Summer is coming! We hope!!

Although this past week and by the looks of it, the one ahead, have been and continue to be more like mid January than mid April, summer will have to show up eventually. Even if it is for just a week or so in July!

So, my advice for this week while you are angry at the snow and ice continuing to be present this late in the year, convince yourself that summer is much closer and call to talk to your insurance agent about having your summer toys properly insured.

What could make it feel more like summer than making sure that beautiful big pontoon where you and all the kids make so many memories is protected properly? Okay, other than actually being out on it! Or, what could get you more excited for the wind blowing in your face while enjoying a windy road cruise on your motorcycle, than making sure it is insured and ready to go?

Okay, I am making the insuring of these items sound much more exciting than it may be, but it is extremely important, especially this time of the year when within a few days it may be nice enough to have them out and you don't want to wait to call your insurance agent then! So, I recommend, if you don't have your insurance set up for your summer toys, to give us a call this week and get it done, and talk to your agent about how that insurance can be left in place all year long as the companies are already adjusting the premium for the high usage times anyway.

Although it may seem far off if you look outside tonight, summer is coming soon and you want your toys ready to go! Make sure they are street or water ready and the insurance is in place! Now is the time!

April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month

Beings April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month I wanted to share a blog started by one of our carriers in relation to this topic.

This information was shared by West Bend Mutual Insurance and is staggering to think about:

Did you know that the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration designated April as “National Distracted Driving Awareness Month”? For my daughter Hannah, April will be an exciting month because she will turn 16 and is scheduled to get her driver’s license. While my wife and I are looking forward to getting some of our free time back (no more chauffeuring), we are concerned about her safety and distracted driving.
Distracted driving is a serious and growing problem in our country. Distracted driving, as defined by dictionary.com, means “driving a vehicle while engaging in an activity that has the potential to distract the driver from the task of driving.” According to DISTRACTION.GOV, the official US government website for distracted driving, 3,331 people were killed in 2011 by distracted drivers. In addition, 387,000 people were injured. This equates to 9 people killed and 1,060 people injured per day! Inexperienced drivers under the age of 20 are the most likely to be involved in these crashes.

Please spread the word with your friends and family that distracted driving is not worth it and let's work together to provide safer roads for our newly licensed driver's as well as awareness how they can help keep the roads safe for all!

Are you prepared for spring?

Here is an article notifying the public about flood insurance for this spring, are you prepared?

The state Department of Commerce is warning Minnesotans to review whether they might need flood insurance as winter heads toward spring.The agency points out that flood damage is not covered under a standard homeowner's insurance policy.Warming temperatures along with heavy snowfall totals in February and early March make flooding a strong possibility in many parts of the state.Flood insurance is a special policy offered through the National Flood Insurance Program. Consumers can check with their insurance agent to see if it's available through them.Flood insurance has a 30-day period after purchase before it becomes effective. Homeowners should also be aware whether their home falls in a 100-year floodplain or a 500-year floodplain. However, that is not a requirement in order to purchase the insurance.

Give us a call today to let us help you plan for spring. 

End of year or New Year's Eve Party Plans?

Hey everyone, amazingly enough another year is coming to a close and it is time to finalize the plans for either this weekend or Monday night. (Or for some, the party through the entire thing!) These times are always great for celebration with family and friends and can typically be completely enjoyable without incident or tragedy with a little thought and preparation.

First of all, be smart with who you are serving alcohol; I know that many times parents feel it is okay to serve alcohol to minors in their own home but my personal advice is this isn't a great practice, not considering the legal aspect but also from an insurance aspect as if an incident may occur due to the illegal service, most, if not all homeowners policies exclude acts that are performed illegally that result in liability claims.

Secondly, be smart with the amount of alcohol served! If you are allowing someone to consume more than their fair share of alcohol, it may cause problems with their attitude first off, but then it may create liability issues as well! If someone does happen to drink too much at your home, make sure to help arrange a designated driver, taxi or even let them spend the night.

This time of  year is meant to celebrate the past and be excited about the future, make the right choices so that it is purely a celebration!

From the staff at Advantage 1 Insurance, have a SAFE and Happy New Year's Eve and get ready for an exciting 2013!

Winter driving troubles! (Especially around the holidays!)

Last weekend South Dakota and Minnesota experienced a snow storm that reminded me of ones from my childhood! Lots of snow and wind and many nearly impassable roads.
Now, we all know the dangers of driving during these storms, but what about afterwards? This week has given us mild temps to induce slushy roads and large gravel and sand covered snow piles along roadways and in the middle of intersections, along with people driving the speed limit or greater to get all their holiday errands done. This creates a large number of a really ugly color tan vehicles with very minimal visibility driving at high speeds with visions of sugar plums and credit card bills in their head! It is a disaster waiting to happen! So please take extra care of keeping your windows clean and extra caution watching out for others and their bad habits!
Stay safe this holiday season and arrive at your destinations safely!

Are we paying too much for insurance? Part 2

So, last week I started with the discussion of the price of homeowner's insurance and it's increases in the last couple of years. This week I wanted to see if I could help adjust perspective even more and possibly take a new approach to where the trouble may be.

In 1970 the median income was $7,630 while a new car was $3,900, the average cost of a new home was $23,400 and the average cost to insure that home was $104. Meaning the ratio of income was 32.6% of the average new home value and the insurance expense to insure that home was 1.36% of the annual income. While the ratio most related to our focus of discussion, insurance to home cost was .45%.

In 1980, the numbers changed to $16,523, $7,210, $64,600, and $179 respectively. Bringing the ratio of income to home cost down to 25.6%, the insurance expense to income to 1.08% and the insurance to home cost ratio to .278%. This 10 year gap has created basically a double in income and care value but a triple in home price and only a 75% increase in insuring that home. Now, I understand that as time goes on and the underwriting process and the law of large numbers comes in to play, insurance can get better about predicting the process and actuaries are able to set a most reasonable rate for the insurance, but if the gap of building a home and the gap to protect the home in case of needing to be rebuilt gets too wide, eventually it will cause trouble somewhere.

Skip ahead 30 years, 2010, incomes are $48,340, cars are $29,217, homes are $221,800 and insurance is costing $807. This now means the ratio of income to home cost is 21.8%, insurance to income is 1.67%, and the insurance to home cost is now up to .365%, (at a time when some of the largest natural disasters have accumulated across the nation and world). So, here in lies my question, are we paying too much for insurance or is something else out of balance creating the perspective that we are paying too much for insurance?

For most people, the purchase of a home or car does not happen monthly or even yearly, and no matter how money they are being paid, the checks never seem to be enough or the increase of that check from year to year is not enough. Although, they typically see an insurance bill monthly or at least annually and the reminder that the rate changes is more visible. In reality though, looking back at these numbers, most things are on a somewhat even pace, where insurance lagged behind in cost at one time it has had to make up ground to keep companies in business for those who have their policy with them and those future needs. But, home costs have seemed to increase at a greater margin than these other expenses, and additional 200% increase in the past 40 years. And in that timeframe, lending institutions directed by the governments plans have helped people purchase those homes at a much lower income to home value ratio.

So, where is the problem truly at, who is continuing to push it forward and how can we resolve it to help keep things in balance for the future growth and development of our economy and nation? I would love to hear your thoughts and discussion on this matter!

Until next time, remember, at Advantage 1 Insurance, every policy comes with an agent!

Are we paying too much for insurance? Part 1

In the past year or so have you received your homeowners insurance renewal and felt flabbergasted by the increase? If so you are not alone and I hope to share some information I have dug up to hopefully provide a new perspective into the situation rather than just telling you that, "the insurance companies are losing money due to recent disasters and need to increase premiums." Although this may be true, many people feel the same as this lady who says,

"I don’t care what anyone says I should not have to pay more because of someone else in Florida or elsewhere! The rate we each pay should be directly tied to the services we actually USE! If we had no claim – then there is NO increase! If we have a claim then we receive an increase with a regulated max increase amount based on a sliding scale rate. The higher the claim is the higher your increase will be. The insurance industry needs a major overhaul in their premium structure. I am from Minnesota and with American Family. I started with them in Dec. 2010 for $1500 and now I just got my premium notice and it’s $1787 with no claims! I say B.S. I will start shopping and I will do it every year if I have to."

This although sounds great to the person who does not have a recent claim, to the person who has a claim it then becomes a burden because the sliding scale of premium would need to be so drastic to cover the costs of the claim that no homeowner could pay the premium resulting from turning in a claim.

The mere definition of insurance is the transferring of risk from one party (the homeowner in this case) to another (the insurance company) in exchange for payment. The insurance company utilizes the law of large numbers in their statistical analysis by pooling premium money together to minimize premium cost as much as possible so that they can pay out possible claims and in the event that the statistics create a shortfall of premium written to expenses paid for they are required by government to maintain a reserve of funds to make good on their promise of payment.

In reality, if the government didn't regulate reserve funds, and if your insurance company is paying out large sums of money to pay for others within the "pool" and they don't raise the rates to maintain funding for future claims, at the time you do have a disaster occur to your home there very well may not be funds available to make that payment to you. So, although you may not have been the benefactor of an insurance payout recently, if the rates don't increase some, there may not be money available when it is your time of need.

Now, being an independent agency, we definitely agree it is worth taking a look at your situation and making sure you are covered well for the most reasonable premium, but it's possible that the rates need to be increased to protect you in your future insurance needs. I will expand further on my research and thoughts in future postings so please share any questions or thoughts you may have so I can address those as well.... until then, remember, at Advantage 1 Insurance, every policy comes with an agent!