Renter’s Insurance

Whether you rent an apartment or a single-family home, the insurance on the building will not provide any coverage for your belongings.  Nor will the liability coverage protect you if you are sued for negligence.      

A renter’s policy also known as tenant’s insurance protects the following:

• Personal Property- This is your general belongings, i.e. furniture, clothing, appliances, not used in business.  The amount of personal property coverage you choose should reflect the total value of your belongings.  Your belongings are covered for damage caused by specific perils. Some of these perils are fire or lightning, explosion, vehicle damage and vandalism.  The basic policy covers your personal property on an Actual Cash Value (ACV) basis.  This means that each item is covered for its market value at the time of the loss.  You may endorse your policy to Replacement Cost for additional premium.  You may also wish to schedule certain high-valued items separately on your policy.  This will provide these items with broader coverage.  Some examples of these are jewelry, musical instruments, fine arts and computers.

• Loss of Use- This part of the policy provides coverage for additional expenses you may incur if part of your home becomes unusable due to a covered cause of loss.  This could include cost’s for a hotel or restaurant until the damage to your home is repaired.

• Personal Liability- Offers protection to you in the event that you are sued for bodily injury or property damage caused by your negligence. This coverage follows you everywhere.

• Medical Payments-This coverage pays for necessary medical expenses caused by injuries that occur on your premises or are caused by you or an animal that you own. You do not need to be legally liable or negligent for this coverage to apply.

Source: Arbella Insurance Group

What to do if you have property/home damage due to winter weather

Winter weather is approaching, whether we like it or not. Are you ready, do you know what to do if your home/property is damaged? Here are some tips.

Secure the property, board up windows, tarp or otherwise cover the roof, prevent weather elements from entering the building. If it's an ice dam, clean off the roof, if you can safely do so, or hire someone to clean it for you. Do not make permanent repairs.

Start interior clean up, mop up floors, wet vac the carpeting. Call a professional clean up company if the water is too much for you to handle. Call us, we can recommend companies to you.  Keep in mind that mold forms very quickly, in the right conditions, within 48 hours.

Take photos and document everything that happens prior to calling us and before the adjuster makes contact. Remember, it is up to you to “prove” your claim to the insurance company, so its important to document, document, document.

Call us, we will discuss coverage with you and then submit the claim to your insurance company. After the claim is reported you can expect a call from the insurance company within a couple of days, in times of severe weather it may take  a little longer, so continue to protect your property from further damage.

We are here to assist, don’t hesitate to call us if you have any questions. 1-800-891-1226 or 508-753-7233

Maximizing Open Enrollment

Open enrollment season has already begun for most companies and this offers an opportunity for individuals to enroll and also make changes to their benefits.  It’s an ideal time for individuals to evaluate their past, current and future health care needs.  It’s important to get the most out of open enrollment and to consider important health care considerations.

Analyzing past health care costs is a good first step for future planning.  Begin by analyzing past health care costs.  Now is the time for individuals to actively engage and educate themselves on their health and weigh their benefits and plan for future health and financial well-being.  Often time’s employee benefits automatically renew or individuals do not take the time to critically examine their needs. 

According to a recent Harris Interactive/Aflac study, 77 percent of people admit that they have made mistakes when signing benefits packages in past years, with 42 percent admitting those mistakes cost them money.  In the survey, the most mistakes individuals made included choosing the wrong deductible, not taking advantage of a flexible spending arrangement (FSA) and passing on coverage that they later wish they had taken. 

From co-pays to prescription drugs, costs can serve as a benchmark for future needs.  Individuals should compare costs to their current plan to see if they are fully utilizing, or underutilizing offerings.  If there are any major changes to health or life changes such as adding dependents, they should be calculated into planning for the next year.

Preparing to avoid Ice Dams and Pipe Bursts this Winter

It is just about that time of year!  Time for holiday fun, family and vacations!  Before embarking on the holiday excitement it is important to prepare your home for the brutal winter weather that is surely ahead.

An ice dam forms when ice builds up at the bottom of your sloped roof.  This usually occurs at the drains and gutters, and can cause a “dam” that pushes the water under the roof, and into your attic and home!  Some ways to avoid this problem are:

·        Install a water-repellent membrane under your roof covering next time you re-roof.

·        Use weather stripping around the entrance to the top story of your home.

·        Seal light fixtures, chimneys, attic ducts, and fans to prevent warm air from melting snow.

·        Make sure your attic is ventilated!  A cooler attic will result in less melting and refreezing on your roof.

·        Clean your gutters and drains so proper drainage can occur.

·        Replace your recessed lighting near your roof with an alternative.  The heat created by the recessed lighting contributes to melting and refreezing, which leads to ice build up!

When water freezes in your pipes, pressure builds between the ice in your pipes and the closed faucet at the end of the pipe.  This results in pipe bursts at the weakest points along the pipe.  The most vulnerable pipes to freezing are in crawl spaces, attics, exterior walls and near holes in exterior walls (example, television cables).   Some tips to avoid pipe bursts are:

·        Insulate your pipes by adding insulation sleeves, and wrapping pipes that are exposed.

·        Caulk your walls and foundations near water pipes to prevent cold air from freezing your pipes.

·        Shut off exterior faucets and leave them open outside.

·        Keep your cabinets open to continue circulation of warm air to your pipes.

·        Drain water systems when your home is unoccupied!

Source: Arbella Insurance Company

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a great time to take a moment and reflect on the things in our lives that we are thankful for.  Here at IMA, we are thankful for:

           

Family, Friends and good food!  - Kristen, Personal Lines Sales & Account Exec

The health of my family, the love and support of my family and friends and the opportunity to make each day better for someone else.  – Mary, Commercial Lines Account Exec

               

The passion and dedication everyone puts into doing the right thing for friends, family and clients.  It’s been a challenging year for many people and as we approach year end there remains so much hope and positive energy – it’s very encouraging.  – Peter, President

            Every day is a blessing! – Rose, Account Exec

The strength of my family and for being exactly where I should be this time of my life. – Amy, Customer Service Assoc

My job, my family, my senses, my home and the people that love me. – Michelle, Personal Lines Account Exec

               

The health of my family, the support of my friends and a nice, relaxing long weekend with my daughter. – Katie, Marketing Exec

My loving husband, wonderful parents (who I get to see in less than two weeks) and great friends! – Dawn, Asst VP, Personal & Commercial Lines

My Family – John, IMA East Sales Exec

Having a Thanksgiving with my loving family. – Gail, Senior Account Manager

What are you thankful for?

What is this building worth?

Whether you are a personal or commercial insurance client, we need to work together to determine how much your building and personal property are worth in order to determine how much property insurance you need.  Sometimes, this can be a very difficult question to answer, and the actual numbers may surprise you. 

Most insurance policies insure buildings on a replacement cost basis.  Replacement value is the cost to rebuild the building, including labor and materials.  The market value of your home or building can vary greatly from its replacement cost.  Market value is fluid and varies according to supply, demand, and the sale of other similar buildings in your area.  While market value may fluctuate up and down, replacement cost is more likely to slowly increase over time. 

It is important to evaluate your building value each year before your insurance renewal to make sure you are insured to value.  Have you made any substantial improvements or additions to the building that would cost more to replace? Have you added a central station alarm or a sprinkler system, which might make you eligible for a discount on your property insurance?

You do not want to be underinsured in the event of a loss.  Luckily, we have tools that can help us calculate the replacement cost of any structure based on its construction and local labor and materials costs.  If you ever have a question regarding whether or not your home or building is insured to value, please give us a call and we can walk through this process.

Questions about coverage from snow storm

If you experienced damage from the October snow storm you probably have questions. A question that has been asked this week has been, a tree fell on my car, is this covered under my auto policy or my homeowners policy? The answer is this goes under your auto policy and is subject to your comprehensive deductible. Another question, a tree fell in my yard, is there coverage for removing it? The answer is possibly. It depends on your policy. Did you have a fridge/freezer full of food? You may have coverage for that too. When you have a claim question its best to contact us so that we can look at your policy and determine what you have for coverage. Just because you and your neighbor have the same insurance company, it doesn't mean that you have the same coverage.

IMA Participates in Lee National Denim Day for Breast Cancer

Support IMA and Lee National Denim Day in their campaign to fight breast cancer.  If you would like to help in the fight please go to our team page to make a donation now.  Thank you!

How to Make Sure you are Getting the Most out of your Insurance Policies

In today’s economy, it is important to save money wherever you can!  However, you don’t want to skimp on the insurance protection you purchase.  At the time of an insurance claim the last words you want to hear are “it’s not covered.”  One way to avoid this situation, while purchasing an affordable and comprehensive insurance plan, is to bundle your personal insurance policies.  Most insurance companies in the standard market offer a discount for combining your policies, these discounts can be 10-20%!  By combining your policies you will be able to afford a complete insurance plan without breaking the bank! 

You also want to be sure to review your insurance policy regularly.  In recent times we have learned that we cannot trust the weather, from hurricanes to tornadoes to floods & earthquakes, we have seen it all in the last few years.  IMA would love to review your policy to ensure your assets are protected in the event of a natural disaster.  With the money you can save from bundling your insurance, it will be affordable to add additional coverage to your insurance plan.

Having your insurance policies at one agency helps avoid gaps in coverage and makes sure you are benefiting from available discounts.  To find out more about the services we provide, contact us at 800-891-1226 or info@imaagency.com.  We look forward to hearing from you!

Got Insurance? Enough? You Sure?

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Got Insurance?  Enough?  You Sure?  

Don't get caught under water

According to FEMA, homeowners have a 26% chance of experiencing a flood loss during the life of their 30 year mortgage.  There is a greater chance of flood than of most other perils that homeowners do insure against, yet many do not buy flood coverage.  We all know that homeowners insurance will provide coverage in the event of a fire, but many people do not realize is that coverage for flood needs to be purchased through a separate policy. 

Every spring, insurance companies and agents are flooded with phone calls about basements filling with water.  Most homeowners have been through it before: a week of rainy weather and all of the sudden there is water seeping through our foundation; the spring thaw has finally arrived and is suddenly a foot of water in your basement.  Is it covered?

A standard homeowners policy excludes Water; there are a lot of things that go into this water exclusion, but one of them is that there is no coverage for flood, surface water, or water that seeps into a building.  This means that the policy is eliminating coverage for most of these common water issues that homeowners run into.  What is the solution?

While it is nearly impossible to insure every cause of loss that a homeowner may encounter, there are some things we can do to help protect your property.  For example, if you have a working sump pump, many insurance companies have an endorsement available that will give back some coverage for water if it is too much for the sump pump to keep up with.   These endorsements vary from company to company, so it is important to review your individual situation with your agent. 

Another important piece of protecting your property is buying flood insurance. The term “Flood” is officially defined by FEMA as “A general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of two or more acres of normally dry land area or of two or more properties.” Every property is located in a flood zone. If you are located outside of the 100 year flood plain, that means that you have a 1% chance of experiencing a flood each year. There have been several severe floods in Central Massachusetts over the past couple years.  In many of these cases, the affected properties were not in high risk flood zones and had never experienced flooding.  Unfortunately, many property owners were without insurance coverage.  In most cases, disaster assistance that is provided comes in the form of a loan that needs to be paid back with interest, which will not indemnify you for a loss like a flood insurance policy would.

There is a 30 day wait period to put coverage for a new flood policy into effect.  It is important to be proactive and talk to your agent about your exposures before a loss occurrs to make sure you are protected.  For more information, please give us a call at 800-891-1226.

IMA has joined the Social Media Revolution!

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