SWFL Insurance

Should I Pay My Car Insurance Premiums Monthly or Annually? When you purchase a car insurance policy, you typically have the option to pay monthly or annual premiums. There are benefits and downsides to both, so it is important to make the right decision for you and your finances. Upsides of Paying Annually Paying annually generally means paying a larger lump sum near the beginning of the year. This can help you save throughout the year by not giving you a monthly bill, and there are often discounts available for drivers who decide to pay their car insurance premiums all at once. It is also useful so that you have less of a change to accidentally miss or skip payments. Even setting up an auto draft on your monthly premiums can sometimes lead to a mistake or double payment. Having a single, annual bill makes it less likely that you will be dropped because you missed a monthly payment. This may be beneficial for drivers who can afford to pay larger sums out of pocket and do not want money taken from their account every month. Upsides to Paying Monthly While monthly premiums do require you to pay a bill on time each month, they also have a lot of benefits. Paying monthly can help you keep track of changes in your premiums. When you pay yearly, you may not be able to see how much your rates are fluctuating throughout the year and you could be surprised by unexpected jumps in prices. This also allows you to shop for car insurance throughout the year if you are not happy with how your premiums are changing. You can catch your insurance agent while they’re less busy to fix a problem rather than waiting until the start of the year, when many agents are the busiest. In the end, it is your decision to choose what type of insurance policy you would like. There are benefits and downsides to paying both annually and monthly. While paying monthly is the most common form of car insurance premiums, paying annually is still a valid choice for some. Speak with your insurance agent and a financial advisor before settling on a policy. It is important that you choose a payment method that is right for your budget and your lifestyle so that you don’t accidentally have a lapse in coverage or even risk a cancelled policy.

Life Insurance is for People of All Ages Many people think that they only need life insurance as they get older and have a lot of financial obligations. However, you can still face death at any time of your life and it’s often best to have a plan in place in case of a worst-case scenario. Enrolling in life insurance early is not only a secure step, but it’s also a financially responsible decision. You might not think that you have a lot to lose while you are young. However, even if you are just embarking on your life and career, you begin to accumulate financial assets from day one. You also have priorities, responsibilities and loved ones to take care of. You might not be thinking about your eventual death, which is hopefully decades away. However, the fact is that you could pass away at any moment. If you do, then you could leave certain obligations unattended. By having life insurance in place, you’ll have a resource available to help your loved ones, whoever they might be, settle your final affairs.With life insurance, you designate a certain amount of money to help a loved one be able to handle your final expenses or replace income lost as a result of your death. Often, a permanent life insurance policy (whole life insurance) is the best policy option to buy while you are young.Once you enroll in a whole life policy, the coverage will last indefinitely if you continue to pay your policy premium. Therefore, even as your life, health and financial situations change, you will still have a life insurance policy in place. Not only can the policy guarantee a death benefit that will pay out on your death, but it can also accumulate a cash value benefit that will allow you to accumulate savings that you might be able to use as a source of income later in life. Another life insurance benefit that might benefit you is a term life policy. This coverage only lasts for a certain number of years and is often more affordable than whole life coverage. If you want to use life insurance for a specific cost, such as funding a child’s education, then you can buy a term policy that lasts until your child finishes school. Many people who have multiple cost obligations such as mortgages, debts, student loans and other living costs buy term life policies to correspond with these expenses for as long as you have them. It generally is easier for you to buy a life insurance policy while you are still young because of the cost benefits. Not only is your health often better at this time, but your risk of death is also lower. Therefore, you are more likely to qualify for optimized coverage at affordable rates. Never hesitate to buy life insurance while you are still young enough to make it work.

How is Business Interruption Compensation Calculated? With many businesses put on hold due to COVID, wildfires and other unexpected incidents, many business owners are scrambling to search their policy for business interruption insurance. This insurance can compensate a business for money lost while the business is unable to operate normally due to government mandate, environmental disaster and more. But how does business interruption work and how is compensation calculated? Key Factors to Business Interruption There are three key ingredients to calculating business interruption insurance: the number of hours or days the business is unable to operate, the quantity of goods normally produced or sold within this time, and the value of each production unit. If you multiply the time by the quantity and the value, you can usually get a good estimate of what your business interruption insurance compensation will be. This can be complicated depending on your industry and how long your business remains unable to operate. Many business interruption coverages have a set limit on how long you can receive compensation, after which you will have to find a way to pay for losses out of pocket. Determining the quantity of goods normally produced or sold is one of the most difficult parts. If production or number of items sold varies, it can be difficult to find an even middle ground in which you can receive compensation. A claims adjuster from the insurer will generally investigate your claim and consider the anticipated production against the history of your production or sales. From there, they can estimate how much you were set up to sell or make depending on the value of each unit and how much you were in line to produce or sell. Proving Loss for Business Interruption One of the trickier parts about actually filing a business interruption claim is proving loss. When you know that you will be losing money, it is difficult to ask for help unless you have already suffered that financial loss. Proof can be provided through meetings and statements as well, however. Always make sure to keep an accurate record of your business’ sales and production periods so you can easily point your insurer in the direction of your losses. Trying to get more money by insisting that your projected earnings were much higher than previously may lead to skepticism, however, and won’t necessarily help your business obtain more compensation for losses.

Have a Mortgage? You Need Homeowner’s Insurance Very few people can afford to pay for a new home in cash. That’s why most home buyers finance their home with a mortgage or other property loan. Once you take out a loan, it is your responsibility to repay it to the bank over the years. However, what happens if something happens to your home in the meantime? Various hazards could cause significant property, and sometimes those hazards might destroy the home. As a result, both the homeowner and the lender might lose the investment they have made in the property. Still, that doesn’t mean you are off the hook to pay off the rest of your mortgage. To protect their investment in your property from such hazards, most lenders require property owners to carry homeowners insurance. Usually, this requirement will mean buying dwelling coverage worth at least your home’s replacement cost value. However, some policies pay for your dwelling based on its actual cash value, and you likely won’t be able to buy this coverage.Here’s how each works. Actual Cash Value Coverage This is often the cheapest form of protection available for your dwelling. When deciding how much money to issue following a claim, your insurer will consider the home’s depreciated value, rather than the value necessary to rebuild the home like new. A home’s structural value often decreases over time (often even if property values increase). Think of this depreciation in the same way you would a car that loses value the older it gets. Therefore, the money you receive in the end might not be enough to fully repair the home. Most homeowners policies these days do not offer this coverage. Therefore, it is exceedingly rare to find, and most mortgage lenders require buyers to purchase more coverage anyway. Replacement Cost Coverage Replacement cost coverage more closely matches the costs necessary to rebuild your home. To determine your home’s replacement cost value, you’ll need to factor in the cost of materials, labor and other assets necessary to repair or rebuild you home. So, if it will cost $300,000 to rebuild your home, then you will need at least $300,00 in structure coverage as your coverage limits. You might need to periodically review your dwelling coverage limit as a home’s replacement cost changes with inflation and other market differences. A failure to do so might mean that you might not be able to rebuild your home like it was before the damage occurred. To determine the right dwelling coverage limit, work with your insurer, realtor and lender to calculate the minimum coverage necessary. You can always buy more than this minimum coverage to provide expanded protection against even the costliest losses. The more coverage you have, the better protected your dwelling will be.

Whose Insurance Do I Use if I Crash Someone Else’s Car? Crashing your own car, while scary, is relatively straight forward when it comes time to filing a claim. You can file a claim with your own insurer and generally receive compensation for damages and injuries you and your passengers may suffer, so long as you have the right insurance. But what happens if you crash someone else’s vehicle? Does your car insurance follow you? The answer is year and no. Initially, you should be covered under the other person’s car insurance policy. However, if their limits are reached, your own car insurance should cover the rest of your expenses. For example, say you cause a wreck in a friend’s car that ends up sending another driver and their passenger to the hospital. Once they have recovered from surgery, they seek compensation from you. Your friend only has minimum liability for their vehicle, which means there are thousands of dollars in medical bills you are still expected to pay. In this case, you should file a claim with your own car insurance policy. Your insurer and your friend’s insurer will generally work together to figure out who will pay what amount. Either way, you should be covered so long as you and your friend have car insurance. What Happens if You Crash Without Car Insurance? Say you crash your friend’s car but discover they do not have insurance on the vehicle. In this case, you will likely need to file a claim with your own insurance policy. If neither of you have insurance and you crash an uninsured vehicle, things can become more complicated and you could face legal repercussions for driving illegally. In an accident involving another person, their uninsured or underinsured motorist policy should cover their damages and injuries you may cause while driving uninsured. Otherwise, you will be expected to pay for your injuries and damages to the vehicle out of pocket. This can get expensive, especially when hospital bills are involved. Before getting behind the wheel of someone else’s vehicle, make sure they have car insurance. It is important that they also have more than minimum liability insurance so that you have protection in case of injuries in an accident. Also never only let those you trust drive your vehicle. They should have their own car insurance policy and a valid driver’s license, otherwise they risk not being covered.

When Does Life Insurance Payout? Life insurance is designed to compensate your loved ones in case of your passing, so most policies only payout once the policyholder passes away. The insurer must usually be provided with a proof of death, such as a death certificate. Most life insurance policies provide a lump sump payment for the beneficiaries listed on the policy. This is true for both term and whole life insurance policies, although there are some differences between the two. Payment for Whole Life vs Term Life Insurance Policies At their base, term and whole life insurance policies are different because of the length of time they are meant to cover. Term life insurance policies only cover a certain amount of years as chosen by the policyholder (such as 10, 20 or 30 years) while a whole life insurance policy lasts until it is cancelled or the policyholder dies. There is another difference when it comes to payouts, however. With a term life insurance policy, you cannot withdraw money while the policy is active. Benefits from this policy will only be paid if the policyholder dies while the policy is active. If the policy is canceled, or the policyholder dies after the term policy’s limit runs out, compensation will not be paid. Whole life insurance policies operate a little differently. Some whole life insurance policies, also known as permanent life insurance policies, allow the policyholder to withdraw small amounts of cash from their policy while it is active. This is called a cash-value withdrawal and is typically not taxed. For most policies, the insurer may have 30 days after a claim to investigate and approve the claim. At the end of this period, benefits may be paid to the surviving beneficiaries. You should not take money out of your life insurance policy without consideration, however. Withdrawing money can reduce the amount of benefits that can be paid at the end of the policy. As with term life insurance, a whole life insurance that is canceled before the policyholder dies will usually not provide benefits to any beneficiaries listed on the policy. Unless, however, it is a cash-value policy. A cash-value policy may allow you to receive cash value from the money accumulated once you cancel or “surrender” the policy. Take careful consideration before withdrawing money or canceling an insurance policy. A lack of coverage can leave your beneficiaries without compensation after your passing.