Top 8 Wedding Insurance Claims of 2012 | PropertyCasualty360

Top 8 Wedding Insurance Claims of 2012 | PropertyCasualty360

This link shows examples of what wedding insurance could pay for and the most common types of claims that occur. Dads that are shelling out the big bucks for your princess's dream wedding, spend a little more and protect those funds from disaster! Or if you are a bride and groom that has been pinching pennies and saving your hard earned money for the big day, how would you feel if you had to cancel because of weather or an untimely death in the family. Would you be able to start over and reschedule? Would you have the funds to replace your dress last minute if it comes back from the seamstress damaged or gets lost in the mail?

Is My College Student Covered by My Home Insurance?

This is an interesting article for those that are getting ready to send their kids away to college this fall. Decisions are being made now to determine where they will go to college and what type of housing they will have. One more thing to add to your list...if you just let us know where they will be living we will help you determine what coverage they have and what they will need.

Is My College Student Covered by My Home Insurance?

Don't forget to check on the car insurance also! If they are living away at school without a car, there may be additional discounts you can get during that time. It is not usually a good idea to remove your college student from your insurance while they are gone without a car. This would mean that when it is time for them to get coverage again, they may be penalized with higher rates for going without coverage for awhile. The other problem with removing your young adult is that if they borrow or rent a car, they may not have coverage. Whatever the situation is, we can review with you and work alongside you as life changes and make sure you are covered correctly all the way through.

What is Cheap Car Insurance?

Are you looking for Cheap Car Insurance?
If so, what does that mean to you?
Everyone's definition of cheap is different - do you mean: low cost in dollars, the opposite of expensive, or low in value?

At our office in Johnstown, we work our hardest to be full in value and low on cost! It is our job to do all the research and find the best option for your current needs. We promise to be there through the changes that require new coverage or adjustments like adding or removing cars, adding a new young driver, and checking for all the discounts that should be coming your way!


Some of the discounts you should check into:
                  Multi-Car
                  Multi-Policy  (Auto and Home can save 15-30%)
                  Accident and Ticket Free
                  Good Students
                  College Graduates
                  Owned Vehicles (versus Loan or Lease)

Some Enhancements you might want to include:
                 Zero Deductible Glass Replacement
                 Roadside Assistance
                 Expanded Rental Car coverage
                 Personal Property including Cell Phone coverage
                 Key Replacement
                 Pet Coverage
                 Tire Protection
                 Replacement Cost for new vehicles
                 Gap Coverage if you have a loan
                 Original Manufacturers Parts replacement
                 Accidental Death
                 Identity Theft

What are your expectations of your local agent or do you even have a local agent? Leave your comments - we'd love to hear how you decided on your current plan and what made the difference for you.

Never Money

Do you have any "Never Money"?

There are three types of Money:

• Everyday Money
• Someday Money
• Never Money

Everyday money is for your current living expenses like, food, clothing, mortgage, and other incidentals. Someday money is what you are saving to use in the future for things like travel, a second home, retirement, and rainy day funds. Never money, is what you've set aside to be passed on to others like a spouse, children, grandchildren or even a charity. If you have Never Money, there is ways to make it work for you but some are taxable, some are tax deferred, and some are tax free. It is important to figure out which would be best for you. Each have their own benefits but my focus here will be on the tax free option which uses a single premium whole life insurance policy. This is a safe method of guaranteeing a certain level of growth, the money accumulates with no taxes unless withdrawn and the death benefit is income tax free. Here is an example of how this looks using different methods and why the life insurance may be the most effective way to pass on money to heirs or charity.

Meet Etta Mae:              

   65 Years old

   Good Health

   Has $50,000 in CD

   Plans to leave $25,000 to each of her two grandchildren.

If she leaves it in a taxable account like the CD, taxes will have to be paid yearly on interest earned. The value after 10 years would be $58,098. Each grandchild would receive $29,049

A tax deferred account - like a single premium deferred annuity, interest would be build and no taxes would be due until the money was withdrawn. The account would be valued at $68,506 after 10 years but $18,506 would be taxable. Each grandchild would receive $31,940. 

If the money is deposited into a Single Premium Whole Life Policy - which would be Tax Free. The $50,000  would purchase a policy with an immediate death benefit of $103,699 which is payable whenever her death occurs. No income tax would be due at her death and each grandchild would receive $51,850. 

    

Using the easiest and most income tax efficient way to transfer a portion of your liquid assets to your loved ones through life insurance Etta Mae is able to leverage her Never Money into a much larger gift and maximize the amount she was able to leave her grandchildren.

Local Car Insurance Agent

Is shopping locally important to you? If so, why not get your car insurance from a local agent that lives and works in Johnstown. At MVP Agency, we're offering competitive quotes for car insurance and all other types of insurance. We can do the shopping for you and you don't even have to leave town! With technology as effective as it is if you don't even want to come into the office, you don't have to. We have the option for you to visit our office and meet the whole team or we can come to you as needed. We try to make the process as easy and stress free as possible. Affordable down payments to get you started and simple billing processes to make sure once you get insured you can stay insured! Especially if you know someone that is driving without insurance, you should have them check with us. We can help them get back on track and drive responsibly. 

All Peril, Wind/Hail, Percentage Deductibles...what?

Homeowners insurance has been in the hot seat for the past few years with the increased number of major storms that seem to be happening each year. Traditionally homeowners policies were rather inexpensive for all of the coverage you would have. The likelihood of a total loss is pretty small but the chance of wind damage is getting more and more likely. To battle the rising dollars in claims payments and the lousy financial markets, insurance companies have had to increase the premiums quite substantially over the years. One way companies are trying to offset some of these rate increases are to make changes to the deductible options. This can cause some major confusion for the average homeowner that buys an insurance policy expecting just to have a small amount of money out of pocket if they have a claim. Most companies have done away with the lowest deductible options of $100 or $250 and now have a minimum for new customers at $500, $1000, or even $1500. If you had one of those low deductibles at one time, you might want to check your current policy because a lot of them have increased as the policies renew. Some companies have a minimum requirement based on whether or not you've had a claim in the last few years or not as well which could be a percentage of your total coverage rather than just a set dollar amount. Some have higher deductibles for if you have a loss that is from wind or hail and a lower one for all other damages. If your policy has renewed and you haven't seen much change with your premium, make sure you know what your deductible is - they may have increased it to offset raising your premium and what they've done is just made you share in a little more of the risk. I encourage all of my clients to choose the highest deductible you could comfortably afford at the time of an unforeseen disaster so that you can take advantage of the up front savings. But keep in mind - it is real  money that you will have to pay or have your claim payment reduced by if you do have a loss. If any of this is unclear in your current policy  - give us a chance at MVP Agency to look over your policy and help you understand it so that you can decide if that or something better would be your best value. With our affiliation with some of the top rated insurance carriers that all have different guidelines and deductible options we can search out a plan that will suit just what you are looking for and you get to decide how you want to be covered rather than just keeping a policy that may have renewed at something other than what you chose originally.

 -Alison Speck

So much to consider

So many things to think about in our daily life...groceries to buy, bills to pay, kids to chauffeur to their many activities, the 9 to 5 job (or whatever hours you work), church and civic duties. Who has time to think about car insurance or even life insurance? At our agency we try to take the stress and the work out of purchasing your insurance. One of my interests as a woman is shopping! I love to shop, even if I don't need to buy anything. The thrill of finding a good deal is exciting and rewarding for me. I always go straight for the bargain rack and love to see the amount saved at the bottom of my receipt. Because of my love for shopping, it has made my job as an independent agent so much more fun than when I worked for just one company. Now, when I work with a new family or individual, I can shop around and help them choose the best value for their needs. It is my job to search through the various insurance companies to see who offers the most discounts that will help them and the types of coverage that they need. Not everyone needs the same size or type of shoe and the same goes for your insurance. Each client has a unique situation and if you don't know exactly what you want or need, I can help find the right thing for you! If you purchase the wrong pair of shoes for an outfit or it just doesn't fit when you get home, you can usually just return to the store and exchange them, that is not the same for your insurance. Most often, you only find out you don't have the right coverage until after disaster strikes. It is too late to find out you don't have coverage for cleaning up your finished basement after the sump pump backs up from heavy rains or you get a crack in your windshield and you find out you have to pay a large deductible to get the window replaced! There are no return policies when it is after the incident, however if you choose to work with an agency like ours now, hopefully we can help you choose the right coverage for your budget and keep your mind and energy free for the more exciting things in life that keep you so busy!

-Alison Speck with MVP Agency Inc.
73 S Main Street Johnstown, OH 43031
740-966-3180
www.themvpagency.com

Three ways to buy insurance

Shopping online has become very popular for all kinds of things thanks to Amazon and Ebay. You can just visit a site, choose what you want, enter payment, and then you wait for something to arrive at your home. What if it is the wrong thing? Usually you can just ship it back and get a replacement or refund. What if you buy the wrong car or home insurance? You may not find out until it is too late and you don’t have the proper coverage for the accident or catastrophe.
Another option for purchasing insurance is that you can choose an agent that represents one company and one product line (a lot of the major insurance companies that advertise on TV are this way such as: Nationwide, State Farm, Allstate, etc). When you call one of their agents, they can provide you with one quote and if you fit their mold then they will offer you a policy. Each company has different guidelines and things they look for in a new client so you may or may not line up with what they feel is a target client.

As we search for the best value on things, keeping our family budget in mind, sometimes it takes a little shopping around. The next option does that for you, when you go with an independent agent that represents multiple companies, you give them your information one time and they do the shopping for you. They are a one-stop, customer satisfaction driven, value hunter that treats you as an individual and doesn't try to fit you into a mold. They are able to find the company that would best suit your needs and customize the package to offer the coverage that your family needs the most.


I encourage you to consider this information next time you get ready to pay an insurance bill. Are you sure you have the right coverage and the best value? I would like to invite you to check out MVP Agency Inc. an independent insurance agency, Where you are the MVP everyday. We are a local family business, very involved in our local community, my father and I started this agency after working with just one company for many years. I am a mother of two little boys so I know your time and your budget is key in your decision making. We believe we will be able to better serve families that all have different needs by offering quick and competitive quotes from over 15 different companies offering auto, home, boat, motorcycle, RV, business, farm, life insurance, and more. Anyone that requests a quote from us in 2013 will be entered to Win A Free Cruise for two! When you refer a friend, you and the friend get another entry. - Alison Speck