Vargas & Vargas Insurance

1133 Washington St
Dorchester, MA 02124

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Three Mistakes to Avoid When You Purchase Motorcycle Insurance

Your motorcycle insurance will protect you and everyone else on the road from the financial consequences of an accident. You need to make sure that you choose the right policy to get the insurance coverage you need at a price you can afford.

Vargas & Vargas Insurance in Dorchester, MA wants to help you find the motorcycle policy that fits your lifestyle. The following are three mistakes to avoid when you purchase motorcycle insurance to make sure you get the ideal policy:

1. Not specifying that a motorcycle is only a recreational vehicle

Some bikers use their motorcycle to make an everyday commute to work. Others are merely recreational riders who might go for a ride on the weekend or only a few times a month.

Make sure you opt for recreational coverage if you’re not using your bike every day. This can save you money on coverage without detracting from the amount of coverage you’re going to get.

2. Buying a bike without considering the costs of insuring it

The costs for insuring particular bike models can widely vary. You should factor the cost of insurance into the decision of making a bike purchase. A higher end or faster bike will more than likely result in higher insurance costs.

3. Purchasing separate motorcycle insurance without first looking into the possibility of a motorcycle endorsement

If you have a car or another type of vehicle, you may be able to add a motorcycle endorsement to your policy so that it will cover both your vehicle and your motorcycle. Bundling insurance is a popular choice if you have all your policies under one insurance agency.

Find the right motorcycle policy in Dorchester, MA with the help of Vargas & Vargas Insurance. Our agents are waiting to answer your questions and are ready to help you start a policy.

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Fill in the Gaps with Umbrella Insurance

Your auto, property, and business insurance policies cover most of your valuables. But for those with multiple properties, luxury items, and other high-dollar assets, these policies may not fully cover your investment. If a complete loss occurs, you could be left footing the bill.

Vargas and Vargas Insurance in Dorchester, MA offers insurance policies to protect the things you care about most. Our experts are able to customize a package of policies to fit your specific needs. However, all policies have their limits.

Umbrella insurance policies provide additional coverage for your existing plans. Here are several ways an umbrella policy can protect you financially.

Commercial Umbrella Insurance

A lawsuit, natural disaster, or economic fluctuations can contribute to the ruin of a thriving business. You may need more than your current policies provide if a catastrophic event takes your property and inventory.

When the liability limit on your primary policy is reached, your umbrella policy will provide additional funds to get you back on your feet. This removes the financial burden when problems occur, giving you the peace of mind to deal with other issues. Your losses from legal judgments, natural disasters, and theft may be covered.  

Umbrella Policies for Home and Auto

For most people, your primary residence and vehicle are your largest assets. If your house burns down or your car gets totaled, primary policies may help pay off what you still owe. Any extra may not cover the cost of replacing your property.

After your auto, renters, or auto insurance pays their share, an umbrella policy further reduces your out-of-pocket costs for replacing your property.

Contact the insurance experts at Vargas and Vargas Insurance in Dorchester, MA. We can help you decide if umbrella insurance is the right strategy for you.

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Is Your House Located in a Flood Plain?

It’s not always obvious that a house is in a flood plain. If you live near a river or oceanfront, you may think you’re safe based on how many buildings or hills there are between you and the water. Even if you can’t see the waterfront from your home, that doesn’t mean the water can’t get you. Agents at Vargas & Vargas Insurance serving Dorchester, MA can help you find out if flood insurance is required, and if it is worth the purchase if not.

The federal government requires that homeowners who live in an area at high risk for flooding purchase flood insurance. Homes that are further away from the waterfront and lack the federal flood insurance requirement may still need flood insurance. Your mortgage lender may require that you purchase flood insurance, depending on the location of the house. Some may assume that flooding is covered by a home insurance policy, but this is not the case. It is also sometimes important to take research into your own hands to learn more about your geographical location.

For starters, you could look up how many floods have occurred in your area in a specific date range. On the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) website, you can find a visualization tool that allows you to select your state and see how many times a flood has occurred in each county in recent years.

Ultimately, even if your house isn’t in a flood plain and flood insurance isn’t mandated on your home, the decision about purchasing a policy is up to you. Contact an agent at Vargas & Vargas Insurance if you live in the Dorchester, MA area, and they can offer you guidance on this important decision.

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Befriending Your Homeowners Association

Some folks would rather not deal with a Homeowners Association in the first place. If you’re a very private person, you’re probably not likely to buy a suburban house or a condo. You’d probably prefer a ranch style home out in the mountains. If you like being where the action is, if you love your condo, if you like living in a neighborhood of green lawns and pretty houses, you’re going to have to learn how to get along with your HOA. Here are some tips:

Get A Great Insurance Policy

If you live out on your own land and a window breaks, you can go ahead and cover it with a sheet of plastic until you have time to fix it. If you’re part of a Homeowners Association, they’re going to want you to get it fixed ASAP. When talking with Vargas & Vargas Insurance, try to find an insurer that works quick to get you the money you need should something go wrong.

Fraternize!

The HOA’s in Dorchester, MA like it when you’re friendly. Ask them how it’s going when you see your neighbors walking around. Invite them to your barbecues. A few hours of socializing can help to ensure that they weigh in your favor any time there’s a problem.

Invest in Curb Appeal

Part of the appeal of condos is the uniform look from one home to the next, but once you’ve checked with your HOA guidelines, you shouldn’t hesitate to spruce the place up a bit. Your HOA wants nice looking homes to keep the property values up.

There are a lot of places to live in Dorchester, MA. A condo community with a HOA have a lot to offer, and a policy from Vargas & Vargas Insurance can keep you in their good graces.

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Life Insurance: Term vs. Permanent

 

When people are alone, they don’t even think about life insurance, but as soon as there is a loved one, family, or a partner, then the idea begins to make a lot more sense.

The first reaction is often the most common; to take out a term life policy. This plan is the most basic form of life insurance, providing coverage for a set period once the customer has been approved. However, even though these plans can go for as long as 30 years, at the end of that period, they end with nothing left for the customer. Then the person either needs to take out a far more expensive plan due to age or walk away, according to Vargas & Vargas Insurance.

With permanent life insurance the customer gets a double benefit. First, there is the primary interest, coverage that provides a financial safety net for loved ones if something happens to the customer. Second, a permanent life insurance plan doesn’t expire or end as long as the customer wants to maintain it. Finally, there is a savings component where some of the money paid into the plan as a premium goes into a savings account. The customer can then access this account in later years or ensure it goes to a partner or beneficiary, providing ready cash at a time when income is limited in the future. Granted, the permanent life insurance approach costs more due to the increased benefits, but the customer retains more of the value overall.

To find out more about how life insurance works, the experts at Vargas & Vargas Insurance can help those in Dorchester, MA with questions or concerns. We have handled multiple policies over the years and are up to date on all the latest aspects of life insurance plans available.

 

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What Does Commercial Insurance Cover?

Unlike car and home insurance, most people are not familiar with what commercial insurance covers. Here at Vargas & Vargas Insurance, serving the greater Dorchester, MA area, we want to take the time to let you know more about what this type of insurance is and what it covers. Here are a few of the things that commercial insurance covers.

Commercial Property

If you own a commercial building, commercial insurance covers this building from damage such as fire, strong winds, and storms. This type of coverage is very similar to home insurance. However, it is for a commercial building and the surrounding property instead.

Commercial Vehicles

Another thing that can be covered under commercial insurance is commercial vehicles. If your business uses cars during the course of your day, those cars and the drivers that use them are insured under a commercial insurance policy. This policy covers car theft, accidents, and injuries that may result from an accident.

Your Commercial Products

The last thing that is covered under a commercial insurance policy are the goods that are stored in the commercial building. These items are insured against things like theft and damage as well. This may include any product you have to sell or items typically found in a building, such as a warehouse equipment or computers, printers, and copy machines.

If you are looking to obtain a new commercial insurance policy or are not happy with your existing one, we can help. Give Vargas & Vargas Insurance a call today. We proudly serve the greater Boston, MA area and are here to answer questions and concerns. Let us help you find the right insurance policy that covers your business needs.

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Is It Smart To Fight A Ticket In Dorchester?

Here’s the first thing to know about fighting a ticket: If you’re not one hundred percent certain that you shouldn’t have gotten a ticket, don’t bother fighting it. The cops have dashboard cams, they file extensive reports, and they have backups to confirm their version of the events. If you think maybe you can stretch the truth or leave out a few details, you’re just going to feel foolish when you get caught doing it. If you think there’s something the police didn’t notice, they probably noticed, and they probably didn’t bring it up because they had enough evidence to serve you with a ticket anyway.

Don’t fight a ticket because you think you can maybe sweet talk the judge, fight a ticket because it was an abuse of authority to issue it in the first place. Don’t fight a ticket because you weren’t the only one speeding, fight a ticket because you weren’t speeding at all.

There is such a thing as an unjust ticket, but the circumstances where a ticket should be fought are actually quite rare, and the circumstances where a ticket has been overturned in Dorchester, MA are even scarcer.

The question is: can you prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that you should not have been given the ticket? If not, you’re going to spend more time and money fighting it than you would be paying it.

The good news is that any damage a ticket can do can usually be undone. A defensive driving course, for instance, can strike points from your record as if they never happened, and even keep you in good stance with your insurance policy. Fight a ticket if you think you can win, but be realistic about whether or not that’s a possibility.

To make sure you are in a good position with your auto insurance, contact our agents at Vargas & Vargas Insurance in Dorchester, MA. Our agents are ready to answer any insurance questions you may have and can provide you with a policy that fits all your needs. Contact the Vargas & Vargas Insurance office today!

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How Windshield Repairs Can Save You Money

You may not think of your windshield glass as fixable, but often small chips or cracks can be repaired.  Small rocks kicked up by other vehicles can damage a windshield and these are commonly fixed by an auto glass shop or mobile windshield repair company in the Dorchester, MA area.  Minor windshield glass damage may be repaired because of how it is made, and repairs are less expensive than a new windshield.

For a simple explanation, windshields are made by a process in which plastic is sandwiched between two pieces of glass.  Because of this, it allows for repairs of small chips or cracks by injecting liquid plastic into the damaged area.  There are some specifics about windshield repairs, such as the damage cannot be more than two inches in diameter or three inches long, and it needs to be outside the driver’s line of sight. 

Depending on your auto windshield coverage, a repair may cost you nothing.  You should know that the damage may not completely disappear, but it can contain the damage, so it doesn’t spread.  The most effective repair is to damage that is roughly the size of a quarter.  Windshield repairs may fail, and not necessarily because the worker did a poor job, but because the windshield, in general, is compromised by the damage.  Meaning it won’t be as resistant to future gravel hits or extreme weather temperature changes as it was before it was damaged.

Vargas & Vargas Insurance

Vargas & Vargas Insurance has been providing auto insurance and making customers happy in the Dorchester, MA area for years.  They are a community trusted agency, and they want to ensure you have the right coverage at the right price for you.  Contact us today to explore your options.

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Partner Carriers

  • Arbella Insurance
  • Commerce
  • Mass Property
  • New London County Mutual
  • Norfolk and Dedham
  • Palomar
  • Pilgrim
  • Plymouth Rock
  • Safety
  • Travelers
  • Vermont Mutual