personal insurance – Page 2 – Avant-Garde Insurance Advisors

LLCs, Trusts, and Estates

Recently, I had a client call me regarding the purchase of a new property.

I went through the typical questions I would ask…

What’s the address?

Do you have a settlement date?

Is it a business or personal property?

How do you plan to use the property?

Who will reside at the property?

Who will own it?

It is not uncommon to get all green lights until you get to the last question. Business entities are a tricky business in the personal insurance arena. They are not impossible just tricky.

Insurance companies get a little crazy when you start talking business entities owning personal properties. A business has a different kind of exposure or risk and therefore has different insurance needs. Personal insurance policies are not designed to meet those needs and ultimately a business entity could put an insurance company in quite a pickle if a claim happens.

An LLC can sometimes be done if the LLC is formed solely for the purpose of holding a single residential property. The LLC should not conduct any other business and should not employ anyone. There may be tax benefits to an LLC but you need to weigh the tax benefits against the issues that arise when it comes to insuring the property in the name of an LLC.

Trusts can also be done but every insurance company is different. Some will name the trust as Named Insured, some as Additional Insured, some require a special endorsement for naming the trust. Only your insurance company will be able to tell you how the trust can be named.

Estates are tricky in that typically the estate was developed to hold assets for a person that has passed away. An insurance company would shy away from this type of situation because it is unknown who will live in the home, who will take care of the home, will the home be vacant, is it for sale, how long will the estate exist? The answers to these questions have an additional amount of risk associated with it and the insurance company may not want to take on that risk.

Regardless of what your plans are, you should always consult with your insurance agent on what your plans are before committing to them. You may not be able to get the coverage you thought you could or need.

Pamela

After an Auto Accident

Auto accidents are never fun, regardless if minor or major.

My client’s can get pretty rattled at the time of an accident.

Below are some quick and easy steps after an auto accident.

Stop immediately, but don’t obstruct traffic. Set up accident flares or warning signs if you have them.
Make sure to turn off your vehicle, to guard against fire.
Determine if anyone is injured and assist if necessary.
Call the police to file an auto accident report.
Secure the driver’s license number, make, model and other important information of other vehicles.
Take photos of driver’s license, registration, and vehicles involved, including license plates.
Secure the names and addresses of witness or other parties.
Observe your surroundings to determine direction, lanes of travel, traffic, weather conditions, to provide to your claim adjustor.
Do not accept fault of accident or attempt to make settlement at the scene.
Notify your insurance agent after the scene has be cleaned up and you are safely home.
Always, always, keep clam, don’t argue, accuse anyone or admit guilt.

If you have any questions or concerns before or after an accident consult with your insurance agent.

Insurance agents have been involved in the claim process in a variety of situations and can provide you guidance on what to expect and best practices.

Safe driving!

Pamela

What the heck did I sign up for???

So I have been blogging for a couple weeks now. I am finding the process a little challenging. I have no experience with blogging and I’m a little anxious but I feel an immense need to do this.

Every time I post I question if I am doing this right. I am going with the theory, “Fake it ’til you make it” or maybe I am hoping after doing this for awhile I will finally feel comfortable doing it and things will take off. Who knows!

I have several reasons for blogging…

I want to enhance my relationships personally and professionally. I am naturally reserved and shy. I want to change that. I have a freak flag and I would like it to be easier for me to share it with others.
I want to grow professionally. I am branching into sales. Something I have been dancing around for several years now. I am not sure that I am good at sales but I have to try. No risk, no reward, as they say.
I love meeting new people and developing a long term relationship with my connections. It’s what makes my job fun.
I want to share what I know about my field. So little is known about the insurance industry but honestly it is very complex. And quite frankly I am a geek about insurance.

There are many other reasons but these are the big ones for me.

I thought blogging would be so easy before I began. What could be so hard about having a conversation with the internet?

As I continue this journey I want to hear from everyone. I want comments and I want feedback.

Otherwise how will I know that I am doing this right?

The Value of An Insurance Agent

Recently, I have been seeing the same quote over and over again in my daily readings. It’s in my trade journals, my social media posts, and my daily business readings. It is stirring up several thoughts and feelings that I need to voice.

As of right now, insurance agents are in an uphill battle to gain more ground as a necessity in the insurance industry. I, we are battling against the major insurance giants that spend millions of dollars on advertising to gain market share.

What few fail to realize is that not all insurance is created equal. Every insurance company is different. An insurance company has several different types of policies for the same purpose. And pricing is specific to the person requesting coverage. Insurance is not a one size fits all.

Can you imagine if your underwear was a one size fits all? What if cars were sold as, one size fits all?

Sounds kind of crazy doesn’t it? So why would insurance be one size fits all?

That being said, how is the discerning insurance buyer suppose to know what they need and execute the appropriate policy on their own? They wouldn’t and they shouldn’t have to.

That is where insurance professionals like myself come into to play. We don’t have millions of dollars to create fancy ads using a lizard with an Australian accent. What we have is knowledge and experience and your best interests at heart. We live and breathe insurance on a daily basis. Our job is to help you determine your needs and get you the right policy at a price you can afford.

So what is this quote that is bring all of this to the forefront…

“Premium is what you pay, value is what you get.”

What value is your insurance company providing you?

Insurance for Older Homes

I visited Evergreen Museum yesterday. I was able to take a self-guided tour of the museum. It was amazing to see the details of the home up close and personal. The design of older homes is just amazing.

As part of the tour I learned why you should consider Chubb Insurance Group to insure your older home.

Do you know the differences between a Georgian home versus a Queen Anne home? The appraisers at Chubb sure do. Not only do they know the difference but they can also tell you alot about the architects and designers of those types of home, and the cost to replicate the home today. They are truely experts in their field.

If you have an older home you should consider Chubb. Call me for more information.

Chubb Insurance Group: http://www.chubb.com/personal/

Evergreen Museum: http: http://www.museums.jhu.edu/evergreen.php

Pamela

Home Inventory

Do you know how much stuff you have in your home?

Would you remember every item you currently own after a major loss?

What about the value of each of those items?

These are some pretty tricky questions, which are even tougher to answer after you experience a home fire or other catastrophe.

In an effort to help you recover after a loss you should have a home inventory or listing of all of your personal property in your home. So when a loss does happen you can relieve some of your stress and get back to normal quicker.

Insurance Information Institute (III) has come up with software that can be used via your iPhone or Android to document your personal property, and it’s free!

This software should even be used by individuals that own a condo or rent. The value of your personal property is the driving force of policy premium. Having an idea how much stuff you have will help narrow down a premium faster.

Information on conducting a home inventory, and instructions on getting the software can be found by visiting, http://www.knowyourstuff.org/iii/login.html.

Check it out today!

Coach… yummy!

It’s official… I have my first Coach purse! It looks so pretty and it has that new smell. Its so sleek and stylish. Eeeek! See for your self.

Are you jealous? I would be if I were you and didn’t have a Coach purse. Lol!

Truth be told and I am a fashion nut. I subscribe to like 5 fashion magazines. And when I receive them I go through them religiously. My husband always teases me about my expensive taste, which means I have to remind him of his expensive taste. He did pick me, right? And you can’t forget his collection of fishing rods, reels, and the several tackle boxes full of fishing gear. (Baby, see I’m learning the lingo…)

So now I have another purse but not any purse… A Coach! She will go right next to my Guess and Jessica Simpson purses.

Now here is the lesson….

This precious purse is an investment, despite the fact that I got it 80% off. I would like to protect my investment. I know a major way do to so… homeowners insurance. Your homeowners insurance policy should have replacement cost coverage for contents, so that when my precious Coach bag is lost or damaged my homeowners policy will pay the full price to replace it.

Time to go show off my new stylish, Coach purse.

Pamela