No always the "cheap insurance" is the Best!

Every day I have clients that claim they are paying really low premiums for their insurances, and sometimes it becomes very suspicious to me.  Since, I am an independent Insurance agent I could check prices and compare rates for any kind of insurance from not only one company but several: therefore, when I find a client with a policy paying half on a policy of what I can find for him always make me questions how this could be possible.

This is something I found in Business Journal

Three insurance agency employees have been arrested in Florida for allegedly stealing thousands of dollars in auto premiums.
Bella Jenkins, Torrance Blake and David Bell, who were employees of the Temple Terrace-based Insurance Plus, were charged with committing insurance fraud and selling insurance without a license, according to Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater.
The state’s Division of Insurance Fraud said it began its investigation of Insurance Plus in August 2010 after receiving complaints that customers were given automobile insurance coverage quotes by phone only to have the price for the coverage inflated by the time of the purchase. Officials said customers paid the additional money and left the agency believing that they had insurance coverage with either Kingsway Amigo or Security National Insurance.
The customers later learned they had no coverage when pulled over for traffic violations or by receiving notices from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles advising them they needed to purchase coverage in order to comply with the law. The victims stated that the owner of the business, Bella Jenkins, a licensed insurance agent, was not present when they went to Insurance Plus, but that Ball and Blake both conducted business despite having no license, officials said.
If convicted, each of the suspects face up to five years in prison per charge.

Remember not always the cheap insurance is the best! Sometimes is not even real.

Contact me for more information

www.es-insurance.com

Flooding Damages Thousands of North Dakota Homes

The Souris River crested nearly 2 feet lower than expected in Minot, N.D., where city officials hoped to ride out the high water without losing more than the thousands of homes already damaged by flooding.
The river had been expected to peak at some 8.5 feet (2.6 meters) above major flood stage, but it appeared to level off as it approached 6.5 feet (2 meters) over that mark.
Damage was already widespread, with Mayor Curt Zimbelman reporting more than 4,000 homes had been flooded in an evacuation zone of neighborhoods nearest the river. About 11,000 people had been ordered to evacuate.
Sgt. 1st Class David Dodds, a spokesman for North Dakota’s National Guard, said the situation had “kind of stabilized” on June 25. The Souris’ channel wasn’t getting any wider.
“The fact that more homes aren’t being engulfed or being touched by the water, that’s the one silver lining if you can even say there is one,” Dodds said.
City spokesman Dean Lenertz said updated estimates of the flood’s toll were being prepared. The city’s water, sewer and electric power systems were still working. Workers labored to keep the Broadway Bridge, a major north-south thoroughfare, from being overwhelmed, a possibility that would divide the city in half.
Zimbelman and others had fretted about rain in the forecast, but the National Weather Service said the storms didn’t appear to be widespread or long-lasting.
Fed by heavy rains upstream and dam releases that have accelerated in recent days, the Souris surged past a 130-year-old record on June 24 and kept going.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency pledged assistance to flood victims in Burleigh and Ward counties, which include Minot and Bismarck, the state capital, which has been damaged by Missouri River flooding.
In nearby Burlington, more than half of the town’s 1,000 residents left late this week to escape the Souris. Sawyer, a town of about 350 people, was under a mandatory evacuation order Saturday after the Souris flowed over the main dike around daybreak. National Guard soldiers worked on a secondary levee.
The National Guard activated 870 members for the crisis. Minot is best known as home to an Air Force base responsible for 150 Minuteman III missiles in underground launch silos scattered over 8,500 square miles (22,000 square kilometers) in northwest North Dakota.
Col. S.L. Davis, commander of the 91st Missile Wing, said there was some “localized flooding” at a handful of missiles sites because of the wet spring and summer. But he said the silos are designed to safely handle some water and protective measures were taken at a few sites similar to what’s done in preparation for spring runoff from snowmelt.

Do not let the storm get you without flood Insurance!

Contact me for a quote or more information

http://www.es-insurance.com/

Allstate Seeks Double-Digit Home Insurance Hikes in Florida

Two subsidiaries of Allstate Insurance Company Florida are seeking homeowners rate increases worth more than $90 million.
Castle Key Indemnity Co. is seeking a 36 percent statewide average rate increase and Castle Key Insurance Co. is seeking a 31 percent rate hike. The two companies formerly made up Allstate Floridian Insurance Co.
In 2010, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation approved an average 18.7 percent rate hike for Castle Key and 17.8 percent rate for Castle Key Indemnity.

This is one of the main reasons  I decided to have an independent agency!!

Please contact me with any questions or comments.

http://www.es-insurance.com/

Florida Approves Property Insurance Reform

Homeowners’ insurers in Florida are breathing a sigh of relief after succeeding in a months-long battle to obtain property insurance reforms designed to reduce costs and stabilize the market.
After watching state lawmakers refuse to rewrite the state’s no-fault automobile injury law and leave by the wayside a plan to revamp the state-run property insurer Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the industry found itself in the last week of the session betting all of its chips on the property bill, hoping that the “most business friendly” legislature in decades would finally deliver.
In the closing days of Florida’s legislative session, lawmakers approved CS/SB 408, which includes provisions limiting sinkhole losses along with provisions changing the holdback provisions on dwelling and contents coverage, placing a statute-of-limitations on sinkhole and hurricane claims, capping public adjusters’ compensation, and repealing a provision that would have reduced the boundaries of Citizens’ high-risk zones.
While the memory of former Governor Charles Crist’s veto of a similar albeit smaller bill last year still hangs in the hair, insurers are nonetheless banking on current Governor Rick Scott signing the bill into law. So far Scott has remained mum on the issue, but Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has publicly made it clear that he expects the bill will become law.

Iy you want more details on this.

Please contact me
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All Food Stays in SW Florida

E&S Insurance is putting a team together for:

ROTARY ONE MILLION MEAL PACKING EVENT

With Meals of Hope Kids against Hunger of SW Florida

May 14 at 8:30 am in Naples high school

We will provide breakfast for the team

If you want to help let me know!

http://www.es-insurance.com/

Why do I have to add my son to my insurance if he does not own a car?

When your son becomes licensed most insurance companies will require you to place him on your auto insurance policy as a driver since he will likely drive your vehicle and thus require coverage.

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulations backs up this idea. Here it says young drivers must comply with the state's financial responsibility laws, just as older drivers do. Most young drivers, however, have the option of satisfying their legal requirements by being added to their parents' auto policy. Adding a young driver to a parents' policy can be expensive, but it's cheaper than taking out a separate auto policy.

A parents' policy covers children living at home or away at school, even when not named on the policy. Even though children are automatically covered on their parents' policy, it's important that they be listed on the policy as soon as they reach driving age. Insurance companies are required to charge the correct rate, based on the classifications of the drivers in your family. If you do not have all of the drivers in your family listed on your policy and the company learns about them later - because of an accident claim, for instance - the company will bill you for the extra premium you should have paid.

While a friend may occasionally borrow your car and be covered they do not normally have regular access to your car and thus are not rated as a risk factor on your policy. If you do have someone outside of the household that regularly drives your car then normally an insurance carrier would also want this person listed an occasional driver so they would be properly covered in an accident.

Also not all policies provide coverage to anyone that drives the car. Policies can have driver exclusions. These exclusions can include those under a certain age (under 21 or 25 for instance), unlicensed drivers and those driving under the influence to name a few.

Insurance providers thus require you add your teen since he or she lives in your household and is a risk factor to them. Most all state laws permit an insurer to consider all resident operators of an insured vehicle in rating of an auto insurance policy. This includes your child, even if he or she has only a learner's permit and especially when they have a full driver's license.

Insurance companies are usually allowed to use classifications that reflect a possible exposure for liability on the part of the insurer, in the event that bodily injury or property damage occurs due to the operation of the vehicle by anyone in your household, including your child.

Many parents would like to avoid the rate increase from adding their licensed teenager to their auto insurance policy however if you do not inform your insurance provider of your child's licensing status and he or she is in an accident, the incident may not be covered. In some states an insurer may be allowed to cover the accident but then charge you for the premiums you should have paid up to that time for the teen to be on the policy.
Also in some states purposely not reporting your licensed driver to your insurance carrier and have him or her added as a driver can be construed as misrepresentation, a form of insurance fraud.

Teen drivers are expensive to insure since they are inexperience and often immature drivers that statistics have shown are more apt to be in accidents. There are ways in which to help bring down the rate increase from adding a teen to your insurance policy. You can ask your agent about discounts for your child getting good grades (a good student discount), taking a driver's education or driver's improvement class, and any other discounts that your specific insurer has available for you to take advantage of such as a multi-car discount.

If you need to add a teenager licensed driver to your car insurance policy then you may want to shop around at this time to make sure you and your family are getting the best rates possible.

For more information or for a free quote
Contact me
http://www.es-insurance.com/

Florida Homeowners Insurers Seek ‘Flex-Rating’ Up to 15%

The Florida Senate and Banking Insurance Committee recently approved a bill that would give homeowners insurers some latitude, allowing them to raise their rates without first getting approval from the state insurance department. The bill would let insurers increase their rates by a statewide average 15 percent above their current rate. The bill caps increases on individually policyholders so that their rates are no higher than twice the statewide average.

The role of the Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) would be limited to reviewing the rates to see if they are inadequate or discriminatory.
Under current law, every property insurer in the state must make an annual rate filing with the OIR, which may either approve or disapprove the rates to ensure that they are not excessive, inadequate or unfairly discriminatory. Although lawmakers in recent years have streamlined the process, it can still take months to resolve the filings, especially if they are disputed.

In cases like this is when you need an independent insurance agency like E&S Insurance. We will always look for the best price for our clients.

For more information contact me.

http://www.es-insurance.com/