An Office Divided

Anyone that knows anyone who works at Spalding Insurance Agency knows that we love our sports. More than anything we love our college sports. We have a whole onslaught of fans within the office ranging from Spartan fans to Wolverines.

You can pretty much draw a line down the middle of the office and each side would be equally divided.The two agency owners are divided between our two B1G Universities. Jon is an avid Spartan fan(Alabama too) while Bob Jr. sets is allegiance with the Wolverines.  Joining Jon as a Spartan fan are our CSR's ,Janean and Brenda, from our East Lansing office and Joyce from the Perry branch. While Bob Jr. is joined with CSR, Rosie, from our Perry office and myself (Ryan).

So here we are, in uncharted territories for most of the office. As we lead up to the Final Four, the Michigan fans will enjoy this week and live with anticipation for Saturday. Something our Spartan counterparts have had the luxury of doing a lot over the past decade.

Going away on Spring Break?

Spring has rolled around and that means one thing for a lot of families, SPRING BREAK. A chance to get out of the cold and head to a sunny oasis for a week.

I remember growing up and whenever we were going on a family vacation we didn't go around broadcasting that our home was going to be vacant for an extended time. Why? Well living in a small town, news tends to travel pretty quickly and if the word got around to the wrong crowd that our home was going to be empty for a long time, we knew that is a burglars dream.

Fast forward to the year 2013, now we tell the whole world that we are going on vacation through social media. So how can we continue to share our vacation experiences with our friends and family while still being cautious about who sees this information? Here are some tips:

1) Make sure your privacy settings on social media sites are restricted to private. This allows for you to share information only with the people you want to share information with, not the entire world.

2) Don't give people a timetable of how long you will be gone or that your home is vacant. The worst thing to do is to let people know when you are leaving or when you will be coming home.

3) Consider making a fake post thanking a friend or family member for house sitting while you are away/

4) Ask a neighbor or friend to check up on your home and make sure that everything still seems to be in order.

5) Don't be shy about leaving an interior light on in the home, this shows potential intruders that someone is still occupying the residence.

Hopefully these tips will give you the peace of mind that you can still share your vacation with your friends and family via social media without worrying about coming home to a nightmare.

Travel Safely!

Spalding Insurance Agency is an independent agency with two locations in mid-Michigan to service you. We wish we were going on your vacation with you. For a quote on your personal or business insurance click here.

Why I Could Care Less How Much You Currently Pay for Insurance.

Looking for an insurance quote? Well if you call Spalding Insurance Agency I can tell you one thing, we do not care what you currently pay! That might sound rude but let me explain to you why.

Reason #1: We are going to give you the best premium with the best coverage options that we have available, no matter what. As an independent agency we have access to 4 of Michigan’s finest insurance companies. Each one of these companies offers great coverage, financial stability, and pricing. 

Reason #2: Some people think that the insurance industry just makes up our pricing on the go and by telling me what you currently pay, I am automatically going to be able to beat your current premium. This of course is not true. The rates are determined at the company level and I have no saying on what you pay. I can of course influence your rate by finding out and using the insurance discounts that you qualify for. 

So if you’re looking for an auto or home insurance quote and give Spalding Insurance Agency a try, we don’t really have any interest in what you’re currently paying. We will always give you are best. 

What is an Umbrella?

It is hard to change the channel as Umbrella by Rihanna  comes on to your favorite radio station. The song is so catchy it is nearly impossible to not sing along with the chorus.

A lot of people do not know that the insurance industry has our very own version of an Umbrella. The sad truth is, for the majority of people, an umbrella is a policy they know nothing about or don’t think they need

.

So what is an umbrella?

An umbrella is a policy that provides liability coverage for you above the limits you carry on your auto and homeowner’s insurance. It offers protection for you against liability claims or judgments.

Why is this coverage important? 

Sadly, we live in a world that lawsuits are not uncommon. There are plenty of instances in which you might be dragged into a lawsuit, legitimate or frivolous. The biggest question is, can you afford the potential damages awarded to a victim of a lawsuit you were dragged into?

Not always the other family!

A lot of people wonder how often an umbrella policy is even needed. Bad things in life happen daily and like my mom always told me “it’s not always happening to other people.”

Prime Example

Bob and Jane (fictitious names) were an older couple driving home from a weekend up in Traverse City. Driving down U.S. 127 right before the I-69 interchange they hit a bad storm. Bob lost control of the vehicle and it rolled into the ditch. Sadly, his wife Jane did not survive the accident.

Sometime after the funeral Bob was served with papers stating that his children were filing a wrongful death lawsuit against him for the death of their mother. The court awarded the children a settlement that exceeded the liability limits that Bob had on his auto insurance policy.

We had an Umbrella policy in place for Bob that picked up the damages where his auto insurance limits ran out. The umbrella picked up the remaining balance and Bob, already emotionally damaged, was not financially ruined.

Should I Carry an Umbrella? 

Yes, everyone should carry an umbrella policy. For as little as $12 a month you can purchase an extra $1 million worth of liability coverage. Plus, if you have Auto-Owners insurance you qualify for a 5% discount on your home and auto insurance policies.

How a MIP or Open Intox Affects Your Car Insurance.

I was working with a new client( they were still a prospective client at this time) a few weeks ago on an auto insurance quote when we hit a potential snag that a lot of people do not know about.

DUIs and DWIs are not the only alcohol related incidents that will play a role in your insurance premiums. Although those are the most commonly known violations, a Minor in Possession (MIP) and Open Intoxicant play an equal role in determining your insurance premiums.

The client and I had talked about his policy and we were in the final step, pulling driving histories for everyone in the household. Upon pulling the driving reports it was discovered that his son at college had registered an open intox for walking on the sidewalk with an open can of beer. The client had known of this incident and in his eyes he had no reason to inform me of this misdemeanor. Which would normally be true for a violation such as a parking ticket but not in this case.

Whenever an alcohol related incident is reported to the State it is automatically attached to your driving report, whether you’re in a vehicle or not. So unbeknownst to the father, this incident was actually a pretty big deal. 

Luckily we were able to work everything out but there was a drastic change in premium. 

Please share with your friends and family. It might be a heads up or an important reminder that all alcohol related incidents will play a role in their auto insurance 

Violations and Your Car Insurance

When you come to Spalding Insurance to request a quote, one of the questions we will ask you is about your driving history in the last 5 years.

Typically when we ask someone this question there is going to be a lot of hemming and hawing about how they want to answer this question. (Answering this question honestly is important, we are going to provide you with a quote based on the information you are providing)

After a minute or so the person might list off a couple of violations, a speeding ticket here or a blown stop sign there. They will tell us "all" that they have on their record and proceed to ask one of the two following questions.

1) How long do those points stay on my insurance?

2) How many points do I have?

While both of those questions are legitimate, there is no uniform response. Both questions rely on pretty much two determining factors:

1) Was the ticket for a major or minor violation?

2) What company are you with or going to be placed with? Remember, Spalding Insurance, is an independent agency and  we represent several companies. All companies view violations differently (major vs minor) and the length in which they stay on your record. We have companies that go back 35 months, 36 months, or 50 months. It all just depends on how severe they consider the violation. 

Before the Loss: Homeowners and Renters

I recently had the chance to move and with moving comes one of my favorite activities: purging.Now I am not saying my wife and I are hoarders but like everyone, we accumulate a lot of stuff over the years. 

35% of the stuff we had in our home I had either forgot about or most likely wouldn't remember we owned if we suffered a total loss. Why is this a problem? Lets pretend a loss occurs, such as a fire. The insurance adjuster gets in touch with you and wants a list of everything in your home destroyed by the fire. So you start to make a list and before you know it, you have everything you remember down. 

Well a few months down the road you go to use your waffle maker because you love waffles and only make them on special occasions. Problem is you forgot you had a waffle maker that was destroyed in the fire. So instead of enjoying your waffles you become frustrated as this is just one of the several dozen items you forgotabout whilst making your list. 

Since 99% of us will only remember 65% of the stuff we own, I always advise clients to document all that they own, as a way to avoid waffle maker mishaps. 

A few great ways to document what you own:

1) Make an Excel spreadsheet with each item that is in your home. Go room by room and get a good idea of exactly what is in the room and the approximate cost to replace it. If you can, be specific, get the makes and models of items.  Save this file and e-mail it to yourself, this way if your computer is destroyed in the loss, you will still have access to this information. 

2) Take photos of everything you own. This might not mean everything but go to your closet and snap a few photos. Walk around your place and take photos of the rooms from various angles showing all four corners and the room's contents. For higher priced items, such as electronics, appliances, or  furniture make sure you take photos of the brands. Again, e-mail these photos to yourself.

3) Make a video. Walk around the house with your camcorder (they still have those, right?) and capture all of your belongings.  I am sure a lot of people will not use a camcorder, as smartphones are highly capable too, but it is still important to either e-mail yourself this video or store this information in a place protected from potential perils. 

Being prepared with this information before the loss will greatly reduce the stress you might feel after it. 

Have a recommendation for another way to track everything in your home/condo/apartment? Leave a comment.