When To Call Your Agent
As insurance agents, we are not always at the top of the list to call when something changes or there is a major milestone in people’s lives or businesses. Most of our clients know to call us for the obvious changes that impact their insurance needs: they buy a new car, they are moving houses or offices, or they experience a loss and need to file a claim.
PSA: Pardon the interruption! Be sure to call your agent to confirm when you buy a new vehicle or trade vehicles. Dealers DO NOT have the authority to modify insurance coverage, nor do they always contact us to facilitate the change. Unfortunately, we have seen insureds who have been driving uninsured vehicles unknowingly, for months.
We love assisting and advising our clients as events trigger the need for insurance changes. We want to help get everyone’s gears turning on when to reach out to us so we have created an abbreviated list to remind you of some of the things that should prompt a discussion with your insurance agent about your insurance plan:
Personal Clients
Transitions – Let us know if you are in transition – coping with the death of a loved one, going through a divorce, saying so long to a child going off to school or graduating from college. Let’s say a child is leaving the house. The homeowner’s policy will consider the child to be a household resident when they are enrolled in school full time AND under the age of 24. There is an endorsement that can be added to your policy to cover your child that is attending graduate school and over the age of 24.
New Fun Things – If you purchase new items like jewelry, guns, watercrafts, or trampolines, we will need to update the carrier and make sure you have the appropriate coverage. The homeowners policy has certain coverage limitations for personal property such as jewelry and firearms and is not intended to cover recreational vehicles or watercrafts. We can recommend alternative solutions to best cover these items.
Renovations and Remodels – Did you know that a standard homeowners policy has a provision limiting coverage or excluding coverage for homes under construction? Certain homeowners policies require you to notify them within 30 days of completing improvements, alterations, and/or additions that increase the replacement cost of your home by 5% or more. We are happy to discuss your plans and help tailor your coverages to suit the project.
Commercial Clients
Changes to Business Operations – It is important that you keep us up to date on business operations so we can make sure you have the appropriate coverages, and the carrier is aware of the operations that they are covering.
Contracts – We are more than happy to review the insurance sections of any contract to make sure that your business is compliant. If the business’ current insurance coverages are not compliant, it is always prudent for us to quote coverages so you can understand the financial implications to comply before signing the contract.
New Drivers – Please let us know when new drivers are hired! The carrier needs drivers’ names on file and will run a motor vehicle report to determine whether the driver can drive based on underwriting criteria. We do not want to see you use valuable resources training a new employee that is not able to perform all duties of their role.
Remember, please let us know if anything significant (or seemingly insignificant) has happened or changed in your life or business. This list is not comprehensive but meant to get your brain percolating on events or changes that might impact your insurance needs. Even if you do not think something will make a difference when it comes to insurance, we can help talk through it with you.
Feel free to call us today for a comprehensive review of your insurance needs. We love providing the piece of mind that you are covered! We love insurance so you don’t have to.