Why Insurance Agents Worry About Their Clients

More and more individuals are becoming victims of identity theft.  Your money is insured through the bank or credit card company.   If you are a victim of identity theft and catch it soon enough your bank or credit card company will cancel the card or account, confirm any recent transactions and start and investigation process.  If you are not aware of accounts that may have been created in your name or using your private data it can be very costly and time consuming to recover your identity. 

Recently, many insurance carriers are aware of this problem and automatically include identity theft recovery coverage as part of the coverage provided on your homeowners or renters policy.  In some cases this coverage can also be added by endorsement for a small additional charge if not automatically included.

So what exactly is identity theft?  Identity theft occurs when a person uses another persons identification documents or other identifiers in order to impersonate that person for what ever reason.  Approximately, 10 million individuals in the US were victims of identity theft last year alone.   If not caught soon enough, you may need to hire and attorney, lose time from work, pay for duplicate copies of forms, all of which can add up.  Most of the policies we offer will pay up to $25,000 to cover these costs.

Please check out the infographic below for more information about identity theft and how to prevent it.

To find out if you have identity theft recovery coverage on your policy, even if you are not our current client, contact us at one of our three locations or visit us on the web and get a free insurance review.

Automobile Insurance—Top five questions

What auto coverage do I need? 

New York Law requires all vehicles to carry a minimum amount of liability insurance in the amount of $25,000 for bodily injury to one person, $50,000 for bodily injury to two or more persons (Uninsured motorists protection subject to the same minimums), $10,000 for damage to property of others, and $50,000 for Personal Injury Protection (PIP), also known as No-fault. This minimum coverage are applicable to any one accident. However, depending on your individual situation, it is advisable that you consider increasing the amounts of your liability coverage depending on your needs and the assets you would like to protect.

What optional coverage should I consider purchasing?  

You may consider purchasing Comprehensive and Collision coverage to protect against theft or damage to your vehicle. Insurers also offer other valuable coverage to protect you and your family, such as Additional PIP and Supplementary Uninsured/Underinsured Motorists (SUM). It is recommended that you review the Insurance Department’s Consumer Guide to Automobile Insurance, located in the Automobile Insurance Resource Center, for more general information about auto insurance. You may also consult with the producer or insurer to help determine the types of coverage that are ideal for you.

Does my policy protect me for liability against a lawsuit from an injured spouse?  

The standard auto policy does not automatically provide coverage for an insured against liability due to death of or injuries to a spouse. However, an insured may purchase Supplemental Spousal Liability, which does provide coverage for an insured against liability due to death of or injuries to a spouse.

What effect does my credit history have on my insurance?  

Many insurers consider consumer credit information as part of their underwriting process and, for those that do, your credit history may have an affect on the premium charged. However, insurers are prohibited from rejecting an application for insurance solely on the basis of credit information and from using credit in any way to terminate a policy or increase the premium on a renewal policy. Insurers are required to disclose the use of credit information to their policyholders.

What discounts are available?  

While all insurers are required to offer certain mandatory discounts (such as for vehicles equipped with air bags, anti-lock brakes or daytime running lights, or for taking a DMV approved Accident Prevention Course), many insurers have a wide range of other discounts that may also be applicable to you. Ask the insurer or producer about the discounts offered by the insurer to see if you qualify or could qualify for any of the available discounts.

 For more visit us on the web or contact us at one of our three locations.  You can also visit the insurance department online.

SPECIAL REPORT: How to Protect & Improve Your Credit Score

Did you know that having a good credit record could save you $6,000 in interest when buying a $20,000 car over four years? Multiply that by the size of the loan and a longer period and you'll get some idea of the dramatic difference in repayments on a mortgage -- with a poor credit record you could pay as much as $40,000 more on a $300,000, 30-year loan.

Lenders use what's known as a FICO score to decide how much interest you should pay, or if they should even lend to you at all. The higher your score, the lower the likely interest rate. So it obviously makes sense to do all you can to protect and improve that score.

But how do you do that?

Well, your credit rating is under attack on two fronts: First, from the way you run your finances; and second, from crooks who steal credit cards or even assume someone else's identity and run up huge debts.

Managing Your FICO Score

Let's talk about your finances first. Your FICO score is calculated by a secret formula by a private company, based on information from the credit reporting agencies. The agencies -- Equifax, Experian, and Transunion -- maintain records of all your credit cards and loan payments, including how much you owe and whether you made your payments in time.

You can get a free copy of your credit report from each of the three agencies once a year via the site AnnualCreditReport.com. Avoid other sites offering a free service because this will usually have strings attached. You can't get your FICO score for free though (except as an opening incentive to get you to sign up for a recurring-fee, score-monitoring service), but you can buy it for about 20 bucks from myFICO.com.

A good score is 760 or above and a really bad score is 620 and the difference between the two can account for up to a couple of percentage points in the interest rate you pay. Here are some of the things you can do to keep your score as high as possible.

• First, and most obviously, always make your payments on or before the due date. If this is likely to be a problem, contact the lender to discuss arrangements.
• Try to keep your credit or store card spending at 30% or less of your limit. Note that even if you pay off your card every month, the agencies report on how much you owed before the payment.
• So, bearing the above in mind, spread your payments between several cards to keep that percentage down, and don't ask the card companies to reduce your credit limits!
• For the same reason, consolidating all your debt on to one card may push you over that magical 30% on the chosen card, which could go against your score.
• Hold on to and use your "old" cards -- the ones you've had the longest (and kept in good health) seem to rate highest in calculating your score.
• Monitor you credit reports using the free service mentioned above. Stagger the three reports across the year -- one every four months -- and check for errors in things like credit limits and late payments.
• If you find errors, contact the card company or ledner and ask them to correct them. They may even agree to remove one late payment notice if you've otherwise been a good customer.
• Generally, don't have too many cards, although successfully applying for credit when you've had past financial troubles can sometimes help lift your score.

Protecting Your Credit Record from Crooks

Monitoring those credit agency reports will flag up anything unusual with your cards -- for example, cards or loans taken out in your name that you know nothing about. But you need to be much more vigilant than that because, by the time you identify this kind of activity, your credit record and score may already have been wrecked and it takes an age to set them straight.

Instead, you should also monitor all your financial accounts as often as possible to spot discrepancies. If you can access accounts online, you could set up a routine that ensures you check at least one of your accounts every day. If you only get printed statements once a month, check every item carefully.

If you discover any spending that's not yours, notify the card company (there should be a 1-800 number on the back -- keep a separate note of this) or other lender. You should also notify the credit reporting agencies (Equifax 1-800-525-6285; Experian 1-888-397-3742; Transunion 1-800-680-7289)  -- and the police, of course.

If either threat to your credit record really worries you, you might consider having your records and accounts professionally monitored. Services usually cost around $15 a month. Search online for "credit record monitoring."

A good credit score will save you money and a good credit record may even be a factor in employment. It pays to look after them.

Please feel free to visit us online or contact us at one of our three locations

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