Friday, February 25, 2011

November 2010 Newsletter

Should I raise my Home Insurance deductible?

At least 4 or 5 times a week we are asked the question, "Should I raise my Deductible?" During the current economy I think it is more important than ever to look at ways to save a few dollars and increasing your deductible is one of the easiest. Before we can decide what level you should have your deductible at, you need to ask yourself what deductible you are comfortable with, $250, $500, $1000 or higher? Once you decide what level you are comfortable with then we can look at what type of savings a higher deductible might provide. Generally speaking, going from one deductible to the next higher deductible will save about 10% of your home premium. While it is a good idea to see how long the savings might take to "payback" your deductible, you also need to consider the purpose of home insurance. Home insurance is designed for emerge ncies not minor maintenance. So if you are able to handle minor repairs yourself and can also afford $1000 in the event of a major event, then I say go with the higher deductible and save the money, even if the annual savings is only a minor amount.

Why do I need Liability for my small business?

The biggest mistake I see many small business owners make is they assume they don't need liability insurance. They think that because they run the business out of their home, like a daycare, or because it is such a minor amount of sales, like an in home sales business such as Mary Kay Cosmetics, they are covered by their home policy, this is not true. Your home insurance(or condo or renters) will not cover your liability for any businesses. The good news is most home businesses can be added on to a home policy for a very low premium, usually around $50 per year. If you run a business that is a little more involved you can buy a basic commercial liability policy starting around $200 per year. Either policy will give you at least $300,000 of liability coverage for any person who is accidentally injured on your property or because of your actions. While many people will say the chances of something happ ening are slim, it only takes one injury to create a lawsuit which could cost you thousands and thousands of dollars.

Client Deals

One of the features we hope to have in every news letter is a deal we can offer to all of our clients. We recently mailed out a reminder letter to all of our clients about our referral program and at the bottom off that letter was a P.S. with the first deal we were able to secure for our clients. One of the tenants in our new building is Squeeze Studio Fitness, owned by Shannon Carney. Shannon has been very generous with an offer to all of our clients worth over $1000! You can see all of the details by watching a short video on our new Youtube channel, www.youtube.com/tgaumond. So if you are l ooking for a personal trainer or just a great place to work out check out the video and tell Shannon you want the G2 Insurance special when you call.

Crazy Claims

We hear some very interesting stuff when it comes to claims but luckily this was not one of our clients!