Is my car covered?

Does My Homeowner’s Policy Cover My Car If It Is In My Garage?

     Fire, flood, and other types of home damage can be traumatic; the last thing that any victim of this type of disaster wants to think about is whether or not their now damaged vehicle is covered under the umbrella of their home insurance policy. While many individuals assume that a car parked in their garage is protected by their homeowner’s insurance, the fact is that this is almost always not the case.
     A home insurance policy is purchased by an individual who wishes to protect their home, the items that reside directly within or around their home, and to protect themselves from costly repairs for damages incurred by the house in which they live. However, a vehicle that is registered (or is eligible to be registered) with its state’s department of transportation cannot be considered an item within the home, and is therefore not covered by a homeowner’s insurance policy. The opposite is true regarding car insurance. While you would expect that your homeowner’s insurance protect the surround sound system you keep in your den, you would not expect that it be covered by your car insurance if it happened to be damaged while sitting in your back seat. This principle can be applied to damage incurred by your vehicle while it is parked in your garage.
     If your vehicle does happen to become damaged while parked in your garage, your car insurance provider would be the first party to call regarding compensation for repairs. Unfortunately, a standard auto coverage plan does not cover fire, flood, or other types of damage sustained while the car is parked on your premises. If you desire the level of coverage that would protect your car in these (and other situations not listed on a standard policy), you would opt instead for comprehensive coverage. This type of coverage would help to pay for repairs due to theft, vandalism, fire, and others, while your liability coverage only kicks in when you are actually operating the vehicle.
     Even in light of this information, some drivers may still be slightly confused concerning the amount of coverage actually offered by their homeowner’s insurance plan. It is helpful to think about the car situation as follows: A vehicle, no matter how it is utilized, is never considered a fixture of your home. Even if the car is parked in the dining room of your house and you use it as a table on a regular basis, it is still a car that is eligible to be registered and driven on the roads of the country in which you live. Therefore, it is not actually a fixed item of your home and is not covered at all by your home insurance policy.
     This point is further proven by another example. If a tree falls on your garage and completely wrecks the roof of your car in the process, you would need to contact two parties: your home insurance company for assessment and repairs to your garage and your car insurance company for comprehensive coverage for your car’s roof. If, for any reason, your car’s insurance coverage does not extend to such damage, you can expect to pay an out-of-pocket amount for those repairs. This is the reason that many drivers elect to pay a bit more for a comprehensive coverage plan if they believe their vehicles to be at risk of this type of damage. If you find that you are concerned with risk to your vehicle while it resides within your garage, contact your car insurance provider for details on comprehensive coverage.

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5 Reasons to Have Renters Insurance

It’s important to know when you’re moving into a new rental home or apartment, your landlord carries insurance only on his building. It’s up to you to insure anything inside by purchasing renters insurance, or HO-4 as it’s known in the insurance industry. There are five primary reasons every renter should have insurance.

1. Protection From Natural Disasters

If your home is damaged by strong winds, hail, lightening, volcanic eruption, or even a fire, renters insurance will cover your losses. Floods and earthquakes are rarely covered on a renters insurance policy. If you need coverage for those eventualities, make sure you let your agent know.

2. Protection From The Unexpected

Say a small plane hits your home, or a car veers off the road and comes through your front door. Renters insurance will cover those things. Likewise if your home is damaged due to civil unrest or riot, you’re covered. Imagine your hot water heater explodes, smoke from a neighbor’s fire fills your house, a water pipe breaks, there’s an electrical surge that fries your electronics, or the weight of snow causes your roof to collapse. None of these are pleasant scenerios, but they are much easier to deal with if you’re insured.

3. Protection From Mischief

If anyone decides to vandalize your home or to break in and steal your belongs, renters insurance will help make you whole again.

4. Financial Coverage When You’re Without A Home

In the event you’re unable to stay in your home, renters insurance will cover the expenses you incur while your place of residence is being repaired or rebuilt. Most renters policies limit the amount they cover under this benefit to 30 – 40 percent of the policy value. Check with your agent prior to the purchase of your policy in order to ensure that you have enough coverage to sustain you until you can get back into the house or apartment.

5. Protection From Liability.

Imagine your tub or toilet overflows and the water seeps through the flooring and stains the ceiling of the apartment below yours. This is another good time to have renters insurance as it will cover the cost to repair damage to another residence that has occurred due to an accident or negligence on your part. Likewise, If someone slips and falls in your residence or runs into a door and needs stitches, your renters insurance will protect you from that liability by covering the cost of treatment. Insurance will also cover you up to your liability limit if one of those people chooses to sue you in court and wins.

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What New Parents Need To Know

What New Parents Need to Know About Life Insurance Coverage

As a new parent you have plenty on your mind: late-night feedings, new-found financial responsibilities, childcare, the list goes on…One of the most important things to consider during this exciting time is life insurance coverage. Even if you currently have life insurance, assessing your needs is a must.

How much life insurance coverage do you currently have?

Employer-Provided Life Insurance

Like many Americans, you probably depend on group life insurance through your employer to protect your family. Unfortunately employer-provided life insurance generally only covers a small fraction of the financial support your family would need if you were no longer able to provide. If you currently have life insurance coverage at work, your first step as a new parent is to find out just how much protection your group policy provides. Even if you’ve checked in the past, it’s a good idea to reevaluate. What may have seemed like a lot of coverage just a few years ago may no longer be enough.

Private Life Insurance Coverage

If you currently have a private life insurance policy, be sure to reevaluate that coverage as well. Will it adequately provide for your spouse and your child? Once you’ve assessed your current life insurance coverage it’s time to determine if you need an additional policy. Though it might seem like a task you simply don’t have time to complete, shopping for and even starting the purchasing process for life insurance coverage online can be fast and easy. At IntelliQuote we offer instant online quote comparisons, enabling you to shop and compare when time allows. No more excuses, next time the little one goes down for a nap, take the opportunity to request a quote.

Assessing Your Needs

Now that you know how much life insurance coverage you have, it’s time to determine how much you need. If you were to pass away what would your spouse and your new baby need to survive financially? Your life insurance coverage should compensate for: replacement of income, remaining mortgage debt, outstanding car loans, credit card balances, your child’s college tuition and your spouse’s retirement. If your life insurance coverage is coming up short, now’s the time to purchase additional coverage.

Update Your Will

Though there are many measures you can take as a new parent to protect your little one’s financial future, updating your will should be a top priority. Be sure your wishes are clearly defined and your child is protected. If something should ever happen to you, there is no recourse if your will is out-dated. So take the time, update your will and protect what matters most!

Thank you!!!!

In honor of Teacher and Nurse's Appreciation week, 

we surprised them with some treats.

RE Bennett School in Chehalis

Kelso High School

PeaceHealth Medical Group, (Specialty Clinic), Longview

 Orthopedic Center in Centralia 

Thank you so much for all you do. 

Life Insurance Needs Calculator

So, how much life insurance do you need? Well, the answer isn’t really how much life insurance you need… it’s how much investment capital your family will need at the time of your death. Their need for capital — on a gross basis — is really a function of two variables:

1. How much will be needed at death to meet immediate obligations?

2. How much future income is needed to sustain the household?

The first category is fairly easy to estimate. It’s the sum of final expenses (including uncovered medical costs, funeral expenses and final estate-settlement costs) and other lump-sum obligations (such as outstanding debts, mortgage balance, and college costs). The second variable is a bit trickier. It involves calculating the “present value” of future needed cash-flow streams. By answering a few simple questions below, you can get a rough sense of the needs for capital that might exist at your death.

A few tips: Our analysis of your needs depends upon the answers you provide us to the questions below. Please answer all questions. If you do not understand a question, click on the highlighted term for more information and we’ll explain what we’re driving at. This calculator has provided a rough sense of your potential life insurance needs. To the extent that you or your beneficiaries are eligible for Social Security benefits, those benefits have not been included in this analysis. Social Security benefits, if available, will somewhat reduce the need for life insurance. For a more accurate and detailed analysis, contact a professional life insurance agent.

Below, please estimate some of the lump-sum needs that would exist at the time of your death.

Enter only numbers, no commas or dollar signs.
Estimate Your Family’s Expenses in Case of Your Death:
1. Final expenses:
2. Outstanding debts (other than your mortgage):

3. Outstanding mortgage:

4. College funding needs:

Child 1 age	Child 2 age	Child 3 age	Child 4 age	Child 5 age	Child 6 age
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21	0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21	0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21	0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21	0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21	0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
School	School	School	School	School	School
0PublicPrivate	0PublicPrivate	0PublicPrivate	0PublicPrivate	0PublicPrivate	0PublicPrivate

Estimate Your Family’s Income Needs in Case of Your Death:
1. Total annual income your family would need if you died today:
2. How many years should income be provided?
3. What is your current savings and investments (not including retirement funds)?
4. What are your current retirement savings?
5. What is the value of the life insurance in force on your life?
Assuming your spouse would work following your death:
1. What is your spouse’s annual income?
2. How many years does your spouse expect to work?
3. Your spouse’s marginal tax rate? %
Please note: The following assumptions are incorporated in the calculation. You may enter your own data and override these assumptions to gain an even more personalized analysis.
1. Estimated inflation rate: %
2. After-tax net investment yield: %

Return to calculator. Final expenses: Typically the greater of $15,000 or 4% of your estate. This would include uncovered medical costs, funeral expenses, and final estate settlement costs. Note: If your estate is over $1,500,000 your final expenses may be much higher due to federal and state estate or inheritance taxes.
College funding: Total projected college costs (tuition plus all other costs such as room and board, books, etc.), less current funds in the child’s name.
Savings and investments: Includes bank accounts, money market accounts, mutual funds, CDs, bonds, stocks and other assets.
Mortgage payment fund: Whether or not your survivors would use life insurance proceeds to pay off the mortgage right away, creating a fund to cover mortgage payments makes sense.
Annual income needs: Total amount your family needs, before taxes, to maintain their current standard of living, typically 60%-75% of total income. Families with higher incomes typically fall into the lower end of that range.
Retirement savings: Includes 401(k), Keoghs, pension and profit sharing plans.
Life insurance in force: Includes individual policies, group term coverage available through work, and any other life insurance on your life payable to your family or for the benefit of your family. Do not include accidental death insurance or “double indemnity” insurance.
Spouse’s marginal tax rate: This is the rate of tax you are paying on your highest dollars of income. For instance, in 2005 a single taxpayer earning $50,000 has a Marginal Tax Rate of 25%. That’s because earned income between $29,700 and $71,949 gets taxed at 25%. The lowest Marginal Tax Rate is 10% an applies to people who earn less than $7,299. The highest Marginal Tax Rate is 35% for dollars earned in excess of $326,450.