Should you buy the insurance coverage offered by the rental company? This can be a somewhat complex issue. This article by IRMI does a good job of fleshing this out…
How Your Home Insurance Can Vanish Overnight
Make sure you communicate with your agent for extended absences from you home. See the article below.
State Farm Sues TDI in Effort to Hide 13% Rate Hike
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.
Connecticut Fines GEICO $178K
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
Time to change your smoke detector batteries.
(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.
