State Farm – Not In Southeast Texas!

May 7, 2012 By Anson Yuhas Leave a Comment

State Farm has just announced their intention to pull out of Southeast Texas. “Beginning May 1st, State Farm will not renew insurance coverage for thousands of Southeast Texas homeowners. The cancellations will impact Jefferson, Orange, Galveston, Chambers and Brazoria Counties.”

Instead of being just a bearer of bad news. There are limited number of options available in your area. Most carriers will still write policies in Jefferson, Galveston, Chambers, and Brazoria but the wind portion of the coverage is written by the T.W.I.A. wind pool. Orange county is still insured by a large amount of carriers that still underwrite the wind portion of your coverage.

If you are looking to get away from the Texas Wind Pool, there are still a couple companies that underwrite their own wind coverage. The 2 that come to mind are MetLife and Cypress Texas Lloyds.

Please feel free to contact me directly if you need assistance with your insurance.

Link – http://blog.beaumontenterprise.com/bayou/2012/02/01/bailing-on-a-neighbor-state-farm-says-adios-to-southeast-texas/

Filed Under: Home Insurance, Personal Insurance

Key Man Insurance

April 26, 2012 By Dusty Hall Leave a Comment

Key Man Insurance: What is my business and skillset worth to my employees and clients?

We can all agree that great ideas for a business start off with a simple thought, change, or skill set that a business owner has the ability to perform well and deliver.   Many ideas require certain skill sets or talents that only few people have so the question is: how do we protect that? Key man Insurance provides financial protection for a business in the event of a loss that would arise from death or an extended incapacity of a member of that organization whose skill set is essential and dependent on that single person (who is not easily replaced).

Along with protecting your core, there are a few other reasons to have Key Man Insurance.  If you have a Partnership with a partner(s) whose beneficiary would not want to take part in the business operations or lacks the skillset that you would need, then Key Man Insurance can provide the means to buy out the disabled or deceased partner allowing the remaining partner to maintain direction and control of the business.  Our last scenario before we look at an example is more practical regarding bank loans.  Banks will almost always ask for proof of a Key Man Policy when you apply for a business loan. You cannot blame them for having a concern for the financial health of their investment.

Let’s look at an example of where Key Man insurance is a great fit:

Dan has an IT and accounting business that specializes in the Dairy industry.  Josh is Dan’s partner and has the rights to a piece of software called Boxless solutions in which he is the only administrator to the program.  Both of them are very specialized in their industry and manage a large portfolio of clients along with about 40 employees.  Aside from tax season, their busy season is around the beginning of the 4th quarter when milks major activity tends to slow down.  They both estimate that the absence of either partner would lead to a substantial financial loss especially if they are disabled during their busy season.  Furthermore, Russ is Josh and Dan’s brother who is a physician and the beneficiary to all that they have whom has no interest in running his business. Both exposures give the partners substantial reasons to have Key Man Insurance.

There are many reasons to consider Key Man insurance and we would love to discuss your Key Man Insurance needs.

For more information, please call or email us at www.coverica.com

Filed Under: Uncategorized

What is EPLI Insurance and Why Is It Needed?

April 16, 2012 By Dusty Hall Leave a Comment

The culture and environment of business is constantly growing and evolving with more and more complex distinctions between people. The simple differences between age gaps, race, gender and various other characteristics that distinguish ourselves and your employees. Despite a business striving to do the best in creating a “best environment” for his employees, they will not always be able to control everyone’s behavior. This is why it is essential to have Employment Practices Liability Insurance or EPLI.

EPLI protects employers against claims of discrimination, wrongful termination, sexual harassment, and employment-related issues made by employees to people outside of the company. Many times an employee will file a lawsuit against a company in which the employer is not liable or in the wrong but he still has to incur lawyer fees in order to prove that he was not in the wrong as well as the time spent away from his business. This can get rather costly and that is why you would need EPLI insurance.

Let’s take a look at an example where EPLI would be essential to a business:

1soursemusicsupply.com is one of the fastest growing music companies with 5 store locations along with a large warehouse and call center that serves as their online store that runs around the clock. They employ close to 250 different people that range in age, gender, lifestyle, culture, etc. One employee has a bad habit of telling jokes that some of the employees find degrading and borderline sexual harassment. Despite one warning given to the employee who was making these remarks, a younger employee filed a sexual harassment charge against the employee for a dirty joke that she overheard during a phone conversation. In this case, the EPLI policy responded on behalf of the company through litigation and was able to get the employee to agree to a settlement. In this case, the business did not have to take a large financial hit and the case was settled rather quickly.

Filed Under: Commercial Insurance, Construction Insurance, Contractor Insurance, Crane Insurance, Employee Benefits, Manufacturing Insurance, Restaurant Insurance, Retail Insurance, Small Business Insurance, Technology Insurance

Your Credit Ratings Role In Insurance Premiums

April 10, 2012 By Anson Yuhas Leave a Comment

Yes the rumor is true. Most insurance carriers use your credit history to some degree in evaluating risk for their customers.

The Dallas Morning News recently evaluated Dallas area rates from 3 of the top insurer carriers and found drastic results. Whether or not you agree with such a practice doesn’t seem to matter much when you have to buy your policy from an insurance carrier.

Luckily, not all insurance carriers use credit ratings to the same degree so there is hope to be found. There are even a handful of companies that use no credit rating at all.

Filed Under: Agency Blog, Home Insurance, Personal Insurance

Wildfire Season Rages On. Is Your Million Dollar Home Really Protected?

November 29, 2011 By Rebecca Frigole Leave a Comment

With no end in sight, the 2010-2011 fire season has been considered one of the most catastrophic in history.

“According to the New York Times, more than 1,500 homes in Texas have been destroyed and at least 5,000 residents were evacuated;” not to mention those affected by smoke damage. Be sure to call your insurance company or agent to make sure you are covered adequately. The crème de la crème of insurance companies go above and beyond to take care of their clients during a disaster. For example, does your insurance company offer Wildfire Defense and Loss Control?

Wildfire Defense and Loss Control – Complimentary and precautionary measures taken by the insurance company to protect your home such as installation of temporary water lines around home and removal of combustible items from property. A special type of gel can also be applied to the home and landscape if your home is in imminent danger. Certain insurers even have their own fire fighters on board who coordinate with city departments.

Property Management Services – There’s been a fire but you’re thousands of miles away. Certain insurance companies will conduct an inspection of your home and report the conditions to you. With your approval, they will file a claim on your behalf and quickly work to restore the home’s condition before your return.

Rebecca Frigolé is an independent property/casualty and life insurance broker with a specialty and expertise in the high net worth market. She entered the insurance industry in 2006, and since then has been recognized numerous times for excellence in the area of sales and client service. She graduated from Southern Methodist University, Cox School of Business.  

Rebecca can be reached directly at (972)490-2263, or via email at rebecca@CoVerica.com.

Filed Under: Home Insurance, Personal Insurance, Personal Umbrella Insurance Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Firearm Insurance: How Does Your Homeowner’s Policy Cover Guns?

November 14, 2011 By Gene Greiner Leave a Comment

In Texas, many of us have extensive collections of firearms. Often, we see firearms that have been passed down through generations. These guns are expensive to buy and replace!

My uncle is one such person who has many inherited firearms. His collection is valued at $11,000. I asked him how he chose to insure his gun collection and he told me his insurance company had it covered under the personal property section of his policy.

What he didn’t know was the personal property coverage is subject to the home’s deductible, which is $3,800 in his case. If he experienced a total loss to his firearm collection, the insurance company would only be responsible for $7,200.

Some insurance companies have optional endorsements you can add to the policy for firearm insurance. For the most part, these endorsements will lower the deductible, but they will only cover the gun collection up to a certain point.

In my Uncle’s case, if he had added the gun endorsement, it would have only covered the collection up to $6,000. In the event of a total loss, he would have been out $5,000.

There are some insurance carriers that allow you to schedule firearms. This means that you can cover the guns for the needed amount at no deductible. If my uncle were able to schedule his collection, it would have been covered for the full $11,000. In the event of a loss, he would have had no deductible.

Filed Under: Agency Blog, Home Insurance, Personal Insurance Tagged With: , , ,

Safe Halloween Driving Tips

October 31, 2011 By Leif Hurst Leave a Comment

We can thank our carrier friends at GMAC for sharing these halloween driving tips!

According to Safe Kids USA, children are twice as likely to be killed by a vehicle on Halloween compared to other days of the year. Your customers will have to navigate roads crowded with children in the dark. Help your customers keep trick-or-treaters safe by sharing these Halloween safe-driving tips on your website, in your email campaigns or in your social networking.

Halloween Safe-Driving Tips

According to Safe Kids USA, children are twice as likely to be killed by a vehicle on Halloween compared to other days of the year. Take extra caution behind the wheel on Halloween and use the following driving tips to keep trick-or-treaters safe.

  1. Yield to Trick-or-Treaters: Be prepared for children to run into the street at anytime.
  2. Refrain From Passing Idle Vehicles: You never know when the driver in front of you has stopped to drop children off. Be patient and take extra caution when traveling near other vehicles.
  3. Park Your Mobile Phone: With children crowding the dark roads, it is especially important to avoid any distractions while behind the wheel.
  4. Communicate With Other Drivers: Use hazard lights when picking-up or dropping-off trick-or-treaters. And, always use turn signals.
  5. Consider Alternate Routes: Avoid driving near trick-or-treaters by taking routes that go around busy neighborhoods, not through them.
Filed Under: Agency Blog, Personal Insurance Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Megan Armstrong of CoVerica Wins Prestigious Travelers High Achiever Award

October 24, 2011 By Leif Hurst Leave a Comment

DALLAS, TX – Megan Armstrong of the CoVerica Agency Alliance was among a select group of employees at local independent insurance agencies to be recognized as a High Achiever by Travelers Personal Insurance.

The Travelers High Achiever award is designed to recognize insurance agency employees who display superior levels of customer service, demonstrate leadership skills, encourage team work among their peers and contribute to the overall success of their agencies.

Jennifer Duncan of the CoVerica Agency Alliance said, “Megan is an outstanding performer who contributes every day to the success of our agency and to the high level of personalized service we provide for our customers. We’re proud that Megan has been recognized by Travelers and we appreciate her contributions to this agency.”

Mike Coffey of Travelers Insurance presents Megan Armstrong the High Achiever Award

 

Filed Under: Agency Blog, Agency News & Updates, Home Insurance, Jewelry Insurance, Personal Auto Insurance, Personal Insurance, Personal Umbrella Insurance Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

How Employers Can Prepare For ObamaCare

October 14, 2011 By Matt Williams Leave a Comment

With all of the uncertainties related to ObamaCare (The Patient Protection and Affordability Act) many employers are making drastic changes now to weather the storm that is coming in January of 2014. Some employers like AT&T and Caterpiller have made public statements that they will drop coverage entirely and pay the penalty while others are looking for creative strategies to protect their employees from the predicted unaffordable medical premiums.  Insurance carriers have been developing many new products to offset the reduction in benefits and to bridge the gap prior to meeting medical deductible and/or out of pocket maximums. Many insurance agents are creating unique strategies and most tenured agents agree that there is really no way to predict the future of healthcare so the best strategy is to plan for the worst.

One new product that has been gaining much interest this year is the GAP plan. This product can be offered on a voluntary or employer paid basis. The GAP plan reimburses the consumer or employee for out of pocket in and outpatient expenses. They are typically offered as indemnity plans so employees do not have to stay within a defined network of physicians or hospitals.  Most GAP plans reimburse the insured for first dollar out of pocket medical expenses and do not have to coordinate with medical insurance. This is one way to bridge the bridge the “GAP” in coverage associated with high deductible medical plans.

Another popular program to reduce out of pocket cost and time spent waiting in the doctors office is the telephonic physician programs. This program gives the consumer a direct phone number to call a licensed physician for basic consultation and to refill basic prescriptions without having to visit the physician’s office. This program typically includes a prescription discount program to reduce the retail cost of many popular brand name medications. Again the goal is to provide the consumer or employee with a cost effective alternative to the tradition first dollar medical insurance plans that are becoming unaffordable for employer, employee and the individual consumer.

While many of us hope that Healthcare Reform will simply be repealed I recommend that employers plan for the worst and hope for the best.

Filed Under: Agency Blog, Commercial Insurance, Construction Insurance, Contractor Insurance, Crane Insurance, Employee Benefits, Group Medical Insurance, Manufacturing Insurance, Restaurant Insurance, Retail Insurance, Small Business Insurance, Technology Insurance Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Forced Placed Insurance is the worst decision you can make

October 3, 2011 By Anson Yuhas Leave a Comment

Star Telegram recently featured an article on the hidden dangers of forced place insurance. http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/10/01/3412434/everyone-profits-off-force-placed.html

What is forced placed insurance you might ask? Forced Placed Insurance is an insurance policy that the bank or mortgage holder places on your home when you let your own insurance lapse. It lacks other coverages that protect you in the event of a loss but can costs upwards of 2-3 times what you were paying for your own insurance. Oh, and you get to pay for it too since they simply pass the costs down to your monthly mortgage payment.

A recent homeowner found that her mortgage company had slapped on a $2,000 annual premium for forced place insurance which should have cost her around $800 for a standard homeowners policy. 

The article fails to mention that forced placed insurance only protects the bank’s interest. The limit of coverage on the policy typically only covers the amount of the loan which is typically less that the true rebuild cost of the home.  It also would obviously not insure any equity the homeowner may have in the home. Often these policies only cover larger perils such as fire, wind, etc… but fails to include smaller claims such as busted pipes, theft, etc…

If you are having trouble finding a competitive rate from a standard carrier there are options available.  There are carriers who do not check credit, who do not surcharge for a lapse in insurance, and carriers who are more forgiving for claims history. Feel free to call me if you want some straight forward advice to find a good solution for you.

Filed Under: Agency Blog, Home Insurance, Personal Insurance Tagged With: , , , ,
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