SUMMER SEASON INSURANCE TOPICS
BY ALAN PLAFKER, PRESIDENT & CEO
MEMBER BROKERAGE SERVICE LLC
A MELROSE CREDIT UNION SERVICE ORGANIZATION
Swimming, swimming
A swimming pool can be a rewarding addition to a backyard. It offers a place for family to gather, and provides fun and excitement for children and adults alike. Whether you currently have a pool or are preparing to have one installed, there are a number of important considerations to be aware of.
Notify your Agent. It is extremely important that a homeowner who is considering installing a pool, or purchasing property with a pool on it notify us. We can help advise you on the insurance aspects such as maintaining adequate limits. Often, a standard homeowners policy serves as the first layer of coverage for a home with a pool, but is not sufficient to fully cover a homeowner. The knowledge that a swimming pool is enjoyable is not restricted to the homeowner and the residents of the household. Swimming pools are frequently deemed by courts to be unusually attractive to children. Accordingly, homeowners cannot simply post a "no trespassing sign" and assume they have insulated themselves from liability. Because of the elevated risk of liability a conversation with a professional insurance agent can ensure that you have the proper layers of coverage to protect yourself and anyone who may be injured at the pool.
Local codes & permits. Most, if not all, municipalities strictly regulate the construction of pools. Installing a private swimming pool is a significant construction project. Accordingly, the plan must be approved by the local building inspector or the authority that has jurisdiction over such construction. A pool that is not constructed to code may fall outside of an insurance company's underwriting guidelines, and cause significant issues with insurability.
Assuming that a pool already is constructed properly, the owner of the pool must comply with a number of safety measures. Frequently, local municipal governments are the entities that enact laws that address this issue. The requirements for barriers, fences, gates, latches and the means of direct entry into a pool area are designed to provide protection against accidental drowning, particularly, for small children. These can be the requirements of the town or locality where the pool is located. Your insurance carrier may demand additional safeguards, or may seek evidence that these safeguards were installed properly and have been maintained adequately. To ensure your coverage is not affected make sure your agent is aware of all the safeguards you have installed.
Travel insurance
Vacations represent a significant investment both financially and emotionally. A disastrous getaway can sap your mood and your wallet severely. Most vacationers forgo purchasing travel insurance coverage for their trips because they are not familiar with the practice, or have the attitude that "It won't happen to me." However, unfortunate events are anything but a rarity while abroad. Bags get lost. Flights are cancelled. Work or family life can interfere. Serious illnesses can result from something as simple as drinking the local water as anyone who's been to Mexico can tell you.
Most people have a few weeks a year to escape from the everyday stresses of work and home life. To let any of that time slip through your grasp and with nothing available to console you for your loss would be a shame. Travel insurance can dramatically soften the blow of a getaway gone wrong.
The four main types of travel insurance include:
The first option is useful when booking trips far in advance. Six months from now a family member could become seriously ill, the office might be in crisis, or the cruise line or tour operator with whom you booked the trip could fold. Policies usually cost about 5-7 percent of the insured value.
As for lost baggage and stolen belongings, some homeowners and renters policies will cover the theft. For those who don't already have such protection items can be covered at reasonable rates.
For vacationers who like to stay active and do some adventuring during their trip, emergency medical assistance and accidental death coverage are prudent. Skiing, swimming in the ocean, hiking and other common vacation activities can result in serious injury. Some health care companies offer coverage while abroad, but if it's not included an emergency medical assistance policy can pay for time spent in a foreign hospital. The cost of flying home as a sick passenger can be pricey also as some airlines required the infirmed to fly on a stretcher while accompanied by a doctor. Similarly, should the unthinkable occur, an accidental death policy can keep financial concerns from adding to your or your companions' grief. Again, many life insurance policies will cover such a scenario, but it is not a given.
Most everyone's goal on vacation is to forget their worries for a while, to kick back and enjoy themselves. However, to be truly
carefree one must be prepared. With the necessary travel insurance policies you can spend your vacation time feeling justifiably liberated and refreshed.
Did you know…
The horrible earthquakes in Japan reminds us about how vulnerable our own homes may be in the event of an earthquake. While we have the good fortune to be able to buy earthquake insurance for our homes there are some things you should know about this type of coverage. First and foremost, earthquakes in the United States are not covered under standard homeowners policies. You'll have to buy a separate policy.
The potential cost of earthquakes has been grown because of increasing urban development in seismically active areas and the vulnerability of older buildings which may not have been built or upgraded to current building codes. In the United States about 5,000 earthquakes strike each year. Since 1900, earthquakes have occurred in 39 states and caused damage in all 50. The potential damage and cost of earthquakes is increasing all the time because there is simply more building and development in risky areas.
While the United States experiences only 2 percent of the world's earthquakes, some 90 percent of its population lives in seismically active areas. Some of the most vulnerable cities include: major metro areas in California, Seattle, Portland, New York City, Salt Lake City and St. Louis.
Call your agency with any questions on your insurance policies and for information on earthquake coverage. We will help make sure you have the coverage you need at a price you can afford.
Drivers get more accident mercy
Grace is when you get what you don't deserve and mercy is when you don't get what you deserve. Thanks to Chapter 277 of the Laws of 2010, drivers will be getting a little more mercy for accidents in which they were at fault. Before Nov. 27, 2010, an insurer was permitted to surcharge the premium of a driver for causing property damage in an auto accident when the aggregate amount of those damages exceeded $1,000, and it was the driver's first accident in the experience period filed by the insurer with the New York State Insurance Department (typically, going back three years). The threshold now has been increased to $2,000 by legislation sponsored by the professional insurance association we belong to thereby adding another $1,000 cushion of mercy.
Note that there is no dollar threshold for the first accident where an injury has occurred. You will be surcharged for your first at-fault bodily injury accident no matter how much or how little your insurer paid as a result. For those accidents where you are not at fault you should not have a surcharge imposed regardless of the amount of property damages or injuries incurred. These include certain accidents specified in regulation such as those that occurred while your vehicle was lawfully parked when struck from behind or a hit-and-run accident.
We know that auto insurance rating appears complicated and confusing. This is why you need the best services available. Please consult with your agent when the rating of your policy does not make sense to you.
Lending your vehicle
On occasion you may have allowed another person to drive your car. Did you ever give thought to whether that person was insured while driving it? Maybe you were the one who borrowed a car and you are wondering is you were insured while driving it. The good news is that, in most cases, the owner's insurance is providing coverage for the borrowing driver and the borrowing driver's insurance also is providing coverage for the borrower.
Your insurance policy covers anyone who operates your car as long as they have permission. When someone steals the car the insurance policy excludes coverage for injuries and property damage caused by that person. However, with the appropriate comprehensive (or other-than-collision) coverage there will be coverage for damage to your car caused by the thief.
You should know that there are some activities associated with anyone's use of your car that are not covered. There is no coverage for someone using the car to transport people or property for hire (taxicab). Also, there is no coverage for someone using the car in a garage business. For example, someone parking your car (parking garage or valet service) is not covered. Neither is there coverage for someone working at an auto mechanic shop (Jiffy Lube attendant).
If the person driving the car is covered by the owner's policy this coverage will pay first. Once those limits are exhausted the borrowing driver's policy will begin to pay damages up to its limits. However, if the car is regularly available to the borrower there will be no coverage on the borrower's policy. The limits on the owner's policy will have to suffice.
Since your policy covers people driving your car with permission, such as friends or family, you will want to use some discretion before giving your permission. Remember, it will be your rates that are affected by an accident.
When in doubt about coverage for the use of your car please give your agent a call. This kind of service they are trained to provide. You don't have to wonder whether you are covered or not.
Insurance agents go to school
Insurance school is where insurance agents go to get the proper education in order to obtain an insurance license. By law, all agents who sell or give insurance advice must be licensed in the type of insurance they are selling or giving advice for. Each state has its own licensing requirements, but generally insurance agents will be licensed in property/casualty insurance and/or life and health insurance.
It is important to know how your agent obtained his or her insurance license, how long he or she has had it, and if he or she get it renewed regularly. Any legally licensed insurance agent would not have a problem giving you this information. In addition, insurance agents are required by law to complete a specific number of hours of continuing education each year to maintain their license.
Remember: Insurance agents are educated by law!
Your Professional Insurance Agent…
We want you to know about the insurance you’re buying.
Alan Plafker is President of Member Brokerage Service LLC, a Melrose Credit Union Service Organization. He is a licensed Insurance Broker and serves as Treasurer on the Board of Directors the PIANY (Professional Insurance Agents Association of NY), serves on the Board of CIBGNY (Council of Insurance Brokers of Greater NY), and was appointed to the New York Independent Livery Driver Benefit Fund Board of Directors. His Agency insures thousands of polices for TLC Insurance as well as many policies for all types of insurance. You can reach him in his Briarwood, Queens office at (718) 523-1300 ext. 1082, or visit the website at: www.MemberBrokerage.com.