​With the start of a new school year just around the corner, college students who are moving out of the house or to a location off campus should strongly consider purchasing renters’ insurance in case any of their valuables are damaged or stolen.
Renters insurance for college students can be invaluable in the event of theft, fire, or any other unanticipated disaster. A policy can cover items such as laptops, jewelry, televisions, gaming consoles, speakers, and even furniture or clothing. In some cases, if you are living in a private, off-campus home, the landlord may require you to have renter’s insurance. Keep in mind that just because the owner of the home has insurance, it does not mean that your belongings are covered.
We strongly recommend that any parents sending their son or daughter off to college this year should consider purchasing renters’ insurance. A renter’s possessions are not covered under a landlord’s insurance policy. Nearly every freshman college student is being sent off to school with electronics, which are vital in completing their degree. Making sure these possessions are covered in the event of theft or disaster can save a lot of valuable time, heartache, and money.
There are many factors that can impact the cost of renters’ insurance which include, but are not limited to: location, credit score, whether you have pets, the company you choose, and how many items you are insuring.
There are three areas of protection offered by renters’ insurance: loss or damage to personal property, liability, and medical costs incurred by someone in your home.
If you decide to purchase a policy, talk with one of our insurance agents about what your individual needs are and they can tailor a policy that best fits your particular situation.

Your RV can help you and your family evacuate an area, and serve as a cost-effective, temporary living space if your home isn’t livable due to storm damage.
Here are a few tips to make sure your RV is hurricane ready.
Well in advance:

• Prepare an evacuation route.
• Store emergency supplies in your RV. The basics include a first aid kit, bottled water, non-perishable foods, and prescription medications. Here are a few additional suggestions.
• Perform a thorough safety check. If you use gas-powered lanterns or cook stoves, be sure to have battery-operated fire alarms and carbon monoxide detectors. If you use an electric generator, install a transfer switch to prevent shocks.

If a storm is in the forecast:

• Get a full tank of gas. Fuel may be in short supply after the storm.
• Make sure the windshield wipers are in good shape, and the tires (including the spare) are properly inflated.
• Pack sleeping bags and bedding in plastic to protect them from moisture.
• Place your auto and home insurance documents, vehicle registration, title, and other important documents in a waterproof bag and keep them with you.
• Charge your cell phone and plan to bring it if you evacuate.
• Empty the holding tanks, turn off the propane cylinders, and cover the regulator.
• If you have a travel trailer, tie it down and make sure it’s secure.
• If you expect to leave your RV behind, make sure it’s not in a flood-prone area. Rising water can seep in and damage upholstery, carpeting and electrical systems.
• If you’re instructed to evacuate, do so immediately.

Driving:

• Don’t drive during a hurricane. RVs are particularly vulnerable to heavy winds and rain because of their size and high center of gravity.
• If you have no alternative than to drive through standing water, do it slowly and steadily. If your RV stalls, you may need to restart the engine to make it to safety. But, be aware that restarting may severely damage your engine.
• If you can’t restart your RV and become trapped in rising water immediately abandon the vehicle for higher ground. If you’re unable to get out safely, call 911 or get help from a passerby or someone standing on higher ground.

What’s the best tip on the list? Contact our agency to make sure your insurance is "Hurricane Ready"!.

Know how to protect your boat if a hurricane or other severe weather event is approaching. We developed these tips with help from the U.S. Coast Guard and Federal Emergency Management Administration. Ultimately, the best way to protect your vessel is to remove it from the water, and all other measures are supplemental in the event this can’t be done.
Whether your boat is docked, anchored, or in dry storage:

• Have a storm strategy and implement it well before the hurricane hits.
• Remove non-secure items, electronics, and excess gear.
• Remove important documents and valuables.
• Make sure openings are watertight and remove or stow non-essential canvas.
• Ensure that all self-bailing thru hull fittings are clear of debris.
• Check that batteries are fully charged and that automatic bilge pump switches are operational.

If your boat is docked:

• Double-up on chafe protection.
• Double all lines, attaching them high on pilings to allow for a storm surge. The longer the dock lines, the better a boat will move with high and rough tides.

If your boat is anchored:

• Do not tie it parallel to the shore.
• Leave plenty of room between your boat and other boats.
• Be sure to use enough line to allow for a storm surge.
• Clear all self-baling cockpit drains.
• Consider using several anchors.

If your boat is in dry storage:

• Place it in an area higher than the expected storm surge.
• Lash it to its cradle with heavy lines and consider adding water to the bilge to help hold it down. Never leave your boat on davits or on a hydro-lift.
• If your boat is on a trailer, take some air out of the tires and secure the wheels with blocks between the frame and the axles.
• Make sure all drains are free from debris and drain plugs are removed.

With any of these scenarios, if you’re out of town, ask a friend or relative with access to your boat to help. Sure, you’ll “owe him,” but that favor could help prevent some very expensive damage.
Of course, the most important thing to remember is to protect yourself. Never put yourself in danger while trying to protect your boat.
Today is a great time to review your watercraft insurance needs. Bring your current policy to our agency even if you are insured elsewhere

With most of your focus on your family and home, you may not think much about your car during a hurricane. But it may just be your key to safety if you need to evacuate.
Make sure your car is ready and that you understand how to drive in severe conditions.
Well in advance:

• Prepare an evacuation route.
• Store emergency supplies in your trunk. The basics include a first aid kit, bottled water, non-perishable foods, and prescription medications. Here are a few additional suggestions.
• If a storm is forecast:
• Get a full tank of gas. Fuel may be in short supply after the storm.
• Make sure the windshield wipers are in good shape, and the tires (including your spare) are properly inflated.
• Place your auto and home insurance documents, vehicle registration, title, and other important documents in a waterproof bag and keep them with you.
• Charge your cell phone and plan to bring it if you evacuate.
• If you expect to leave your car behind, be sure it’s not in a flood-prone area. Rising water can seep in and damage your vehicle.
• If you’re instructed to evacuate, do so immediately.
• If you’re ordered to evacuate or are returning home after an evacuation:
• Avoid driving through deep water. The average car can be swept off the road by as little as 12″ of moving water. Just try to find an alternate route.
• If your vehicle stalls in water, you may need to restart the engine to make it to safety. But, be aware that restarting may severely damage your engine.
• If you can’t restart your car and you become trapped in rising water, immediately abandon it for higher ground. If you’re unable to get out safely, call 911 or get help from a passerby or someone standing on higher ground.
• After you and your vehicle are out of deep water and in a safe area, depress your brakes slowly several times to help them dry.

What’s the best tip on the “Well in Advance” list? Contact our agency for a no-obligation quote on all your insurance needs.

While nothing can truly prepare you for what so many have gone through, you can take action now to protect your home, car, boat, and any other insured property with insurance. This way, if disaster strikes, you can quickly act to file a claim and get the money you need to begin rebuilding your home and your life.
Take these simple actions right now. Less than an hour of effort today can help you feel less alone when dealing with the aftermath of a natural disaster.
Make sure you have the right insurance coverage.
Carefully review your existing policy and talk to one of our insurance agents about what you might need to add. While additional coverage costs more, it can be well worth it if the odds of a disaster in your area are high.
Save enough money to cover the deductible.
If you opted for a higher deductible to lower the cost of your insurance premiums, you’re not alone. But you can avoid going into debt should you need to file a claim by saving enough cash to cover your full deductible.
Keep this money in a savings account separate from the checking account you use to pay for monthly expenses. This way, it’s harder to be tempted to spend it for non-emergencies, but the money is easily available when you need it.
Many online banks have easy-to-use websites and offer higher interest rates than brick-and-mortar banks.
You might choose to forgo some insurance coverage (i.e., for flooding) to save money on your policy as well. Beef up your emergency savings, because you’ll want the money available if you need to pay for repairs after damage to your home that your policy doesn’t cover.
Whatever you do, just be aware of everything your policy covers so you’re not caught by surprise if a natural disaster occurs.
Photograph everything and secure important documents
Take pictures of your home, car, boat, and any other insured property. Save these pictures, along with scanned copies of other important documents (like the deed to your home, or receipts for major purchases), to a password-protected account on the cloud.
Don’t rely only on external hard drives to store copies of these important files! They can also be damaged or lost during a natural disaster.
Share your important documents with a trusted person.
Give a trusted friend or family member access to your documents and photos that are saved to the cloud. Ideally this person will live in a different city, so they won’t be simultaneously affected by the same natural disaster that damaged your home.
This way, while you deal with the aftermath, you know that you or someone you trust will be able to access all of these important documents. Their help might be necessary when filing an insurance claim.
What’s the best tip on the “Prepare Well in Advance” list? Contact our agency for a no-obligation quote on all your insurance needs.

1. Verify your home is insured for its current value.
The biggest risk you may face if your home suffers major damage during a severe storm or tornado is being underinsured. With changing costs of construction materials and labor, home insurance reconstruction costs have increased over the years.
Some policies include guaranteed replacement cost, but the limit may be capped. Inquire about policy endorsements available to you to guarantee you are fully covered in a major loss.
2. Find out what kind of home insurance policy you have.
Do you have an All Risk or Open Perils policy to ensure the maximum protection for your home and personal property?
3.  Find out if you have a specific deductible in the event of a tornado or windstorm.
Higher risk areas may impose higher deductibles.
4. Understand the claims process before you have to make a claim.
Find out what the basis of claims payment will be. Do you have Replacement Cost, Actual Cash Value (ACV) or a Replacement Value with Cash Out Option? Cash Out options are less common and only available for high-end insurance policies.
5. Does your policy have any special limits or policy features?
You may want to purchase additional protection for valuable items, such as jewelry or collections.
6. Prepare an inventory of the contents in your home, including contents in additional structures like tool or garden sheds.
Take video while you walk around your property or take photos and store these in a safe place, ideally with copies off-site or in the possession of someone you can trust.
7. Find out what kind of coverage you have if there is a power failure.
8. Find out what your limit is for Additional Living Expenses (ALE) and how you can expect the coverage to work.
During a devastating loss, like damage to your home from a major windstorm or tornado, you may not be able to live in your home while repairs are done in the area, or to your property. This coverage will be vital in major losses. Homeowners who have a mortgage will still be expected to pay that loan back while the home is being rebuilt.
Additional living expenses cover the increased cost of living due to the displacement, and this includes that extra rent you will have to pay for your temporary home or the higher costs of food if you have to eat out because you don’t have a kitchen to make your meals in for a while.
9. Make sure your car insurance includes comprehensive coverage, for damage such as hail, falling objects and windstorms.
Vehicles are at risk to all kinds of damage in storms.
10. Ask if you have coverage for a rental car if your car needs repairs.
It’s nice to have insurance coverage that replaces or repairs the vehicle, but the time you spend without a car while you wait to get your vehicle back can be challenging. If you need your car during that time, it could cost you a lot of money to rent one. Coverage for a rental loaner, while your car is repaired, is not expensive to add to your policy.
11. If you have a vehicle in “storage” make sure you haven’t forgotten about coverage (or deleted coverage) while it’s in storage.
Liability coverage will not protect your car from physical damage that often occurs during storms and tornadoes.
12. If you sustain storm damage, contact your insurer as soon as possible and start the claims filing process.
After tornadoes and other disasters, insurance companies will reach out to those with the worst losses first.
13. Do you have flood insurance?
The risk of flood is substantial and it’s constantly and rapidly changing. Currently, only about 6% of the U.S. population is insured for the perils of flood.
Choosing flood insurance used to be a relatively simple decision. Property owners had two options: no insurance or one-size-fits-all, government-issued insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).
Now, there are more choices. Private flood insurance is growing more robust, bringing new and relevant options that were never available before, such as coverage for additional living expenses, enhanced basement coverage and increased limits for various risk classes.
14. Our agency welcomes the opportunity to go over this checklist with you even if you are insured elsewhere. Don't wait until it's too late. Call us today.

Insuring a vacation home
Vacation homes present special risks, so consider premium costs before you buy
Like any residence, your vacation home needs to be insured—but because the risks are different, the coverage might cost more than your primary homeowners policy. Before you leap into second-home ownership, consider the factors that will likely affect the price you’ll need to pay for insuring it.
Second homes provide a respite from weekday life and may even be a good investment. They also, however, present more of an insurance risk than your primary residence—the fact that you don’t not physically occupy your second home as frequently puts it in more danger for theft, vandalism and easily undetected damage, like burst water pipes.
Key factors that impact vacation home insurance costs
While the homeowner’s policy for your second home will provide the same types of coverage as your primary homeowner’s policy, the following factors will likely impact your insurance costs:

• Location is always a factor in homeowners insurance costs—for example, you need additional insurance if your dwelling is in a flood- or earthquake-prone area. With vacation homes the very location that makes a place desirable may also make it more expensive to insure. For instance, a ski house or hunting lodge in a remote or mountainous area could be at greater risk for damage due to wildfire. A beach house may be more exposed to wind damage or storm surge from a hurricane. These location-based risks will impact the price of coverage, and in some cases may even incur higher deductibles.
• Type of property. As with any house, the age and type of building materials used in a vacation home will impact the cost of insurance. What's also important is whether your second home is a single-occupancy house, a condominium or a townhouse. A condominium in a ski resort area, for instance, may have lower insurance costs than a stand-alone chalet. This is because a homeowner’s association maintains the property and may provide some security. Importantly, the association insures the exterior of the property (the cost of is generally included in the monthly maintenance fees). Your personal condo insurance will cover the specific areas of the unit listed in the policy, as well as your belongings.
• Amenities. Though wonderful for relaxation, pools and hot tubs add risk to your second home. If your vacation residence is equipped with these or other special amenities, you may pay a higher insurance premium and you should also consider additional liability protection, which will increase insurance costs, as well.

Ways to save on second home insurance costs
There are steps that you can take to help make the cost of insurance more affordable.

• Choose a location with less risk — A home further from the beach won't be as susceptible to storm surges, for instance.
• Bundle your policies — If you insure your second home with the same agency that provides coverage for your primary residence, you may be able to save on premiums.
• Install an alarm system — A centrally monitored alarm system that detects both fire and break-ins can help lower the cost of insurance.
• Let our agency shop around — As an independent insurance agency, we can get at least three quotes for the coverage on your second home; we can also review the policy costs before you renew each year to see if you can get a better rate.

Home insurance is important for both homeowners and renters. Homeowners need to purchase insurance to protect their homes and personal property. Those who rent need insurance to protect their furniture and personal property. Everyone needs protection against liability for accidents that injure other people or damage their property.
Whether you live in tornado alley, wildfire zones or along coastlines prone to flooding and hurricanes – now is the time to properly insure your home and possessions.
In recent years severe weather disasters across the country have inflicted more than $43 billion in damage. But research suggests more than half of consumers do not have an inventory of their possessions. Now is the time to make sure you have properly insured your 'stuff.'
Creating a simple home inventory helps you track what you own and what it is worth, making important insurance decisions easier.
How to create a home inventory

• Group your possessions into logical categories, i.e., by hobby, by room in your home, etc.
• Your list should include celebration purchases like jewelry and art, as well as everyday leisure items such as televisions and guitars.
• Don't forget items you use rarely such as holiday decorations, sports equipment, tools, etc.
• Pull together copies of original sales receipts and/or appraisal documents. Also note model and serial numbers.
• Carefully photograph or videotape each item and document a brief description, including age, purchase price and estimated current value. Download a home inventory checklist (PDF).
• Store your home inventory and related documents in a safe, easily accessible place online, on your computer or in a fire-proof box or safe deposit box. Consider sharing a copy with friends, relatives and your insurance provider.
  
• The NAIC’s free myHOME Scr.APP.book downloadable app lets you quickly photograph and capture descriptions of your possessions room by room, then store your inventory electronically for safekeeping. The app is available for Android devices. Click here to watch the demonstration video.
  

A home inventory can be invaluable when deciding how much insurance coverage fits your life situation and makes sure you are adequately protected should you need to file a claim. Let our agency help you in making this decision.

So, you just got married, or you just had a point taken off your record or you just improved your credit score. Your auto insurance premiums should be a little lower now, right?
Well, don't count on it.
In some cases, your car insurance provider will automatically adjust your premiums to fit your current profile. Once certain moving violations are off your record, for instance, you may see an instant change to your bill. But most factors will not result in a change until you get in touch with your insurer and let them know.
​Businesses have a lot of technology to track their customers now. If you tell your insurer that you're married, they can check with the courthouse and see if you ever filed a marriage certificate. But they don't exactly check every customer's data on a weekly basis, nor do they have a system plugged directly into your credit rating to see how you're doing in real-time.
As a general rule of thumb, it breaks down like this:

• If it's just a matter of time, then your rates will probably be adjusted automatically. Your insurer already knows when you were born, so they will typically adjust your insurance premiums accordingly each time you hit an age milestone. Likewise, points on your record typically have a built-in expiration date, and once that date is passed, they will no longer be held against you.
• If it's something you went out of your way to achieve, like an advanced driving course, an improved credit score, or you just got married, you'll probably have to call them up and let them know. In some instances, you may be required to show proof, such as a certificate of completion for that driving course. Some discounts may even involve an application process after you've completed the necessary qualifications.

All of this being said, different insurers may have different approaches to tracking your profile, so any time you're expecting your rates to go down, for any reason, it's a good idea to call our agency and keep us informed.

​Contractors or Cons?
Your home may be destroyed by a fire, flood, storm or other catastrophe. You're scrambling around to get your life back in order and you may think that things couldn't get worse. Well, they can and often do because of people who can't spell contractor without c-o-n.

The period after a serious loss is hectic, emotional and disorienting. Your major concern is to get your home repaired or rebuilt. These elements make you very vulnerable to "CONtractors" - people who specialize in victimization instead of construction and in rip-offs rather than repairs.
​
Slow Down And Make Good Decisions
While you may be in a hurry to restore your loss, it is critically important to avoid persons who appear on your damaged doorstep offering to start construction. While handling a serious loss, think of taking precautions such as the following in order to avoid compounding your problems:

• Pay attention to any "feelings" you get about any contractor, particularly when they initiate contact
• Refuse to pay any money "up front"; a reputable contractor always works according to a written agreement, spelling out cost of materials, labor and other important work details
• Contact more than one contractor to get competitive estimates
• Make sure that any contractor you talk to provides references and proof that they are insured
• Check references and ask for evidence of how long the contractor has been in business
• If a local chapter is available, call the Better Business Bureau and check for complaints
• Ignore any tactics intended to pressure you into making an immediate financial commitment.

Keep in touch with our agency during such trying times. We're already committed to providing genuine help and guidance.