Insurance

It can be easier than you think to put the brakes on high car insurance rates. As an independent agency, we can help by reviewing your car insurance policy and possibly helping you find a variety of illuminating ways to save money. Here are some things you may want to consider:

• Ask us to check several companies’ rates. This is the single most important thing you can do to get the best possible rate—and we can do it for you quickly and easily. The difference between the highest and lowest rate available to you from different companies could vary by hundreds of dollars.

• Reduce or drop physical damage coverage on an older car. Depending on your car’s age and where you live, comprehensive and collision coverage may not be worth keeping. We can give you advice on whether it makes sense to reduce or drop this coverage altogether.

• Raise your deductible. According to the Insurance Information Institute, raising your deductible from $200 to $500 could reduce your collision and comprehensive cost by 15 to 30 percent. In addition, because the average driver files a collision claim only once every ten years, odds are that over the lifetime of your car, a higher deductible will save you money. We can show you how raising your deductible will lower your premium.

• Look for discounts. Many insurance companies reduce premiums for certain driver traits or car features. For example: being a homeowner for more than three years, nonsmoker, nondrinker, students with good grades, senior citizens who have taken an approved defensive driving course, people who only drive for pleasure, cars kept in garages, antilock brakes, antitheft devices, air bags, etc. Ask us to check.

• Don’t assume having your car and home insured by the same company is the best option. Because auto insurance rates vary so much from company to company, it may make sense for you to have your car and home insured by separate companies.

Source: Progressive.com
 
 

Cyber crime is booming. And most businesses don’t have the protection they need for the time when their systems are breached. This protection comes in two basic forms: the firewalls and other technology needed to keep hackers out and insurance coverage for what happens after they make their way in.
A new report by the Zurich Insurance Group and Atlantic Council highlights seven different aggregations of cyber risk.
1. Internal IT: The cumulative of an organization’s IT. Examples: Hardware, software, servers, related people and processes.
2. Counterparties and partners: Dependence on or direct interconnection with an outside organization. Examples: Research partnerships, relationships between competing or cooperating banks, industry associations and join ventures.
3. Outsourced and contract: External suppliers of services, including HR, IT and legal. Examples: IT and cloud providers, HR, legal and accounting consultancy, contract manufacturing.
4. Supply chain. Examples: Exposure to a single country, counterfeit or tampered products, risks of disrupted supply chain.
5. Disruptive technologies: Unseen effects of disruptions either to or from new technologies. Examples: Internet of Things, smart grid, the largely automatic digital economy.
6. Upstream infrastructure: Electricity, financial and telecommunications systems. Examples: Internet exchange points, submarine cables, key companies and protocols used to run the Internet.
7. External shocks: Outside of the control of most organizations and likely to cascade. Examples: Major international conflicts, malware pandemic.
For more information about how cyber risk insurance can help your business, call Joanne Billington at 236-4311.
 

Whether you’ve listed a room on Airbnb or you’ve taken on a boarder for extra income, consulting with your insurance agent about what’s covered under your homeowners insurance policy (and what’s not covered) is always a good idea.
You may screen your tenants carefully, but it’s truly impossible to know whether a guest could steal, damage or vandalize a your property. In addition, an injury on your property could lead to a guest claiming negligence, even if you were not at fault.
This article at PropertyCasualty360.com outlines additional points for both hosts and guests/renters.
If you have questions, we’re here to answer them.