What You Should Do If You Are Rear Ended In Your Car

Being in a car accident is a scary, life altering experience for some people. The nervousness most drivers experience directly after an accident may cause someone to forget what steps they need to take to resolve the situation. An added consideration, if you get rear ended, is that the driver who hit you may or may not have auto insurance.  

Drivers without auto insurance often try to haggle with you or offer you cash on the spot as an incentive for you to not make a claim. However, it is important to remember that you should always report a rear-end collision to your insurance company and never take a bribe.

Remain calm

After a car accident, even at low speeds, you may feel jittery or confused.  Before getting out of your vehicle to assess the damage, it is advisable to take a few deep breaths in and breathe out slowly to calm yourself down, and to give yourself a few seconds to remember the steps you need to take to handle the situation.

Call the authorities and document the crash

Before reporting the accident to your insurance company, call 911 for assistance.  The last thing you want to do is be confrontational with a disgruntled or drunk driver, so it’s best to get the police involved.  If there are any injuries or damage to your car, take pictures and write down the details of the crash.  It's best to write down the details immediately while they're still fresh in your memory. 

If the car at-fault is leaving the scene while you’re on the phone with the 911 dispatcher, quickly give them the license plates number.  This way the number is documented in case you did not have time to write it down.  When talking to the dispatcher, give them as many details as possible which should include:

• The road the accident happened on
• How it happened
• If there are any immediate emergencies
• Any nearby mile markers

Getting the other drivers information

Once you exit your car, ask for the other driver’s drivers license and take down the number, address and phone number.  At the same time, write down the driver's license plate number and the make and model of their car (as well as the color).

Call your insurance company

Notify your insurance company of any rear-end collision you're involved in, whether the damage to your car is visible or not. It is quite possible to have extensive internal damage that may not affect your driving for a day or two after the accident.  Any injuries you have may also not be apparent for hours or days after the accident, so always report collisions.  

If you have a portable camera, or a camera phone, snap a picture of the accident and any damage to your car or the other vehicle.  You may need to submit this information along with your claim to the insurance company.

Last but not least, if you suffer an injury, you may want to find an accident lawyer who specializes in rear-end collisions. 

For more information on your Miami Auto Insurance or collision cover, give Allstar Direct Insurance & Financial Services a call at 855-754-7414. We are there to find you the right service at the right price, and will be there for you in the times of an accident.

State Level Auto Insurance Relief

Across the country, rising costs for auto insurance are hitting some small businesses and many thousands of families. It’s often hard for lower-income drivers to remain insured, yet the threat of uninsured drivers on the road is a major issue for many states. In response, more than a few states have considered additional state assistance programs to help make sure that affordable car insurance is available to as many state residents as possible.

What’s Behind State Auto Insurance Programs

Officials in many states have been looking carefully at what happens when uninsured drivers are involved in collisions. States have created additional coverage for insured drivers to cover these kinds of accidents, but that’s no substitute for actually bringing down the number of uninsured drivers in a given state. Reports from Road and Travel magazine show how many states are experiencing high numbers of uninsured drivers on the road, and which states seem to be falling behind in controlling this liability.

States officials understand that taking uninsured drivers off of the road is critical. That’s why states like California have developed their own programs for making car insurance affordable. These programs must provide liability coverage according to state limits, and often offer fixed premiums that are less expensive than what drivers would usually get on the open market.

Disclosure of State Programs

Some states have also written laws requiring insurance brokers or agents to tell customers about state relief programs. Without these kinds of protections, many of those who need these policies the most will not understand how to get them. State residents need to know about the availability of these programs, along with any eligibility requirements that may apply. Some states may require that drivers applying for low cost auto insurance have a good driving record. Maximum income levels were maximum vehicle values may also apply.

How to Find State Car Insurance Programs

Generally, those looking for state relief for their auto insurance coverage can check with their state’s Department of Insurance or Insurance Commissioner Office. Other state departments may also be able to assist, and generally maintain resources for residents over the Internet. For those who struggle to make car insurance payments and remain legally on the road, it’s a good idea to take a look and see what kinds of state programs may currently be available, or whether any others are pending.

For assistance finding the Miami Car Insurance program that best fits you, call an Allstar Direct Insurance & Financial Services agent today at 855-754-7414.

Making Insurance Claims Easier After a Hurricane

Hurricanes can cause tremendous damage not only to your home, but also to your vehicles. For example, high winds can blow debris and trees onto cars and trucks, and even crush them. Worse still, a motor vehicle’s worst enemy is floodwater, which can quickly rust metal, force debris particles into the engine, and disable electronic systems/components. Waterlogged cars are almost always considered total losses and should be scrapped. As such, it's safe to assume that approximately half a million vehicles will be scrapped after Hurricane Sandy.

Comprehensive insurance policies typically cover hurricane damage, as long as the policy has been in place for a certain time period. This is to prevent consumers from purchasing the coverage only a few days before an impending hurricane. Natural disasters are a stressful time in all aspects, but there are steps that you can take to make the reimbursement process faster. If your vehicle received damage or becomes immersed in water, it is advisable to call in your claim as soon as possible.

Large catastrophes involve many policy holders, and all will be seeking quick service and making claims. The sooner you file your claim, the sooner that you can be reimbursed. If your local agent is not available, or is overwhelmed with calls, try the affiliated provider’s national number. Do not be deterred, because the time that you spend taking care of the issue as soon as possible will save further frustration from waiting on the claim process backlog to be completed. Also, early claimants often receive assistance from local claims adjustors instead of outsiders that have been brought in to facilitate the huge demand for services. Your vehicle may only have some minor damage, so it is advisable to contact professionals that can aid in water removal and those that offer other disaster restoration services.

One way to achieve faster service is to use a preferred repair shop if the insurance provider offers them. This will ensure quality work and you won’t have to wait for a claims adjuster. However, preferred shop will also be booked with other customers, so expect a wait for their services. It also pays to stay organized by keeping record of all of your contacts and paperwork. Try to always be accessible for communication with your Miami Auto insurance agents and repair workers.

The key to a positive hurricane auto insurance claim is patience. At Allstar Direct Insurance & Financial Services, we're here to help you through this process, so give us a call today at 855-754-7414 with any questions you may have.

Claim your PPI

It sounds like a good idea – payment loan protection or PPI.  The idea is that if you get sick or lose your job, your car note or mortgage payments continue to be made on time till you can get on your feet again. PPI is generally offered to folks buying a car, taking out a mortgage loan or incurring some other sort of substantial debt. You may have heard a bit about it in the news of late. In the United States and Britain, a disturbing number of over-enthusiastic loan officers have pressured their customers to purchase payment protection insurance they either did not need or could not collect on if they did find themselves in a tight situation.
Payment protection insurance is designed to cover your loan or debt repayments should you find yourself unable to work due to accident, illness or unemployment. The trouble is that these policies often vary widely as to what they cover and, more importantly, what they do not cover. 
Payment protection insurance has come under scrutiny most recently because of problems with how PPI is sold and marketed to consumers and due to the high rejection rate for claims under these types of policies. PPI policies have higher rejection rates than almost any other type of insurance on the market.
PPI claims are typically rejected over some previously unsuspected exclusion clause in the small print of the policy. A substantial number of consumer complaints, however, charge that PPIs were “mis-sold” by insurance agents and loan officers. Many consumers did not even realize they were taking out a payment protection policy when they signed their loan papers. Other complaints allege that PPI policies were not accurately described to consumers.
A third type of complaint centers around disputes over failure to properly refund premiums, when the policyholder paid off the protected loan early. Many times the PPI policy is prepaid in a lump sum at the beginning of the loan. Insurers may include a clause in such policies that penalizes early loan repayment, returning premiums for just a fraction of the period following cancellation.
Complaints like these occur because such insurance is often underwritten during the hectic sales process, when customers may be more easily goaded into buying extra insurance. Customers may fail to give careful consideration as to whether PPI is the right insurance vehicle for their circumstances. Customers seldom obtain legal advice when they purchase such loan payment insurance and may later find the policy offers little real protection.
Regulators have in the past caught lenders offering lower interest rates on loans to attract borrowers and then charging the customer higher payment protection insurance rates and other fees to make up for the discount. If you think you have been mis-sold a PPI by an over-enthusiastic car salesman, loan officer or insurance agent or if your claim has been rejected when you thought you had coverage, here are some steps you can take:

1. Locate your policy.
2. Read the fine print.
3. Hire a financial claims manager.

We'll elaborate on these tips more next week, but feel free to contact an agent at Allstar Direct Insurance & Financial Services with any questions regarding your Miami Insurance options.

How a Programmable Thermostat Can Save You Money

There are hundreds of ways that you can customize your home to make it more energy efficient. By installing advanced tech items in your home, for example, you can achieve serious savings on your utility bills every month. Consider that the average homeowner spends about $2,200 dollars on heating and cooling every year, and yet a basic programmable thermostat can be picked up at the local hardware or home-improvement store for around $25.

Installing a programmable thermostat in your home can even save you enough money over the course of a year to pay for a good chunk of your Miami home insurance. According to the EPA and the EnergyStar program, “Homeowners can save about $180 a year by properly setting their programmable thermostats and maintaining those settings.” If you spend a considerable amount of time away from the home during the week, these savings can be even higher.

Keep in mind, simply installing the unit won’t result in savings. You have to program it correctly to take advantage of the ability to control the interior temperature of your home when you are away. This can be most effective in households that are vacant for a good portion of the day. If you have a schedule that has you out of the home from 8 am to 5 pm every weekday, you can program your thermostat to allow the home to reach 78 to 80 degrees during the time you are away and then return it to 72 about 30 minutes before you arrive home. You still enjoy the comfort of returning to a cool house without having to run the air conditioner for 8 hours in your absence. At an average cost of about $1.20 an hour, this can save you almost $10 a day during the summer.

The same savings can be had during the winter by programming your thermostat to turn on the furnace 30 minutes before you get home from work. There is no need to heat the home when you aren’t in it. As long as you keep the home at a temperature of 60 degrees or above when you are gone, 30 minutes should be long enough to allow your home to heat up to a comfortable level. For more questions, feel free to contact an agent at Allstar Direct Insurance today.

Should You Raise Your Deductibles?

There is a distinct appeal in having a reduced insurance premium. After all, with a lower premium you can still bask in the protectiveness of your policy but spend less each month for the pleasure of doing so. But, there may be a price to pay for that lowered premium—especially if you've raised your deductibles to get it.

What Is a Deductible?

Deductibles are the initial out-of-pocket amount that you must pay after an insurable incident. If the damage from an insurable incident is equal to or less than your deductible, then your insurance company may pay nothing. In some cases, the deductible is cumulative and once you have met it for the year, the insurance company will begin paying claims in full after the next incident. In other cases, such as with auto insurance, the deductible is per incident so no matter how many instances you have each year you must pay that deductible each time.

What a Deductible Means to You

At their very core, deductibles mean cash out of your pocket in the event of an insurable incident. While this is certainly reasonable, it's also quite a bit of a gamble. Not only is it a gamble in the respect that you'll need to have the cash available when an incident occurs, but it's also a gamble in that you may find that one insurable incident, such as a hurricane, results in damages to several different assets—each with their own insurance policy and deductible.

For example, let's say that there is a tropical storm that causes damage to your car, your spouse’s car, and your teenage son's car. It also tears down your fence, destroys your shed, collapses the roof on your porch and results in the flooding of a local lake that ends up soaking the entire first floor of your home. Not only would this incident result in claims being sent to your auto insurance company, your home insurance company and your flood insurance company, but you could have up to five deductibles pay. You could have one for each vehicle that was affected, one for your Miami home insurance policy, and one for your flood insurance policy.

The deductibles that you have should never be more than you can afford to pay. If you aren't certain how to evaluate the affordability of your deductibles in light of a real disaster, stop by or give us a call and allow us to help you determine their practicality.

Insurance Is for Long-Term Thinkers

While many of the products and services that you spend money on each day are geared toward your immediate gratification, insurance is not one of them. Insurance is intended to protect your financial interest in your property and to provide a means for paying certain liability claims. The need for insurance to replace the value of stolen or damaged property and to pay claims associated with liabilities is not something that occurs on a daily basis. In fact, it may not occur until several years have passed since you purchased your policy – or, not at all.

Insurance is a product embraced by long-term thinkers who understand that their future safety and security is not guaranteed. Most individuals know that any day, at any time, disaster could strike that – without insurance – could wipe out their entire life's savings. Instead of allowing that risk to hang over their heads like the Sword of Damocles, long-term thinkers purchase insurance policies to protect their property and their savings.

But, that's not all they do. They also work to maintain those policies so that the protections they offer are still in place years down the line. This means that not only to they pay their premiums continually to avoid policy lapses, but they also reviewed their policies annually and update them so that they offer sufficient protection through the years and keep pace with changes in the insured’s life.

It's not difficult to be a long-term thinker. In fact, it's pretty easy to shift your focus from the immediacy surrounding you and instead to think about how things could be years from now. If you're ready to start protecting your present as well as your future, give us a call at Allstar Direct Insurance & Financial today. We can review your current Miami insurance needs and help you design an insurance portfolio that not only protects you now and into the future but also is affordable for today.