How Modifying Your Car Affects Car Insurance

Customers who are dissatisfied with some aspects of their newly purchased vehicles may be thinking of adding some customized features. While it's common to repaint a new vehicle, raise its suspension or enhance its engine, drivers should be aware that these modifications affect car insurance rates and coverage.

Columbus Auto Insurance rates are affected by any change to a vehicle regardless of how small it is. Changes  to the vehicle's features could lower or increase its value, subsequently affecting insurance premiums. Thus, drivers need to report all customizations to their insurance providers. Failing to do so could result in the rejection of future claims against losses related to the vehicle.

There are several factors insurance companies consider when it comes to vehicle customization that determine how premiums will be affected. A vehicle modification always increases the vehicle's value. After all, if the owner sold the vehicle after customizing it, he or she would attract higher prices than if it were sold prior to modifying it. Similarly, the increased values is reflected in insurance premiums, which always go up after a modification.

Vehicle modifications can also create extra risks for drivers, which will also result in higher premiums. Enhanced engines and suspensions, for example, improve a vehicle's ability to handle high speeds. This can make it more likely the driver will be involved in an accident. Thus, the more a driver enhances the vehicle’s engine, the higher the insurance premiums will be.

Vehicle customizations can also add to the visual appeal of a vehicle. While a vehicle owner may be proud to drive an attractive vehicle, the insurance company may classify it as a higher risk vehicle. Good looking vehicles attract car thieves more easily. Most insurance companies compensate for this risk by raising premiums even if the driver adds alarm systems or other security features to the vehicle.

Security features and other features that reduce risk may seem like they should lead to lower premiums, but the opposite is sometimes true. Some insurance companies consider all modifications enhancements to the car's value, including safety enhancements such as enhancing the brakes. For this reason, drivers should consult their insurance companies before customizing the vehicle in any manner as well as after having the vehicle modified.

We are experts on vehicle customization as well as on other car insurance concerns. Call a Gardiner Allen DeRoberts Insurance agent today at 614-221-1500 for a free car insurance quote on customized vehicles.

Commercial Car Insurance More Valuable than Most Think

The numerous commercials advertising state minimum car insurance have accomplished the job of letting everyone know that motor vehicle insurance coverage is absolutely mandatory. As it turns out, however, not all automobile insurance policies are created equally. Anyone who uses his or her vehicle for business purposes needs to consider getting Columbus commercial car insurance. The benefits of commercial car insurance are numerous, and the consequences of not having it are detrimental.

What is Commercial Car Insurance

Commercial automobile insurance is a policy that protects business owners and workers in the case that their company vehicle is in an accident. This type of policy is meant to meet the increased risk of liability that company vehicles face on a day-to-day basis. Commercial car insurance policies also cover the items and materials related to a person’s job that are being transported in the vehicle. This is very important due to the fact that some of the equipment being transported can actually be more expensive than the vehicle it is being transported by.

Benefits of Commercial Car Insurance

Commercial car insurance policies have several benefits over personal policies. Commercial policies cover all vehicles that a business owner has when he takes out the policy, and this coverage then extends whenever they purchase new vehicles for company purposes. As mentioned earlier, this type of policy also covers equipment being transported in the vehicle. The great thing about this is that it is only necessary to pay one deductible after an accident as opposed to one for each piece of equipment damaged. Commercial car insurance will even cover trailers that don’t belong to the business owner but are being used through a trailer interchange agreement.

Consequences of Not Having Commercial Vehicle Insurance

It’s well known that several people use their personal vehicle for business purposes from time to time, and this situation can lead to heartache. A person may very well use his or her vehicle to visit friends, go out on social gatherings, and make grocery store runs for the family, but if that vehicle is used for work purposes as well, the personal insurance company will likely view the automobile as a commercial vehicle. If this happens, most insurance policies will not cover the damages caused in an accident. This means that anyone involved in a wreck with his or her personal/business vehicle may be held completely liable for the accident without the backing of the insurance company.

Commercial car insurance may seem like an additional hassle for people that use their vehicles for employment purposes, but these policies will always be worth the cost in the end. The equipment related to business purposes can often be damaged in car accidents, and personal policies simply won’t cover these losses. In fact, personal vehicle insurance policies will likely not cover an automobile crash at all if the vehicle is used for business purposes. It’s always best to error on the side of safety when a person’s livelihood is in the balance.

Give us a call at 614-221-1500 today to see if commercial vehicle insurance will benefit you and your business.

Important Auto Insurance Terms Every Client Should Know

It’s no secret that people in the insurance game speak a whole different language than the rest of us. If you’ve ever been sitting across the desk from an agent and thought he was speaking a different language, you’re not alone. It’s not that anyone is trying to be difficult; it's just that there really is some special terminology in the business. So, we’ve gone ahead and developed a quick primer on the things you absolutely must know when you’re ready to get an auto insurance policy.

Premium

The premium is the amount of money that you agree to pay to the insurance agent for the coverage that is provided. Most premiums can be paid in full at the time of purchase or in installments over the period of the policy. The acceptance of the premium payment binds the insurance company into the insurance agreement. 

Deductible

This is the amount of money that the insured motorist must pay before the insurance pays  a claim. There are often different deductibles for different parts of a comprehensive auto policy. In general, the higher the chosen deductible is, the lower the premium will be.

Bodily Injury Liability

A bodily injury liability policy pays for medical costs incurred to people outside of your vehicle when you are involved in an accident. This could include other drivers, their passengers and any pedestrians who may be hurt. Depending on the extent of your coverage, it could also pay for legal fees incurred from fighting a claim.

Collision Coverage

Collision coverage will pay to fix any damages to your vehicle due to an accident while you are behind the wheel. It covers both vehicle to vehicle and vehicle to object collisions.

Physical Damage or OTC Coverage

This coverage is often known as comprehensive coverage and covers damage to your vehicle that is not the result of a collision. This can include things like scratched paint from an encounter with a shopping cart or any other damage done while you are not in car.

Med-Pay

Med pay covers injuries to yourself and your passengers due to an accident. Some policies will also cover pedestrians.

Property Damage Liability

This is the portion of your auto policy that covers damages that you do to another person’s vehicle in an accident. It can also cover objects such as mail boxes, lawn plantings and other personal property that might be hit by your car.

No-Fault Insurance

Several states have “no-fault” laws that prevent motorists from suing each other in the event of an accident. In these states, all insurance claims are covered by the driver’s own insurance.

Underinsured and Uninsured Motorist Coverage

This coverage is essential. It will pay for any damages that happen to you, your passengers and your car in the event that you are hit by a driver without insurance coverage or with so little coverage that your claims cannot  be fully covered.

Gap Insurance

Gap insurance covers the difference in price between the blue book value of a car and the cost to purchase a new one of the same make and model. This is essentially a new car policy that covers the depreciation that occurs once a new car is driven off the lot for the first time.

While insurance lingo may be full of unique terminology, knowing these ten terms will help you get exactly the right coverage for your particular car. So, next time you go in to buy auto insurance, you’ll be able to hold up your end of the conversation and not be stuck with a blank look on your face.

For more information about Columbus auto insurance, call Gardiner Allen DeRoberts Insurance at 866-846-4488.

Don’t Wait until You ‘Make’ It to Buy Business Insurance

People who go into business for themselves often don't expect to turn a profit or even be able to take an income for the first couple of years their business is in operation. Entrepreneurs also understand that they may not be able to immediately realize their ultimate dream for the business but must start small and build up their clientele and income before they can afford to expand and realize their many business goals.

But for all of the corners that the new business owner must cut and all the sacrifices he must make to his ultimate dream, there are certain things that a business owner should never skimp on. In fact, some of them are the very services that will protect his business and allow him to accumulate the assets and earnings he needs in order to realize his dreams. One such product is Columbus business insurance.

Business Insurance: With You from the Start

In those first, very delicate years of a business’s existence, commercial insurance that protects a business’s assets and ability to continue on after a disaster may seem hard to afford but without investing in the appropriate insurance policies, a business owner could see her tenuous grip on future success completely forsaken.

Consider a small retail establishment that's just getting started. An individual operates the business out of her home and sells products on websites such as eBay and Etsy. Because she has a very low profit margin and volume of sales, she's barely scraping by but her sales trends over the past six months show growth. She ships a product to a buyer and the product is faulty, resulting in an injury to the buyer who then sues the business owner. The business owner is found responsible for damages and not only does she lose all of her business assets as a result but she also loses some of her personal assets. Had she had liability insurance, specifically product liability, she could have not only protected her personal assets but her business assets and continued building the company that she worked so hard to start. Instead, she saved a few dollars on monthly premiums and lost everything.

Prioritizing Your Insurance Purchases

It’s possible that your new business may not be able to afford all the types of insurance you might ultimately want. For example, you may be able to afford a basic liability insurance policy, some commercial property insurance and disability coverage but you may need to skip business continuation and key-person life insurance this year. The point is not to look at insurance as an all-or-nothing purchase but to see the value in buying those policies that you absolutely must have, such as commercial auto insurance, liability and property insurance, and keeping an eye on your business budget for the time when you can add additional protection.
When considering the type of insurance you must have for your business, don't discount policies that offer personal protection to you. For example, if you work exclusively for yourself and your business pays your income, an injury that results in a disability could impact your business’s ability to continue paying your paycheck. That means that disability insurance is a vital policy for business owners to secure.

Businesses don't operate in a vacuum. No matter how much effort and care you put into your business, you are still exposed to insurable losses that are completely out of your control such as flood, fire and theft. Without protection from the financial damages that these incidents can cause, your business has little chance to succeed over the long term. That's why it's so important to protect your small business well before it becomes profitable – because without that protection it doesn't have a chance.

There are countless types of commercial insurance policies that your business could benefit from. There are some which are broad in range to cover many different types of businesses in several industries and there are others that are more specific to the individual risks faced by entrepreneurs operating a certain type of company. We can help you go through all of the options for business insurance coverage that are suitable to your business and industry and help you prioritize the design of your policies and your insurance portfolio, ensuring that you find the perfect way to balance security and affordability. Give us a call today at 614-221-1500 to get started.

Can You Insure a Business Against Failure?

Wouldn't it be nice if there were a way you could buy insurance that guards your business against failure? A policy that paid out the equivalent of your business’s potential after it proved that it wasn’t going to make it on its own? Unfortunately this type of insurance is just a dream, but that doesn't mean there aren't insurance policies out there that can help prevent the failure of your business and lend a hand during hard times.

Ensuring Against Loss and Failure

Depending on the type of business you have, there may be many insurance products that can help your business control potential losses associated with failure, natural disasters, theft and more.

Equipment breakdown insurance is a popular product among business owners that have pieces of equipment which are essential to the continuation of their company. Crop insurance can help farmers get reimbursed for lost crops. Cyber risk insurance can help pay for losses experienced by a business’s customers as well as actual losses experienced by the business when their network goes down or is infiltrated. Property and flood insurance help protect the value of a business’s real property in the face of theft and natural disasters—and these are just some of the types of insurance that a business can invest in to protect its assets.

One Step Further with Business Continuation Insurance

A loss of assets isn't the only risk facing a company. The inability to conduct business after a natural disaster or other incident can also cause a reduction in revenue and cash flow as it forces your former customers to find a new service provider which could result in a permanent loss of those clients. Business continuation insurance can help pay the expenses of conducting your business in a temporary location and also can pay some of the ongoing expenses of your business even while it is out of commission.

No business is bulletproof. Insurance helps a business to continue running even in the face of extreme damage and circumstances. Give us a call at 614-221-1500 or stop by our website to find out how our various Columbus business insurance policies can create a bulletproof vest for your company.

The Dangers of Keyless Ignitions

It’s highly probable that, at least once in your life, you've been stuck outside of your locked car staring through the window at the keys hanging out of your ignition. With keyless ignitions and pushbutton starts, some drivers are free from the fear of being stuck outside of the car, looking in. Unfortunately, they may have other things to worry about.

How Keyless Ignitions Work

When you have a keyless ignition, you’re given a key fob to carry that sends a message to your car that it is permissible to respond to the push of the start button. Because you never need to remove this fob from your purse or pocket, you practically erase the possibility that you could ever get locked out of your car. And since the fob is required to start the car, you also reduce the possibility of your vehicle being stolen.

So what’s the negative here? Well, since there is currently no requirement that a keyless car be placed in park before it’s turned off, there is a risk that your vehicle could roll after you've shut it off. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Highway Loss Data, this risk has been more of a reality for some individuals. Another dangerous reality reported to the Institute has been carbon monoxide poisoning after forgetting to shut off a keyless car.

Creating a New Habit

The old habit of putting your car in park, turning the key and pulling your keychain away from the ignition may now be a comfortable relic from your past, but it could also hold the answer to the avoidance of the dangerous risks mentioned above. By creating a new system of habits, you can more easily ensure that your car is safely parked and turned off when not in use. Design a habit that includes putting the car in park, activating the emergency brake, and powering down every time you stop driving. You may even consider not allowing yourself to turn off the radio until you've taken those three steps so that the sound of your radio becomes synonymous with your car running.

While keyless ignition vehicles may decrease the risk of theft, they do nothing to protect you from vandalism, innocent operational errors and acts of nature. For these reasons, it's important to make sure that you maintain the proper comprehensive insurance coverage on them. If you have questions about how keyless ignitions can affect your Columbus auto insurance, give us a call at 614-221-1500.

What Antiques Roadshow and Pawn Stars Teach Us about Home Insurance

Reality television isn't just about watching people fight and drink too much; there are some programs such as Antiques Roadshow and Pawn Stars that actually dispense valuable lessons that you can bring into your everyday life. Let’s take a look at a few important lessons these shows can teach you when you’re in the market for home or renter’s insurance. 

·         You may not realize the value of your things: How often has an individual brought a family heirloom into the Antiques Roadshow and been completely shocked at what the item is worth? Often, these people understand that they have an emotional value placed on the item, but few realize exactly how much monetary value it holds. And when people find out that their grandmother’s quilts, their great aunt's portrait, or their uncle's old tea set is worth tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, the realization that must soon follow is that they have never carried enough home insurance to cover this magnitude of financial loss if the item had been damaged in an insurable incident. Don't wait for PBS's Antiques Roadshow to come to your town before you find out how much your stuff is worth. Instead, have an appraiser come through and look at those items that you think are antique and possibly valuable then adjust your insurance limits as needed.

·         Beauty doesn’t correspond to value: Even the ugliest knick-knack could be worth thousands to the right buyer. Don’t get appraisals on just those items with aesthetic appeal, but on all potentially valuable things.

·         Appraised value doesn’t dictate sale price and may not reflect insurance value: Pawn Stars offers an alternative look at the value of the items we hold on to. While Antiques Roadshow focuses on appraising antiques and collectibles, Pawn Stars focuses on making an offer to buy an item – young or old – that is worth something. Often, the price they buy it for is less than it is appraised for and the appraisal price could even be less than the owner would receive if selling it at an auction with excited collectors. When buying insurance, it’s important to protect the appraised value of items and to consider whether the insurer pays actual or replacement value according to your policy.

Our agents have many ideas about how to get you the best Columbus business insurance coverage to protect your assets. Stop by or give us a call at 614-221-1500 to find out how we can help.

Considering Employment Practices Liability Insurance

The old adage, “You can't please everybody,” is never more applicable than when you own a business and have employees. No matter how fair you are or how safe and supportive a corporate environment you try to cultivate, there will always be employees who do not like your processes, management style, or environment. Some may even accuse you of grievous, illegal violations and take you to court over them. Employment practices liability insurance protects you against various claims that an existing or former employee can bring against you—whether they’re found true or false.
How it Works

When a claim of wrongdoing is levied against you or any of the company’s directors, officers, or other employees, it’s likely you’ll want to defend yourself, your business, your directors or employees against it. Doing so will require that you hire an attorney and go to trial or an arbitrator. This can be extremely expensive and, with the possibility of multiple appeals, could cost more than you can afford even before an assessment of guilt or innocence is ever made. Employment practices liability insurance can help pay for the costs of defending yourself, your company, your directors or employees against the claim.
What’s covered under Employment Practices Liability Insurance?
There are many situations that require defense that can be covered by employment practices liability insurance, including claims of:

• Discrimination
• Sexual harassment
• Wrongful termination
• Civil rights abuses

What is not Covered

Employment practices liability insurance may not cover claims that fall under COBRA, ERISA or the Americans with Disabilities Act when reasonable accommodation must be provided but weren’t. It also may not cover a contractor’s accusation of a breach of contract or employment.

Every business, large or small, that has employees can face claims from past or current workers. Employment practices liability insurance helps make sure that you can defend your company against these claims with minimal expense. When you're ready to look at this important Ohio business insurance coverage, give us a call at 614-221-1500.

Safety Tips for Convertible Drivers

A convertible is a perfect car for summer but if you want to spend those lazy hazy days driving your car rather than nursing wounds you must learn how to safely operate the vehicle.

• Protect your eyes. When driving a convertible with the top down, it’s important that you keep your eyes protected. If you wear sunglasses while driving, that will serve as enough protection. Those who wear corrective lenses will be protected but may want to consider wearing a less expensive pair while driving so that if they get chipped they aren’t so pricey to replace.

• Never stand up. It's important when riding in a convertible or a car with a sun roof that no one is permitted to stand up while the car is in motion. While it’s an iconic move shown in many teen movies, it can result in injury as the standing passenger could be injured by tree limbs or debris. They could also serve to distract you or other drivers and, in the event of an accident, they will not be properly secured in the car or protected by airbags.

• Never raise or lower the roof while in motion. Instead, wait until the car is completely stopped.

• Raise the roof during inclement weather. If it begins to rain or there is lightning present as you drive, you should pull over and put the top up so that you do not ruin your interior or risk injury.

• Protect your ears. Recent studies have shown an increase in hearing loss in many drivers of convertibles who drive over 55 mph with the top down. Use ear plugs to help protect your ears or drive with the top down only in residential areas with low speed limits.

• Secure loose items in the car. When you begin driving with the top down, anything that is loose and light can be turned into a projectile with the force of the wind coming inside. To prevent this and the danger and distraction it causes, make sure everything is secured in the vehicle before you set out.

• Invest in liability, collision and comprehensive insurance coverage. Protect your savings from the expense of auto-related liabilities and damages to your convertible by investing in the right amount of auto insurance. Make sure you select deductibles that you can afford and limits that accurately reflect your potential financial risk.

When you’re ready to look at all the Ohio auto insurance policy options available to you for your convertible and all your other vehicles, give us a call at 614-221-1500.

How to Budget for Insurance Premiums

It would be nice if you didn't have to take your budget into consideration when buying insurance, but unfortunately most families must consider the amount of income they have versus the amount of bills they're already paying when they shop for insurance coverage. However, budgetary concerns should not ever prevent you from buying insurance; they should simply help you better design the policies that you purchase.

Step One: Obtain Rate Quotes If you are in the market for new insurance, your first objective is to obtain rate quotes. By obtaining several different rate quotes reflecting many different coverage options, limits, and deductibles you will get a broad view of the types of insurance considerations you must make and how they each affect your premiums.

Step Two: Adjust Coverage for Your Budget Once you've narrowed down the types of insurance options you can get, you must look at your budget and make adjustments so that the new insurance policies fit. Because insurance policy premiums are static, they are relatively easy to plan for, although you may need to adjust your disposable spending down in order to fit in the new premiums. It's important to note that having insurance is just as important as saving money because insurance policies protect the value of your assets and can often prevent your needing to access your savings to replace damaged property.

Step Three: Watch those Limits It's also important that you do not over insure. The premiums you pay are partially determined by the benefit limits you choose. When you choose a limit that exceeds the value of the asset you are insuring, then you are paying a premium for a benefit that you will not realize after an insurable incident, because the purpose of insurance is to make you whole after a loss, not to create a profit. If you are concerned about how inflation will affect the power of your insurance benefits, you can talk to your agent about special riders and annual reviews that can help you compensate for this.

When you are ready to start exploring your insurance options, make sure you give us a call at (866) 846-4488. No matter how tight your budget is, we can help you find and affordable Ohio auto insurance policy that provides the protection you and your family need.

Businesses Need Flood Insurance Too

Blogs and consumer-focused magazines write frequently about how homeowners need to find out if they are in a flood zone because home insurance doesn’t cover damages caused by a flood—but do you know what other kind of insurance doesn’t cover flood damage? Commercial property insurance.

Where is Your Business Located?
Business property may be different from residential property in a lot of ways, but when it comes to floods, they have many similarities. A business may be located in a flood zone just as a home can be. And if your business operates out of your home, then it shares the same exposure to flood risks as your home does. Either way, it needs a specialized policy that provides structure and contents protection against the damages that a flood can cause.

To determine if you need food coverage, you should find out if your business, whether home or not, is located in a flood zone by visiting floodsmart.gov.

Leasers, Be Ware!
Even if you don’t own the building your business operates out of, you still may need flood insurance in order to protect yourself from the financial damages of losing your computer, equipment, supplies and stock after a storm surge or other flood. So whether you operate your business out of a commercial building that you lease or out of your rented home or apartment, you are still exposed to flood risks. Your landlord may not tell you that you are in a flood zone, so you need to check your area’s zoning information to find out whether you are.

You’ve invested countless hours and dollars into your business. A commercial flood insurance policy protects that investment and may even help you stay afloat while you are dealing with the after-effects of a flood. Give us a call and allow us to look over your whole commercial insurance plan and identify any gaps, including from the lack of a commercial flood insurance policy.Call us today at 614-221-1500 or get a free Ohio business insurance quote.

Comparing Auto Policies and Rates - Ohio Auto Insurance

If you’re looking for a new auto insurance policy, your first instinct may be to compare premiums in order to make sure that you get the best price on your policy. Comparing rates alone, however, does not give you an accurate indication of which policy is the most cost effective, reliable, and best suited to your coverage needs. You can use this list as a guide to comparing policies and to help narrow down your choices:

 

1. Make sure you have comparable coverage options

Take a close look at the coverage options for all the policies quotes you’ve received. Make sure they have comparable features as well as offer you the protection most important to you.

 

2. Ensure you’re comparing similar limits and deductibles

Policy premiums will vary based on how you set limits and deductibles. It would not be a fair comparison putting a policy with high deductibles and low limits up against one with low deductibles and high limits. So when you do your comparison shopping you’ll need to be sure the deductibles and limits on each policy, for each coverage option, are similar.

 

3. Investigate your carrier’s A.M. Best Rating

Your policy is only as good as the insurance company that writes it. When comparing two different policy quotes from two different companies, don’t just focus on price, deductibles and coverages. You’ll want to investigate the 2 carriers A.M. Best rating to make sure they are equal in terms of financial stability.

 

4. Look for a good fit for your lifestyle

If you like to do business online, check to be sure you can contact customer service and make payments on a carrier’s website. If you prefer to talk on the phone, make sure there will be a customer service representative available to answer the phone when it fits into your schedule. Also, check out the different payment options available to you (automatic draft, check, the credit cards you carry, etc.) and choose the carrier that has the options that will fit your lifestyle.

 

5. And, finally, comparing the rates

Now that you’ve made sure  you have several similar policy quotes from different insurers, it’s time to actually compare the rates. Be sure to check out all of the premium types, the annual, semi-annual, quarterly and monthly, so you’ll have a good idea of the differences.
Once you’ve compared, investigated, and narrowed down your choices, you should finally come up with the policy that meets most, if not all, of your needs. Call us at 614-221-1500 for a free Ohio Auto Insurance quote.