Automobile and Homeowners Insurance
Automobile insurance, homeowners insurance, life insurance, and business insurance are offered through The Lee McFerren Agency located in Meadville, PA 16335.
The difference in price between basic, roadside assistance and premium, roadside assistance can be minimal. If you use roadside under a basic plan, some carriers' coverage is within a 15 mile radius. On the premium roadside plan, some carriers' coverage is up to 100 miles. The option that you select may be determined by how far away from home you travel and how often.
There are two ways to buy automobile liability insurance, split limits and combined single limits. In this segment, combined single limits which covers liability and property damage is the focus.
If a policyholder purchased split limits, he would have three areas of coverage: per person, per accident, and property damage.
Combined single limits has two areas of coverage: liability and property damage.
In some situations, combined single limit coverage is only a few bucks more a month and provides higher limits of protection. For example, If someone buys a split limit policy with 100,000 per person, 300,000 per accident and 100,000 dollars worth of property damage, it may be in the policyholder's better interest to buy a combined single limit coverage.
Here is why. if the combined single limit was 300,000, the policyholder would be protected for 300,000 in liability instead of 100,000 and a limit of 300,000 for property damage instead of 100,000.
Be sure to ask for a comparison between split limits and combined single limits.
The details make a big difference when getting an insurance quote. Make an effort to give your agent specific information about your needs whether for automobile insurance, homeowners insurance, life insurance or business insurance.
Remember, purchasing insurance is a process. Take the time to go through it properly. Have a copy of your current policy available. Get a clear explanation of what you have in comparison to what you're thinking about buying.
It's true. A lot of insurance jargon is used within the industry, but it can be made easy for you to understand. The next time you have your automobile insurance, homeowners insurance, life insurance, and business insurance quoted, make sure you have the agent explain things in a way you can understand; that means without the jargon.
Some insurance companies will write a personal auto policy which includes commercial use. However, there are a few factors taken into consideration: (1) How much weight does the truck hall? (2) Is the truck a standard truck or does it have a flat bed or a lift? (3) Does it carry hazardous materials and need a hazardous placard? Double check the underwriting criteria for the insurance company of your choice.
There is automobile insurance for people who don't own a vehicle; they rent cars frequently; maybe you borrow a friend or family member's car regularly. In either case, purchasing a policy on a Non-Owned automobile is something that you should consider. The coverage will give you liability protection.
Discounts drop off. Usually, an insurance company provides an incentive to do business with them by offering up front discounts. For example, if you pay your policy through Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), some carriers give you a discount when the policy starts.
However, after six months or one year, depending on the length of your policy period, that discount will drop off upon the renewal of your policy. As a result, there may me a small rate increase in your renewal policy even if you didn't have an accident or have any claims.
September is Life Insurance Awareness Month. It's a time to think ahead and prepare for the unexpected. Do your best to have that conversation with your spouse, your loved ones, and anyone else that could suffer, financially, from a family member's death. It doesn't have to be a burden. Get coverage through life insurance.
Everything was going well with the automobile insurance quoting process. Well, that's until the C.L.U.E. Report indicated that you had a motorcycle, motorhome, or golf cart claim.
Remember, a report is run on your driving history. It's associated with the VIN from the automobile or toys that you drive occasionally. Your driver's license number is used when a claim is filed even if that claim is while you were driving a motorcycle, motorhome, or a golf cart.
Avoid having accidents or claims from the toys you drive impact your automobile premium. Drive safely no matter what your driving.
As agents, we love it when a customer has been writing their insurance with our agency for twenty years, but is that best for you as a customer?
In some cases, you haven't met with or spoken to your agent in twenty years. In other cases, you have a relationship with your agent.
In either situation, shop your insurance around at least every three years. Insurance companies change their rates. You may end up rating better with a different insurance company. That means you could be paying less for the same coverage with a different company than the one you've been giving your money to for twenty years.
Adding an additional insured to a Certificate of Liability can be confusing. Here is how it works:
Let's say a contractor is doing work at a store downtown. The owner of the store may ask the contractor to show proof of insurance by providing a copy of a Certificate of Insurance. It will show that the contractor has liability coverage.
The additional insured comes into play if and when there is a claim filed against the contractor. The store owner doesn't want to be on the hook for any liability caused by the contractor; as a result, the store owner will request that they be added as an additional insured on the contractor's policy.
This means that the contractor's policy would pay any claims from his policy; the store owner's policy would not file any claims caused by the contractor.
After talking to a customer service representative from any insurance company, keep your reference number. It could come in handy later.
I know of a client who paid his bill via telephone. He gave the customer service representative his credit card information, and the permission for the insurance company to charge his credit card for a six month policy. The policyholder would have been paid in full. The representative told the policyholder that his premium was paid in full.
However, by the end of the policy period, the policyholder was faced with a lapsed policy. The customer service representative never sent confirmation of payment to the policyholder nor did the customer service representative apply the payment to the policyholder's credit card.
Unfortunately, the policyholder had no way to prove the conversation between he and the customer service representative ever existed. The policyholder didn't have a reference number, and the insurance company couldn't find record of the call.
There are a few key pieces of information that you should know about your home and be able to communicate to your insurance agent. The accuracy of the information will impact your premium.
For example, when was your home built? What's the square footage? Do you have a garage, attached or detached?
How old is the roof, and has it been updated? What kind of shingles are on your roof? How far away, in feet, is the nearest fire hydrant? How close do you live from the local fire department?
Do you have animals, especially dogs, a swimming pool, or a trampoline? How many bedrooms and bathrooms? Does your home have an alarm system? Have any updates been done to your plumbing, heating, and electrical systems?
If you don't know some of the answers to these questions, find out before your homeowners policy renews or you decide to shop around for a new insurance carrier.
Does your house have chipped paint? If it does, get it fixed as soon as possible. Underwriters will request that chipped paint be fixed before they cancel or non-renew your homeowners insurance policy. It is common practice for insurers to send a written notice of exactly what needs to be fixed and by what date.
If you have a wood burning stove in your home, it could be of concern to your insurance company. Some insurance companies will not offer you homeowners insurance if the wood burning stove is the primary source of heat.
When the insurance adjuster visits, he/she will take measurements to make sure that the wood burning stove meets specific guidelines of clearance in the front, back, and both sides. Don't forget to discuss the details with your insurance agent and the adjuster.
Hopefully, this document won't ever apply to you. If ever your automobile insurance lapses, don't be surprised if your agent or the insurance company asks you to sign a Statement of
Non-Operation of Vehicle.
Since it's illegal to drive without automobile insurance, carriers will want a signed document from the insured verifying that you haven't driven the vehicle(s) in question from the date of lapsed coverage until your insurance policy was reinstated.
An official letter will arrive by U.S. Postal Service in the insured's name. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will give you about 30 days to fill out and return Form MV-221 to their office.
The underwriter of an Insurance company will tell you there must be a railing anywhere there are 3 steps or more. Think about your front porch. Does it include three steps? What about the back door or any other entrance to your house? Does it have 3 steps or more? A railing should be constructed. If not, you're in jeopardy of having your homeowners insurance non-renewed. Talk to your agent about the details.
Consider quoting your car insurance and your automobile insurance with the same insurance carrier. They like this approach to writing insurance; it's called a "package." The package policy gives you a discount. It could save you several hundred dollars a year in premium between your auto and homeowners policies.
On the surface, "permission to use" someone else's car seems to be simple. After having in debt conversations with the underwriting departments of four insurance companies, the issue of how often you let someone drive your car, and whether or not they are covered without being listed as a driver, gets complicated.
A summary of those conversations is as follows. Great. You were nice enough to let a family member, friend, or whoever drive your car with your permission. However, if:
(1) they drive the car more than 1 or 2 times per month, the insurance company could deny a claim.
(2) they drive the car every day to do things such as go to the store, pick up their kids from day care, or use it for transportation to and from work, the insurance company could deny a claim.
Pay attention to when and if the car is being used in a way that represents a pattern of use, every day, and not random use.
The accuracy of the information you give to your insurance agent is critical. Whatever you tell the agent, he/she tells the insurance company.
In turn, the insurance company reports that information to a third party. That company runs a background check into your Motor Vehicle Report (MVR) and CLUE Report.
The MVR identifies any cancelations, suspensions, violations, or revocations of your license. CLUE reports show claims made or accidents over the past 3-5, and sometimes 7 years!
If the information from the agent to the insurance company doesn't match what is discovered by the third party's underwriting process, your insurance premium could go up within 30-60 days after your new automobile policy has been issued.
An increase in premium after the policy has been issued is never good. It makes the policyholder upset and it puts the agent in a tough position having to explain why the rates ended up being more expensive than stated initially.
As a consumer of insurance, the best advice that I can give you is to be prepared with accurate information. Make sure that's what the agent puts on the application. When this step is done, it eliminates any guessing about your automobile history which could negatively impact your premium.