Can Renter's Insurance Protect You from Weather Gone Wild?

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy Pixabay

As I write this, I'm streaming a video showing the devastation that Typhoon Doksuri unleashed on China recently.  Not only was the devastation brought on by torrential rain and winds that topped 135 MPH horrific, but the flooding that ensued on its heels washed away cars, houses, roads, and several bridges.  Since I've weathered my share of hurricanes over the years in Florida, I'm grateful that I'm covered by insurance should a named storm unleash its fury on my home or business.  This way I'll be able to quickly recover should the worst come to worst.  However, weather gone wild made me think about those who choose to rent as opposed to owning their home.  Sure, the landlord will get compensated for any storm damage that occurs, but as a renter you'd be out of luck if any of your possessions were damaged or destroyed by the wrath of Mother Nature.  Since you can't bill the landlord for damage or loss of your property, here's why you really should consider looking into renter's insurance.  

Improve Your Risk Profile to Reduce Your Insurance Costs

 By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy Pixabay

Nobody likes to pay more for insurance.  That’s a given.  But what most policyholders don’t understand is how their premiums are determined, let alone what they can do to reduce them.  Insurance companies spend a lot of time and money determining what to charge for their products.  There are dozens of indices that are factored into the equation by underwriters.  But when you get right down to it, all insurers base their prices on one factor more than any other: Risk.  Reducing risk is what makes or breaks all insurance companies.  It’s also the number one cause of price hikes to policyholders.  While a policyholder can’t reduce the risk of a natural disaster occurring in their town, there are a number of things everybody can do to improve their risk profile to reduce the cost of insurance.

Ten Things Newlyweds Need to Know About Insurance

 By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy Pixabay

If you’ve recently wed or are within months of tying the knot, there are some things you need to know when it comes to insurance.  The good news is that combining households can represent a substantial saving when it comes to insurance.  The bad news is you may need to add some additional coverage to better protect the assets your new household represents.  Either way, I thought I’d give you some food for thought along with congratulations for keeping the age-old tradition of matrimony alive and well.

What's So Special About Specialty Insurance?

 By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy Pixabay

Insurance is a wonderful way to protect you, your loved ones, and your property from high-risk situations.  Worried about losing your belongings to a burglar a house fire, a storm or a lawsuit that occurs when a guest falls down your stairs?  Homeowner’s insurance is designed to cover these losses.  Do you lose sleep wondering what would happen if you woke up tomorrow only to discover your prized roadster had been vandalized or stolen by thieves in the night?  Auto insurance can help you either get your car looking like new, or help you buy a new one.  While basic insurance can take the sting out of everything that can happen should you rent a room or own a business, there are times when the things you want to protect fall outside the range of common insurance products.  That’s when specialty insurance can be used to bridge the gap.  Below are ten examples of specialty insurance products that can help you cover the things you love and/or fear most.

How Umbrella Insurance Can Turn a Frown Upside Down

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy pxfuel

In Florida they say it never rains but it pours.  And when the precipitation is coming down in sheets, an umbrella can be worth its weight in gold.  Just as an umbrella helps protect you from inclement weather, there is an insurance product called an umbrella policy that’s designed to keep all kinds of unpleasant things from raining down on you.  In today’s blog, I’ll tell you what makes umbrella policies tick and how you can use them to bolster your existing insurance coverage.

How Does the Coronavirus Affect Your Insurance Coverage?

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy pixabay

If you’re like most Americans right now, the COVID-19 pandemic has left you for the most part sequestered to your home.  With many businesses, most stores and nearly all public places closed, there isn’t much for you to do.  Add to that the fact that many Americans have either been forced to work from home or have been temporarily laid off and it means most of us are spending the better part of the day cooped up with the family.  Many of my insurance customers have been wondering how the shelter-at- home policy is going to affect their insurance coverage, while others are wondering what will happen if they suddenly find themselves unable to pay their premiums.  To help you keep from adding any more anxiety to your already overtaxed psyche, I decided to dedicate this week’s blog to letting you know what I’ve discovered regarding the current insurance situation.

How Smart is Smartphone Insurance?

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy flickr

Whether you're a Millennial or a Baby Boomer, one thing is certain; You never leave home without your smartphone.  Part communication device, part entertainment center, part research assistant, a smartphone puts the world at your fingertips.  You can read a book, watch a TV show or a movie, order a pizza or a taxi and converse with your friends and family six ways from Sunday wherever and whenever you choose.  If it did the dishes and the laundry, you’d probably marry it, right?  That’s why you can’t afford to be without your little oblong friend.  While the model I carry retails for around $100, this is considered the low end of the smartphone pool.  Springing for a Samsung Galaxy S10 will set you back $700, while an iPhone can cost more than a grand.  With prices like those, it should come as no surprise that I’m asked about smartphone insurance from time to time by my customers.  To keep from repeating myself, I created a handy blog that will gives you the ins and outs you need to consider before deciding to buying an extended warranty or insurance for your phone.

The ABC’s of Mobile Home Insurance

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy Public Domain Pictures

Many mobile home owners think that insuring their property is identical to homeowner’s insurance.  I like to point out the fact that while the two are similar, there are a number of subtle differences that they need to note before purchasing insurance.  To make life simple for all you mobile and modular home owners out there, this week I’ll cover the ABC’s of mobile home insurance.

What Condo Insurance Can Do

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy Pixabay

If you own a condo you most likely have condo insurance.  Many people think that condo insurance and homeowner’s insurance are one and the same.  This couldn’t be further from the truth.  While both insure the structure and contents of a home, there are a number of differences between the two.  The good news is condo owners for the most part pay less for their insurance than do homeowners, for the simple reason that condos are partially owned by the owner and partially by the condo association.  However, to properly insure a condo and protect the property that condominium owners do possess, it’s important that you understand what condo insurance can and can’t do.

Danger on the Dashboard

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy of wikimedia

Back when I was growing up, cars weren’t nearly as technologically advanced as they are nowadays.  They didn’t contain web-enabled, Bluetooth-connected apps that talked you through every turn to your destination or provided you with data on your driving habits and fuel consumption.  No, all that cars did forty years ago was get you from Point A to Point B, provided you knew the route or owned a map.  If you weren’t careful, you could easily run out of gas, since there was only one dumb gauge that showed you how much remained in the tank.  Not only couldn’t you talk to your friends by hitting the button on your steering wheel, unless they were seated in the car, you couldn’t talk to them at all, since less than one percent of drivers in the US had a mobile phone back then.  While it sounds archaic, driving in the good old days was a lot less complicated and as a result, much simpler to master.

Bulletproofing Your Bling

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy of Max Pixel

When it comes to insuring your jewelry there are two things you need to know:

1.      It’s the second thing thieves are after when they break into a home.

2.      It’s quite possible your homeowner’s policy isn’t going to cover the loss in full.

Are You Out of Your Tree?

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy of flickr

Having a live Christmas tree can be one of the joys of the holidays.  Nothing beats the aroma of pine or spruce greeting you and your family as you gather in the living room to exchange gifts. For many Americans, it just wouldn’t be Christmas without a tree.  With that being said, you also need to understand the responsibility and potential liability you take on when you keep a cut tree in your home for a month or more.  Statistics tell us that annually there are more than 250 home fires started by Christmas trees. Of those, more than a dozen deaths and two dozen injuries are caused when the tree goes up in flames.  To help you keep your family safe during the holidays, I thought I’d dedicate this week’s blog to Christmas tree hazards.  If you would like to get a free instant competitive liability quote click here.

Don’t Make Your Holidays a Doggie Downer

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy of PxHere

With the holidays in full swing for the next few weeks, I thought I’d take the time to talk to all you dog owners out there.  The holiday season means having friends and family over to your home.  It also means lots of deliveries coming to your front door until the New Year.  Like it or not, all dogs are territorial. They have been bred to protect you and your family from intruders large and small.  Whether your dog is a Great Dane or a Chihuahua, they all have an instinctive dread of strangers.  They also all have teeth, which they are not afraid to use when the spirit moves them.  Before Fido or Fluffy turns your holiday into the Christmas from hell, let me give you a few friendly words of advice.

Don’t Get Stuck with an Insurance Turkey

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy of flickr

With Thanksgiving only being a little over a week away, I thought I’d touch on a topic we all know and dread: Turkeys.  I’m not talking about the plump, succulent fowls that grace many a Thanksgiving table, I’m referring to the bonehead moves that make many of us red in the face after the fact.  While many people have had to deal with their share of turkeys when it comes to buying major appliances and/or vehicles that look great in the showroom then fail to pull their weight when we get them home, today I thought I’d take the time to reveal several insurance turkeys that have caused many a policyholder to lose sleep.

Insurance Facts that will Scare the Devil out of You

By Catherine Powell

Image by Free Stock Photos

With Halloween having been last night, I thought this week I’d regale you with some scary facts and figures related to insurance.  While most people only think insurance is scary when they have to file a claim, what agents like myself consider scary is when customers shoot themselves in the foot by being underinsured or irresponsible.  Today’s blog is here to help you stop biting your nails to the quick with worry by pointing out some factors you may not have taken into consideration.

How to Save on Motorcycle Insurance

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy pxhere

If you ride a motorcycle and drive a car, you might wonder why motorcycle insurance is so expensive.  Just as with all insurance, the cost is consummate with the risk.  When it comes to motorcycles versus cars, bikes are much riskier since they don’t come equipped with seat belts and crumple zones as do cars.  The risk is compounded yet further if you ride a motorcycle with no helmet. 

Making Mobile Home Insurance More Manageable

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy of flickr

Until a few decades ago, mobile homes were treated like the stepchildren of the real estate industry.  The homes themselves were not built to withstand hurricane-force winds, they were treated as personal property (like a motor-home) rather than real estate, and they were far less energy efficient than comparable homes.  Fortunately, today this is no longer the case.  Modern mobile homes are engineered to withstand winds of up to 110-mph and can be built as energy efficient as traditional homes.  It’s also possible to finance a mobile home as real estate, provided the home and land are both purchased or owned by the homeowner. That being said, there are a few differences when it comes to insuring mobile homes.

What to do After an Auto Accident

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy of wikimedia

Into every life, a little rain must fall.  Actually, in Florida, it’s more like a LOT of rain.  Not only does it rain almost every day during the summer in the Sunshine State, but this is the time of year when more accidents happen.  Big surprise there, right?  That being said, if you happen to wind up in an auto accident, here is my list of do’s and don’ts.

Summer Boating Tips

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy of Pixabay

In most of the country, the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day is all the time boaters have to maximize their time on the water. In Florida, boaters can pretty much take to the water all year around. That being said, spending time on a boat in July and August in Florida can be tricky, since midday temperatures typically hover in the 90's. Added to the heat, is the other deterrent that Florida boaters face almost daily: thunderstorms. To help you have a safe and enjoyable time afloat this summer, here are some boating tips.