Can You Hear Me Now?

May 8, 2012
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Do you text and drive? Do you use your Bluetooth for telephone conversations while driving? Do you read and respond to emails while driving?
These media consumption devices that we use and abuse have gotten us more connected, but at the same time more addicted! We crave instant gratification and expect response as quickly as we send.
Slow down! Your cell phone use tickets, accidents and other traffic violations all count against you on your auto insurance premium, not to mention that your risk for an accident increases by 100%!
So again, I ask that you slow down as your texts, emails and apps can wait until you get to your next destination. Drive safely!

Why are my rates going up?

May 4, 2012
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The bottom of the insurance market has since passed, meaning that global rates on you home, auto and business are going up. A record number of claims have been paid over the last few years and the costs have to be passed down to the insured’s.  There are ways to combat that. We work this through the use of various insurance companies. As an independent agent, we have access to over 30 carriers to help our customers save money. It is always our goal to provide our customers the best coverage at the best price. We also strive to educate our customers and evaluate risk tolerance to make sure we match insurance companies up best.
It is important to keep an eye on your own personal coverage and ask questions! Get a grip and understand what you are purchasing. You home and life depend on it.

A Great Wedding Weekend!

April 23, 2012
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Congratulations to my brother Avi and his beautiful bride Dana. We had a terrific time at their wedding this past weekend in NYC. Everything was amazing and the weather cooperated.

Planning a wedding is no easy task. Wedding planners, Guests, Bride and Groom are dependent on dozens of people and professionals to make sure a wedding is perfect.  What happens if something goes wrong? Are you protected? In most cases, there is no protection from liability, weather, stolen gifts and missing service providers.

With Wedding Insurance all of this risk is transferred to the insurance company. For as little as $150, you can be protected from these sorts of mishaps on your big day.

Coverage for:

Cancellation, Postponement, Photographers, Videographers, Attire, Florists, Jewelry, Liquor Liability, and Weather.

Check this out before your big day and let The Travelers cover you!

 

Wedding Protector Insurance

It is getting harder to stay private

April 21, 2012
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When was the last time you updated your security settings on Facebook or twitter?
These social platforms are constantly updating themselves and changing the way you can customize your security to keep your account private or public. We share a tremendous amount of data across the web and we should do a better job of keeping people out!
This not only goes for social, but for our online banking and everything we do on the mobile devices.
As a business owner, it is so important to keep my data protected to protect myself and my customers. We are doing more in the cloud and need to protect it.
Check your security settings everywhere and talk to your vendors about how they secure your data!

PIP= Your Protection!

April 2, 2012
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Why PIP? 

Most of us that have ever purchased an auto insurance policy know that there is an option for PIP coverage to be primary or secondary.  You may ask yourself, why is it important for me to have PIP coverage on my auto policy?   How can you answer that question without knowing what PIP coverage is and how it is used?  PIP stands for Personal Injury Protection and it covers you or other persons covered under your policy for injuries sustained in an auto mobile accident.  PIP is an extension of your auto insurance and is designed to be paid without regard to fault.  Meaning regardless of who caused the accident PIP will pay the medical claim. Did you know that in the event of an auto accident if you file a PIP claim for injuries resulting from an accident instead of filing the claim directly through the company, normally your premium shouldn’t increase because of the claim?  If you choose to have PIP coverage as primary that will ensure that you and your family are medically taken care of from injuries obtained in an accident and for lost wages due to missing work because of the accident.   If you choose to opt out and don’t choose the PIP option as primary then you have to have medical insurance that is willing to pay for claims resulting from an accident.  In NJ the law requires insured drivers to have at least $15,000 of PIP coverage per person $30,000 per accident (15/30).   Meaning they cover up to $15,000 per person and up to $30,000 per accident.  This is bare minimum coverage, one trip to the emergency room could cost more than $15,000.00 depending on how bad the accident was and once you use up all the money you will have to come out of pocket to pay the rest.  Medicare and Medicaid do not cover claims from car accidents, and each company has their own policy on what they cover so it is best to give your insurance carrier a call and find out what type of coverage you have before deciding whether or not to choose PIP as your primary coverage for injuries resulting from a car accident.   Don’t wait until it’s too late to find out what kind of PIP coverage you have on your policy.  By planning in advance you can avoid the aggravation and heartache of not having enough medical coverage if you get into a serious accident. 

Why Flood?

March 9, 2012
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The National Flood Insurance Program was created in 1968 to help provide a means for property owners to protect themselves financially against flooding associated with hurricanes, tropical storms, and heavy rains that impact the U.S. Prior to the NFIP being established there was no insurance in place to protect people from flood damages. The government relied on dams and levy’s to prevent flooding. As more and more land was developed the dams and levees could no longer hold back flood waters to protect property owners from damage, so the government created the NFIP to protect property owners who fall victim to flooding, have means to re-build what they lost. The NFIP also protects land use to ensure people don’t overdevelop the land and cause more flooding. Who needs flood insurance? The answer to that question is anyone who owns a home or business. Some people feel that they don’t need to purchase flood insurance from the government unless they live in low-lying flood prone areas, but that is far from the truth. According to FEMA more than 20% of flood claims come from those that live outside of the low-lying flood prone areas where flooding rarely occurs. If those that live in these areas aren’t prepared for a flood they could find themselves in hot water. When someone doesn’t have flood insurance and their home sustains flood damage their only option is to apply for disaster relief assistance, which usually won’t pay out unless the president declares a state of emergency. As if that’s not bad enough the payout you receive from the government is given to you in the form of a small business administration loan, which you are required to re-pay with interest. When you have flood insurance in place and a flood occurs your claim will be paid regardless of whether there was a disaster declared by the president, and the money you receive is yours to fix your property damages. The insurance company uses their money to pay your claim so you don’t have to pay it back like you would through disaster assistance programs which use tax dollars to pay claims and must be paid back with interest! It seems to me that not having flood insurance coverage causes too many problems when disaster strikes. Having insurance does make a difference. Don’t get stuck up the creek without a paddle, be safe and make sure your property is covered by flood insurance before it’s too late!

What Did You Give Up For Lent?

February 24, 2012
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What are you giving up for lent?  Here’s an idea, how about giving up texting and driving?  This may sound silly, but did you know that in order to text and drive you have to give up your vision, hands, and train of thought in order to create and send a text message?  This means you are fully distracted while you’re supposed to be paying attention to what’s going on.  It’s no wonder that the CDC estimates that each day 15 people are killed and more than 1,200 people are injured in crashes that were reported to involve a distracted driver.  This means that almost 5500 people die each year at the hands of a distracted driver whose hands should have been on the wheel and their eyes on the road.  What makes matters worse is 25% of drivers in the US reported that they “regularly or fairly often” talk on their cell phones while driving, which means we know it is harmful and we continue to do it anyway.  We allow ourselves to become distracted while we are supposed to be paying attention to driving, with statistics like these I would say it’s better to be safe than sorry. Find out how much coverage you have on your vehicle to ensure you are protected from distracted drivers on the road.  The laws that govern this great state are not sufficient enough to protect us from harm, we have to take matters into our own hands and make sure we have coverage that will protect against damage caused by distracted drivers.  It’s better to be safe than sorry, one ticket for talking on the phone or texting can cause your yearly car insurance premium to go up by 20%!  So you have to decide whether the text message or phone call you receive is worth answering if it means a 20% rise in premium!!

What is Your Back Up Plan?

February 14, 2012
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Today is going to be a sad day in history for Long Branch New Jersey. Around 11AM there was a small fire on Brighton Avenue, which quickly burst into an inferno and demolished 5 Buildings, including 8 store fronts and 13 apartments. Nobody plans to have something this terrible happen to them, but what do you do when it does happen?

We all think we are immune to this kind of disaster, but we are not and we all need to be prepared for this, if it ever happens to you, your home or your business. The entire block was shut down today and not only did the burning businesses lose out, all others lost out as well. This kind of tragedy affects everyone around it.  As I sit here writing, I am not worried about anything but the families that have been displaced and the business owners that might not be able to recover.

We all need to prepare better and here are a few tips to doing that:

Have an idea of where you can go if you are displaced

Take an inventory of your belongings

Back up any computer systems, hopefully in the cloud, if not, take the tapes with you

If you have an alarm system, the policy and fire could be notified quicker

Have a contingency plan for your business. Can you open up somewhere else? Can you get inventory and computers quick enough?

Is your insurance in place to help you with the recovery process. Do you know your coverage?

These are all important aspects of saving everything we work for. Protect yourself and your assets. Even if you are renting an apartment, a renters insurance policy will help out in lots of ways including; Renting a new apartment and purchasing new personal belongings. Imagine having to purchase everything you own, it would be near impossible to keep track of it and afford it. Insurance can help and a renters insurance policy is inexpensive!

Your Auto Coverage is for the Birds!

February 9, 2012
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When it comes to purchasing auto insurance, some people shutter at the thought of even going through the process of obtaining a quote, let alone understanding all of the insurance jargon associated with purchasing a policy.  The whole process can be somewhat overwhelming especially if you choose to do all of the foot work yourself.  Most people don’t understand what they are purchasing at the time of the quote; they are more concerned with the price of insurance being low.  The insurance information institute recommends that you carry at least $100,000 of bodily injury protection per person and $300,000 per accident, also known as 100/300.  In New Jersey the minimum levels are among the lowest in the country which is currently set at $15,000 of bodily injury protection and $30,000 per accident, also known as 15/30.  Only seven out of the fifty states have minimum auto insurance set this low, New Jersey being one of these 7.

Most people don’t understand how dangerous it is to purchase minimum car insurance limits until it is too late.  Once you have the insurance at the price you wanted you never need to think about these limits or how they pertain to you until you need to use them.  Once an accident occurs, and you don’t have enough insurance coverage then you realize exactly what you’ve purchased, and that you’re going to get exactly what you paid for.  You will then receive $15,000 in bodily injury protection and $30,000 per accident, which means any medical bill that you get that, is over $15,000/$30,000 per accident is your responsibility. The low minimum coverage will put everything at risk. The judge can put a lien on all of your assets and even set up a wage garnishment. Would you like having money taken out of every pay check for the rest of your life, because you decided to underinsure your auto insurance?

The only way to protect yourself, your family, and your assets from personal liability is to make sure that you have enough insurance to properly transfer all of the risk away from you and onto the insurance company.  The whole purpose of purchasing any type of insurance is to transfer any financial risk you may have onto an insurance company. Why would you want to take a chance and only transfer some of the risk away from yourself?  That’s what people do every time they purchase minimum limits on insurance.  Don’t leave yourself vulnerable; make sure you have enough insurance coverage today!

All About Liquor

February 7, 2012
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Liquor Liability Insurance was created to protect businesses, patrons, and third party bystanders from being held liable for property or physical damage resulting from an intoxicated patron acting in a destructive manner.  Any person or business that manufactures, sells, or serves alcoholic beverages can be held liable for injuries and property damage resulting from intoxication.  Therefore, any person or business that plans to sell or serve alcoholic beverages should purchase liquor liability insurance to protect their business and assets.  Even people that host parties where alcohol is being served are held liable by law, if something should happen to one of their guests during or after the event, while being intoxicated. 

Liquor liability means that any person or business that makes, sells, or serves alcohol is personally liable for any actions that may take place as the result of a person becoming intoxicated.  When a person is intoxicated they usually do not have the ability to make responsible decisions, and as a result they could become injured by getting into a fight, falling down, getting into an accident, or doing something else that could cause harm to themselves, to others, or to property.  To help protect business owners from being liable for events stemming from the sale of liquor, that may give a patron the right to sue, business owners purchase liquor liability insurance.  Purchasing liability insurance is one of the smartest things a business owner can do because without insurance, a business is vulnerable like a turtle without a shell it has no protection!

It can be quite expensive to start a business that serves alcohol.  Before insurance is purchased restaurants and liquor stores must first get a license from the state before they are legally able to sell and serve alcohol.   In New Jersey there was a rule enacted called “The Dram Shop Act”.  This act protects innocent business owners, servers, third parties, their property, and innocent patrons who became injured in an accident as the result of drinking too much.  As long as the server does not serve someone whom is visibly intoxicated they are protected under this act.  There is also a statute that protects the licensed server and innocent patrons from reckless behavior of a drunken patron.  This statute is called “New Jerseys Licensed Servers Fair Liability Act”.  This statute specifically defines the server’s liability as to make insurance coverage readily available, at a reasonable price. However, since this act specifically defines how the server can be held liable, it is very important that business owners and servers are informed as to their responsibilities under this act to ensure their protection against liability. 

Make sure your servers are Serv Safe and TIPS Certified! Get a good Liquor Liability Insurance Policy and confirm that it covers Assualt & battery! For more information on Liquor Liability or to request a quote. Please email us at aaron@alevinegroup.com 

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