Many people have taken advantage of lower interest rates in recent years to purchase a second home or condo that they can use as a source of income through renting it out as a vacation rental. This can be quite a lucrative venture, as some desirable rentals in resort areas (such as on a lake) can fetch $700 to $1000 per week from tourists and travelers. If you are renting your home to strangers, you’ll want to make sure that you have the proper insurance to cover you. Your standard homeowners or condo association policy might not be enough.

For example, a condo association generally has a master insurance policy or a blanket policy that covers the common grounds and insures the exterior walls of the building but won’t cover the interior walls or contents of the building such as furniture. They also won’t cover your vacation renters if they are hurt on your property. For those situations you’ll have to purchase your own condo or homeowners policy that includes liability coverage.

If your vacation rental is on or near the coast or in a floodplain, you’ll also want to consider purchasing hurricane or flood insurance. Hurricane coverage is generally flood and wind coverage, which are purchased separately from your basic homeowner’s policy. If your vacation rental is in a high risk area, the premiums for these types of coverage will be more costly. You will want to do some of this insurance shopping – especially special insurance endorsements such as flood coverage – before you even buy a vacation rental property. This is because you may find out the “great deal” you are getting on a mortgage payment on a rental property might not look so great once you add hurricane insurance premiums of $3-$4,000 per year to your monthly house payment. This can seriously cut into your potential profit on a property.

Another additional insurance coverage you may want to look at is rental insurance which covers your property in case you have a loss of rental income due to a natural disaster, flood or fire. If you are counting on a regular rental income in order to make the mortgage payments on your rental property and you suddenly lose those payments, you could be in danger of foreclosure.

There isn’t really an entire policy designed specifically for owners of vacation rental homes or condos, so you’ll have to work closely with your insurance agent and ask a lot of questions about your coverage to design a policy that works for you.  Don’t just hope that your regular homeowners or condo association insurance master policy will protect you. Once a claim is filed, such as a personal injury claim, and the insurance company finds out the home is a rental and not your primary residence, they may decide to cancel your property or deny the claim.  In that situation, you could be out thousands of dollars of your own money. Be smart and get the right coverage. Make sure it is affordable and makes sense before you buy a property. Remember that a vacation rental is really a business, and should be covered just like a business would.

If you want to know more about home or condo insurance, click here to get a free Arizona Home Insurance quote or a free Arizona Condo Insurance quote.

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If you’ve ever broken down in the middle of nowhere, it can be a scary proposition. It’s even scarier if you don’t have some type of roadside assistance or towing coverage. If you are 25-30 miles from civilization, it can cost about $200 to have a tow truck come out and get you to a qualified and trusted service facility to get your car fixed. Add this to the cost of your repairs, and you could be looking at a pretty substantial bill. If you add towing coverage for a few bucks every month, however, you could avoid having a huge towing bill, and give yourself a little peace of mind as well.

If you have a AAA membership, then you have at least a minimal amount of towing coverage. Keep in mind, however, that their basic package only provides for a five mile towing distance. If you need to be towed further, it will come out of your own pocket. It’s probably best to purchase the next level of membership, which allows 100 miles of towing. Make sure to add your spouse to the membership as well. It will only cost a fraction of your own membership for each individual that you add. If you are insured by a different carrier for your actual auto insurance, they may have their own towing coverage. Generally, AAA is better and priced about the same. AAA also has other advantages such as coverage for locksmith services should you lock yourself out of your car, and will bring you a couple of gallons of fuel for free in case you run out of gas. They provide travel services and discounts at major retailers, entertainment venues, amusement parks, and hotel/motels as well, and have additional benefits such as free travel magazines and maps for members, as well as trip planning services.

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Coverage through your insurance company isn’t as comprehensive, and may have limitations. Ask your insurance agent how reimbursement works, and what exemptions exist. Additional fees and charges for mileage may apply, depending on who your insurance carrier is. If you are in an accident that damages your car to the point that it cannot be easily towed, you may have to pay some additional fees out of pocket. A flatbed tow truck may cost you more than a traditional tow. It’s better to know the answer to these questions ahead of time, not when you’re stranded out on the road. You also need to find out if towing is covered to the nearest repair facility only or if you are allowed to choose the facility of your choice. Often it is better to be able to take the car to a mechanic you trust rather than whoever is closest.

Towing insurance doesn’t cover damages done by the two truck either. It only covers the cost of transporting your vehicle to a garage. Not all towing insurance covers roadside assistance, either. It is generally meant for serious breakdowns and accidents. Lockouts, tire blowouts, or running out of gas may not be covered and you’ll be on your own. Sometimes an automobile warranty or your credit card company will cover these types of instance, though, so it is worth some investigation.

Whether or not you need towing coverage depends mainly on a few factors including:

1.       How much do you drive? How far is your work commute?

2.       How old is your car? Is it in good shape and well maintained?

3.       Do you drive a lot of back roads or in loosely populated areas?

4.       How handy are you in fixing minor problems or changing tires yourself?

5.       What can you afford?

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First off, determine what your car is worth. The best way to do this is to use the Kelley Blue Book. They have a website that will allow you to enter all of your vehicle’s information such as the year, make, model, any special features and the shape that the car is in. All of these factors will determine what your car

is worth. The categories for which Blue Book will determine your car’s value include trade-in value and also what you could ask if you were putting the car up for private sale. The private sale value is probably the best indicator of what your car’s insurance value would be.

So, if you’re driving an old car that is only worth $1,000, you probably won’t get it fixed if you’re in an accident and the damages total more than the car is worth. You also won’t fix the car if you have a $1,000 deductible

and the damages are$1,100. You would pay the $1,000 and the insurance company would only pay

$100. Collision and comprehensive coverage is generally the option that people with old cars skip because of these factors.

If you know what your car is worth, you’ll know how much insurance to buy, what size deductible you want, and how much repair is worth doing on the vehicle. Keep in mind, though, that the higher the deductible you carry on the car, the less expensive your monthly premium will be. Most people opt for a higher deductible to keep insurance costs down on older cars.

If you carry the minimal collision coverage because you have an old car and wouldn’t replace it in the case of an accident, that’s okay. Just make sure that you still cover yourself in case of damage or bodily injuries that you may cause in an accident. Even an old car can cause some serious damage to another person’s car, property, or body. In any of these cases, you’ll have to pay for that other person’s damages or injuries. This coverage is cheaper than other types of automobile coverage and is called bodily injury and property damage liability. Make sure that you have both.

You also need to make sure that you and your passengers are covered in case of an accident. Medical expenses can really add up and you don’t want to be on the hook for those costs. If you have health insurance, some of these costs may be covered. What won’t be covered is lost wages while you are in the hospital. In order to defray some of these other costs, you can add medical payments coverage, personal injury protection, and underinsured/uninsured motorist coverage. This last one is very important in case you have an accident with someone who doesn’t have any insurance at all, which is more common than you might think.

Click here for more information on this topic and a free Arizona Auto Insurance quote. See how we can improve your coverage and savings today!

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Hurricanes, floods, mudslides, earthquakes, and tornadoes always get great coverage on the cable news networks. Images of destroyed homes and distraught families left with little or no possessions have become commonplace. These images are so common, in fact, that we’ve learned to ignore them at times. What people cannot ignore, however, is the reality of natural disasters and the effect they have on normal every day people.

For hurricanes, earthquakes or floods, homeowners will need to seek separate coverage in addition to their standard homeowner’s policy. For tornadoes, however, there is coverage under your existing policy. That’s because they are considered “wind events” by insurance companies. If you live in an area that experiences tornadoes such as Tornado Alley, the area of the country that runs north from Texas through eastern Nebraska and northeast to Indiana, you are probably well aware of the damage that a tornado can do. If you live outside of that area, however, you can still experience a twister. That’s why it’s smart to take a good look at your homeowner’s policy to see what your tornado coverage is like.

If a tornado damages your home, the first thing you should do is file a claim as soon as possible. Some insurance companies place a time limit on how long after the tornado occurs that you can file a claim, and this limit will vary from state to state. Document the damage with a video or digital camera right away and repair any damage such as a hole in the roof with plywood or a tarp before further harm comes to the inside of your home or belongings from the elements such as wind or rain. If there is damage to your personal items, make a list of those items and assign a value to them through research or sales records. Be as organized as you can so your claim can be handled more smoothly. Also make sure you communicate how severe the damage is to your insurance provider, as they will prioritize which claims they start on first according to which are the most severe.

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/overseasvoyager84/2262103731/

Don’t fall prey to suspicious companies who rush in after a tornado. Get multiple quotes from roofers or contractors and check on their references and credentials before having any work done. Your insurance agent may ask you to use a specific firm to do any repair work or provide you with a list to choose from. This is true for temporary repairs that you have done right away as much as it is for the permanent repair work you will need done. Both should be covered under your homeowner’s claim so save your receipts and paperwork to give to your claims agent.

The insurance company will pay for replacement of your damaged home or roof. Keep in mind, however, that they will not pay for you to replace the damage with better materials than you had before. If you had a shingled roof, for example, they won’t pay for you to replace it with a metal roof. If your home is uninhabitable while it is being fixed, the insurance company will also pay to move you and for the rent at a temporary residence until you can move back home.

Visit our website for more information or click here to see if you can save more money on your Arizona Home Insurance policy with a free quote.

Take for example the story of one young Northern California family who was in the process of purchasing a new four bedroom, two-story home. The home had undergone a foreclosure and was being sold by the bank, so it hadn’t been lived in for several months. The couple fell in love with the house, put down a deposit, and began the process of getting the home inspected for processing of the bank loan.

Because the home was connected to city water, the home inspector called to have the water turned on at the home. What the inspector didn’t know, however, was that someone had left the faucet in the upstairs bathtub on with the drain stopper in place. Two days later when the inspector arrived to look at the house, the water had flooded the bathroom and run down the walls of the ground floor living room and dining room below, soaking all of the carpet in the upstairs and downstairs. The drywall had buckled and bubbled, collapsing under the weight of 48 hours of continuously running water.

The house sat for nearly a week before a claim was filed and cleanup work could begin. Mold and water saturation had already crept in. The walls and carpeting were torn up and workers dried out the house with industrial fans for weeks before finally repairing the walls, carpeting, and repainting the interior of the house. The couple had to walk away from the sale, even though all of this work had taken place at the bank’s expense. Why? Because every mold expert they called told them there was no way to completely get rid of the mold in a case like that, and it could return or get worse and cause further problems down the road. Mold, while usually harmless, can still cause structural damage and problems for people with breathing issues such as asthma or allergies. It can also affect the future resale value of the home, as most disclosures require you to report the presence of mold.

Whether mold is covered by a homeowner’s insurance policy depends on the source of the moisture and the wording of your policy. A separate mold rider can be purchased, and usually costs around $500-$1500. If mold results from an accidental situation that’s already covered by your policy, such as a pipe bursting in the example mentioned, the mold remediation cost should be covered. Flood damage is different and covered by a separate policy, however.

Most basic homeowner’s insurance policies exclude coverage for damage caused by mold, fungi, and bacteria, but that doesn’t mean a mold claim will be automatically denied. Claims will usually only be rejected if mold is caused by neglected home maintenance on the part of the owner or situations such as long-term exposure to humidity or repeated water leaks. Mold claims can be expensive for insurers, with the average claim falling between $15,000 and $30,000, causing many states to adopt limitations on mold coverage. Amounts vary, but a typical homeowner’s policy might cover between $1,000 and $10,000 in mold remediation and repair. They only way to make sure you are covered is to speak with your agent and go over your policy.

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There’s no magic answer, but there are a number of guidelines you can follow in regards to auto insurance and rental vehicles. For starters, the only way to determine if your own policy will cover you is to actually call your agent and have them explain your coverage options.  Many auto insurance companies will extend the coverage on your personal auto policy to a rental car. If you have comprehensive collision coverage, it will pay for damage such as scratches and dents, and will also cover theft.

Another option that many people do not know about is that coverage may be provided by your credit card company. May credit cards will pay for damage to a rental car as long as you pay with your card. This coverage is secondary to your own personal policy. Your credit card company may also pay for towing, but won’t pay for damages or injuries to another driver. This type of coverage is called liability or personal injury coverage, and will be part of your personal auto insurance policy. Once again, it is worth a call to your credit card company to see if you are covered. Beware – just because your debit card has a Visa logo, it may not offer the same coverage as a dedicated card.

Another option is to rely on the coverage your place of employment provides. This coverage will only apply if you are using the vehicle for work reasons, however. Often, large businesses have this type of corporate coverage, though. Keep in mind as well that your own personal coverage will only work if you rent a car in the U.S. and travel within the U.S. Once you drive into Canada or Mexico your coverage will be more limited. In this case, you may need to buy the coverage offered by the rental car company. One final word of caution – don’t let anyone except for the named individual drive the car. If you let a friend or relative drive the car, your coverage could be nullified.

So, in order to make sure you have auto insurance coverage when renting a car:

1.       Call your insurance agent and ask what coverage you need

2.       Call your credit card company and ask what coverage they offer

3.       Ask about towing and liability or personal injury coverage

4.       See if your firm covers you for business rentals

5.       Don’t assume you are covered in other countries by your personal policy

6.       Don’t let anyone else drive your rental car

7.       If you are in doubt about coverage, bite the bullet and purchase the coverage that the rental agency offers. The good part about purchasing their physical damage coverage is that you can completely wreck the car and just turn in the keys without having to pay a deductible or any other costs.

Click here for a free Arizona Auto Insurance Quote to see if you can save more money or get better coverage now!

The first area covered is the dwelling itself. The second area covers structures such as a detached garage, gazebo, shed, pool, or guest house. The third area of coverage is personal property, meaning the contents of the home at the time the fire occurred. The fourth and last area of coverage is for loss of use or additional living expenses. This means that your insurance company will pay for you to move out and live somewhere else while your home is being repaired or rebuilt.

If you want additional coverage, you can add what are called endorsements. Endorsements are essentially “add-ons” to your policy. These might be used to cover expensive collectibles or rare items, jewelry, furs, or art. These add-ons are called personal property endorsements, which allow a homeowner to cover a specified item. The payout for a loss such as fire is equal to an amount agreed upon by the insurer. For example, if a $5,000 painting is lost in a fire, the insurance company will pay out $5,000 with no deductions made for depreciation and without requiring a deductible if you cover it under a personal property endorsement.

A similar endorsement is called personal property replacement cost. A standard homeowner’s policy pays the actual cash value for any fire damaged. Because of depreciation, however, actual cash value is always significantly less than the replacement cost. With a personal property replacement cost endorsement, a homeowner can remedy this issue by receiving the actual cost to replace any item that is lost or damaged in a fire, such as furniture, electronics, etc. regardless of the item’s value at the time of the loss.

Another endorsement you may want in case of fire would cover code upgrades. These are changes to building laws that may require you to add new features to your home that weren’t required when the home was originally built. If you don’t have this endorsement, you would have to pay this difference out of your own pocket.

A good piece of advice for anyone who is purchasing a homeowner’s policy and is concerned about loss due to fire is to make a good record of the belongings in your home. Take a video camera and record the entire outside the house and then walk through the whole interior of the home. Along the way, identify all of your personal property and record it on tape. Open all of the closets and shoot inside your storage spaces as well. Take time to record what is in your sheds and outbuildings too. Insurance experts say that this is the best way to prepare yourself in the unlikely and devastating event that you should experience a fire in your home.

In recent weeks, I have had numerous claims that have been denied or greatly reduced because clients are thinking that “if it’s in the home, it’s protected by the home policy.”  If you are a plumber, electrician, framer (think any of the building trades) your tools are considered your business property and there is little if any coverage that extends to these items if they are stolen out of the truck or the garage!

Another example to be aware of is the bookkeeper or accountant that is working from the house.  The last client I worked with was the PIANO TEACHER. The office furniture, Fax machine, filing cabinet, copy machine, GRAND PIANO etc … are not insured under the homeowners insurance policy if it is part of your business.

In each of the above examples we have been addressing the property, but perhaps the biggest exposure that is not covered is the Liability protection that is NOT EXTENDED from your homeowners policy. The client that comes by the house to pick up the payroll report, and while at your house trips or is bitten by the family dog.   The music students that come to your home and get hurt for whatever reason…

The solution is simple. Let your insurance agent know about your unique business exposure, and let your agent give you the different solutions to the problem. Today there are numerous insurance companies that have created a specifically designed policy for the “BUSINESS IN THE HOME”. It is the same type of coverage that you would enjoy if your business were in an office down the street, or a strip mall around the block. The premiums for these types of policies are usually very inexpensive and offer the protection that your home owners insurance does not.

Running a Business from the home is just one example of limitations that your homeowners policy has, but there are others that should be noted as well.

Gold and Silver bullion or coins have become very popular in recent months due to the economy. NOT COVERED with your homeowners insurance. Be very careful of thinking that adding a vault at home will take care of this risk.  The vault is only good if you are not there when the bad guys come.  If you are there, the bad guys will have you opening up the vault in seconds!!!

Jewelry, furs, Silverware, Guns, Rugs/Tapestries, Computers, Stamps, Securities, Cash, Trading Cards all have limited coverage under a homeowners insurance policy but can be addressed on an individual basis that fits with each clients needs.

In summary, your homeowners insurance is designed to protect against certain things.  It is probably better to know what is NOT covered instead of what is covered. You can then make an educated decision as to what is important for you.

I wish that I knew this information when I was 18, and it is just as valuable to me today. If I ran this country, I would make it mandatory viewing for all High School Students, College students, military personnel, all teachers, every employee, my children, every citizen of the United States should be made to watch, and here is the reason why:

Today every aspect of your life is affected by your Credit Score. It has more relevance to you, than your SAT Score, your Cholesterol reading, your IQ and any other score that you can think of or imagine. Today your credit score will help determine the cost of your insurance, the interest rate you will get on a mortgage, the ability to rent an apartment, the ability to open a banking account, the opportunity to compete for a job… and the list goes on.

You probably studied before taking every test or exam in your life, and the raw truth of the matter is that the score you achieved by all that studying had no impact on your life at all. NONE, ZILCH… NADA!!! It would only make sense that individuals should take the time to understand what they can do to increase their credit score. I think we all would like to get an “A rating” when it comes time to apply for a loan, job, insurance, or housing.

I am hoping that you have taken the time to watch the video by now. I made so many mistakes thinking I knew what I was doing. In looking back over the last 30 years, I was probably lucky in making the financial decisions I did, but knowing what I do now… I could have done so much better. Your Credit Score is easily managed and easily damaged! It takes planning, time and effort to make it the best it can be. Can you imagine how ugly it looks if you keep making the same mistakes over and over again.
This Blog topic may seem unusual in an insurance site but in reality most insurance companies today are using predictive modeling to price their insurance products and the credit score is one of many things that they are using in their models. If lower cost of insurance, lower interest rates for your loans, and greater opportunities at housing and careers, are important to you… then start working on increasing you credit score today. If you can’t take the time or have special problems that need to be addressed, then contact a professional that can work on your specific needs. Go ahead watch the video, I bet you have made a few mistakes regarding your credit score in the last few months.

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