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.

What you Need to Know About Home Insurance

We all hear about home insurance on a daily basis. Even though we hear many stories about the importance of home owner’s coverage, how much does the average consumer know about their homeowner’s policy? A recent study shows consumers know more about the contents of their breakfast cereal than their home insurance. Taking that into consideration, let’s take a look at the basics of homeowner’s coverage.

 

Who needs home insurance?

Any homeowner that doesn’t want the financial burden of replacing a home that has been devastated by fire, hurricane, tornado, or other insurable event, needs home insurance. If you have a mortgage on your home, you’re required to have a home insurance policy because the enormous financial responsibility of replacing your home lies with your lender. If you do not have a mortgage, then no one can force you to have home insurance; without this important coverage, or an enormous bank account, you will not have protection against the financial loss that a natural or man-made disaster can cause.
Imagine having to tap into your savings as well as possibly facing tax or early withdrawal penalties in order to rebuild and refurnish a home lost to fire. While you may have the funds to do so, do you really want to risk the feeling of security your savings brings? Instead, with a home insurance policy, you can look to your insurance carrier to cover the costs over your deductible and below your policy limits.

 

What does home insurance cover?

You will have to look at your individual policy to find out the details of your coverage, but your homeowner’s insurance covers many different scenarios. In general, some of the coverages you can expect with your policy include:

• Loss of the main structure.
• Loss of use.
• Loss of outer buildings.
• Loss of contents/ personal possessions.
• Liability coverage.
• Damages to the outer building, contents or main structure.

There are many different classes of home insurance as well as several coverage options to choose from. If you live in a townhouse or condo, you will only have coverage that focuses on the internal walls and contents rather than exterior areas.

 

What does my home insurance NOT cover?

Depending on the choices you make when purchasing coverage, your specific policy may not cover certain events that your friends, neighbors’ and family members’ policies do. You can rest assured that no home insurance policy will cover things like:

• Flood damage.
• Mold removal or damage.
• Bed bugs.
• Everyday wear and tear.
• Acts of war.

Again, it is important not to over-generalize coverage restrictions. To find out what your policy does and does not cover, you should read your actual policy pages or call your agent to review your current coverage.

 

What are policy limits?

One way to control the cost of your premiums is to adjust your policy limits. Policy limits are the maximum amount your insurer will pay toward damages caused by an insurable incident. In home insurance policies, there may be several different limits set for different coverages. For instance, your contents may have a limit of $50,000 while your structure is insured up to $150,000.
While lower limits create a lower premium, they also expose you to additional risk. If your actual damages exceed the amount of your limits, you must pay the difference out-of-pocket. On the other hand, if you choose limits that exceed the actual value of your contents or rebuilding costs, then you will not be paid that excess if you suffer a total loss because the goal of insurance is to make you whole, not to give a profit.

 

What are deductibles?

Another way to control your policy premiums is by agreeing to take on a higher percentage of the financial burden of an insurable loss. You do this through having a deductible. The deductible is the amount that you must pay out of your own pocket for damages. Any financial liability above your deductible, but below the policy limits, is the responsibility of the insurance company. 
For example; during a hurricane, let’s say your roof is damaged. The insurance company assesses the damage, says that they will cover your roof claim, and the total of the damages is $5,000. If your deductible is $1,000, you are responsible for paying $1,000 toward the repair while your insurer pays the remaining $4,000, provided that does not exceed your limit. Homeowner’s policies will, at times, have more than one deductible depending on your regions specific risk.
While home insurance may technically be an optional policy for some, the reality is that few investments will have such affordable protection against a loss. Not only can home insurance help protect your future financial goals; it can also give your family the means to regain comfort quickly after a disaster. Call us at 614-221-1500 for a free Columbus home insurance quote.

JG

Protect your vehicle - Don’t be at the mercy of bandits and burglars

Whether you are out shopping, attending an outdoor event or visiting friends anyone can break into your vehicle and take whatever valuables they find inside.

Generally people are sure to lock their car doors and close their windows when they are no longer in the safety of their own neighborhood, and thereby stopping access to potential car thieves. But as soon as they get home, to their white-picket fences filled with neighbors that they trust, all their safety habits fly out the window. They leave their doors unlocked, leave windows rolled down low enough to twist an arm through, and use their automobile like it’s another room of their home.

You should never underestimate the safety of your surrounding environments, whether you live in a secure access apartment block, a condo in the heart of the city or on a farm in the middle of nowhere. Crime is possible everywhere you go, even the most sheltered areas could be susceptible to criminal activity.

Your vehicle is one of the most exposed places to store expensive belongings like MP3 players, laptops, shoes and other items. It is the last place you should leave open to the mercy of thugs and thieves.

Hot Tips:

• It doesn’t matter how secure you think it might be, you should always strive keep your automobile locked and remove any unnecessary expensive items.
• If you are unable to extract your valuables, you can just as easily put them in your trunk. While a single-minded burglar could still get into your trunk, it’s unlikely they will risk it if they don’t know if there’s anything in there worth stealing. Rest assured a passing pilferer will take advantage if valuable items are in plain view inside a car.
• Tinted windows can help reduce visibility but its best not to take the risk, just bring those items into your house with you each evening.

You never know what could be lying in wait around the corner. That’s why buying Columbus auto insurance is so important. The more you can do to prevent these disastrous events from happening, the cheaper your premiums and the less worry for you to replace your lost valuable items. Call us today to discuss your options at (614) 221-1500.

How to Shop for a Safer Car

The internet has become one of our main sources of information and it is great for consumers who are interested in learning about keeping their family safe. However, at times, it can be overwhelming to try and figure out which sources to listen to and which to disregard.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, is an independent, non-profit group that researches data that can help reduce highway accidents, injuries and crash deaths. The group is funded by auto insurers and provides a good educational materials and videos to better educate consumers.

Today, I am going to discuss one of their videos, Shopping for a Safer Car. This video gives an overview of all the safety features that you should look for when you go to buy a new automobile.

Size and Weight

Large, heavy vehicles offer more protection in crash because they have more structure with which to absorb the crash energy around you.  With that in mind, extra-large vehicle offer little additional protection and can actually cause more harm to other vehicles when involved in a crash. Finding a happy medium in terms of size and weight will keep your family safe while not increasing the potential damage you could cause others.

Structure and Restraint Systems

Automobiles with a strong safety cage and crumple zones are safer for you and your family. Automobiles with lap belts in addition to side and front airbags will do more to protect your body from injury.  It is also good to consider adjustable head restraints for whiplash prevention...

Continue reading "How to Shop for a Safer Car" or contact us at 614-221-1500 to learn more about Columbus auto insurance.