Simply Explaining Insurance

Cyber crime has become yet another thing for business owners to worry about.  Good news is there is a product called cyberliability to ease some of that worry.  Business owners can add this to some existing policies, or purchase a stand alone policy that will protect them from such acts.

If your company stores sensitive information like social security numbers or credit card numbers and you get hacked, you may be responsible for a number of things.  1. You may need to reach out and alert all of your clients that their information might be compromised. 2. You may need to offer all of them one year worth of credit monitoring.

These two things come with an expense that could really sting a business.   The more clients you have the more expensive this could be.

As a business owner, I would do an audit on your cyber security.  Make sure your passwords are strong on your accounts, encrypt your hard drives using something like bitlocker,  and lock up your sensitive documents.  Cyber liability insurance is there for you in the event they get through your defenses.  It will cover the cost of reaching out to your clients and cover the expense of all of those new credit monitoring accounts for your clients.

Reach out to your agent to see if cyberliability is something that is necessary for you and how it can be added to your policy.

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Music by Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers

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The post Simply Explaining Insurance #67- Cyberliability appeared first on Dietz Agency.

The post Simply Explaining Insurance #67- Cyberliability appeared first on Dietz Agency.

This episode is for those who are buying a home.  Purchasing a house is a lot of work and there are a mountain of hoops to jump through and tons forms to fill out.  One of the most important forms is the property disclosure form.

A question on that form, is “Have you filed any claims on this house?”.  Most people are honest, and will fill this part out properly.  Some people may flat out forget about the little claim they filed 2 1/2 years ago.  Some may not say yes because a claim was filed but not covered.  Others may flat out lie.

As a homebuyer, you want to know if there has been any claims filed on the house you are considering.  Such a report does exist.  It’s called a CLUE report.  When you get a quote from an insurance company on a house you are considering buying, this report gets pulled and becomes a formal part of the quoting process.  Think of is as a Carfax for the house.

A CLUE report brings in any claims that YOU filed on your current house AND and claims filed on the property that you are purchasing.  It paints a picture of your history and the house’s history to best price the policy.

I recommend getting a quote on the house you are considering and asking the insurance agent to tell you if there are any claims tied to this property . If you are selling a home, it’s not a bad idea to call up your insurance agent and ask if you have filed any claims on your house so that you can disclose them properly.

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Music by Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers

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The post Simply Explaining Insurance #66- Clue Reports appeared first on Dietz Agency.

The post Simply Explaining Insurance #66- Clue Reports appeared first on Dietz Agency.

Bike vs. car.  You read that right.  Not car vs. bike.  I recently had a claim filed where the cyclist hit the car (no serious injuries thank God), and not only that, the cyclist was TICKETED for failure to yield.

The cyclist did have some minor injuries.  The car was damaged and the person driving the car did seek some medical attention. There are ALOT of insurance implications here.  Where does the coverage come from to fix the car?  What about coverage for medical for the driver, and the cyclist?

You would be surprised to know that there were two claims filed to take care of this incident.  The AUTO policy for the cyclist, used the medical coverage to take care of cyclist’s injuries.  This coverage kicks in if you are in your car OR a pedestrian.

The cyclist HOMEOWNERS policy was used to fix the car. WHAT?  There is a line a liability in every homeowners policy that will cover you anywhere in the world.  Since the cyclist was clearly liable (remember, he was holding the failure to yield ticket) his liability was used.

Also, liability and medical, generally comes with no deductible so the cyclist had nothing to pay out.

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Music by Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers

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The post Simply Explaining Insurance #65 Bike v. Car appeared first on Dietz Agency.

The post Simply Explaining Insurance #65 Bike v. Car appeared first on Dietz Agency.

I had a conversation with a client that wasn’t pleasant due to a denied claim.  This is a battle that I will continue to fight and it is one of the main reasons I write on this blog and record podcasts and videos.  My industry does a terrible job of educating our clients on how these products work.

“I have been paying my premiums for 30 years and never filed a claim.”  “Why isn’t this covered”?  “This is why I have insurance”.  “Why do I even have insurance”?  These are the conversations I have found myself in over the years and it sucks.

These policies are binary.  There either is coverage or there isn’t. In my latest situation, I had a client who called me and told me he thought there was damage done to his room from ice dams 20 months ago.

You can go back and file a claim for something like that and I will ask the questions to determine if I think there will be coverage. I asked him a very important question.  “Has there been any leaking”.  He said there wasn’t .

He was mistaken.  I am sure it genuine as well!  Some of this stuff is hard to identify and locate.  The fact is, his roof had been leaking for 20 months and there was dryrot that formed and that is a hard exclusion from any homeowners policy.

If he had filed the claim 19 months ago while the wood was still wet, it would’ve been covered.  We covered many claims just like that.  Those claims we covered, prevented the damage would’ve occurred later.

I’ve written it before and I will write it again.  Neglect, faulty installation and wear and tear are excluded from insurance policies.  Please contact your agent when you have any questions regarding how these policies work.

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Music by Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers

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The post Simply Explaining Insurance #64- Dryrot appeared first on Dietz Agency.

The post Simply Explaining Insurance #64- Dryrot appeared first on Dietz Agency.

I get calls in my office once in awhile from clients who want to know how their pricing on auto insurance is determined.  This simple question does not have an easy answer.  There are dozens and dozens and dozens of factors that are taken into place to price a policy.

You know many of them.  The age of the driver, the year make and model of vehicle, claims history, and driving record are ones that most people know about.  There are many more that you undoubtedly don’t know about.

Credit is the one that people are becoming more accustomed to.  Prior insurance is another you may not know about.  Did you know your prior insurance limits play a role when you are shopping for a new policy?  Whatever your liability limits were on your old policy, play a role in pricing a new policy.

Two other ones that affect premium are prior severe damage to a vehicle and salvaged titles.  Vehicles that have been severely damaged statistically end up in more claims and costing the insurance companies more money.

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Music by Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers

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The post Simply Explaining Insurance #63 Auto Insurance Pricing appeared first on Dietz Agency.

The post Simply Explaining Insurance #63 Auto Insurance Pricing appeared first on Dietz Agency.

I have been an agent since 2004 and every week, I get to learn something new.  I continually get questions I haven’t heard before.  The latest question I had to answer from a client, was “If my dog brings in a skunk and the skunk sprays inside the house, is there any coverage for that?”

This client had a renters policy in force.  Listen to the episode to hear the answer!

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Music by Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers

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The post Simply Explaining Insurance #62- What if your dog brings a skunk into your house at 2am? appeared first on Dietz Agency.

The post Simply Explaining Insurance #62- What if your dog brings a skunk into your house at 2am? appeared first on Dietz Agency.

Many of your insurance policies have two lines of coverage called “medical” and “liability”.  The coverage offered inside of these are similar, but they are triggered in different ways.

In this podcast I discuss the difference between the two.  With medical, generally, fault does not come into play.  With liability someone has to be liable.

I had a client recently who had her sister over and she fell and hurt her hip while in his house.  Medical coverage would be available to her regardless of how she hurt herself.  Liability would be available only if the homeowner was liable for her fall.

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Music by Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers

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The post Simply Explaining Insurance #61 Medical vs Liability appeared first on Dietz Agency.

The post Simply Explaining Insurance #61 Medical vs Liability appeared first on Dietz Agency.

One thing insurance companies care greatly about is who was at fault or who is liable.  This comes into play in almost all types of claims, especially auto insurance claims.    This podcast helps explains how fault is determined.  I also discuss what steps you should take if you are in an accident on a public road and on private property, such as a parking lot.

There are 12 states that are considered “no-fault” states and I don’t do into that type of coverage here.  Essentially, in those states, your own auto policy will pay for medical and property damage from your own policy.

In all other states, the insurance companies try to determine whose fault it was in accident, thus determining which insurance policy will pay out on the claim.

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Music by Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers

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The post Simply Explaining Insurance #60- Who’s at Fault? appeared first on Dietz Agency.

The post Simply Explaining Insurance #60- Who’s at Fault? appeared first on Dietz Agency.

If you run a business, lease space and did a buildout, there is a specific way to make sure that buildout is covered.  It all comes down to how it is dictated in the lease. If you did a buildout, who owns the buildout?  It depends.  The lease SHOULD tell you if the buildout is owned by the building owner upon completion, or upon termination your lease.

If the building owner doesn’t own the buildout until you vacate the space, you are responsible for covering it.  There is a coverage called Tenants Improvements and Betterments that you can most likely add to your current general liability policy, OR you can purchase a standalone policy.

The cost of the buildout should be the amount of coverage you need.  So if you did a $75,000 buildout, you would want to add $75,000 worth of Tenants Improvement and Betterments (TIB).

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Music by Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers

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The post Simply Explaining Insurance # 59- Tenants Improvements and Betterments appeared first on Dietz Agency.

The post Simply Explaining Insurance # 59- Tenants Improvements and Betterments appeared first on Dietz Agency.

I have had clients call me and ask if there is coverage on their homeowner policy if the water line going INTO their house springs a leak.  Unfortunatly, the answer is almost always no.  Your homeowners policy will cover damage done by water, from a sudden and unexpected release of water from a closed water system.

It doesn’t cover the land around the house, the cost of excavation or the cost to replace the water service line.  BUT!!!  There is coverage available through other sources.  I received a letter in the mail recently from the company that provides water to my house and they offer a product through a company called HomeServe.

One of the coverages they offer is for Water Service Line Disruption.  This coverage will set me back $42 a year and will cover the cost to excavate down to the water line, fix and repair the pipe.

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Music by Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers

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The post Simply Explaining Insurance #58 – Water Main Break appeared first on Dietz Agency.

The post Simply Explaining Insurance #58 – Water Main Break appeared first on Dietz Agency.