Life Insurance- what kind is best?

You want Life Insurance but you have been wrestling with the "why" part of it. It sounds kind of morbid to have life insurance on you because you picture in your mind of you dying. Well good! But picture in your mind one of the reasons to purchase life insurance... the wife (husband) and children you left behind. You left behind a family with a house, car loans, and a stack of bills. That is what you should be thinking about. So now that you have the real reason to purchase life insurance on your mind you start the task of researching what kind. The best way to do some quick research is call your Auto/Home Insurance Agent. He or she will give you some quick ideas as to which one to purchase. The main two options are Term and Universal life. But there are a few more but these two broken will cover the biggest part of your research. Term Life is just that "term" which means life insurance for certain length of time. Five years, 10, 15, 20, and 30 years are the usual. Let's say you are 30 years of age and you have two kids and a wife. A term policy would be good if you want to cover your families needs if you die while your kids are growing to adulthood and gainfully employed. Term life is the least expensive because most likely you will out live this policy. Now a Universal life. This life policy will last until you die or quit paying the premiums. You own it and it never ends and no one can take it away from you... never. Simple. The premiums are higher than term because it is designed to last until you die. So now that you have a little info. Call your Insurance Agent and get Life Insurance on yourself... for your families sake

My Home is Insured for what I think is to much. Why?

You get your Home Insurance renewal notice and you are astounded at the amount of coverage the insurance company has on your home.

Let's break this down. The first line you see is "Dwelling Coverage". This is the amount of insurance you have on your home. Depending on the type of insurance policy you have this figure will be the "Reconstruction Amount". Reconstruction amount is what it would cost to Rebuild your home if it was ever destroyed. Today insurance companies want your home to be insured to the Reconstruction Amount. You ask "Why so much because I can't get that amount of money if I was trying to sell it?"

Again this is the Reconstruction Amount. If you were to sell your home that value is the "Market Value Amount". Two very different figures. Why? Because the insurance company doesn't give you the Market Value of your home if it's destroyed. They give you what it costs to Reconstruct your home amount. If your home is lying in a pile of ruble what is the market value then? Nothing! But since your home was insured to Reconstruction Value then you can rebuild your home with the money your insurance company insures you to.

So depending on the Economy, if it's a poor economy then your market value of your home may be quite a difference between the Reconstruction Value. But be careful in good economy times because if your market value is higher than your Reconstruction value then that means prices are high. That means that costs to rebuild your home if it's destroyed have gone up. If you get your home insurance renewal and the coverage for your home hasn't increase for a few years then call your agent and make sure you are insured to the Reconstruction Value of your home. You don't want to be $30,000 or so short when it comes time to rebuild your home after a fire.

How do I get more out of my Insurance Agent?

Clients need to realize that their Insurance Agent is running a small business which is very time consuming. But let's look at the question... "How do I get more out of my Insurance Agent?" Clients have to make an appointment with their Agent to get his attention. Like any other profession if you want to meet with them you have to make an appointment. Your insurance agent has anywhere from 500 to 2000 clients that is taking up his time. And with that many clients his time has to be managed. Which is why he may not be there all the time. Some of his clients own a small business themselves and have asked your agent to come to their business to meet with them. Or one of his clients has just purchased a home and the agent must go see the home. Maybe his client is disabled and is home bound and can't come into the office to sign a document that is required. It could be that he is out of the office to introduce himself to a newly established business in town and is asking them for their business insurance. Or is at a community Chamber of Commerce meeting. Many many reasons he may be out of the office.

So that said if you want to meet with your insurance agent don't just walk into his office and ask to meet with him. Oh he is probably there and he may meet with you but his day has been planned and his attention is somewhere else. To get your agents full attention set an appointment with him and why you want to meet with him. He will be prepared and he will give you his full attention. This will save you time as well because if you just walk in you may be interupted by another person who walks in. Give this a try next time.

My Sewer Is Backing Up Does Home Insurance Pay?

So your home sewer system is starting to back up. Nothing severe but here recently it is backing up into the tub downstairs or wherever. It slowly drains away and but will come back with high usage. Your wife's first thought is to have you call the insurance agent and see if it's covered. Americans must get away from this mentality that "Insurance should pay for it" because it only leads to frustration and higher premiums.
Well let's say you go ahead and call the insurance agent. You give him or her your current situation with the drain not draining and you ask, "Is it covered?" and he responds with a possible yes. However he goes into more questioning about how much is backing up, has it flowed over the toilet or tub and damaged any of the carpet or flooring. You tell him no it has done none of that. The agent suggest that you get a plumber to come out and assess the possible problem with the sewer system and to contact him when that is completed because it could be a covered loss.
Now I say, "it could be a covered loss" because Home insurance will pay for a "loss sustained from a sudden and accidental breakage of a pipe." Home insurance will not pay for the pipe but the damage from the release of what was in the pipe. What was in the pipe leaks all over your floor and ruins the carpet or hardwood can be expensive to replace and home insurance will pay for that. Not the pipe.
Back to the sewer. If there has been no damage caused from the pipe leaking something onto the floor then we need to explore the cost of fixing the sewer drain. Most likely your drain is just clogged. Home insurance will not pay to have your drain unclogged. Having a clogged drain is not a catastrophic loss. Your house burning down is a catastrophic loss and this is why you have insurance. So the next time your wife says call the insurance agent to see if it's covered ask yourself, "is this loss or something that I have to pay to fix a catastrophic loss to what I have insured?" If it is then call your insurance agent.

Should I turn that claim in?

Whether it is an auto claim or a home insurance claim you should ask yourself, 'should I turn this claim in.' I feel as a society Americans rely to much on our insurance to fix a small mishap that may have happened to our car or home. If you backed into your garage and dented the bumper it is much better to pay to fix that out of your pocket. Why you ask? Because your insurance policy whether it is your car insurance policy or your home insurance policy is not designed to fix the little things. It is designed for catastrophic losses to you. The more we use our insurance on the little things the more you will keep seeing your insurance premium go up. Currently the average percent that Americans spend on their budget to pay for insurance premiums is about 13%. That is huge. A $5000 monthly budget equates to a $650/month on insurance premiums. Car, Home, Life, Health, Boat, and etc. So you can help reduce that amount by reducing the notion to call your insurance company when you have a small mishap in your car or at your home. To help you not turn in a small claim raise your deductible or even eliminate coverage for physical damage to your car. You will be amazed how much your insurance premium will drop if you do. You might want to think about not turning in a claim to your health insurance company for a runny nose as well. Think about it next time.

Lawyer or no Lawyer after an Auto Insurance Claim

Why give a lawyer your money when you were the one who was injured in an auto accident. If you feel you are not being properly paid for your medical claim then call the Department of Insurance of your state. All States watch over the insurance business. The Department of Insurance was created for your best interest in mind. So if you feel you need help and your agent is not helping you then get in touch with the DOI. You don't have to pay them anything to view your insurance claim. Yes this department will make you go through all the channels of the claim process and make sure you are fairly compensated. So if you are injured in an auto accident that was not your fault and the other person has insurance give that insurance proper time to get you compensated. Keep in touch with them and get them all your medical bills so they know what they are dealing with. You will come out way ahead if you keep a lawyer out of it. Yes your claim may be settled for a high amount of money using a lawyer. However you have to give a high percentage of your settlement to the lawyer. For a little leg work you will do fine.

Who pays for water damage when home is being roofed?

Who pays for the water damage to your home while it is being reroofed? The scerio is that the roofer is in the process of roofing your home when a Thunderstorm pops up and drenches you your home before the roofer can get it covered by tarps. Water is coming down your lights and out you electrical outlets. After the rain quits and the water spots start showing up on your ceilings you wonder should I call my Insurance Agent? Read on. The person you call is the roofer because they are "in care, custody, and control" of your roof. Which means the roofer is the one to fix the damage to your celings and other damages caused by the rain.

Insurance Question Helper

I have been an Insurance Agent in Missouri for over sixteen years and I have always desired to help my customer with insurance questions. Now I'm opening my expertise to all. Ask me a question and I'll help you with your insurance questions.