How To Save Money on Car Insurance

For most people, having a car is a necessity but can also lead to quite a few expenses. Between fuel, maintenance, and insurance, the amount of money you spend on your car each year could be in the thousands of dollars. If you are looking for ways to save money, check out these tips for saving on your VA car insurance.

Shop Around

Shopping around doesn’t just refer to the insurance policy, either. If you are purchasing a new car, compare average insurance prices. Remember, mini-vans or other vehicles that are family-friendly typically have lower insurance rates than luxury cars. After choosing your vehicle, get quotes from several insurance agencies before purchasing your policy. This ensures you get the best price.

Bundle Your Insurance

If you already have life insurance or homeowners’ insurance from a company, consider purchasing your auto policy from the same one. Most insurance agencies offer discounts to policyholders who purchase more than one through them.

Maintain Good Credit

Many insurance agencies look at your credit report to determine how risky it is to insure you. By maintaining a good credit score and paying bills on time, you show the agencies you are responsible. This makes them more likely to offer you a good price.

When seeking an excellent VA car insurance policy, research first. Look for a licensed agent who has an excellent reputation among colleagues as well as among current and former clients.

Basic Liability Insurance Coverages You Need

Is E&O insurance for insurance brokers necessary? As a new business owner, it can be difficult to know exactly the type of liability insurance you need. With so many options available on the market, it’s highly possible to end up with the wrong coverage which can leave you open to unnecessary financial loss. Here are two types of liability coverage that you should be sure to understand.

General Liability Insurance

Probably the most common type of business insurance coverage, general liability insurance covers your business in case a third party is hurt, or their property is damaged, by your business activities. This can range from your electronic widget causing a fire in a customer’s home to a vendor getting hurt on your property. Your policy will cover any legal fees related to a lawsuit including attorneys’ fees, settlements or judgments.

Errors & Omissions Liability insurance

Also known as professional liability or malpractice insurance, E&O insurance covers your business against lawsuits resulting from your services and advice. It’s most commonly known as a required coverage for medical practitioners, but other individuals in independent consulting positions should carry E&O insurance as well. Other professionals who can also benefit from E&O coverage include:

Technology consultants
Real estate professionals
Insurance professionals
Business consultants

So, although E&O insurance for insurance brokers may not always be required by law, you should certainly carry liability coverage to protect yourself from financial risks. Even as an insurance professional, you never know when you’ll be the subject of a lawsuit.

Boat Insurance Costs: What to Expect

To find the figure on boat insurance average cost isn’t easy. Insurers base their rates on a variety of different factors. Knowing the factors and the pricing can help you make an educated decision when it comes to buying and selling insurance.

Insurance Rate Variables

Several variables factor into the cost of boat insurance. For instance, you need to consider:

Liability limit
Hull coverage limit
Medical limit
Liability limit
Personal effects
Trailer

As an example of how different the costs can be, for an average boat, you may be looking at anything from 300 to 3,000 dollars a year.

Factors to Consider

Of course, when insuring a boat, there are still more factors to think about. Just like auto insurance, a lot of factors go into deciding the price. Here are some of these factors:

Boat usage
Driver’s license history
Claims against boat
Boating experience
Safety course experience
Safety equipment
Additional boat drivers

These are only a few, most common factors that go into the cost of insurance.

When it comes to boat insurance average cost, there is no set cost average. With too many variables in play, there is a wide range of prices. The best way to know what’s best is to do research on the insurer and the market.

Powerful Online Presence

In a world where more and more marketing and sales take place online, it’s important that your web presence work for you. As an agent, insurance marketing can make a huge difference in your business, increasing web traffic and converting inquiries into sales. In order to maximize the potential of your online opportunities, you need an effective strategy for marketing your services.

What Makes the Difference?

No one factor can account for all of a company’s web traffic, but there are four broad categories that most marketing professionals focus on consistently.

responsive technology
branding
security
user experience

As you can see, all of these elements are intertwined in creating the optimal environment for converting leads into customers and keeping active customers satisfied. But addressing each of them as a unique and specific element allows you to consider all of the factors that add up to a positive online presence.

Emphasize Flexibility

Given the variety of devices people now use to access the internet, it’s critical to consider how your online offerings look on large screens and small, computers, tablets, and phones. The easier it is for customers to move between and among these environments, the more seamless their experience of your company. As an agent, insurance marketing isn’t just a tool, it’s a way of being present for your customers wherever and whenever they need you.

Keep Your Water Treatment Facilities Flowing

Treating and supplying water out to large populations can be demanding on its own, but, sometimes, not everything goes as planned. As water treatment services work for and supply to multiple people, there are often many issues that could possibly inconvenience or even harm one or many. It’s crucial to protect your facilities with water treatment insurance in the case of something going wrong.

Contamination and Pollution

Unfortunately, there may be situations where a contaminate gets into the water. When this happens, it could also end up making someone ill. There’s also the risk of chemical spills causing pollution of the area, pipes bursting or sewers backing up. Whether it’s in protection of people’s well being, private property or the environment, these often need to be taken care of quickly and efficiently. General liability often won’t cover for these situations, so be sure to search for water treatment insurance that does.

Underground Pipes

Coverage for piping underground typically covers a specific distance from the property. Find a policy that is able to extend as far as needed, for cases where pipes may be damaged due to age, environmental factors or improper digging.

Failing to Supply

Whether due to damaged pipes or purposeful shutdown for repairs, being unable to supply water to customers could cause legal and financial issues. Water treatment insurance can cover claims in these situations.

These are only a few unique qualities to water treatment facilities that require particular policies. However, these alone can be good reasons to find a specially designed insurance program.

Two Important Types of Insurance Coverage Temporary Staffing Agencies May Need

Temporary staffing agencies can provide staff to businesses for a set period. Since these staff may be considered employees of the staffing agency, the staffing firm can be held responsible for the actions of the employees. Here are two types of temporary staffing insurance that staffing agencies may need to cover their liabilities.

Worker’s Compensation Insurance

Temporary staffing agencies may need worker’s compensation insurance for the employees that work in-house for the staffing firm as well as for the employees that may be placed offsite to work for other businesses. It can provide employees who have been injured on the job with compensation for lost wages and pay for medical treatment and medications. It can also cover the firm’s legal fees and settlements associated with lawsuits arising from employee injury or death.

Crime Insurance

Crime insurance can cover the staffing agency’s liability if an employee placed with a business steals property or commits fraudulent acts such as embezzlement or forgery. Staffing agencies who fail to secure this coverage may find themselves responsible for using their own funds to reimburse a client for losses due to fraudulent actions of employees.

Staffing agencies can place people in a variety of jobs, so it may be important to understand the types of risks associated with each type of placement. An agent who has experience with temporary staffing insurance can help you choose the coverage that best fits the unique needs of your firm.

Care for Your Marina With Appropriate Coverage

Marinas provide boat owners with a great opportunity to store their personal vessels and let fishermen have a safe location to store their investment. If you operate a marina you know the importance of the water craft under your care. However, as with any business, marinas can undergo unforeseen accidents and events. Why not protect yourself and your clients with appropriate insurance coverage? Insurance for California marinas safeguards your savings by building policies that are relevant to your area.

Staying Away from Your Average Policies

Marina insurance can come with several different options that you can build on your package for comprehensive coverage. These include:

Storage Coverage
Marina Operators Legal Liability
Commercial General Liability
Sudden & Accidental Pollution Coverage

Having appropriate protection lets you operate your harbor with the confidence that in any emergency your insurance has your back. This also allows your clients to see that you take your responsibility seriously and can reimburse them in case any damage is done to their property.
For anyone looking to own their own marina or are looking to upgrade their insurance package, acquiring an agency that specializes in their area lets them avoid general, one-size-fits-all policies. Contact a reputable agency that provides insurance for California marinas to get your insurance journey started.

Protect Hotel Associations with Total Insurance Coverage

Hoteliers who assume standard property and liability insurance equals comprehensive risk protection are due for an expensive reminder that one size does not fit all. Don’t make the same mistake. Be sure you consider all the products available from the hotel association insurance market.

The Basics…and Then Some

Like any other business, hotels require a strong underpinning of standard coverages. What makes the hotel association insurance market unique, however, are the additional risks that are inherent to the hospitality business. Consider the additional endorsements and/or stand-alone policies that many hotels may require:

Property: Beyond the standard real and personal property policies, hotels–depending on location and/or recreational facilities–may need windstorm, flood, earthquake, fine arts, unique assets (such as a golf course or water park) and ingress–egress coverage. All hotels should strongly consider business interruption and terrorism endorsements.

Liability: A general liability policy is hardly enough. Business automobile liability, liquor liability, cyber liability, innkeepers liability and garagekeepers liability, as well as endorsements or policies aimed at specific spa and recreational activities are crucial coverage needs for a full-service hotel.

Workers Compensation: All but the smallest bed and breakfast require a workers comp package. Depending on the size of the hotel association, several creative options are available to reduce premium amounts.

Ancillary Markets: Hotels need comprehensive Errors and Omission and Directors and Officers protection, but broad exposure to a variety of risks will not be covered without additional protection against crime, fiduciary and employee benefits liability.

Keeping Up with Your Own Success

Most small businesses begin with enormous effort and investment, and when you see growth begin to accelerate, it can be an exciting reward for that hard work. But if your small business is growing too fast, you may have to cope with challenges you hadn’t expected, or didn’t expect so soon.

The Dangers of Rapid Growth

Some of the common challenges small business owners face with rapid growth include:

distinguishing between income and profit
understanding your market
hiring strategically
planning for the long-term

Keeping Up Versus Getting Ahead

Starting a business means long hours, hard work, and attention to detail. In the beginning, many business owners know everything there is to know about every aspect of their business. But as your business continues to grow, that attention to detail may become counterproductive. It’s important to ask yourself whether your focus on immediate needs and urgent issues is hampering your ability to step back and see the big picture. Have you taken the time to revise and refine your long-term plan? This is particularly critical if your growth has been rapid.

Planning for the Future

No matter how quickly your business is expanding, it’s always wise to invest the time it takes to create a good plan, and hire the best people to carry it out. If you feel as if your small business is growing too fast, it may just be a matter of reframing your priorities and use of time to get back on track and enjoy your success.

Three Things To Remember When Insuring Your Coastal Property

There is nothing quite like a place at the beach. Long walks in the sand, the sound of crashing waves, the sight of the sun rising or setting over the water, all of these are common reasons why so many Americans dream of owning coastal property.

But don’t get caught up in the romance of the setting and overlook some basic insurance realities. Owning your dream house near the water comes with a unique set of coverage needs. Consider these three guidelines when choosing coastal insurance services:

Hurricanes happen. From Harvey and Maria to Florence and Michael, thousands of homes have been damaged or destroyed during the past two calendar years. If your house is located within three miles of the coast, your homeowner’s insurance likely will not cover claims from a hurricane without the addition of supplemental hurricane or windstorm coverage.

Flood insurance is a stand-alone policy. Even if your coastal insurance services include coverage for hurricane or wind storms, damage from a flood is not included. In addition, if you live in a designated flood zone, your mortgage provider will demand that you carry flood protection.
Rental Properties Require Specific Coverage. Many owners try to offset costs by renting their houses some portion of the year. Basic homeowner’s policies will not protect against losses and damages by renters. Be sure to notify your insurance provider of any rental activity.