Top 10 Things People Forget to Tell Their Insurance Agent
(And why they matter)
Life can move pretty fast and is often full of changes. Calling your insurance agent when changes occur isn't always at the forefront of everyone's mind, but it's important to give us a heads up to make sure you're properly covered. Below are the top ten things people forget to tell their insurance agent that could affect their coverage and why:
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Started working from home
Most home insurance policies have a limitation for property used in the home for business, and an even lower limitation for those items brought off the premises. Also if you have clients coming to your home you will need additional coverage for liability if they should slip and fall.
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Kids went off to college
Kids went off to college – Are they living on campus, or renting an apartment off campus? If they are living off campus in an apartment you may be able to add a rider to your home policy to cover their belongings and liability or they may need a separate renters policy. Did they bring a vehicle with them, depending on your insurance company they may need to know where the vehicle is going to be kept for the school season.
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Remodeled their home
If you have added square footage or updated the features of your home there is a good chance you might not have enough coverage on your homeowners policy if you should suffer a loss.
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Acquired a new valuable (jewelry, gun, fur, etc.)
Most homeowner policies have a limitation for such items, if someone should break into your home and steal all your jewelry, firearms, furs, etc. you may not have enough coverage with this limited amount provided in the policy. Scheduling these items with an appraisal would not only take care of this but also provide you coverage if you should happen to lose or misplace the item.
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Purchased new property
New properties are not covered by your existing policies for liability or damage to any structures on it. Please contact us right away to discuss your new property.
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Taking an international trip
Before you book your trip contact us for information on Travel or Travel Medical Insurance. The best plan options are available when you purchase this coverage within 20 days of booking the trip.
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New teen driver
Newly licensed drivers need to be added to your auto policy once they obtain a driver’s license. If your new teen driver should happen to get into an accident and you did not add them to your policy you could possibly encounter a denial of coverage, or require you pay all the back premium from the date the child was licensed all at once. Also don’t forget to advise your agent if your child has taken driver’s education, or is on the honor roll for applicable discounts.
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Put their home in a trust
If you have placed your home in a trust this means you as the individual no longer own the home, the trust does. Your homeowners insurance policy must have listed the actual owner of the property either as a Named Insured or Additional Insured depending on your carrier.
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Installed a home security system
A home security system can provided you additional protective device credits on your homeowners policy.
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Started driving a company car
Most auto policies exclude vehicles that are available for your regular use. A company car would be considered available for your regular use. There is a rider that can be added on to most auto policies for a nominal fee that can give this protection back to you so if you happen to be using that company vehicle and an accident occurs you have peace of mind that if your employers policy lapsed or excludes the claim you could have your policy to fall back on.
And that's just the top ten! Take our Annual Review Questionnaire to make sure you're properly covered. If we have any questions for you, we'll certainly reach out!
