http://www.brouwersagency.com Thu, 18 Dec 2008 14:40:59 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 en http://www.brouwersagency.com/personal-insurance/collision-coverage-what-are-my-options http://www.brouwersagency.com/personal-insurance/collision-coverage-what-are-my-options#comments Thu, 04 Dec 2008 21:33:55 +0000 Mike http://www.brouwersagency.com/?p=346 On the Michigan no-fault auto insurance policy you are responsible for any physical damage to your own car. No matter who’s fault the collision is if you want your insurance company to pick up your repairs you must carry the coverage on your policy. When it comes to collision coverage there are three choices. They differ by coverage and by deductible. Your options are as follows:

Limited Collision — Limited collision gives you collision coverage if the collision was not your fault. If the collision was your fault you have no coverage for physical damage to your vehicle. Typically there is no deductible with limited collision.

Regular Collision — Regular collision, sometimes known as standard collision, gives you collision coverage for your vehicle no matter whose fault the collision is. You are subject to the deductible regardless of fault.

Broad Form Collision — Broad Form collision is almost the same as regular collision with one major difference. If you are found to be not at fault in the collision your deductible is waived. If it is your fault you are subject to the deductible.

Lets look at some examples:

Say you are stopped at a stop light and someone rear ends you. With limited collision coverage your repairs would be covered and would likely have no deductible. With regular collision your repairs would be covered, but you would have to pay your deductible. With broad form collision your repairs would be covered and you would have no deductible because it wasn’t your fault.

For a second example let’s reverse the scenario. Lets say you rear end another person while they are stopped at a traffic light. With limited collision you would have no coverage for the damage to your vehicle because it was your fault. With regular collision your repairs would be covered, but you would have to pay your deductible. With broad form collision your repairs would be covered, but because it was your fault you would have to pay your deductible.

As you can see which collision option you choose you will decide whether you have coverage and whether or not you are going to have to pay anything out of pocket. Most of our clients choose broad form collision to avoid having to pay any money if someone runs into them. No one likes to have to pay for something that they had no control over!

So which do you choose? Well that is up to you, but allow me to offer some advice. If you simply can’t afford to replace your car, I would stay away from limited collision. There is always the chance you could run into someone and if your car is totaled you’d be out of luck. As for choosing between broad form and regular, if you’re OK paying the deductible even when it’s not your fault go with regular as it is usually less expensive. If you’d rather not pay a deductible when someone smashed into you, go with broad form.

]]> http://www.brouwersagency.com/personal-insurance/collision-coverage-what-are-my-options/feed http://www.brouwersagency.com/personal-insurance/vacant-house-insurance http://www.brouwersagency.com/personal-insurance/vacant-house-insurance#comments Tue, 02 Dec 2008 16:37:50 +0000 Mike http://www.brouwersagency.com/?p=337 Is your house for sale?  Are you still living in it?  Maybe not, maybe you’ve moved out of your house and into your new dream home.  Now your old house is just sitting there, empty.  Sure, you’ve locked it up, kept the heat on, and shut off the water.  You’ve asked the neighbors to keep an eye on the house while you’re not there.  But have you notified your insurance agent?  The standard homeowners insurance policy is not designed for vacant houses.  There are many exclusions in your home insurance policy that drastically limit your coverage if your home becomes vacant.

Lets look at an example.  After your house has been vacant for a few months you go back to get something you left in the attic.  While there you notice that someone has gotten into your house through a broken window and damaged the interior.  The carpet is ruined, the drywall is broken, and there is mud and rain throughout the home.  Your first instinct would be to call the police and then probably your insurance agent.  But are you sure you’re even covered?  If the home has been vacant it’s very likely there would be no coverage.  What if there was subsequent mold damage?  It’s unlikely that would be covered either.  You could be on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars in repairs before even factoring in the length of time it will sit on the market un-showable while it’s being repaired.

So what do you do?  Prior to moving out of your home you should notify your independent insurance agent.  He or she will notify your insurance company and get you set up with a policy that is designed for vacant homes.  Yes it is likely to cost you more than your standard home insurance policy, but what’s the point in paying for a policy that doesn’t even cover you?

It may sound like something that could never happen, but we’re constantly seeing houses burn down that were unoccupied.  An event like this could be tragic to your financial future.  If the house burns down and you have no coverage the mortgage comapny will still want their money.  So now, are you sure you’re covered?]]> http://www.brouwersagency.com/personal-insurance/vacant-house-insurance/feed http://www.brouwersagency.com/personal-insurance/mcca-fee-michigan-no-fault-auto-insurance http://www.brouwersagency.com/personal-insurance/mcca-fee-michigan-no-fault-auto-insurance#comments Tue, 14 Oct 2008 18:42:11 +0000 Mike http://www.brouwersagency.com/?p=311 Every few weeks or so we get this question: What is this MCCA fee that I see on my Michigan No-Fault Auto Insurance Policy?

MCCA stands for Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association. This association reimburses insurance companies for auto accident related medical claims that exceed $440,000 (as of July 1st, 2008). In the state of Michigan your medical benefits are unlimited if you’re injured in an auto accident and the MCCA makes sure that insurance companies don’t have to pay more than $440,000 of the damages.

The MCCA fee is the portion that you pay per vehicle to keep this association going. It’s required on every vehicle in Michigan and the rate is set by the MCCA and periodically adjusted to cover expenses. Vehicles registered as Historic in Michigan are subject to a reduced MCCA fee.
]]> http://www.brouwersagency.com/personal-insurance/mcca-fee-michigan-no-fault-auto-insurance/feed http://www.brouwersagency.com/personal-insurance/personal-property-coverage-what-are-my-options http://www.brouwersagency.com/personal-insurance/personal-property-coverage-what-are-my-options#comments Fri, 10 Oct 2008 19:37:16 +0000 Mike http://www.brouwersagency.com/?p=299 Your home insurance policy includes coverage for your personal property. Big deal, you knew that. You probably even knew that you wanted to have “replacement cost coverage,” whatever that is. But what a lot of people don’t understand is that they have options as to what their personal property is covered against.

Each policy and each company is different, so you should always talk to your independent agent regarding your specific coverage, but essentially there are two options available for your personal property coverage.

The first is the coverage available on the standard HO-3 policy. With this coverage your personal property coverage is limited to the listed perils in the policy. If your loss is on that list you’re set, if not you have no coverage.

The second option is available with the HO-5 policy, or by adding the special personal property endorsement to your standard policy. This coverage expands your personal property coverage so that you are covered for anything that could happen EXCEPT a short list of exclusions. If you have a loss to your personal property you simply consult your policy, if the loss is not excluded you have coverage. Clearly this is the better coverage because there are so few exclusions.

A couple of examples:

• Lets say you spill bleach on your couch and it has to be replaced. If you had a standard un-endorsed home policy you would look at your policy and see that spilling bleach is not one of the listed perils, so you would have no coverage. If you had the HO-5 policy or the special personal property coverage endorsement you would look at your policy and see that spilling bleach is not excluded so you would have coverage!
• Lets say the power company sends a power surge through the lines and it fries your T.V. and stereo. If you had a standard un-endorsed home policy you would look at your policy and see that your electronics are not covered for that type of peril so you would have no coverage. If you had an HO-5 policy or the special personal property endorsement you would look at your policy and notice there is no exclusion for such an act, so you would have coverage!

As you can see there is greater potential for an uncovered loss if you have a policy without the special personal property endorsement. The good news is that it’s easily remediated by calling your independent insurance agent. At The Brouwers Agency we’re readily available to discuss your homeowners insurance needs. Give us a call, toll-free: 1.866.359.0970.

]]> http://www.brouwersagency.com/personal-insurance/personal-property-coverage-what-are-my-options/feed http://www.brouwersagency.com/personal-insurance/personal-umbrella-coverage http://www.brouwersagency.com/personal-insurance/personal-umbrella-coverage#comments Wed, 01 Oct 2008 20:29:19 +0000 Mike http://www.brouwersagency.com/blog/?p=4 In my opinion a personal umbrella policy is probably the most underutilized and yet most important insurance policies someone can purchase. In today’s litigious society the common limits on a home or auto policy are often times inadequate. The best way to remedy that exposure is with a personal umbrella policy.

Many people don’t know what an umbrella is or why you would need one. Let me offer a short explanation. Let’s say you’re driving down the East Beltline and you are involved in an accident in which you are at fault and the other person is seriously injured. In this situation you could be sued. It’s very possible that the settlement could be more than your auto policy liability limits (what if you hit a doctor and he’s no longer able to work?). In that situation your personal umbrella would pick up the amount above and beyond your auto policy limits (up to your limit, of course).

The same goes for your home insurance. If someone is injured on your property and they sue you for more than your policy limits, without an umbrella you could be stuck holding the bag (think: assets, future wages, etc). With a $1,000,000 umbrella policy starting at around $125 per year in West Michigan its really amazing that most people don’t carry this policy. It’s almost inexcusable!

I came across two great umbrella articles recently that explain the coverage much more elegantly than I can:

One from CNN.com

and one from The New York Times

There’s a lot of really great information in the articles. Take a look!

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