March 2013

Engineers, firefighters, lawyers, teachers, and police officers all have one thing in common: they qualify for Auto insurance discounts with some insurers who have found that people in certain fields tend to be less risky drivers than those in other occupations.

A number of insurance companies offer discounts to those in a variety of professions – everything from architects, CPAs, and college professors through librarians, military personnel, and pilots, to physicians, registered nurses, and scientists.

Here’s why: although practicing architecture or flying a plane doesn’t necessarily make a driver more responsible, insurance underwriters don’t have to prove cause and effect when setting rates. They need only show a relationship between these rating factors and risk.

A variety of factors can come into play in determining discounts. One Auto insurance company offers up to a 5 % discount to first responders, such as firefighters, police officers, emergency medical technicians and paramedics. Because these people tend to work in the communities where they live, they probably don’t commute long distances. First responders might speed down the road in emergencies, but not in their own vehicles, and they tend not to work from 9 to 5 – which means that they’re at lower risk for accidents.

Discounts vary by occupation, insurance company, and state. Some companies offer discounts for a long list of occupations and professions, while others provide them to only a few, or none at all. Some jobs receive larger discounts than others.

Rules for discounts also vary by field. To qualify for one company’s discount, health care providers must have a license to practice, as well as a degree. However, policyholders who have earned at least a bachelor in engineering, math, or science qualify for an 18% discount, even if they work in other fields.

Your occupation or profession might well entitle you to a substantial discount on your Auto insurance – even if you’re retired. For more information, please get in touch with us.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Check out these guidelines for using this valuable coverage:

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

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