Why You Should Update Your Policy After Improving Your Home

Posted on January 7, 2020January 6, 2020 by cvargas

A couple looking at their newly renovated kitchen and home improvement plans — Updating your home insurance gives you better protection and can even lower your premiums!

Home improvements can change more than your home. The truth is, even a kitchen upgrade can increase your home’s efficiency, value, and more. That means you need to consider how the increase in value can impact your home insurance policy. Not considering it can make it impossible for you to get everything you deserve if you file a claim. It can also mean you pay more than you have to for insurance coverage. Why risk it?

What Home Improvements Require Changes to Home Insurance?

Let’s say that, within the past few years, you have invested money into your home to upgrade your kitchen, home office, and your roof. You may not think about them being a total cost, but each improvement adds up. It is easy to spend over $100,000 on improvements.

This amount, whether the work was done recently or over the last ten years, means that you should reconsider your insurance policy. Some improvements may increase your policy cost, but others may lower it drastically.

Improvements That Make a Difference

To help you see how certain things can raise or lower your home’s value according to your insurance, you have to look at the premium you pay. Most home improvements will lower the cost of your premium, but it is always best to be covered. Home improvements that reduce the risk of claims, for example, can lower your premium.

Improvements That Can Lower Home Insurance Premiums

New Roof
New Security System
Generators
Reducing Fire Hazards (Replacing Old Wiring or Wood Heaters)
Updates to Plumbing

Improvements That Can Increase Home Insurance Premiums

New Pool
Home Additions or Decks
Kitchen Remodels (May Raise or Lower Premiums)

This list is not all-inclusive. Your insurance company can tell you what other updates and renovations may save you money on your home insurance premium.

Why Risk Paying More?

Many people wonder why they should pay more for homeowners insurance if they have already paid to renovate their home. The answer to this is simple. If you upgrade your kitchen with granite countertops, all new appliances, and more, what happens if a tree falls on your roof? You risk losing your improvements because nothing is documented as it should be.

Your insurance company will only cover the cost of what your home was valued at when you purchased insurance. If you have no record of the renovations, you lose out on being able to collect money from your investment.

With other additions, such as a pool, you may need to add insurance coverage to ensure you are not liable for accidents. This would mean the addition of umbrella insurance, but it could save you a lot of money if something unfortunate happens.

In life, there are no guarantees. Vargas & Vargas Insurance can help you decide what type of home improvements require you to make changes to your home insurance policy. No matter how long ago or how soon you plan to remodel, we’re here to help.

4 Reasons Your Home Insurance Premium Increases. Number 2 Will SHOCK YOU!

Posted on December 31, 2019December 18, 2019 by cvargas

There comes that time of year when your Homeowner’s Insurance Renewal arrives in the mail. You’re happily buzzing through your day when you read the bad news: your premium is increasing!

Panic sets in, then a fair amount of anger, and possibly a bit of anxiety.

Whether your insurance is included in your mortgage payment through an escrow account, or you pay it separately on your own, panic sets in because you know this increase will impact your household budget.

Anger arises due to the unfairness of this rate increase.
“How dare they!” “Why are they doing this to me?”

The anxiety is the worst part, but also the possible best part of your response to the premium increase. Anxiety emerges because you truly don’t know why, nor do you understand, why your insurance carrier would increase your premium in such a seemingly arbitrary way. But that same anxiety can fuel your desire to learn the answer to that question, and then to drive you forward to take action and seek a favorable resolution.

Here are 4 reasons why your Insurance Carrier might increase your Homeowner’s Insurance Premium; the second one will knock you out of your chair!

Claims. Have you had a claim in the past twelve months? This is one of the most common reasons for a premium increase. But this doesn’t always have to be so! First, query your Insurance Carrier to determine if there are actions you can take to resolve the issue around the claim. For example, if the claim was due to a burglary, maybe installing a quality security system can relieve the premium-increase-pressure. If that doesn’t work, calling your Independent Insurance Agent is a great solution! Your Agent can either advocate on your behalf with your current Insurance Carrier, or, find another Homeowner’s policy at a lower rate.
Credit Score. Insurance Carriers use a specific “Insurance Score” to predict the likelihood of a future claim. The Insurance Score is different than your Credit Score, but uses similar methodology to create a score based on multiple data points. Generally speaking, if you have good credit, then you’ll have a good Insurance Score. But the Insurance Score is out of your control unlike your consumer credit score. With a consumer score, in the event of an error on your credit report that impacts your score, Federal Regulations permit you to dispute the error and work on restoring your good score. Your Insurance Score, on the other hand, is an unknown to the consumer. To prevent arriving at a lower Insurance Score, monitoring and maintaining your consumer Credit Score is important. Find out more at the Federal Trade Commission website here.
Construction Costs. Your Homeowners Insurance coverage is based on a calculation to repair or rebuild your home in the event of damage or disaster. Therefore, the costs of materials and labor specific to your area can impact the calculation of those repair/rebuild costs. If your local construction costs have increased due to market conditions, then it is a good likelihood your Insurance Premium can increase also. The good news is that your Independent Insurance Agent can review your entire policy. We recommend a Twice-Yearly Review to determine if there are other areas of your policy where you can derive savings to offset any such increase in your annual premium.
One of the most popular reasons for a rate increase is…..drum roll: “State Filed Rate Increase“. The insurance carrier will file a request with the state to allow for an increase on their policies that affect all policyholders. The only way around this is to call your independent insurance agent so they can shop other carriers who are competitive. Even after a filed rate increase, most insurance companies will eventually revamp their product portfolio to be more competitive. It’s basically a vicious circle.

Bottom Line: Reduce your anger, panic, and anxiety from an increase in your insurance premium by contacting your Independent Insurance Agent for the best and most expert guidance.

Contact our team at Vargas & Vargas Insurance to learn more about the benefits reviewing your insurance portfolio and what other options you have to reduce this emotional event.

Is Twice Yearly Too Often?

Posted on December 24, 2019December 17, 2019 by cvargas

It’s often said that “insurance is boring.” This notion probably leads many consumers to avoid communicating with their Independent Insurance Agent unless absolutely necessary.

Three “absolutely necessary” moments come immediately to mind:

Increased Premium notification
Notice to cancel
A Claim

While you can only minimize your chances of ever having to make a claim on your insurance policy with smart, proactive and risk-aversion thinking, you can eliminate the first two instances of speaking with with your Agent.

The simple way to cancel out these two dreaded tasks is to speak with your Independent Insurance Agent twice a year. You might think you can cut that down to only once a year, around the time of your renewal period coming up. But twice annually is truly the ideal scenario to deal with this otherwise “boring” task.

Checking in with your Agent in advance of renewal time allows you both to update each other on developments.

For your part, you get to share news of:
* the new job
* the new child
* the vacation you’re planning
* the new jewelry or artwork
* the new addition to your home you’re planning.

Your Agent may find this information fascinating and entertaining, but, more importantly your Agent can react to your news with important information on how these wonderful developments can affect your overall insurance plan. And that call becomes worth its weight in gold. Because your Agent can then review your current policies for how those policies cover your new life developments.

If there are any challenges encountered therein, the kind that could affect a premium at renewal time, or worse, offer the carrier an opportunity to cancel the policy, your Agent has the chance to get out in front of the problem.

While you’re busy sharing wonderful developments, your Agent can also update you on any developments in the insurance realm that can either affect your current policies in a negative fashion (again, anticipating problems before they arise at renewal time), or potentially save you money by changing the coverages, policies, or even insurance carriers.

It’s not boring when you’re saving money and improving your insurance coverage. Make that call to your Independent Insurance Agent.
Twice. Every year.

Please schedule a call with us to discuss your policy portfolio to ensure you have adequate coverage at an affordable price.

Invite Your Neighbors to The Party

Posted on December 17, 2019December 11, 2019 by cvargas

Do you know the old advice about throwing a party when you’re the new kid in town? Yes, it’s housewarming time and you’re so happy and you invite all your friends over to celebrate. But you don’t want to annoy your new neighbors, do you? It’s no good getting on the bad side of your neighbors when you’re the newbie on the street/floor.

The old advice about just such a moment is to invite those very same neighbors! That’s right, don’t just invite your friends, invite the neighbors, the people who aren’t your friends. (Hopefully some day they will be, but that’s another story altogether)

The idea behind this wisdom is that, if your party gets a little loud, your neighbors can’t possibly complain to you by banging on your door, or, worse, by calling the police. How can they complain about your party when you invited them in the first place? They could easily have accepted your invitation, and could just as easily be enjoying themselves with all the other revelers and getting to know you, their new neighbor too.

Take that advice a step further when you’re going to get some serious construction or landscaping work done on your home. Invite the neighbors, in a manner of speaking.

Let’s say you hired a tree company to come in and remove several large trees. You know the crew is going to arrive early in the morning. And you know it’s going to get loud out there very quickly, between chainsaws, falling trees, workers yelling, and, oh, the wood chipper blasting!

Why leave it to chance that your neighbors are going to be annoyed by this early morning noise? Let them know in advance about the work, either with a notecard you leave on their door, or a nice letter in the mail, or by knocking on the door, and introducing yourself. You might even invite them to stop by for a cup of coffee to watch the trees come down!

There’s a lot to be said about tranquility in your neighborhood, and this is a great way to promote that, and make some new friends in the process. So, when you’re getting major repair work or landscaping work done at your house, invite the neighbors!

When was the last time you reviewed your insurance portfolio. Please schedule a call with us to discuss your policies.

Keep Your Homeowner Policy Safe

Posted on December 10, 2019December 2, 2019 by cvargas

Dangers are abound in even the simplest of repair situations, so steer clear of the contractor’s work zone.

When you hire the right contractor to do repairs or renovations or maintenance at your home, you want to maintain a respectful distance from their work area.

The contractor has been trained and, through long experience, knows how to maintain a safe work zone for themselves. When you intrude across the boundaries of that zone, you introduce an unexpected variable in the contractors work process.

And that is when it can get messy. Be prudent when you’re hiring a contractor. How?

Request evidence of insurance.

Speaking of safety and experience, don’t forget to collect the necessary certificates of insurance from your contractors. If anything happens on your property, you don’t want to give anyone any reason to abnegate responsibility to seek remedy for their injuries under YOUR homeowners insurance policy.

Yes, you read that right.

If your state doesn’t require Workers Compensation coverage, the Homeowners policy could apply to cover lawsuits filed by an injured worker or to pay for medical expenses incurred if they don’t file a lawsuit.

While the work area may appear to you to be perfectly safe, it is after all, your house and you know your house better than anyone, you still cannot anticipate hazards known all too well to the contractor through their possible training and experience.

Respect the contractors’ work zone and, if you have a coffee or other tasty treats to share, let the contractor know where you’ve placed it easily accessible in your kitchen. Then the contractor can enter the work zone and you can be comfortable the premises are safe.

Please schedule a call with us to discuss the very complicated process of your homeowners policy being exposed compared to the contractors’ workers compensation policy.

You want to ensure that your homeowners policy is updated and accurate to protect you in the event hired workers do not provide proof of insurance.

To Escrow or Not To Escrow?

Posted on December 3, 2019December 1, 2019 by cvargas

Many Homeowners have an escrow account for their mortgage payment. The purpose of the escrow account is to maintain a balance of funds the mortgage lender uses to pay bills on behalf of the Homeowner such as property taxes and insurance.

Many other Homeowners do not have an escrow account, even if they have a mortgage; they pay their own taxes and insurance directly.

Not every mortgage program requires that a Homeowner maintain an escrow account. The general rules are the following for an escrow requirement:

Down payment less than 25% at time of purchase
Government Insured mortgage (FHA, VA), regardless of down payment at time of purchase

If your mortgage is not a Government-insured mortgage, and your down payment is less than 25% you still have the option to request a “waiver” of the escrow account requirement. Sometimes a lender will charge a premium—usually in the points paid—to waive the escrow requirement.

There is one primary benefit to having your property taxes and insurance included in an escrow account. This is the monthly budgeting benefit. Since the taxes and insurance escrow is included in your mortgage payment, then the mortgage payment is the only budget item you need to plan for.

But there’s an important negative aspect to an escrow account. The “set it and forget it” mentality that can easily set in. That is, since your Homeowner’s insurance is included in your mortgage, many Homeowners not only forget to review their insurance on an annual basis to determine savings on premiums, but these same Homeowners often have no idea of the amount of their annual insurance premium, including when the premium increases.

If you have the opportunity to remove at least your Homeowners Insurance from your escrow account, you should do so. This control allows you to discuss your insurance twice every year with your Independent Insurance Agent to lower your premiums and to take advantage of any developments that can improve the quality of your insurance coverage.

The process to remove your Homeowners Insurance from your escrow account can be difficult but is worth the effort. Contact your mortgage servicing lender today to find out if this option is available to you.

Lower Mills Holiday

Posted on November 29, 2019December 1, 2019 by cvargas

Holiday Travel Turmoil

Posted on November 26, 2019November 25, 2019 by cvargas

This week marks the busiest travel holiday of the year. Historically, the statistics prove that millions are driving and flying this week to celebrate with loved ones for this upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.

With this busy travel season comes delays and frustration. If it’s not the weather, then it’s crowded airlines, bus terminals and congested highways. If that doesn’t promote stress, I’m not sure what does. In fact,

Depending on where you are located and to where you are traveling, you could be facing inclement weather such as snow, freezing rain, and sleet creating slippery roads. And even if the dangerous, delaying weather isn’t where you’re located, it could be brewing at your destination location. Or, if you’re flying, then bad weather elsewhere in the country can affect your flight departures/arrivals, even in sunny climes.

Many are used to traveling and many are used to purchasing insurance. When was the last time you considered purchasing travel insurance. Yes, it’s a thing and it has saved clients hundreds and thousands of dollars from canceled and upended travel plans.

Depending on the type of policy, travel Insurance may cover accident and sickness medical expenses, emergency medical evacuation/repatriation, trip delays, cancellation, interruption, missed connections due to severe weather and a host of other reasons beyond the traveler’s control.

During this busy travel season, reduce your stress. Take control of something within your control: minimizing lost costs of what would have otherwise been a joyful trip.

It should be noted that one of the drawbacks is you must plan your travel insurance protection ahead. Many travel insurance carriers, depending on the type of coverage they offer, must booked at the time the trip is booked.

Call us today to review how your travel plans can be saved.

Does Your Renters Insurance Cover Stolen Packages?

Posted on November 21, 2019November 21, 2019 by cvargas

Most renters insurance policies cover replacement items everywhere, not just at your home. This includes items stolen off your porch or in front of your door. It also covers your laptop if your friend douses it in a latte at the coffee bar. It will even cover luggage that you may have lost on vacation.

woman receiving a package at her front door — Protect your packages with renters insurance and knowledge about your carrier’s claim processes.

However, one thing to consider is the deductible. Some deductibles are either $500.00 or $1,000.00. Since a renter has to pay the deductible, is it even worth filing a claim? If it was a $1,200.00 laptop or television, then it’s worth your time and the cost of the deductible. But if it was a $30.00 child’s toy, it may not be worth your time.

What Steps Should You Take If Something Is Stolen from Your Porch?

Research shows that over 25 million people have packages stolen every year. The majority of carriers have a package tracking system, so you can determine if it was stolen or just delayed. Along with renters insurance, you can use company claims policies to protect both your large and small deliveries. Each carrier has different rules:

United States Postal Service

USPS makes you wait seven days to file a claim. They need to know the sender and recipient addresses, tracking number, package dimensions, and a description of the package’s contents.

Always remember to insure the package. Without this step, the only thing you get back is the cost of the shipping.

FedEx

FedEx lets you or the seller file a claim. They typically cover up to the lesser of $100.00 of the total shipment value or the total amount that you insured it for. FedEx processes claims quickly, so you should receive a payment within a week of filing.

United Parcel Service (UPS)

UPS also has a claim process for lost packages. UPS has online procedures for both lost and damaged packages. You can begin the filing process if you don’t have your package within 24 hours of the anticipated delivery time.

Amazon

Amazon’s A to Z Guarantee for Buyers covers up to $2,500.00 of the purchase price. First, you must contact the seller for a refund. If they are unwilling to work with you, then you can file a claim. However, you must file the claim between 15 and 90 days from the purchase date. If the claim is accepted, you can get a full refund up to the 2,500.00 limit.

If you frequently have packages delivered to your apartment or rented home, or you’re worried about your belongings, renters insurance can help. Contact our team at Vargas & Vargas Insurance to learn more about the benefits of a renters insurance policy from a local service provider.

Flashback Blog: Boston is No Stranger to Fire

Posted on November 19, 2019November 16, 2019 by cvargas

The city of Boston has been destroyed by large blazes multiple times. The first devastation of fire occurred in 1631; just one year after Boston was officially established.

Here are a few tips to keep you from having to file a fire damage claim on your home insurance.

The first thing you should cement in your mind is to never leave a flame burning where it cannot be seen. Enjoying an aromatherapy session with some scented candles? Even if you need to leave the room for just a moment, blow them out. You never know if something will delay or distract you from returning immediately.

Keep pets, especially agile cats, away from lit candles, scented oil burners, and other open flames. They could bump or knock over the materials, causing a fire that could have been avoided. On the same train of thought, teach your children proper fire safety. Flames and the resulting smoke can be very dangerous.

In case a fire does occur, despite your best efforts to handle flames safely, make sure you have up to date insurance in Boston, MA. Boston boasts median home values above $100,000.

Without coverage, how would you repair or rebuild your home after a fire ravaged your property? Avoid this potential financial burden by requesting a free insurance estimate today and putting your coverage in place.

With Vargas & Vargas Insurance, you can get the coverage you need for your home. Click here to contact us today for more information!

Vargas & Vargas Insurance

Our Company

Author: cvargas