Insurance Incorporated

Being underinsured is one of the worst predicaments one can see themselves in when it comes to homeowners insurance. That’s why it is important to take the time and review your homeowners insurance at least 1-2 times a year. In doing so, it prevents any unpleasant surprises when a loss occurs (when amount of coverage matters most). There are a few occurrences that should trigger the time for a policy review, such as, your renewal date, major improvements to your home, and major lifestyle change.

Policy Renewal – When your policy renews, it is a good time for you to review your coverages. Take the time and call your insurance agent to discuss things matter. Here are a few questions you can ask when reviewing your policy:

1. Has the company made any changes since last year?
2. Should I raise my deductible?
3. Am I taking advantage of all the available discounts?
4. Do I need to raise the limits on the dwelling? Liability? Personal possessions?
5. Do I need flood, earthquake, or an umbrella policy?

Major Improvements to Your Home – If you have done any improvements to the home, such as, adding another room, improved flooring, rebuilt kitchen, etc., you want to make sure you have the proper amount of coverage that will reflect the increase of building costs from the improvements.

Burgler/Fire Alarm Installation – If you have installed a new fire and/or burgler alarm, you may qualify for a discount. Check with your insurance agent to make sure.

Major Lifestyle Change – Marriage, divorce, addition of children are just some examples of major lifestyle changes that should trigger a policy review. With these changes comes increased value of property, such as, personal belongings, and increase of needed protection.

Insurance Incorporated opened there newest office in Fillmore, CA. Insurance Incorporated is a full service Independent Agency. Serving the insurance needs of consumers and business owners since 1958.  Whether you need insurance for auto, home, business, life or health insurance,  Insurance Incorporated can help. 

As independent agents we give you the advantage of saving time and money by shopping your insurance with numerous carriers with one call.  Why shop the old fashion way calling agent after agent gathering one quote at a time, when you can call Insurance Incorporated and receive quotes from the leading insurance carriers, such as Mercury,  Safeco, Hartford, Travelers, Metlife, Golden Eagle, Progressive, Allied to mention just a few. Unlike some carriers that can only quote these companies , we can quote and write your insurance for you. Call 877-898-933 for a free quote on your insurance today!

Photo from National Underwriter Property & Casualty

There has been a series of earthquakes that we’ve have experienced throughout the world. It is inevitable that the United States is going to be affected as well in the future. In the chart above, it shows the different seismic zones in the United States as well as the horrific San Andreas Fault. It explains the magnitude of each zone and the devastating losses that can incur.

Your homeowners policy will not cover your home from earthquakes or floods. They must be purchase as seperate policies!

Failing to disclose all drivers in a household can be dangerous! While it may be tempting not to mention a youthful driver, such as a child or younger brother and/or sister or even a roommate that lives in the same household when applying for auto insurance in order to get a lower rate,  can backfire on you.

The auto insurance application is a contract and the questions that are asked in the application are part of a legal agreement between you, the policy holder and the insurance company and both parties are basing their agreement on the belief that the application reflects truthful representations by both parties. If you misrepresent a fact in the application you could void coverage. For example you are purchasing an auto insurance policy and you live in the same household as your parents and a younger sibling. You apply for auto insurance and decide to include your parents but not to mention the younger sibling.  Later on in the policy period the undisclosed sibling decides to drive your vehicle and gets in a wreck, the insurance carrier could deny coverage, based upon a material misrepresentation on the application in an effort to evade the higher rate.

When applying for insurance if you do not want to cover a particular person in the household you can specifically request to exclude that person. Just understand they cannot drive your vehicle unless you have notified the insurance carrier to add that person back onto the policy,  removing the exclusion and you receive confirmation back from the carrier that the exclusion has been removed prior to allowing them to drive. The insurance carrier will then charge the appropriate premium for the risk on the younger driver.

Be careful on adding and excluding drivers repeatedly on  a policy as some carriers may place a limit on the number oif times they can be added and removed or require you to either include or exclude the person that resides in the same household.

This does not apply to people who do not live in the household that you may lend your car to on a rare occassion. If you lend your vehicle to another person on a regular or frequent  basis you should add them to your policy as some applications ask for all regular drivers of the vehicle.

Consult with your agent or carrier on how best to handle a youthful driver in the household and how your policy is affected.

Insurance Incorporated recently added Metlife to our portfolio of carriers. Giving their auto, home and life insurance customers more carriers to choose from. This allows Insurance Incorported to provide their clients with some of the lowest rates for insurance while providing them with the broadest choice of coverage. We save our customers time by shopping their insurance with over 15 different carriers assuring they are paying the most competitive rates.  Why not give us a try! Log onto www.insuranceinc.com

Insurance Incorporated is pleased to announce it’s newest location in the city of Fillmore , CA. The new office will be located at 421 Central Ave Fillmore, CA 93015. Phone number is 877-893-3236. Ask for Bill Steiger

When applying for business insurance of any type it is extremely important that you provide not only the legal name of your business, but any d.b.a.’s (Doing Business As). Why you ask? Because if  a lawsuit is filed against a name that is not listed on the policy you may find yourself without coverage. This includes sole proprietorships and partnerships. Make sure all parties on a sole proprietorship (spouses) or, partnership are listed on the policy. The cost to include the extra names is usually nothing as long as the names do not pertain to a different set of operations.

In order for a child to be exempt from a surcharge on a child only health insurance  plan  the child must enroll within the month of their birthdates or have had prior continuous coverage during the 90 day period prior to submitting the application to be exempt from the surcharge.

Enrolling outside of an enrollment period may result in higher rates. as much as 20% for a period not greater than 12 months if the applicant did not have continuous coverage during the 90 days prior to the date of the application and is not a late enrollee compared to the rates available during an open enrollment period. 

Applicant may also qualify for late enrollment if they meet other qualifying events. Those events include:

* Loss of coverage due to:

1. Termination or change in employment status of the child or the person whom the child was cvovered

2. Death, of the person through whom the child was covered

3. Cessation of employers contribution.

4. Legal separation or divorce

5. Loss of coverage under Healthy Families Program, Access for Infants and Mothers Program or Medi-Cal Program

6. The adoption of a child.

* The child became a resident of California during a month that was not the childs birth month

*The child is born as a resident of California and did not enroll in the month of birth

* The child is mandated to be covered pursuant to a valid state or federal court order

* The child is within 63 days from their date of birth or adoption

Please note that children must apply for coverage within 63 days from the qualifying event in order to be considered a late enrollee.

For more informationcontact one of our offices in Southern California (City of Industry, Fillmore or Riverside) for a free quote call our office at 877-898-9333

According to the Insurance Services Office and Insurance Informaton Institute, 3 states make up a 1/3 of the sum of all catatrophic losses since 1980! Check out this chart for a visual conception:

Maybe more can be done directed towards these THREE states? These losses are driven mainly by hurricanes. However, with the amount of earthquake activity in California, these numbers may soon change.

Its already covered.

Even the best homeowners policy may be limited in the protection of your valuables.  Generally homeowners policies have limits of $1,000 – $2,000 maximum on jewelry and coverage is limited.  A personal articles or jewelry policy provides broader coverage for theft, mysterious disapperance or damaged and offer higher limits of insurance.

It’s too expensive

Standard coverage for jewelry worn regularly costs one to two percent of the items appraised value. If you typically keep it in a bank vault the rates are considerably less, about one third the cost.  You are only charged the higher rate when you take your jewelry out of the vault.

It’s too much work

The prospect of obtaining appraisals for all your jewelry can seem daunting. Some carriers only require appraisals on items valued at $50,000 or more. A good description  and estimated value may suffice.

My Jewelry isn’t vulnerable.

Perhaps you have taken extra efforts to protect your jewelry, including the installation of a home security system and periodic maintenance with a professional jeweler. But there is still risk. Every year, nearly $1 Billion of jewelry disappears in the United States, according to the U.S. Dept. of Justice. By itemizing your jewelry with a personal articles policy you don’t have to worry about an accidental loss, chipped or stolen item since a personal articles policy covers these perils. A Homeowners policy may not cover mysterious disappearance or damage.

For more information or a quote on jewelry, fine arts, musical instruments or stamp and coin collection contact our office at 877-898-9333 or log into www.insuranceinc.com for more information