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

In Michigan, a “No Fault” state, the only way to get physical damage coverage is to buy it. If you are in an accident in Michigan, each car’s insurer pays to fix their client’s car if they’ve purchased the coverage.

Put another way, if you only have PL & PD (Personal Liability and Property Damage) your car will not be repaired buy either insurance company no matter who is at fault.

“So what good s that kind of coverage?” you might ask. I’m glad you asked.

First, you have  Bodily Injury coverage. This provides coverage for you if you are at fault in an accident and you injure someone to the point that they become dead, disabled, disfigured or loses in income in excess of $4000.00 per month. You can choose anywhere from $20,000 to $1,000,000 coverage on this. I wouldn’t recommend any less than $300,000.  Without the physical damage on the policy this should be affordable for most people.

A second type of coverage provided by PL & PD is Property Damage. If you run your vehicle into a building, guard rail, pole or some other property that belongs to someone else, they can file a claim with your insurance company and save you the expense of having to make restitution for the damage.

A third type of coverage is PIP. (Personal Injury Protection) In Michigan, insurance companies must pay 100% of medical expenses if you personally are injured. This can have a value of thousands of dollars.

With PL & PD you can also choose to have Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage. This allows a person in your car protection in case you are not at fault in an accident but the person who hits you has either no insurance or the minimum required by law. If you or your passenger are awarded money for a settlement ( for becoming dead, disabled, disfigured or loses in income in excess of $4000.00 per month) from the “at fault” party, but they have no money or too little coverage to cover what you are awarded, this coverage can really save the day.

The reason the law makes a basic policy like PL &PD mandatory is that it helps make sure each driver can take responsibility for their actions. It makes sure people don’t have to suffer financial loss as a result of our actions. Even the hospital, if we didn’t have insurance would have to wait until a person fully recovered and gets back to work, catches up all their other bills and then paid them back at a small amount per month. With PIP coverage they can be paid in a timely manner and you don’t have a stack of medical bills waiting for you when you get home.

Hopefully, this makes you feel a little better and a little more responsible. You really are helping yourself and society at large by owning PL & PD coverage.

Please call me at (231) 744-9099 or visit our site at www.muskegonautoinsurance.net

Most of us are unaware that there are many factors that affect car insurance. Actually the factors are so many that by simply changing your address by crossing the street to the other side could drastically change your car insurance premiums.

Change of premiums means a change in the level of risk for the insurance company that supplied your car insurance. This can either go up or down and the insurance premium will naturally follow in the relevant direction.

This is the reason why it is worth checking with your insurance company about how your car insurance is affected by your change of address.

For example auto theft is a much more serious risk in certain neighborhoods than it is in others. So if your insurance coverage was taken out initially in an area where auto thefts are a very low risk, your coverage may not have addressed this issue adequately for your new area.

An insurance company will tend to have all the latest information and statistics on all these risk factors. So by consulting with your insurer you will also be made aware of the new dangers and higher risks you face in your new neighborhood.

Another factor worth considering is that your new neighborhood may be much closer to your work place meaning that you will probably use your car less. This is a factor that affects your car insurance because it is assumed the more you use your car the more opportunities there will be for accidents or possible accidents.

You should be able to review the change of circumstances in relation to your current car insurance and make a quick decision whether you honestly still have adequate car insurance or not.

There is no harm in negotiating a new car insurance deal even when your old one has not expired, simply based on your change of circumstances.

Please call (231) 744-9099 or visit www.Steve.BedgoodAgency.com

How Likely Is a Rate Increase?

The chance of an increase in premium rises along with several factors:

• Accident severity.
• Your degree of fault, unless you’re in a “no-fault” state.
• The value of the insurance claim you or the other driver files.
• Type of violation, if you get a ticket at all.
• Whether the violation or accident appears on your MVR or CLUE report.

How Much Money?

Like everything else about insurance prices, the amount of an increase, if any, varies by company. However, based on a 2008 Insurance.com study of the effect a violation or insurance claim has on premiums, the price can be high. Drivers who had an additional ticket saw their rates increase from $157 to $248 a year while those who had an additional claim saw increases ranging from $302 to $458 annually.

When Will It Go Up?

These increases are typically seen at renewal time, but if you didn’t notify your insurance company (please do!) and no one made a claim, it could take awhile for the company to find out. Rest assured that they will not be happy to uncover a ticket or accident you failed to report. If you’re switching companies, they may not find out until they order your driving or claims history, at which time they may decide not to issue you a policy.

Accident Forgiveness

Some insurance companies, including us at Farm Bureau,  offer an accident forgiveness feature for our clients. If yours does—and you qualify—your rates may not increase if you’re found to be at fault in a relatively minor accident. However, there could be severe consequences if you’re involved in a major accident and you’re driving under the influence. Remember that there are worse things that can happen than a higher insurance premium, like license suspension and jail time.

MVR = Motor Vehicle Report. Not every traffic ticket actually appears on your MVR. In fact, in some states only 75% of all moving violations are ever recorded on an MVR.

CLUE = Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange. C.L.U.E. is a claims history database created by ChoicePoint that allows insurance companies to access your claims information when they underwrite or rate a policy. The report includes claim information such as date of loss, type of loss and amounts paid, and vehicle description.

Car Insurance can vary widely from company to company. Come see me at the Steve Bedgood Agency and we’ll do our best to get you get you the best policy we can based on your situation.

Contact me at www.muskegonautoinsurance.net or call me at (231) 744-9099

All insurance companies exist for one reason. They are in business to make a profit. The way they do this is simple. We, the customers with insurance policies, pay a premium for the peace of mind that if something bad should ever happen, the insurance company will compensate us for the losses and we won’t loose the items were insuring. If the insurance company pays out less for claims than it brings in from all the current policies it makes what’s called an underwriters profit.

So obviously ‘business insurance’ is a policy which is intended to serve the needs of a business rather than the needs of an individual. In general this type of policy protects a business from monetary losses due to just about any type of catastrophe you can imagine, fire, theft, vandalism and even business loss insurance can protect a business should they have a bad quarter or lose money for a short period of time. Business insurance can also help stabilize your business by establishing better credit relations and provide a retirement plan for your employees.

Needs of Business Insurance:

Whether it is a small enterprise or a large corporation, the success of a business always depends largely on the hard work and ingenuity of its employees. Yet, a single disaster can eliminate all the profits, wipe out a business and leave many hard working employees on the street. The only key to make sure that all the money and effort that have been invested in a business is completely secure in case of any tragedy to the business is to protect the business with an appropriate insurance policy.

There are mainly five ways to save money on a business insurance policy and they are as follows:

1. Shop around: Now a days it is very easy in getting the names of companies or brokers who specialize in business insurance and comparing prices online before purchasing, this alone can save you serious money off your monthly premiums over the next few years. (When you’re shopping, make sure you check with me at (213) 744-9099 or check out www.SteveBedgoodAgency.com

2. Choosing a higher deductible: By choosing a higher deductible you the customer pay less for the policy. As an additional side note here, this also works for homeowners insurance and auto insurance and can save you thousands over the next few years as long as you know that if you need to make a claim it will be a little more out of your pocket.

3. Purchasing a package policy: It is sometimes cheaper to purchase a package policy rather than individual coverage and this can be ideal for small and medium sized businesses. Ask me about our “Guardian Policy” for small businesses.

4. Work closely with the insurance agent: By working closely with your insurance agent you’ll get valuable advice to protect your business from unexpected disasters.

5. Follow the Insurer’s recommendations: By following your insurer’s recommendations and guidelines you will be able to reduce your premiums. Basically this is because the insurer thinks you are less likely to make a claim.

Benefits of Business Insurance:

It’s not usually required but, most businesses have a certain kind of insurance whether they are a for-profit or nonprofit company. That is why business insurance is very essential for every companies as business risks increase year by year. It is very necessary to know what insurance to purchase depending on the nature of your business. If there are lots of assets in your business then the theft and property damage insurance should be considered as well.

Countless hours from talented staff are spent in developing your business. Therefore it is very important to plan to secure your business from a lawsuit, natural disaster strike or some other crisis. And thus we find the actual need of business insurance.

My goal is to make sure that everything you need covered is covered and make sure we keep your budget in mind.
To learn more about the Steve Bedgood Agency and how we may be able to help you, visit www.muskegoninsuranceagent.com or call me at (231) 744 9099

Did You Buy Anything New In The Last Year?

If you bought anything new in the last year, say a new television or video recorder, then the value of this new purchase will not be included in the renewal notice you just sent off to the insurance company. Likewise, if you sold anything of value over the last year, and have not informed the insurance company, then you are paying home contents insurance for something you no longer own. Either way, your not paying the right amount of insurance premiums.

Did The Costs Stay Static?

If you have home contents insurance (Renters or Homeowners Insurance) then you are insuring your personal property for the replacement cost of buying the same thing new. On the other hand, part of your home buildings insurance should cover the cost of labor and materials. Now ask yourself, would the cost of replacing the picture hanging in your living room be the same today as it was last year? If the answer is that it would cost you more, tough luck, you’ll only get paid out what you said the cost of replacing it would be! The same can be said of your friendly builder, would he charge you the same for an hour of his time and for his materials today as he would have done last year? If the answer here is no, then you should be expecting to pay him the difference.

Did The Value Of Your Home Stay The Same?

Similar to the above, with your homeowners insurance you need to be asking yourself whether or not the value of your home stayed the same this year as it was last year? You need to be asking yourself this question even if you didn’t do any work to the house – such as building an extension – that would naturally automatically add value to your home.

Is Your House Any Safer Today?

Here the question is, have you done anything to your house over the last year that would mean your home would be considered safer today than last year? For example, did you add any deadbolts to your doors or windows? If so, then there’s a very good chance your home contents insurance premium would be reduced, as the security in your house is a major consideration in assessing your premium (along with the crime rate in your neighborhood, so you may also want to check and see if this has gone up or down also).

Keep in mind that time stands still for no man. As such, you need to read your home contents insurance and/or homeowners insurance renewal notices very carefully to make sure that they reflect, as accurately as possible, your life today and not your life of yester-year.