Homeowners insurance provides financial protection against disasters. A standard policy insures the home itself and the things you keep in it.

Homeowners insurance is a package policy. This means that it covers both damage to your property and your liability or legal responsibility for any injuries and property damage you or members of your family cause to other people. This includes damage caused by household pets.

Damage caused by most disasters is covered but there are exceptions. The most significant are damage caused by floods, earthquakes and poor maintenance. You must buy two separate policies for flood and earthquake coverage. Maintenance-related problems are the homeowners’ responsibility.

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The state will soon send warning letters to uninsured drivers — and more than 40,000 McLennan County residents are on the list.

The Texas Department of Insurance has compared information from an auto insurance database with state vehicle registrations to identify uninsured drivers. Sometime this spring, it will begin sending out letters to those drivers, warning them that they appear to be in violation of the law and asking them to provide proof if they are insured, spokesman Jerry Hagins said.

Click here to see the rest of this article: http://insurance.us/news/warning-letters-to-be-sent-to-texans-without-auto-insurance/

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I am often asked the question, does my homeowners insurance policy cover flood damage? The answer is no. Although most homeowners insurance policies in Texas provide coverage for water damage, they specifically exclude flood damage due to rising water. The type of water damage covered on your home insurance is limited to a bursting water heater, burst washing machine hose, bursting water line, etc. This type of damage usually occurs from within the home.

Water damage due to flood and/or rising water is excluded. An example of this would be a creek or river overflowing its banks, water runoff from substantial rains that find there way into your home or storm surge such as experienced in New Orleans with Hurricane Katrina.

If you are wanting to get Flood Insurance Coverage, you will need to purchase a separate flood insurance policy. Our agency can arrange that for you. It is written through the National Flood Insurance Program and normally is not very expensive if you are located in a Preferred Flood Zone. Please let us know if you would like additional information.

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Normally, it is in your best interest to insure both your auto and home insurance with the same company.  Generally insurance companies will give a substantial discount on your home insurance, if you also have your auto insurance with them. The discounts can range from 10% to as much as 25% or more off of the homeowners insurance. 

There is also typically a discount on the auto insurance for having the home insurance with the same company. Although, the discount on the auto insurance is not normally as large as the discount applied on the homeowners insurance.  As a result, you will normally have significant savings by having both policies insured with the same company.

In addition, it tends to be more convenient to have one place to call with all of your questions and if your agent handles all of your insurance coverage they are normally in a better position to assess your needs and make coverage recommendations.

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It is very common for people to believe that there are only one or two or even a few insurance companies that are worth dealing with. However, quite the opposite is true. There are many insurance companies in the industry that offer outstanding coverage, pricing, claim serice and financial stability. These companies often are not household names or those that spend huge amounts of money on advertising a lizard or caveman or the like.

A recent study confirms that small PC insurers can compete successfully against larger competitors.  The Conning Research study, entitled “Property-Casualty Small Insurers: From Static to Strategic,” analyzes the small insurer segment, their strategies for success, and their impact on larger insurer strategies.

As a result, these smaller or regional companies often have lower expenses, are very nimble and able to manage their business without multiple layers of bureaucracy. Without large advertising budgets and enormous upper level management salary expense, they can often be in position to offer lower premiums and better coverage than the Mega Companies.

Obviously, there are limits to this. You want to be certain that the company you are dealing with is an “Admitted Carrier” in Texas. This means the Texas Department of Insurance has authorized the company to sell insurance in the State of Texas and their policyholders are protected by the State of Texas “Guaranty Association” against company insolvency. Believe it or not, some companies are allowed to operate in Texas as “Non-Admitted Carriers”. Also, be certain that the company has achieved a financial rating of at least “A, Excellent” for their financial stability by an insurance company rating agency. Preferably by A.M. Best Company.

With that in mind, don’t rule out a company just because you havent heard of them. There are a lot of outstanding insurance companies out there and you will be limiting yourself drastically if you do not consider them. Your professional insurance advisor should be able to assist you in locating a quality insurance company that has both financial stability and the ability to meet your specific needs.

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In an continuing effort to provide the best in service and represent the top insurance companies in America, we are pleased to announce that we have added Mercury Insurance Group to the companies we represent. Mercury is an outstanding insurance company that has been in business since 1962 and has been assigned an “ A+ Superior” rating by A.M. Best Company based on their financial stability and claims paying ability.

Known as a powerhouse for providing great rates, service and claims for auto insurance in the West Coast Region of the United States. They have expanded into other areas of the country and are broadening their reach. In addition to auto insurance, they also offer homeowners insurance, small commercial insurance, renters insurance, condo insurance and much more. Please contact our office for additional information on Mercury Insurance Group or any of the other top insurance companies we represent.

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Credit scoring in insurance is a very controversial and often discussed topic. Insurance companies maintain there is a direct correlation between a persons credit score and the propensity for future insurance claims. Consumer advocate groups argue against this point of view stating that credit scoring unfairly impacts low income and minority consumers, unfairly penalizes people with temporary financial difficulties and those with major medical bills. Regulators are in the process of reviewing this practice again to determine whether or not this practice is being used fairly, if it will be allowed to continue and if so in what form.

Whatever your take on this subject, one thing is for sure, your credit score has a major impact on the premium you pay for your insurance. It is not uncommon to see a premium double or even more than double for someone that has had serious credit problems versus someone with an excellent credit history.

In today’s times, more and more people are have varied levels of credit difficulties and as a result are being impacted by this practice. It can make it tough to afford the coverage you want and need.

Fortunately, here at VGW Insurance, we have a couple of excellent insurance companies that offer outstanding coverage and do not use credit scoring to determine pricing or eligibility. Therefore, someone with a lower credit score can still get very competitive rates on their insurance. The majority of the companies we represent do still use credit scoring and offer outstanding pricing to those with high credit scores. We have multiple options available to assist each individual based on their needs.

Tell us what you think about this controversial subject.

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Wow! I have been living here in Texas for many years and one thing I havent seen much of, is snow. Thank goodness. Don’t get me wrong, I like to see it when I am visiting Colorado or somewhere like that, but I also like leaving it behind when it is time to go home.

But yesterday, it came to visit us. It came in a big way. 12 to 14 inches of the fresh, fluffy, white stuff. The most snow ever to hit the Dallas-Fort Worth Area. It is beautiful.

Such a nice change of pace. Walking across the lawn knee deep in snow, seeing the snow covered trees, building a snowman with my daughter and even having to pull Melissa’s car out of a ditch. Yeah, its been a full day and a nice change of pace.

I hope everyone is enjoying this as much as I am. Stay warm, be safe and I feel certain things will be back to normal soon. So, enjoy it while we can.

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Over the last couple weeks, I have gone over many of the different types of homeowners insurance coverage available in Texas today. In a very short time, insurance compnaies in Texas have gone from, basically, offering one type homeowners insurance to many different types. Although choice is good, it can also be confusing at times. Gaining a basic understanding of the coverage options available and the determining which of those are important to you, is a good start. 

Some of the coverage’ s that are a “must have” are Replacement Cost Coverage on both the dwelling and the contents, Water Damage Coverage for Sudden and Accidental Discharge of Water (at a minimum), Backup of Sewers and Drain Coverage and Foundation Coverage. It is also good to have an Open Peril policy instead of a Named Peril policy, however some Named Peril policies offer excellent coverage. Water Damage for Slow Leaks is also good to have, but you have to be careful that you are not paying too much for this coverage. Sometimes adding this coverage can change the premium dramatically and it may not be worth the cost.

As I have previously stated, most of the policies written in Texas today offer good coverage. Some do not, so you do have to be careful. Review this post and the previous posts on this subject in this blog forum, ask questions and deal with an agent or agency that offers multiple policy types. You are more likely to get an objective opinion from an agent or agency if they are experienced and are able to offer various types of coverage.

Please feel free contact our office and we will be happy to discuss this with you in more detail.

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Today we will delve into what is called the HO-3 Homeowners Insurance Policy. Nationally, this has been one of the most widely used policy forms for home insurance for many years.  When Texas was the only state writing coverage on the HOB Form, the other 49 states were mainly using the HO-3 Policy Form.

The HO-3 policy offers “Open Peril Coverage” on the dwelling, which means all risk coverage unless excluded, and “Named Peril Coverage” for contents. It is typically an excellent policy that includes replacement cost coverage, water damage coverage for sudden and accidental discharge of water and slow leak coverage, backup of sewer and drains,  foundation coverage and more.

However, many companies have now begun to offer what I would call a HO-3 Modified, where they remove the slow leak coverage for water damage and limit the water damage coverage to sudden and accidental discharge of water. (ie: burst water heater). I have also seen other modifications that reduce the coverage significantly. Like every other coverage form, the HO-3 is no longer standard and can vary greatly from company to company.

Finally, some companies now offer what are called ”Company Specific Forms.” Which means just that. A particular company decides what they wish to cover, designs a policy to represent that, gets it approved by the states they do business in and offer that coverage for their homeowners insurance clients. Obviously, this would not be a standard form. However, most companies that use this generally mirror the coverage after a HO-3 policy or a HO-3 Modified Policy Form.

Most of the homeowners insurance policies being written today are either HO-3, HO-3 Modified or Company Specific Forms. Many choices and options are available and most of the policies offer good coverage. As long as you understand what coverage you are getting, you won’t be surprised at some point in the future.

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