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.

The Dangers of Being Underinsured

The process of getting insurance is relatively straightforward and easy. But before you apply for your insurance policies, you must decide how much insurance to buy. The amount you choose can mean the difference between being adequately reimbursed after an insurable incident or not having enough insurance to make you whole.

Defining Underinsured

When you’re underinsured it means that you have too little insurance coverage. This can occur when the limits on your insurance policies are less than the value of the property you're insuring. It can also occur when you don't have sufficient insurance coverage for the risks you face. For example, if you live in a flood zone and have only home insurance then you are underinsured because home insurance won’t reimburse you for losses caused by a flood.

Financial Consequences of Being Underinsured

When your insurance coverage is not sufficient to make you whole after an insurable incident you must take money out of your savings in order to replace the lost assets, repair your home or car, or pay liabilities. If you don't have the money in savings, you may need to liquidate certain investments or dip into a retirement fund, resulting in penalties and tax consequences. If you have no means to pay for replacements and repairs yourself then you may simply have to adjust to life without the items that you lost and lacked sufficient insurance protection for.

Being underinsured sets you back in your financial progress, can put many of your financial goals completely out of reach and forces a complete change in spending priorities that you may not be able to afford.

Avoiding Being Underinsured

It’s not difficult to determine what kind of insurance policies you need and how much coverage to buy for each asset. An insurance agent is a great resource for both determining necessary lines of insurance coverage and proper amounts. On your own, you can think about all the property your family owns and all the risks that could create a loss of that property. Then, research various insurance policies to find out which covers each risk. Finally, determine whether the insurance policies in question pay claims based on actual value, replacement value or another reimbursement formula (such as rebuilding expenses, as with Miami home insurance).

We would love to work with you and review all of your insurance policies to make sure that you are not underinsured. Give us a call at Allstar Direct Insurance & Financial and make your appointment today.

Factors in Motorcycle Insurance Premiums

While many of the factors that go into determining motorcycle insurance premiums are similar to those that go into regular auto insurance premiums, there are some important differences that motorcycle owners should be aware of. First, let's look at the factors that are similar for both traditional auto and motorcycle owners and then we'll discuss those that are different.

Factors That Are Similar

• Age, gender, marital status: Just as with auto insurance, older drivers will generally have lower premiums than younger drivers as married couples will have lower premiums than single individuals. Additionally, women may experience lower rates than men.
• Driving record: A motor vehicle report (MVR) is generally pulled for all drivers looking for auto insurance coverage regardless of the type of vehicle they drive. This report will show underwriters what kind of driving history you have and will help them determine how high risk you are.
• Lines of coverage, limits and deductibles: The structure of your insurance policy, designed through selecting certain lines coverage, limits and deductibles, will be a big driver in determining your motorcycle insurance premiums as it would be for any other vehicle. The more coverage provided through the policy the more expensive premiums will be.

Motorcycle – Specific Factors

• Your motorcycle: There is a wide range of bikes that a rider can choose. This selection will directly correlate to the premiums the biker is charged. Bikes with many custom parts and those built for speed may be subject to a higher premium.
• Location: Motorcycles are inherently more risky to drive then traditional vehicles and the location where you live can be more or less risky for you as a motorcycle driver. That means it is a factor in determining your rates.
• Motorcycle storage: Depending on your location, your motorcycle may not be appropriate for year-round riding. If this is the case, then the location where you store the motorcycle can affect your insurance premiums as will the partial use.
• Your motorcycle operation experience: Driving a motorcycle is different than a car or truck. Your motorcycle driving experience will, therefore, affect your insurance premiums. This can also be a good thing since riders who take courses in motorcycle operation can receive discounts.

If you're ready to start shopping for motorcycle insurance rates either before or after buying your bike, give us a call at Allstar Direct Insurance or stop by.

Insurance for Your Limo Service

If you own a limousine service, then you owe it to yourself and your clients to have the right commercial auto insurance for your company. Insurance not only protects your vehicle against damages during an accident, theft, or other catastrophe but it also protects you and your customers from liabilities.

Insurance Protects You and Your Clients

When an individual rents a limo for transportation to and from an event, they expect a certain level of service and protection. No consumer would jump into a limo chauffeured by a drunk driver and few consumers would jump into a limo that they knew was not insured because if one of their guests is injured either during an accident or a general mishap inside the limo, and the limo service is not insured, then the injured party may sue the individual who secured the limo. It's possible that after being sued the consumer may then decide to sue your limo company, which could eat up all of your assets and leave you without a business.

Insurance Attracts Customers

More consumers are becoming savvy in looking for limo services that have insurance coverage. The U.S. Department of Transportation has a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration website which can show consumers whether or not a particular limo service is insured. If a consumer uses this site to help narrow down his or her choice of limo companies, you could be out a client immediately if they don't see your company listed as insured. By carrying insurance not only do you protect your company assets, but you are more likely to snag that discerning and careful client.

Types of Insurance

There are many different types of insurance coverage that a limo service should consider including physical damage insurance, liability insurance, and insurance to protect the drivers. As with any insurance policy, you can adjust the policy limits and deductibles in order to create the most valuable policy along with the most affordable premium.

If you need insurance for your new limo service or want to compare rates for an existing Miami Auto Insurance policy, give us a call at Allstar Direct Insurance & Financial Services. We work with many of the top auto insurance carriers and can help you secure commercial limousine insurance that protects you, customers, and your business assets.

Florida’s Auto Insurance Reform

Residents of many states are required to purchase personal injury protection (PIP) in their auto insurance policies. This coverage provides payment for medical expenses, lost wages, and other damages to the insured, passengers in the insured vehicle, and pedestrians after an accident. Some states have noticed a high incidence of fraud in the PIP claims filed by its residents. Florida is one of those states or, at least, it was before a new bill passed in March of 2012. This measure changes how PIP benefits can be used, and introduces penalties, time limits, and a new task force charged with finding the fraud in new PIP clams.

Changes Beginning July 2012

• Medical clinics that provide treatment reimbursed under PIP will be helps to more intense licensing standards.
• The long form accident report will be required in more PIP claims and a statewide anti-fraud task force will be introduced. The long form may make filing PIP claims more arduous for the average insurance customer, but it will help deter and expose fraud.
• Providers caught defrauding the Florida insurance system will be met with more penalties.

Changes Beginning January 1, 2013

• Injured individuals will have a 14 day limit to get their initial treatment after the accident.
• The severity of the injury will partially determined the benefits received. Additionally, certain medical professionals, such as physical therapists and chiropractors, will have a treatment cost limit of $2500.

The law also requires insurance companies to reduce personal injury protection premiums by at least 10% unless they file for an exemption and are approved.

It is hoped that these changes will reduce overall PIP expenses and fraud while also reducing driver insurance premiums. But the reduction to drivers’ premiums could be more substantial than just the 10 percent that insurers are required to reduce rates, because with fewer fraudulent claims, overall insurer expenses will fall and hopefully that savings will be passed on to consumers.

Don’t wait until the new regulations kick in. Give us a call at Allstar Direct Insurance & Financial Services today to see how we can reduce your Miami Auto Insurance premiums now. Then, any future reductions will just be the icing on the cake.

Why Timely Home Repairs Matter

At one time or another, every home owner must do repairs to their property—and that’s a good thing. Because home repairs make living at home more pleasant and efficient while also keeping the structure safe for you and your family.

Home repairs can also have an effect on your home insurance premiums because they may result in the prevention of your home’s further deterioration and they may even result in your home being brought into current code guidelines. Since codes often change to accommodate new materials that are able to better withstand weather and environmental damage, this can make your home less risky to insurers which will result in lower insurance premiums. But saving money on insurance isn’t just about the repair itself; it’s also about the timeliness of the repairs that you do.

The Domino Effect

The little things that happen around your home may seem small at first, but eventually, when left unrepaired, they can turn into much larger problems. For example, a small leak in your roof, left unfixed, can create mold, mildew and rot that weakens your home's structure. With a weakened structure, you may find your house is unable to stand up to wind, hurricane or storm damage. Then, when you have damage--if it is covered by your policy--you will not only have to come up with the money to pay the deductible for the damage but you will also have to deal with the inconvenience and expense of being displaced while repairs are done and you may be facing higher insurance premiums at renewal since you are now a higher risk.

Instead, if you had fixed the leak when you first noticed it, you could have made your home stronger at minimal expense, made certain that your family was not exposed to quickly proliferating mold spores (the removal or remediation of which is generally not covered by home insurance) and that your home was better able to withstand storms and inclement weather.

Timely home repairs can save you money now in preventing extreme damage to your home, and they save you money later by helping to keep home insurance expenses low. When you are ready to get insurance for your home and you are curious about all the ways that you can help get a low premium quote, give us a call at Allstar Direct Insurance & Financial Services. We can figure out what discount you may be qualified for now and help you maintain a lower Miami Home Insurance premium through the years.

The Value of Decreasing Premiums

Life insurance policies offer many different options for both premiums and benefits. One can choose a premium and death benefit that is level and remains the same over the term of the policy; one can choose a premium that increases with a death benefit that remains level; one can even choose a policy with a premium that decreases while the death benefit stays level.

This last option—a decreasing premium policy—presents a great way to plan because:

It banks on your money today—not tomorrow. You never know what life is going to throw your way and you never know how your finances are going to be affected. Choosing a decreasing premium term life insurance policy allows you to find a premium that you know you can afford now while ensuring a lesser financial burden with your future dollars, all without sacrificing your death benefit. This will allow you to better accommodate unexpected financial difficulties in the future.

You can easily continue coverage. The decreasing premium makes it much easier to ensure that you're able to pay your premiums through the entire term of the policy. Instead of lapsing your policy and trying to qualify for new, and increasingly expensive coverage every time your finances go through a shift that affects your budget, you’ll be able to simply continue with current coverage levels while automatically experiencing a reduction in premiums.

It enables you the freedom of adding more protection later. The term policy that you take out today may not offer enough death benefit protection for your heirs in a decade. When you choose a decreasing premium term insurance policy, you ready your future budget for the addition of new insurance protection as your family grows, your debt changes and the future needs of your children are considered.

To find out how decreasing premium term life insurance policy fits into your budget, give us a call at Allstar Direct Insurance & Financial Services. Together we can decide whether decreasing premiums, increasing premiums or level premiums are the best choice for you and your Miami Life Insurance policy.

Understanding Your Policy’s Declaration Page

Insurance policies are made up of many pages that explain, in detail, what your policy covers, what is excluded from coverage, how your premiums break down, and the meaning of various insurance terms. This can seem like a cumbersome document if you just want to absorb the details of your policy at a glance, which is why your policy also includes the very convenient declaration page or set of pages.

What is the Declaration Page?

As its name implies, the declaration page (or dec page) declares what your policy covers in a simplified format. It lays out the basic information including your policy number, the address of the covered property, and the basics of the coverage limits and deductibles.

Reading Your Declaration Page

A home insurance policy is likely to have a 2-3 page declaration with the following information:

• The first page outlines the major categories of coverage provided. It will also disclose your mortgager and all your insured locations. Finally, it will break down the premium costs for each major section of coverage.
• The second page spells out any special endorsements your policy carries. This can include endorsements for computer coverage, jewelry coverage, endorsements for certain home business activities and more.
• The second page will also likely explain whether your personal property is covered as actual cash value or replacement costs and it spells out some of the surcharges and assessments on the policy, including any donations made to state catastrophe funds.
• The third page generally carries certain disclosures. These disclosures could discuss many different topics such as deductibles, suggestions for specialized insurance additions that are not covered by your policy including flood insurance and law and ordinance coverage, and information about inflation guard options.

Your declarations pages are a very handy way to glance and get information about your policy, but they are not built to offer the same complex information as the actual policy pages. If you have questions about what your policy does and doesn’t cover, feel free to give us a call. Not only can the agents at Allstar Direct Insurance help you better understand your Miami Home Insurance policy, we can also help you determine whether your coverage is sufficient.