Instead of beating around the bush I’ll come out and tell you the bottom line is, the ideal insurer is the company who will fit the ideals of the driver. I know that one motorist may feel one insurance company is superior while another motorist could completely disagree and find another insurance company as the best. To find the “best” insurer for your needs, you first need to assess your automobile insurance needs.

What Are Your Car Insurance Needs?
When evaluating needs for your car insurance policy, start at the beginning, what is your net worth? (What you own minus what you owe). You want to make sure you’re insured above that. Then let’s look at what’s required by law. When you know what types of coverage and how many dollars must be purchased, think about whether or not that dollar amount will protect you and your assets in the even you cause an accident. The state requirements may not be enough protection for you and your circumstances. Perhaps considering a higher amount would be something you need.

Medical options are available for purchasing on an auto insurance policy. Healthcare coverage purchased through other means may be combined with these medical options on the policy, so be careful of duplicate coverage. A good agent can advise and explain this.

In addition to medical coverage and liabilities, insurers offer other options too. For instance, what would happen if your car were totaled? Could you afford to purchase another vehicle? With comprehension and collision coverage the insurer would repay you the cash value of your car’s worth if it were totaled or stolen. Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan also offers a replacement value option worth considering for a car less than three years old. A vandalized car is also covered here. Weather related accidents such as hail storms or wind damage can be covered on a vehicle that is not stored in a garage. Think about how you would pay for any type of damage done to your vehicle, especially if the vehicle is your only source of transportation and vital to maintaining your way of life. After assessing your insurance needs, see which insurers offer the type of car insurance that would benefit you most.

Strengths And Weaknesses of Insurer
When needs have been met, look into the strengths and weaknesses of different insurers. Four things to look at within each insurer is their price, how they handle their customer service, claims paying history and their financial stability. Each of these aspects will tell a driver how the company runs and whether or not they want to be part of it as a client. Can you afford your ideal policy? How close to full coverage can you purchase without breaking your budget? Each insurer will charge different amounts for the same coverage options. Calling the Steve Bedgood Agency can help any driver locate the coverage they want. All any driver needs to do is give us a call, answer questions about the driver, vehicle, and coverage, and they’ll be given a quote.

Customer service entails a number of things, including how the client is treated on the phone when they contact the insurer, how easy the insurer’s website can be read and looked through, how claims are handled, the convenience of payment, etc. Car insurance can be hard to deal with and understand, and having an insurer whose representatives are patient and knowledgeable take the stress out of most situations. Anyone can find out about an insurer’s customer service reputation by asking around.

Finally, don’t forget about an car insurance company’s financial stability. The stronger their finances are, the more able they are to pay out claims as promised in the policy contract. Wouldn’t it be terrible to be in a situation where you have been in an accident, filed a claim, paid the deductible, but there is no money in site from the insurer? After many calls you finally realize they do not have the money to payout as promised. This situation has happened and can be avoided when the policyholder knows the insurer’s financial strength. There are sites on the Internet that list different insurer’s strength and show whether or not they are vulnerable to failure.

What does your ideal insurer provide?  A smaller, local company providing excellent customer service? Each client knows what will make them satisfied with their insurer, and they should do what they can to research who will be their ideal match.

Please give us a call at the Steve Bedgood Agency. Your journey on the way to a good solid company with a great reputation and local, one-stop service could start and end with us.

We can be reached at www.muskegonautoinsurance.net or by simply calling (231) 744-9099

Lack of Confidence

If you have a Workers Compensation Insurance policy and a Business Auto Insurance policy you can receive a discount on both.

If you have a Homeowners Insurance Policy and an Auto Insurance policy you normally get a discount. Now either or both of them will get you a discount on your business policy. These discounts, in the right combination can save you up to 15% on some of your business insurance policies.

Give me a call to schedule a review of your current Business Insurance policies and we’ll see which discounts you are qualified to receive.

I can be reached at (231) 744-9099 or you may start with a look at www.muskegoninsuranceagent.com

Bodily Injury Liability: A requirement for almost every state, bodily injury liability comes in two forms. The first is coverage for each individual, or per person as it’s commonly referred to. The second type is per accident, or the total of all of the “per person” amounts. Often the per accident amount is double the per person amount. For instance, bodily injury liability, in Michigan is required in the amount of $20,000 per person and $40,000 per accident. To further describe it, this means that the insurer will cover up to $20,000 of the medical bills per person with a total payout of no more than $40,000 for all of the injuries combined. Sometimes this coverage can apply towards funeral expenses or lawyer fees. In all cases, this coverage only goes towards the other party of the accident, not the policyholder and their passengers. It is a way to pay for damages caused by the policyholder or members of the policy but in most cases, this would be far too low.

Property Damage Liability: This liability coverage enables the policyholder to pay for any damages they cause to another person’s property, be it a fixed structure, another vehicle, etc. The insurer will pay up to the amount that is purchased in the policy to fix the broken property. This is another required coverage in almost every state.

Medical Coverage: There are a few different forms of medical coverage, such as personal injury protection and medical payment. Both of these are forms of insurance that work similar to a healthcare insurance plan. Depending on which types and the amounts that are purchased, the insurer will cover the policyholder’s injuries (as well as the policy member’s injuries) in Michigan this amount is unlimited. Unlike bodily injury liability, these coverage options are gear specifically towards the policyholder, members, and sometimes also the passengers that were in the policyholder’s vehicle at the time of the accident. Also, for these coverage options, it does not matter who caused the accident. The insurer will pay the medical bills even if the policyholder was at fault. In some cases, lost wages are paid under a medical coverage on an auto insurance policy. Some states require a form of medical insurance.

Uninsured/underinsured Coverage: It’s no secret there are drivers who do not carry car insurance. When these drivers cause an accident, they have no way to pay for the damages done to the other driver and their vehicle. When uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage is purchased, the policyholder’s insurer will pay for the damages that are done by a driver who is not insured or has very little insurance. Whether or not the policyholder takes the other driver to court for damages is obsolete in this example, but policyholders know their property and medical bills will be taken care of as soon as possible because of this coverage.

Comprehensive and Collision: These are actually two different types of coverage, but they are usually paired together. Between the two of these, a policyholder’s vehicle will be covered no matter what or who caused the damage. Property damage liability only covers the other person’s vehicle, but comprehensive and collision can pay for the policyholder’s damaged vehicle even if it was stolen, vandalized, or a tree fell on it. Every insurer has their own terms, so be sure to understand exactly what is covered. These are not required by the state, but they are usually required by a bank if the vehicle is on loan. It is worthwhile to carry both coverage types if the cash value of the car is high, but if the cash value is low or nothing, comprehensive and collision coverage might not be worth the cost.

At Farm Bureau we offer Roadside Assistance standard when our client has either one of these.

Additional Options: Other types of coverage that are often offered by insurers are ones that will make life easier in the event of an accident. Rental services are available so that when a policyholder finds themselves in an accident and their vehicle needs repairs and towing, it can be arranged through the Car Insurer without cost at that time. These additional options, and others, should be thought through by the policyholder and weighed on their value to the policy.

How To Choose
When a policyholder is looking to purchase a new policy or add to their current policy, they should first look at their situation including their current savings account or extra money and how they would be able to pay for the different aspects of an accident if there should ever be one. Next, they should look at the cash value of their vehicle and decide whether or not it would be worth having full or partial coverage. Finally, they need to know the state laws and what is required of them.

When the state requirements are known, policyholders can then add to their policy according to their financial abilities. Paying for damages of a major accident is very costly and the policyholder might want to look at the costs of paying for more insurance. If more insurance doesn’t fit into your budget, we’ll look into what discounts can be applied to your insurance policy to save money and other ways to cut back on car insurance expenses. It may come down to finding a better, more insurance friendly vehicle to help save on better coverage.

At the Steve Bedgood Agency we are happy to offer our ideas of recommended auto insurance to every driver, and we understand the importance of finding the right policy for each driver. Feel free to call to get a feel for what different coverage options on your policy will cost. No one wants to get suckered into purchasing more than what is needed, but so many people advise drivers to carry as much as possible because it’s better to be safe than sorry. These conflicting recommendations leave drivers spinning in circles as they try to figure out what they should do. At our office, we won’t discuss what each individual driver must purchase because that decision should be made based on the driver’s circumstances. However, we will offer information on which types of coverage we offer and their purpose, as well as offer some recommendations on how to choose what is necessary for each driver.

Bodily Injury Liability: A requirement for almost every state, bodily injury liability comes in two forms. The first is coverage for each individual, or per person as it’s commonly referred to. The second type is per accident, or the total of all of the “per person” amounts. Often the per accident amount is double the per person amount. For instance, bodily injury liability in Michigan is required in the amount of $20,000 per person and $40,000 per accident. To further describe it, this means that the insurer will cover up to $20,000 of the medical bills per person with a total payout of no more than $40,000 for all of the injuries combined. Sometimes this coverage can apply towards funeral expenses or lawyer fees. In all cases, this coverage only goes towards the other party of the accident, not the policyholder and their passengers. It is a way to pay for damages caused by the policyholder or members of the policy.

However, you will want to be covered with enough to protect your other assets in case of a law suit.
Property Damage Liability: This liability coverage enables the policyholder to pay for any damages they cause to another person’s property, be it a fixed structure, another vehicle, etc. The insurer will pay up to the amount that is purchased in the policy to fix the broken property. This is another required coverage in almost every state.

Medical Coverage: There are a few different forms of medical coverage, such as personal injury protection and medical payment. Both of these are forms of insurance that work similar to a healthcare insurance plan. The auto insurer will cover the policyholder’s injuries (as well as the policy member’s injuries). Unlike bodily injury liability, these coverage options are gear specifically towards the policyholder, members, and sometimes also the passengers that were in the policyholder’s vehicle at the time of the accident. Also, for these coverage options, it does not matter who caused the accident. The insurer will pay the medical bills even if the policyholder was at fault. In some cases, lost wages are paid under a medical coverage on an auto insurance policy.

Uninsured/Underinsured Coverage: It’s no secret there are drivers who do not carry car insurance. When these drivers cause an accident, they have no way to pay for the damages done to the other driver and their vehicle. When uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage is purchased, the policyholder’s insurer will pay for the damages that are done by a driver who is not insured or has very little insurance. Whether or not the policyholder takes the other driver to court for damages is obsolete in this example, but policyholders know their property and medical bills will be taken care of as soon as possible because of this coverage.

Comprehensive and Collision: These are actually two different types of coverage, but they are usually paired together. Between the two of these, a policyholder’s vehicle will be covered no matter what or who caused the damage. Property damage liability only covers the other person’s vehicle, but comprehensive and collision can pay for the policyholder’s damaged vehicle even if it was stolen, vandalized, or a tree fell on it. Every insurer has their own fine print in the terms, so be sure to understand exactly what is covered. These are not required by the state, but they are usually required by a bank if the vehicle is on loan. It is worthwhile to carry both coverage types if the cash value of the car is high, but if the cash value is low or nothing, comprehensive and collision coverage might not be worth the cost.

Additional Options: Other types of coverage that are often offered by insurers are ones that will make life easier in the event of an accident. Car rental services are available so that when a policyholder finds themselves in an accident and their vehicle needs repairs and towing, it can be arranged through the insurer without cost at that time. These additional options, and others, should be thought through by the policyholder and weighed on their value to the policy.

How To Choose

When a policyholder is looking to purchase a new policy or add to their current policy, they should first look at their situation including their current savings account or extra money and how they would be able to pay for the different aspects of an accident if there should ever be one. Next, they should look at the cash value of their vehicle and decide whether or not it would be worth having full or partial coverage. Finally, they need to know the state laws and what is required of them.

When the state requirements are known, policyholders can then add to their policy according to their financial abilities. Paying for damages of a major accident is very costly and the policyholder might want to look at the costs of paying for more insurance. If more insurance doesn’t fit into your budget, look into what discounts can be applied to the policy to save money and other ways to cut back on auto insurance expenses. It may come down to finding a better, more insurance friendly vehicle to help save on better coverage.

We are happy to offer our ideas of recommended auto insurance to every driver, and we understand the importance of finding the right policy for each driver. Feel free call me at (231) 744-9099 for what different coverage options on your policy will cost.

www.muskegoninsuranceagent.com

Homeowners insurance
If you have a mortgage, your lender probably required you to obtain some level
of homeowners insurance coverage. However, you’ll want to make sure that the
amount of coverage that you have will adequately protect you for all possible
losses. Homeowners policies set coverage limits for specific items (e.g., jewelry),
so you may want to look into purchasing a separate endorsement or a floater
if you feel that you need to increase your coverage. You also need to know if
you have “replacement cost” coverage on your personal property and
if you are covered for earthquake damage.

Flood insurance

Homeowners insurance does not provide coverage for flood damage. But those
living on a riverbank or near the ocean are not the only ones who warrant flood
protection. Even if you live in a low-lying area (e.g., near a creek), you may
want to look into purchasing flood insurance. Most companies that sell homeowners
insurance also sell flood insurance, so try contacting your own insurance company for more information.

Auto insurance

If you think that there is no connection between buying a home and auto insurance,
think again. If you’re ever in an auto accident that is the result of your negligence,
all of your assets (including your home) could be subject to liability claims
if the claims exceed the liability limits of your auto insurance policy. So,
you should re-evaluate the existing liability limits on your auto insurance
policy to make sure that you have adequate coverage to protect your home. If
you feel that you need even more coverage, you may want to look into purchasing
a separate umbrella liability policy, which would pay for damages that exceed
the coverage limits on your auto and/or homeowners insurance policy.

Disability insurance

Would you be able to make your monthly mortgage payments if you were unable
to work due to an accident or illness? A disability insurance policy will pay
you a monthly benefit to replace a portion of your income until you are able
to work again. Many employers provide disability insurance for their employees.
If your employer does not offer disability insurance or if you are self-employed,
you can purchase an individual disability policy.

Life insurance

What if you were to die before your mortgage was paid off? Would your family
be able to keep up with the remaining mortgage payments? Life insurance can
provide your family with the funds to pay off their debts, as well as replace
a portion of your income. While many employers offer some level of life insurance
coverage to their employees, this amount of coverage may not be enough to provide
financial security to your family. So, you may want to consult an insurance
professional to help you assess your family’s life insurance needs.

Contact me at (231) 744-9099 or www.muskegonhomeownersinsurance.com

Coverage Options
Most car insurers will offer the same types of comparable coverage options to their drivers, but occasionally one or two coverages won’t be offered or will be offered at a significantly higher amount. First, drivers should know what they want as part of their car insurance policy and then look for the options within the company. If the coverage option is not available, make sure it exists elsewhere and then see what it would take to get that coverage.

There are some situations where drivers won’t need every coverage and can opt out of them, but they should know what they are, such as comprehensive and/or collision. These are needed for cars who have a high cash value, which would be worth it to carry this extra coverage on them. For those vehicles that carry little cash value, comprehensive and collision may not be necessary and can be omitted from their car insurance policy.

Prices
An auto insurance company that offers their policies for outrageous amounts tend to have less customers than their competition who offer low prices. Most drivers want the lowest price possible, but they also tend to forget that by paying the lowest price available they could be giving up some important coverage. If making the price work into the policyholder’s budget is the number one priority, then by all means take the lowest price and whatever else is (or isn’t) offered by that insurer. But, if the policyholder has some room in their budget, they should look around to see what else is being offered by other providers. The Farm Bureau Insurance offered at the Steve Bedgood Agency  in Muskegon Michigan is flexible enough to fit most all budgets.

Website
Companies of all kinds lose customers when they do not have a website. This is mostly due to the convenience experienced by the customer, or more specifically, the ability the customer has to indirectly contact the company and get information about them, during and off business hours. There are easy ways to pay bills and have questions answered through a website and not needing to directly speak to an employee. Car insurance companies are no different; when a policyholder has a question about their policy it is so easy to go online to the www.muskegonautoinsurance.net or www.SteveBedgoodAgency.com and find what is needed. Needless to say, just because a company does not have a website does not indicate they are incapable of doing their job. However, it does add to the ease of auto insurance to know there is an informative site waiting to be used at the policyholder’s time of need.

Financial Strength
The financial strength of an automobile provider is crucial in choosing which one to go with. The reason why shouldn’t be too hard to see either. When a company’s financial position or status is weak or compromised, that company is at risk of failing and subsequently leaving its customers without the promised coverage. Make sure to check out Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan while looking. Drivers buy their insurance policy with the intentions of that provider being around to provide the coverage that is bought. If a driver files a claim with their insurer and that insurer has no money to pay, the driver will be left to pay for those repairs alone. It could be months before that driver sees any of the money from an insurer with a weak financial status.

Public companies, including car insurance providers, must report their finances. Drivers can check out these findings for themselves and make their decision. Or, drivers can go to companies who rank an insurer’s financial status, such as AM Best or Standard and Poor’s. They go in and evaluate all insurers for the benefit of the public so we’ll know who is secure and who is vulnerable to financial failure.

State Admitted Carrier
A big suggestion would be to check and make sure that the insurer you are about to sign up with is a state admitted carrier, which means they are registered with the state. Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan only does business in Michigan. Our home office is right in Lansing. So when an insurance company does this, they are showing they are a real company and aren’t about to commit insurance fraud by selling false insurance. Too often insurance fraud has been committed either by a false company or by a policyholder. This type of activity is taken very seriously and the guilty parties will be punished severely. Each state’s Department of Insurance should have a list of all of the insurance companies that are approved, including those companies providing coverage for automobiles.

Customer Service & Filing Claims
Another part of a car insurance company to look into further is their customer service abilities. The customer service department is usually the only group of people the policyholder will ever deal with and talk to, and therefore it should be taken into account when making this decision. JD Power is a third party company that evaluates and ranks the customer service of insurance companies. They go through and look at the convenience of paying a bill with the company, filing a claim, and the overall experience among other things. Any driver who wants a pleasant experience with their insurer should make looking into their customer service department a priority.

Picking an insurance provider for your vehicle should not be based on one factor alone, especially if you want to get the best experience possible. These 6 things discussed are only a few ideas to think about when making a final decision. Other factors include aspects of insurance that are important to each individual driver and how they want this part of their life to be. There’s a good chance that the Steve Bedgood Agency will provide everything needed by a policyholder, which is why it’s important to look at all aspects of a company before choosing them.

So whether it’s Car Insurance, Home insurance, Health Insurance, Life Insurance or even Business Insurance Give me a call at (231) 744-9099 or check out www.muskegonautoinsurance.net

MI State Auto Insurance Requirements
State law says that every driver in Michigan must carry the correct type of financial responsibility to legally operate a vehicle on public roads. The most common form of financial responsibility is purchasing an auto insurance policy. There are many, many companies throughout the state that offer a variety of policies at different prices for motorists to choose and purchase.

Like many other states, Michigan requires their drivers to carry bodily injury liability and property damage liability in a 20/40/10 minimum amount. This means that the insurer will pay up to $20,000 for the bodily injuries of the other driver and passengers per person and up to $40,000 for the bodily injuries combined. This coverage also will help cover court costs. The 10 in the 20/40/10 refers to the $10,000 that will be covered in property damage, and the insurer will pay for those repairs up to $10,000. These are only the minimal amounts required and it is recommended by experts for drivers to carry a 250/500/1000 policy for bodily injury and property damage liabilities.

Michigan also requires drivers to carry two additional coverage types in their minimal insurance policy, personal protection insurance and personal injury protection. Personal protection insurance is in the amount of up to $1 million and pays for damages caused to other people’s property. It is similar to property damage but check with the individual provider to get the exact terms of coverage. Personal injury protection pays up to a certain amount for the medical bills and any lost wages for up to three years. It covers medical expenses of the policyholder, members of the policy and any passengers of the accident no matter who caused the accident. This coverage can be used in addition to the coverage of a healthcare policy. Personal injury protection is a great coverage for drivers who carpool regularly since passengers are covered under it.

Additional Coverage Options
There are other coverage types that can be added to the minimum state requirements to ensure full coverage on the vehicle. Comprehensive and collision are very popular types to add to a policy. Comprehensive insurance covers damage done to a vehicle that was caused by something other than a typical on the road vehicle accident. This can include weather related causes of damage such as hitting a deer, strong winds or hail. Collision covers damage no matter who caused it. So, when in an accident that was the policyholder’s fault, their state required liabilities will go towards the other driver’s repairs and medical bills, and the collision coverage will go towards the policyholder’s vehicle for repairs.

Other options include protection for the policyholder from drivers who do not have auto insurance or who have a small amount of it and cannot pay for the full repair bill. Uninsured and underinsured motorist liabilities would be used in this situation, and it would be the policyholder’s insurer who pays for these damages incurred by the other driver who has insufficient insurance or no insurance at all. This coverage is actually required in other states.

A few other additional options would be the towing coverage and the rental car coverage. Each of these are for the policyholder’s convenience. The towing coverage allows for a tow truck to haul the policyholder’s insured vehicle away from the scene of the accident to a body shop, and the rental car coverage forces the insurance company to pay for the rental car fees that occur when the policyholder’s vehicle is being repaired. Most often these are covered up to a certain amount and are not just a blanket amount covering however much the policyholder feels necessary. For example, some insurers only cover up to $25 a day or up to $50 a day with certain rental car coverage options. These optional types of coverage are not always included when you ask for “Full Coverage”.
Find out which other options we offer by contacting me at www.muskegonautoinsurance.net or call me at (231) 744-9099. I’ll help you to get the best coverage for your budget.