State Farm Sues TDI in Effort to Hide 13% Rate Hike

April 29, 2010 by Chris Baumli

According to Insurance Journal, State Farm filed a lawsuit against the Texas Department of Insurance after TDI publicized recent rate hike proposals on their website.

Shhh… Let’s not tell anyone about the rate increase…

The suit seeks to protect certain information relating to rate proposals from being disclosed. These rate hike proposals filed over the past eight months will increase homeowner premiums an average of 13%. (I guess it’s more profitable to spend millions on legal fees than to pass these dollars on to their policyholders… ha).

And we certainly don’t want anyone to know we overcharged by $310,000,000!

Additionally, in November of 2009, TDI ordered State Farm Lloyds to refund a total of $310,000,000 to policyholders after finding that the insurer had overcharged customers beginning in 2003. That’s a lot of zeros on the end of that number!

So much for transparency in pricing!

Perhaps a healthy bit of skepticism is in order?

Hey the reality is that all insurance companies are there to make a profit for their shareholders which is fine as long as you go into this with your eyes open. Take a proactive approach and evaluate your options for home and auto insurance. Carriers typically cycle in rates for a variety of reasons. If you’ve been with the same carrier for more than 3 years, chances are you are leaving money on the table.

The payday for evaluating options…

Case in point: Phil, a good friend of mine who I’ve known for 32 years. (OK, there will be a small break in the penning of this article as I try to figure out the exact point at which I became my father…) was with State Farm for 10 years. Never had a claim, just kept sending them money every year. He decided to have Inspire Insurance Solutions take a look and was able to get more coverage and get this… save $857 a year! Pretty good return on the 20 minutes it took him from start to finish.

Maybe it’s time to have Inspire take a look at your home and auto policies. Call us at 512-257-3773 or you can go to Austin insurance to fill out the online quote form. (We can write homes anywhere in Texas). Also, remember to share this with the whole class and pass it on to two friends.

62% of Statistics Are Made Up On The Spot… But Here’s One You Need to See!

April 22, 2010 by Chris Baumli

Austin Insurance — A statistic you need to pay attention to!

Our newest Producer, Matt, has been busy evangelizing the need for business owners to get a second opinion on their insurance programs. We’ve spent numerous hours going over the statistics and the approach: 43% of businesses that suffer a major loss (be it a fire or lawsuit or insert your favorite calamity here…) go out of business. And most of these had business insurance! Scary.

Think about it: Almost half of the businesses who had to actually rely on their business insurance went out of business because it didn’t do what they intended it to. Business failure. Dreams down the drain. Assets? poof! (Hopefully, most of these had some corporate veil to protect their personal assets, but experience tells me that many do not).

So is the 43% statistic valid? The short answer is yes. (This was put out by the Insurance Information Institute and generally accepted to be accurate in insurance circles).

But what about anecdotally? Matt is also getting some pretty vivid validation…

Out of the first five reviews we did of businesses he brought in, four had major gaps in coverage. Gaps that could result in unmitigated disaster. The interesting thing is that in some instances it would not have cost them any more to have the proper coverage in place! Needless to say they are happy they had us take a look.

Pay attention to the risks your business faces. Make sure your agent handles primarily business insurance and has advanced certifications. You typically only get one chance to get this right.

Feel free to get touch with us at General Liability Insurance Austin or (512)-828-4200 if you have questions or would like for us to take a look at your program.

Connecticut Fines GEICO $178K

April 9, 2010 by Chris Baumli

I’ve always wondered how the consumer might benefit if just a little of the hundreds of millions in advertising budgets were redirected into the “servicing” areas of the insurance industry…

Connecticut Fines GEICO $178K.

Chris J. Baumli, CIC
Inspire Insurance Solutions, Inc.
Cedar Park Insurance

One of the fastest growing liabilities for business owners?

March 29, 2010 by Chris Baumli

Cedar Park Insurance — Don't get blind-sided!

In this economy, one of the most frequent liabilities that small businesses are running up against are employment related charges and lawsuits. In fact the EEOC recently announced that 93,277 workplace discrimination charges (wrongful termination, age, race and sexual discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, etc.) were filed in 2009. These alone resulted in $376 million in monetary awards obtained for plaintiffs via enforcement, mediation and litigation.

But these are targeted towards big businesses, right?

Sorry to be the bearer bad news, but over 50% of these Employment Practices Liability charges are brought against smaller firms. Furthermore only 1.2% of small businesses have EPLI (Employment Practices Liability Insurance) protection. Here are some more facts on this disturbing trend:

81% of related charges are settled for an average of $22,400 to $40,500 even when the claim is found to be groundless! (I know it’s nauseating, but legal fees are not getting any cheaper).

Claims that go to trial cost over $180,000 on average.

A recent survey conducted by the Hartford indicates that 2 out of 3 business owners are concerned that employees might bring employment-related charges against them.

So what’s the good news? The good news is that there are several carriers who are offering great coverage that will not only pay damages, but will pay for legal fees to defend as well as providing front end legal advice that can be vital in heading off potential lawsuits. Minimum premiums start at $450 a year. Shoot us an email or call (512) 257-3773 to get a quote.

Please forward this to two of your colleagues that you like and hide it from the ones you don’t! You can get more information by visiting Austin Insurance or Cedar Park Insurance .

Time to change your smoke detector batteries.

March 12, 2010 by Chris Baumli

Time to change the batteries — The result of wrestling with a smoke detector at 3am

(Or in my case actually reinstall it). Yes, I’m busting myself… I pulled this out of the ceiling about 10 months ago when that devious little beep programmed to alert me that the battery is low started screaming at me at 3am.

Of course I just happened to be right in the middle of the most magnificent slumber… You know, the kind where you’re smack dab in the middle of one of those blissfully sublime dreams: Laying on the beach in Bora Bora (having just won the lottery, naturally), while sipping some refreshing coconut-smelling concoction with obligatory umbrella, all while my beautiful wife is telling me how smart and amazing I am and that she would find me sexier if I would only watch more football! Wait a minute… where was I? Oh right… Risk Management tips!

So for all of my “smoke-detector-neglector” brethren, do yourself a huge (and easy) favor. Change the batteries this weekend. Protect your blissful slumber and more importantly your family!

Note to aforementioned beautiful wife–(that part of the dream is actually true! Yea me!): Honey, we can add the NFL network to our cable package if you insist 🙂 )

Do your neighborly duty and pass this along to at least two of your friends to remind them to change their batteries. Also make sure you subscribe to this blog to get periodic tips on protecting your family and business. Inspire Insurance Solutions is an independent insurance broker with access to over 100 carriers and routinely saves people money on business, home and auto insurance. Get a free rate quote at Austin Insurance or call us at 512-257-3773. We can save you money anywhere in Texas.

State Farm Sues TDI in Effort to Hide 13% Rate Hike

62% of Statistics Are Made Up On The Spot… But Here’s One You Need to See!

Connecticut Fines GEICO $178K

One of the fastest growing liabilities for business owners?

Time to change your smoke detector batteries.

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