Insurance

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Collision coverage is to protect against you running into a car or other object (tree, mail box, sign, person, you name it) OR to protect from someone hitting you in the parking lot and taking off. Usual deductible is $200., but can be raised. Comprehensive and collision are usually required by a bank when you borrow money to buy a car. Remember that! You may have a contractual obligation to carry it.

One other item, in NYS, when you change insurance companies, or change or add a car, you need to have a photo inspection done at an authorized location. It can be your agent's office or your driveway, if your agent does it. But it must be done within 5 days, or this coverage will be dropped.

Optional coverages include Rental and Towing and Labor coverage. I do not recommend Towing, because I have seen insurance companies deny preferred discounts to insureds merely because they had a $25 towing claim. That's crap. Charge them $150 more for a $25 claim. It does happen. Rental, on the other hand, can be a great convenience. To use it, you are already involved in a loss where your car is out of commission, so the accident is there already. If it is a chargeable accident, $300 more probably won't make any difference at all in your future premiums. It will give you a set amount to cover loss of use for up to 30 days. Usually a rental can be secured for about $10 a day, hence my $300 figure above.

Well, that is the short story. There are all sorts of situations and extenuating circumstances. If you run into something you really need some advice on, let me know by email and I will try to help. Really! It's not a problem for me. I won't spend a ton of time on it, but a quick note won't hurt anything.

Yet to add to this, assuming it goes over well, is an underwriting considerations manual. Things a company takes into account and things you can have an affect on. If this is of interest, let me know your problems, as I mention above. It will all help in putting together what you need to know...

Good luck with your new insurance policy. We suggest you check it over upon receipt! Just go back into our site and check the coverage you purchased against what we have told you. That is the only way to know if you really got what you wanted! Add us to your FAVORITES!

comprehensive insurance

2004-12-28T19:57:00.000-05:00

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Comprehensive coverage isn't very expensive, so you must have a real beater, if you don't want it. It covers damage to your car from external sources, other than a traffic accident. A tree could blow over in a windstorm, a deer could run in front of your car, the garage could collapse from snow load, kids could vandalize it... and so on. Most anything but breakdown or running into something (or something running into you - which is collision). Deductibles on it range from $0 on up. NYS has a minimum deductible of $200, which you can buy down to $50. Most people carry $200 deductible, but also customize the glass deductible to zero, which is rather inexpensive to do, and a good idea.

insurance statutory coverages

2004-12-28T19:56:00.000-05:00

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Liability coverage is protection for damages YOU do to other people and property. It is expressed in either single limit or split limit terms. Single limit means that you are buying one lump sum of coverage to protect against damage to other people AND property. Split limits refer to damage to other people and then another number for property damage. Property damage is damage to the car you just rear-ended, or a telephone pole that you ran into. Bodily injury is the damage to people. Split limits, quite often will be expressed as 100,/300,/100,. This limit would mean that you have $100,000 coverage PER PERSON, with a TOTAL in any one accident of $300,000. for damage to people. Reduced further, you could theoretically run into a car containing 3 people and each of them could collect a maximum of $100,000 and a GRAND total of $300,000. for damages sustained in the accident. The last $100,000. refers to property damage. Single limit is pretty self explanatory.
If your state requires lower limits than another state, and you travel into that state, your policy automatically conforms to the other states requirements.
Now comes the $1Mil question.... "How Much Should I Carry?" Obviously, the higher the limit, the more expensive. And you have to consider the state you live in. Most, is not all have minimum limits you must carry. Consider... Even if you are a student that has no assets, just because your policy pays out it's maximum, you may still be responsible for anything OVER that! And your FUTURE earnings may be levied against until such a debt is paid. So there are reasons, beyond commission dollars that an agent may recommend higher coverages. If you don't have a pot to pee in and probably never will, then you may be all set with the state minimum. If you think that you do or will have a nice pot some day, well, now is a good time to think about that. MOST losses are less than $100,000. I have had clients involved in losses over that, as I recall, 5 times. Each had sufficient limits, thank goodness! It really is a question you must answer in good conscious when considering the premium versus the possible loss.

NO-Fault Coverages vary from state to state, so you need to do a little research here on your state recs. I am going to answer this, as if we were dealing with NY State only. Coverage is available up to $175,000. and gives you coverage for any medical bills AND lost wages up to the limit. If you already have a health insurance plan and good disability coverage, you can be a little cheap here. Your NF will always be taken first and your health insurance last. If you don't have any other coverage for this type of loss, this is a cheap place to get it for any loss involving an auto accident. Can be as minor as shutting your thumb in the door, to a full blown traffic accident.
This will cover not only you, but any passengers... And would even cover you as a pedestrian. In NY, if your child is on a school bus, the NF on YOUR car covers them in a bus accident... How 'bout that? I'm trying to make it somewhat interesting at least.... :)

Medical Payments cover you for any medical expense due to an accident that may not be covered under NF above... OK, so what do I need NF for? Well, NF covers wages too. And it is higher coverage, but if you are under the influence, NF excludes you from ANY coverage. Med Pay is so cheap, that you really should have it. It is about $2 for $10,000 of coverage and will be excess over NF. If you EVER drink and drive, it is a must have. Even if you don't, consider it.

Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverages come into play when you are involved in an accident that is NOT your fault and the other party doesn't have any insurance, or has less coverage than you carry here. You will, in essence, sue your own insurance company, as if they were the carrier for the other party.

There is a new endorsement (again, in NYS) that now allows a spouse to sue the other spouse, who was operating the vehicle that hurt them and collect against their own insurance, much as with UM. But it is a separate limit and must be purchased separately. It is called Spousal Liability.

Those are pretty much the statutory coverages. Now we deal with coverage on your car.

insurance tutorial

2004-12-28T19:55:00.000-05:00

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Insurance TLC!
InsuranceTLC.Com
WebServices@InsuranceTLC.Com

"No, we can't make insurance sexy or interesting.
We can only give you advice, based on years of experience."
George R Devendorf, Licensed NYS Insurance Agent since 1974

Go HOME

Well, here we go! This will be a short version of insurance coverage and things to think about, when you are looking for an insurance policy, or when simply changing your coverage. For instance, let's say you just bought a new car... What kind of coverage do you need for it? Hopefully, you selected a good agent and they can tell you what you need to have. BUT, you are here, right? So let's start from the beginning.

First of all, I am licensed in NYS. You will find most states have very similar requirements and definitions, but you must check them for your self. I'm not a mind reader, nor am I educated in other states requirements. I do not represent this to apply to any other state than NY. It can still be used as a guide to follow, but again, check your own state. Definitions should be very close.

Liability coverage is protection for damages YOU do to other people and property. It is expressed in either single limit or split limit terms. Single limit means that you are buying one lump sum of coverage to protect against damage to other people AND property. Split limits refer to damage to other people and then another number for property damage. Property damage is damage to the car you just rear-ended, or a telephone pole that you ran into. Bodily injury is the damage to people. Split limits, quite often will be expressed as 100,/300,/100,. This limit would mean that you have $100,000 coverage PER PERSON, with a TOTAL in any one accident of $300,000. for damage to people. Reduced further, you could theoretically run into a car containing 3 people and each of them could collect a maximum of $100,000 and a GRAND total of $300,000. for damages sustained in the accident. The last $100,000. refers to property damage. Single limit is pretty self explanatory.
If your state requires lower limits than another state, and you travel into that state, your policy automatically conforms to the other states requirements.
Now comes the $1Mil question.... "How Much Should I Carry?" Obviously, the higher the limit, the more expensive. And you have to consider the state you live in. Most, is not all have minimum limits you must carry. Consider... Even if you are a student that has no assets, just because your policy pays out it's maximum, you may still be responsible for anything OVER that! And your FUTURE earnings may be levied against until such a debt is paid. So there are reasons, beyond commission dollars that an agent may recommend higher coverages. If you don't have a pot to pee in and probably never will, then you may be all set with the state minimum. If you think that you do or will have a nice pot some day, well, now is a good time to think about that. MOST losses are less than $100,000. I have had clients involved in losses over that, as I recall, 5 times. Each had sufficient limits, thank goodness! It really is a question you must answer in good conscious when considering the premium versus the possible loss.

auto insurance

2004-12-28T19:53:00.000-05:00

www.InsuranceTLC.com

Who else wants to know...
... the best way to look for insurance?
...how to know who to buy it from?
...what the heck to consider for coverage?
...how to reduce the bill as much as possible!

"Yup, THAT we can help with!"

No, It's still not interesting, but some things in life are what they are.
Just be glad you don't have to attend an insurance convention to get this information... :) Imagine the number of agents you would have to talk with to try and get an idea of how to proceed. We put it in writing - Not some quick-speak that you have trouble following and more trouble remembering. It's here, in writing, and you can refer to it as you need to - period.

Insurance TLC

2004-12-28T19:40:00.000-05:00

InsuranceTLC.Com
WebServices@InsuranceTLC.Com

"No, we can't make insurance sexy or interesting.
We can only give you advice, based on years of experience."
George R Devendorf, Licensed NYS Insurance Agent since 1974

Ain't it the truth!