Taragowski Insurance Agency - Clinton, CT a Full

Helpful Ideas for Insurance continued

Make certain you purchase enough coverage to replace what is insured. “Replacement” coverage gives you the money to rebuild your home and replace its contents. An “Actual Cash Value” policy is cheaper but pays only what your property is worth at the time of loss—your cost minus depreciation for age and wear.
Ask about special coverage you might need. You may have to pay extra for computers, cameras, jewelry, art, antiques, musical instruments, stamp collections, etc.
Remember that flood and earthquake damage are not covered by a standard homeowners policy. The cost of a separate Flood Insurance policy is predicated upon flood zones and elevations. Homeowners who live in areas prone to flooding should take advantage of the National Flood Insurance Program.

If you are a renter, DO NOT assume your landlord carries insurance on your personal belongings. Purchase a special policy for renters, this will pay for the replacement of your possessions as well as your loss of use expenses.

Get the basics on Homeowners Insurance and the Importance of doing a home inventory. Before finalizing a mortgage loan, lenders require homebuyers to purchase hazard insurance to pay the lender in the event the house is damaged or destroyed by fire, smoke, wind, hail, vandalism or another similar act. Virtually all homeowners buy comprehensive homeowner's insurance, not just the minimum required by the lender.
In addition to covering the house, homeowner's insurance protects furnishings and other personal items, as well as any other structures on the property. Homeowners insurance also covers some types of personal liability. For instance, if the mail carrier trips over your kid's skateboard, your policy will pay for his medical expenses and other losses.

A big factor in deciding on insurance levels is the replacement cost of your home and its contents. Many traditional policies pay out for cash value, which means that depreciation is figured in. The check you receive from the insurance company therefore, is for much less than what it will cost to replace what you lost. You can, however, purchase replacement cost coverage, and although your premium will increase, it is well worthwhile.
Another big consideration is renovations you may make to your home. If you make renovations or additions, but then don't tell the insurance company, those additions won't be covered. One of the most common types of homeowners insurance claims is for dog bites, accounting for nearly a quarter of all liability claims. Most carriers do offer coverage for dog bites, but often will exclude coverage for certain types of breeds, such as pit bulls.
Another thing to consider is that the price of your home is probably going up year after year, but your coverage levels may not. Revisit your policy every year to see if your coverage is adequate, and take stock of any significant new additions, increases in value, or valuable possessions you may have. Valuable items such as jewelry or artwork should be appraised periodically to allow for adjustments to coverage.

It has become unfortunately very common for homeowners to be under-insured, in part due to the way insurance is sold, and many homeowners, especially in disaster-prone areas, find out when it's too late that their insurance will not cover the cost of rebuilding their lost homes. Many insurers have phased out guaranteed replacement coverage, which replaces a home regardless of cost, with "extended replacement coverage." This type of coverage will pay for losses only up to the policy amount plus a maximum added percentage, usually between 20 and 30 percent. If your home has appreciated in value more than the stated level in the policy, then you will not be fully covered for total loss. To protect yourself against underinsurance, make sure that your home is adequately evaluated by your agent. You may also consider a policy that includes a clause that automatically increases your home's insured value every year.  Many insurance companies offer a feature that automatically increases the value for which the home is insured each year. Ask your insurance company about this coverage escalator. The cost of this rider and coverage increase is then automatically built into your premium each year.

Why buy Renter’s Insurance?

Just like homeowner's insurance, renters face risks of loss. Sure, since a renter does not own the dwelling unit, she does not risk the residence itself. As a renter, the greatest risk is damage to or loss of personal property. Renters can also be liable to third parties that are injured while at the residence.

If you rent, insurance acts as a risk transfer device to protect you against a catastrophic loss. In exchange for payment of a premium, you transfer the risk of property loss and liability to third parties to an insurance company.

Types of Auto Insurance

Auto insurance policies can be very confusing. Insurance companies sell many differet types of auto insurance, some required and others optional. When you review your auto insurance policy, you are likely to see these categories of auto insurance:

Bodily Injury - This form of auto insurance covers you from legal claims made by other people for their injuries if you caused an accident. You usually purchase the policy based on liability limits - the amount of money you would pay if you caused injury. Many states require a minimum level of bodily injury insurance.
Liability - Sometimes included with the Bodily Injury aspect of your policy, it covers damage to property that you cause.
Collision - Collision insurance covers damage to your vehicle caused by collision with another vehicle or object. Usually the insurance company of the person that caused the accident pays for the repairs (and the person at-fault pays their deductible)
Comprehensive - Comprehensive insurance covers damage to your vehicle from other sources such as fire, theft, vandalism, hitting a moose, etc. Make sure you understand what is and isn't covered by your policy - it can vary quite a great deal. This type of auto insurance is often removed for older vehicles since they aren't worth that much any more.
Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist Coverage - Despite many laws to ensure that everyone has auto insurance, unfortunately not everyone does (and these drivers usually cause more than their fair share of accidents). If you are in an an accident caused by an uninsured motorist, you are out of luck (and must pay for your repairs) unless you have uninsured motorist coverage.
Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and/or Medical Coverage - This coverage is not mandatory in all states - it is required in no-fault states, and optional in States without no-Fault, such as Connecticut. PIP pays for certain expenses for the insured person and passengers. The types of expenses vary by state. Some examples of expenses include: medical and hospital expenses, salary and funeral expenses for bodily injury caused by a covered accident, regardless of who was at fault. You may not need this insurance if you and all you passengers have their own medical coverage.

Life Insurance Policy Types

As you may be able to see, it fails to factor in the increased wealth factor of the insured and their loved ones as they get older and earn more money. Nor does it include the additional expenditure they’ll be making as they buy bigger and bigger (and more costly!) housing and cars. This is certainly one factor you need to consider at the time of taking out the life insurance policy, or else you’ll be forever “topping up” the policy with additional policies. The upside of whole life insurance policies is that your premiums are fixed over the term of the policy, and so it does make it much simpler to budget for this.

Term Life Insurance Policy Compared to Whole Life Policy
The significant difference between term life and whole life insurance policies is that term life insurance policies factor in continued risk assessments. In other words, as the risks in your life change, so does your policy. To account for this, the premiums on term life insurance policies are also variable – so that if you are considered a high risk, you pay a higher premium than if you are considered a low risk.

Cost factors – which is cheaper and more affordable?
When considering which of the two principal life insurance policies available is the cheaper, you need to consider the following:

Age: obviously, as you get older, you’re mortality starts to show itself more than when you are younger. So, the age you are at the time you take out the policy will factor in the cost of your premiums;
Health: like age, health is an important factor in the risk assessment of anybody looking to take out a life insurance policy. Included in the health aspects of the risk assessment will be whether or not you smoke, are overweight, do regular exercise, etc;
Family history: with doctors telling us that more and more fatal diseases are generic in nature, your family health history will also be factored into your policy calculations;
Driving record: may sound strange, but a background check is usually undertaken to see if you have a poor driving record. Poor drivers with a history of reckless driving will have a harder time finding more affordable Life Insurance.