of the exposure are the ones who pay for the insurance.

At Clinard Insurance Group in Winston Salem, NC we work hard to make sure that all of our clients are informed insurance consumers. If you have any questions about how this might affect your homeowners insurance policy, or if you need any other help with any of your insurance policies, please call our office, toll free, at 877-687-7557 or visit us online at www.ClinardInsurance.com.

The source information for this article was taken from www.insuranceanswerguy.com.

North Carolina Homeowners: Watch Out For The Consent To Rate Letter

Several large insurance companies are now actively sending out consent to rate letters to their customers with homeowner insurance policies. This letter is bad news for anyone who gets one although the language in the letter might seem to make it sound fairly benign. But that’s like putting a tablespoon of sugar on rotten meat. Here’s some help for you in understanding why you might be receiving this letter and what it means for you.

To better understand what this letter is, you must first understand better why you are receiving it. In North Carolina, we have an insurance crisis that is getting worse each day. The problem is that the government run beach plan to insure property at the coast is under funded and when a big storm hits the North Carolina coast, there won’t be enough money to pay the claims. The way the current law is written, the beach plan will assess the insurance companies in an unlimited amount to recover these losses. This unlimited liability to the insurance companies has made them uncomfortable about writing homeowners insurance policies in NC and as a result they are finding ways to reduce the number of policies that they write, or ways to get more money in the door for the ones that they continue to insure. To read more about how this crisis click here. To learn how to protect yourself from it, click here.

The consent to rate letter will always request that you sign it at the bottom and return it to your insurance company. What you are agreeing to when you sign this letter, is that you are willing to pay rates on your homeowners insurance policy that are higher than the maximum rate that the state allows the insurance companies to charge for your policy. Currently, almost every company insuring homes in North Carolina will charge rates that are dramatically lower than the state maximum rate. In some cases the discount off of the state rate is as high as 50%. So you can see, if you sign and return this letter, you can expect a huge rate increase on your home insurance policy.

As an added insult, some of the companies sending out this letter are saying that they will only increase the rate by some small amount, say 3% or 5%. But this increase is over the state maximum rate, not the rate the homeowner is presently paying. This is deceptive and unfair in my opinion. Also, these letters will say that if you do not sign and return the letter, then the insurance company will not renew your policy.

So what should you do if you receive a consent to rate letter? First of all, I would call your agent and ask them why you received it and if there are any other options for you. If they cannot offer you any options, I would suggest you call an independent agent who has access to many different insurance companies to see if they can provide you with a quote. Any quotes below the state rate will save you money. If you are unsure where to turn or if you would like a second opinion, please feel free to call us, Clinard Insurance Group, toll free, at 877-687-7557 or visit our web site at www.ClinardInsurance.com. At Clinard Insurance Group we represent dozens of home insurance companies and none of them are currently sending out consent to rate letters.

The source information for this article was pulled from an article at www.insuranceanswerguy.com.

Car Insurance Marketing Cheap Tricks – This One Could Ruin You

In the world of cheap trick marketing gimmicks, this one could put the auto insurance consumer in a world of hurt. I recently saw an ad on TV by an insurance company advising the customer to go online and build their own policy. And the hook line was, you choose how much you want to pay each month and we will build your policy to that price. This sounds like the consumer is choosing their own price but the opposite is true.

As much as the online direct writing insurance companies would like you to believe otherwise, auto insurance is a complicated contract between you and the insurance company and there are many elements to this contract that make it a poor do it yourself project. How many online clients are going to take the time to read the fine print of the conditions, terms and exclusions of the auto insurance policy? The answer is very few. And those that do will not have the experience in the ins and outs of this industry to understand exactly how this will affect them after an accident or a loss.

If you fall for the marketing ploy that you can name your price and the online wizard will create a policy for you to match that price, you are immediately discounting the primary value of a car insurance policy. That is to protect your assets. The only people who should view insurance as only a price to be paid to keep the car on the road are those who have no assets and no dependable source of income. They are the only people in a position to walk away from their financial responsibilities if they cause and accident and injure other people or damage other people’s property.

So how will the insurance company write you a policy to meet your chosen price? Simple really, they will cut your protection down to the point where they can meet that price. And this may or may not reflect what you need to protect your hard won assets if you cause a large loss. Please don’t try and do it yourself when it comes to buying insurance. Choose an agent that can help you through the process. Better still, choose and independent agent who can help you access many different insurance markets to get you the exact protection you need and the lowest possible cost.

At Clinard Insurance Group in Winston Salem, NC, we work very hard to develop personal relationships with all of our clients. We take all the time that each client needs to discuss their own personal insurance needs to help create for them the right policy, not just one based on the lowest price. If you are tired of going it alone, or if you don’t feel your current agent is giving you all the help you need, please feel free to call us, toll free, 877-687-7557 or visit us online at www.ClinardInsurance.com.

The source information for this article was drawn from information at www.insuranceanswerguy.com

Automobile Replacement Cost Insurance, a NC Auto Insurance Policy Extra You Should Consider

You’ve probably heard it before; your brand new car drops about 20% in value the minute you drive it off the lot. Let’s face it, the first few miles you drive a new car are certainly the most expensive on a cost per mile basis. And if you borrow money to purchase the new car, you are even more vulnerable. If your new car is totaled, then a standard NC auto insurance policy will not protect you completely, but there is a way to cover yourself more fully.

I’m talking about replacement cost coverage on your new car. You may be familiar with this concept in terms of home insurance. If you house is burglarized and they steal your television set, if you have replacement cost coverage on your contents, then your insurance company will pay to replace your old TV set with a new one. But if your new car is totaled on the way home from the lot, without replacement cost coverage on your car (and most people do not have this protection), then you are paid the used car value of that car at the moment before it was lost. And this won’t be enough money to replace that car with another new one. This seems unfair and I can tell you, to most people who find themselves in this situation, it is unexpected.

Good news though, there is a simple solution. Most insurance companies can offer you replacement cost coverage on your new car. This means that if your car is totaled in an accident, the insurance company will pay for you to replace your vehicle with a brand new one of the same make and model. This is true even if the car is up to 5 years old.

Ok, you probably want to know what the catch is. And there are catches. First of all, this coverage will not apply to total loss by theft. And the insurance company will typically delete this coverage from your car after it gets to be about 5 years old. And, you must add this coverage within a short time of purchasing the vehicle brand new. Usually that time frame is 60 to 90 days. Last of all, you have pay for this additional coverage. The cost is usually around 15% more for your comprehensive and collision coverages.

If you are thinking about purchasing a new car, I would suggest that you seriously consider adding replacement cost coverage to that car on your North Carolina auto insurance policy. At Clinard Insurance Group in Winston Salem, NC, we have several insurance companies who offer this feature. If you have any questions about replacement cost coverage on your car insurance, or if you would like a free auto insurance analysis and quote, please feel free to call us, toll free at 877-687-7557 or visit us on the web at http://www.ClinardInsurance.com.

The source data for this article can be found at www.InsuranceAnswerGuy.com.

NC building and construction contractors – Here’s just what those uninsured subcontractors will do to you and how you can prepare yourself to minimize

It is a fact of life in the construction business. Almost all construction contractors, from the general contractor all the way to the landscape contractor will occasionally have to hire an uninsured subcontractor. There are hidden costs to this arrangement but knowing them in advance can help you prepare for the costs and minimize the damages to your insurance program.

It’s helpful to understand, from the beginning, that insurance companies don’t like for their clients to hire uninsured subcontractors. The reason is that they feel that your control over a subcontractor is much reduced and therefore losses are more likely. If they are uninsured, then the exposure for those losses is pushed on to your insurance company. And that makes you a less attractive risk for your insurance company.

So hiring uninsured subs causes two big problems that can generate increased insurance costs for you. Both are things you can prepare for if you do your homework in advance. And by taking the steps I will outline below, you can possibly reduce the cost to zero for each of these problems. And remember, if you use a subcontractor that is insured, be sure to take the appropriate steps to obtain a valid certificate of insurance. To read more about what you need to know about insurance certificates, please click here.

The first problem that uninsured subs will cause for you is increased insurance premiums on your general liability insurance policy and your workers compensation insurance policy. This is a stealth increase because if you don’t take steps in advance to protect yourself, then by the time you find out how much your subcontractor costs you, the sub may be long gone and your chances or wringing it out of the him or her will be nil. If you are unable to produce a valid certificate of insurance on a subcontractor, then when your policy is audited by the insurance company at the end of the policy term, they will include as payroll, the full amount of cost that you paid to the uninsured subcontractor.

You can defend against this problem by withholding from the amount you pay the uninsured subcontractor an amount equal to or greater than the amount you will be charged by the insurance company at audit. To understand how much to charge, you should contact your agent and find out the rate per $1000 of payroll for the subcontractor’s classification on both workers compensation and general liability insurance. I would suggest that you add an amount over the rates you face to cover your administrative expenses of handling this transaction.

The second problem caused by uninsured contractors has to do with the insurance company’s reaction to finding out you have used them. As I mentioned earlier, insurance companies do not like for their clients to utilize uninsured contractors but their appetite for them will vary. Check with your agent first and find out just what percent of payroll or gross sales paid out to uninsured subs will be tolerated by your insurance company. Some may not tolerate any and still others may be willing to let you go as high as 50%.

It is important to know in advance how high you can go so that you don’t break your insurance company’s rules unknowingly. If they find out on audit that you have been using more uninsured subs than their underwriting guides allow, they may cancel your policy or take away discounts that will result in much higher rates for you. In this case it is better to ask permission first then to ask for forgiveness later.

Remember, when you deal with an uninsured subcontractor you are now allowing them to use your insurance for their risks. Over the long term this is not advisable because they could cause a loss that is so catastrophic it might destroy your ability to get insurance at all, or it may create a high experience modification factor on your workers compensation policy that might cost you a lot of money for the next 3 years. It is always best to deal with subcontractors that have their own insurance.

Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC specializes in helping small contractors of all types all across North Carolina. If you would like a second opinion on your business insurance or if you need help with your general liability policy or your North Carolina workers compensation policy, please feel free to call us, toll free at 877-687-7557 or visit us on the web at http://www.thecontractorshelper.com/.

Credit Protection – Not Always Such A Good Deal

With all the job uncertainty out there, credit card companies are selling more of their “credit protection insurance” to cardholders. The big sell these days is that your card payments will be made if you are out of work. Sounds great, until you read the fine print.

In most cases, the unemployment coverage doesn’t kick in if you voluntarily leave your job or are let go for performance reasons. And just having your hours scaled back won’t trigger coverage either.

In addition, these policies are very costly, ranging from 35 to 99 cents for every $100 of balance on your card each month. So, if you are carrying a $3000 balance on your card you would pay between $10.50 and $30 a month for this protection. In most cases, you would be much better off applying this money to your outstanding balance.

There are those that might argue that at least this is good coverage if you die or become disabled. Again, the fine print might make you change your mind. In most cases the definition of disabled means that you are unable to do any work of any kind. That’s a recipe for never having to pay a claim if you ask me. The standard disability policy will provide coverage if you are unable to do the job that you were doing when you became disabled. At any rate, the cost per $1000 of protection is between 5 and 10 times what you would pay an insurance company for life insurance or disability insurance.

It’s clear that these credit protection plans require the buyer to read the fine print very carefully. They are probably only a good deal for those that are uninsurable due to medical conditions. My advice is to purchase your disability insurance and your life insurance from a company that is in that business instead of from your credit card company.

At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC, we want all consumers to be informed consumers. If you have any questions about your own life insurance or disability insurance needs, or if you need help with your auto insurance, home insurance or business 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 taken from www.insuranceanswerguy.com

NC Used Car Dealers – Don’t Forget About Workers Compensation Insurance

At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC, we specialize in helping used car dealers with their dealers insurance policies. And 95% of the time, when a dealer calls us for insurance, the only policy on his mind is the NC garage insurance policy. But there is another, very important policy that all dealers must consider. And leaving this one out can do a lot more than just ruin your day. It could wipe out your business.

Why so few used car dealers remember to purchase workers compensation insurance is a mystery to me. It probably stems from the nature of their employees since many hire their salespeople as independent contractors. But while hiring them as independent contractors may change how taxes are paid, it will not allow the dealer/owner to avoid paying the losses under North Carolina Workers Compensation law.

In NC, purchasing workers compensation insurance is voluntary if you have 3 or fewer employees. And you don’t have to count your independent contractors as employees either. But here’s the rub. Just because you don’t purchase the insurance, doesn’t mean you are safe from the losses. In fact, not purchasing the insurance policy means you are putting your own assets on the line to pay all claims required by the NC workers compensation statutes. So, if your employee is injured or killed on the job, then your business will have to pay the statutory benefits required by law. Essentially, you have chosen to put yourself in the position of the insurance company for all losses. And a big loss could put most small used car dealers out of business.

Insurance is a good deal for the consumer any time that the consumer can trade a small, affordable, known loss – in this case the workers compensation premium, for a larger, unknown and possibly catastrophic loss. If you own a used car dealership and you have anyone besides yourself working for you in any capacity at all, you owe it to yourself to get a price on a workers compensation policy. You may be surprised at how affordable it is. In this case, going bare is a huge risk. If you are going to go without insurance, please recognize that you have only chosen to shift the risk of loss to yourself in exchange for not paying an annual workers compensation premium that is probably very affordable for you.

At Clinard Insurance Group in Winston Salem, NC, we want all insurance consumers to be educated consumers. If you would like help with your dealers insurance, or if you want a workers compensation quote, please call our office, toll free at 877-687-7557 or visit us online at www.clinardinsurance.com.

The source information for this article was taken from data found at www.insuranceanswerguy.com.