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Distracted Driving and Texting

April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month. Many distractions exist while driving, but cell phones are a top distraction. So many drivers use them for long periods of time each day. Almost everyone has seen a driver distracted by a cell phone.

Every year in the U.S., almost a half million people are injured or killed in traffic accidents attributed to the combination of texting and driving. The statistics are shocking, especially in view of the fact that this danger could be completely avoided. According to statistics compiled by the Department of Transportation in 2018, 3477 people died and another 391,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes caused by drivers who were distracted because they were texting or using cell phones.

Texting can make vehicle accidents 23 times more likely to happen.

[Read more…]

Flood Insurance 101

According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), flooding is the nation’s most common natural disaster. Twenty percent of flood claims are filed by people living in moderate- or low-risk areas. Floodwaters have the power to damage not only your home and sense of security, but also your financial future.

While some regions, such as coastal areas, are more flood-prone than others, the unpredictability of climate change exposes all property to some risk. And torrential rainfall isn’t the only culprit.  Mudflows, rapid snowmelt during spring and ice jams during winter also cause flooding. Even an inch of water can cause thousands of dollars in damage.

Flood insurance provides the protection you need to cover losses after a flood ravages your property. The cost of premiums vary based on the amount of coverage you need, what’s covered and your property’s flood risk.

[Read more…]

February is American Heart Month

Believe it or not, heart disease can happen at any age.

Some risk factors for heart disease and stroke are preventable. American Heart Month teaches us the ways we can help reduce our risks while eliminating those we have control over.  Do you have one of these risk factors for cardiovascular disease?  Obesity, physical inactivity, high blood pressure, cigarette smoking, high cholesterol or diabetes.

Here are a few things you can do to prevent heart disease:

  1. Check your blood pressure often. There are millions of people in the United States who have high blood pressure, and millions of them are as young as in their 40s and 50s. If you are one of them, make sure to have it under control and keep up with your doctor.
  2. Eat healthy foods. Cutting down on salt intake and eating foods full of nutrients and essential vitamins can help lower blood pressure and regulate blood sugar.
  3. Quit smoking. Over 35 million adults in America are smokers and thousands of young people are picking up the habit daily. If you’re a smoker, do your best to quit or cut down. It’s what’s best for your health.
  4. Get exercise daily (at least a little). Pretty much any health article you read will tell you the benefits of exercise. Exercise not only helps with boosting mood and energy, but can also reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease. Those who get moving are nearly 50% less at risk of developing heart disease than those who spend all day sitting. Health professionals recommend at least 30 minutes of exercise per day most days of the week to maintain a healthy fitness level.
  5. Fun tip: spend more time with your pets. Studies have shown that stroking a pet can help to lower blood pressure. Read more about how pets help to keep us happy and healthy here.
  6. Know the symptoms. Unlike the highly-dramatized examples that we are shown on TV or in the movies, heart attacks often start as mild discomfort in the chest followed by more gradually more intense pain. Did you know? The symptoms can differ by gender. For men, the most common symptom is chest pain. For women, however, the symptoms can range from chest pain to nausea, vomiting, shortness of breath, and jaw or back pain.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women.

Heart disease kills an estimated 630,000 Americans each year. In the United States, the most common type of heart disease is coronary artery disease (CAD), which can lead to a heart attack. You can greatly reduce your risk for CAD through lifestyle changes and, in some cases, medication.

In an article by heart.org they explain how to help prevent heart disease at any age. Read it here.

Travel Health Insurance

A Travel Health Insurance policy can protect you from a variety of unexpected circumstances while you’re traveling.

Traveling to abroad can be stressful to being with. There are a lot of things to remember and get in order with an international trip. Your health insurance while abroad is one of the things you should not have to stress about. With a travel health plan, if you are abroad and have an accident or become ill, it provides key medical benefits in case of an emergency.

Depending on where you travel, you may encounter language and currency barriers that prevent you from accessing high-quality medical care. Traveling unprotected can leave you vulnerable to paying high out-of-pocket medical expenses, and navigating a foreign health care system without the assistance you need. However, with a travel health insurance plan, you can worry less and experience more knowing you have medical coverage and a trusted health expert who can support you in your time of need.

What does Travel Health Insurance Cover?

  • Accidental injury, sickness, or death of you, a traveling companion or a family member
  • Reimbursement for unexpected medical costs due to emergency medical care
  • Reimbursement for unexpected dental costs due to an accident
  • Advance payments to medical facilities
  • Coordination of and payment for emergency medical evacuation services
  • AD&D and travel accident benefits to help take care of you or your family if you are seriously injured or killed while traveling
  • Emergency travel assistance services

Traveling abroad is an exciting experience, but unpredictable illnesses and accidents can happen. Even worse, the resulting medical bills can be overwhelming. Whether you are going on a trip for business or pleasure, we can help you find the appropriate travel health insurance policy for you.

Visit our website to learn more and to get a quote today. 

Here is a video to help explain more about what a Travel Health Policy does:

January is Pet Insurance Awareness Month

Pet Insurance is around to help cover unexpected injuries and illnesses that can happen to your pet.

Contrary to common myth, care do not actually have nine lives. Pets require frequent vet check-ups, shots, updated tests, and they might even suffer from chronic illness or a devastating accident. Unfortunately taking your beloved pet to the vet can be very expensive. Most families are not ready for hundreds or thousands of dollars in vert emergency bills. With Pet Insurance, a premium can be as low as $30 a month and there can be reimbursement for up to 80% , if not all of the vet bill.

According to the American Pet Products Associations Pet Owners Survey, only 4% of dog owners and 1% of cat owners carry insurance for their pet. 

Reasons for Pet Insurance: 

[Read more…]

What Should You Know About Long-Term Care Insurance?

We are an aging population. Roughly 10,000 people will turn 65 today and 10,000 more will everyday for the next decade.

There have been many advances in medicine and technology. As a result, people will live longer than any generation before them. Therefore, in the not-to-distant future, more people will be in need of Long-Term Care than any other time in history.

Long-Term Care Insurance is designed to help pay for long-term medical and non-medical services. It helps individuals who have a physical illness, disability or cognitive impairment that affects their ability to do basic activities of daily living. For example, a policy can help cover any or all of the following type of services:

  • Nursing home coverage
  • Assisted living facility coverage
  • Adult day care center coverage
  • Personal care coverage

70% of people age 65 and older will need some form of Long-Term Care in the next few years.

There are several ways to protect yourself and your assets in the event you need Long-Term Care.

  • Traditional Long-Term Care policy works like many other forms of insurance. You pay an annual premium that will vary depending on the your health, length of benefits, and daily benefit amount.             
  • Hybrid Life Insurance Policies and Long-Term Care Annuities are growing in popularity. Many policyholders do not like “use it or lose it” aspect of the Traditional Policies.
  • Life Insurance / Long-Term Care Policy will pay for long-term care if you need it in your lifetime or pay a death benefit to your beneficiaries.
  • Long-Term Care Annuity offers a variety of investments from Fixed, Indexed, or Variable Annuities.  The investments grow tax-deferred and if used for Long-Term Care, the gains are tax-free.

As Long-Term Care Insurance grows in popularity, there are new types of policies coming into the market.  If you would like to see what type of policy works for you and your family, please feel free to contact our office with any questions or email us at ltc@gnadeinsurance.com, you can also visit http://longtermcare.gov/.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to Long-Term Care. Above all, the important thing is to have the conversation with your family.

 

8 Myths About Life Insurance Debunked

To help break up some of the confusion about life insurance, we have put together a list of 8 life insurance myths to debunk and separate
facts from fiction.

  1. Myth: Life insurance is really expensive.

    According to the 2015 Insurance Barometer study conducted by Life Happens, 80% of consumers misjudge the cost of term life insurance. Respondents gave a median estimate of $400. Millennials put it at $600. The actual price is about $160 annually, which averages to about $13 a month.

  2. Myth: If you are a stay-at-home parent you don’t need it.

    If you’re a stay-at-home parent, life insurance is still important. You may not bring in an actual paycheck for the household, however you likely provide services that could cost tens of thousands of dollars to replace each year. These may include child care, daily transportation, home maintenance and cooking, to name a few. If you were to pass away, life insurance may help cover some of these costs.

  3. Myth: Only the breadwinner needs life insurance.

    Even if you don’t have the biggest paycheck in your household, your family still relies on your income for day-to-day operations. Unless your family would have that extra income to spare, you need insurance on both spouses.
    [Read more…]

5 Rules Every Landlord Should Live By

If you asked anyone who has ever owned a rental property you would get an overwhelming response that it’s not as lucrative or easy as they thought it would be. In fact, owning a rental property can be a major pain, and end up costing you a ton of money!

I certainly don’t mean to be a “Debbie Downer”, and I know that if it’s done right it can be lucrative, but from an insurance agent’s perspective, I don’t see a lot of people doing it right.

So you’re probably thinking, “Well Chris, you are an insurance agent. What do you know about real estate or rental properties? Why should I take advice from you?”

I’m not a real estate agent, and I don’t own a rental property. However, several of my friends/family/clients/co-workers own rentals, and because I insure a bunch of their properties, I’ve had a first hand account of the process, and I’ve learned what to do, and what not to do.

[Read more…]

Will my credit rating change my insurance rates?

I was recently asked this question by one of our Gnade Insurance Group, Inc. clients, and thought I would share the answer here for our readers.

There are a lot of things that go into homeowners and auto insurance rates, one of them being credit rating. I’ve heard a lot of complaints from people who don’t like the fact that insurance companies use credit in their underwriting.

Some people have absolutely no idea that it’s used in the rate at all.

At the end of the day, there’s not much we can do about it though. Insurance companies have been using credit in their rates for decades, and that’s not likely to change.

By the way, insurance companies don’t pull your credit like a mortgage company or credit card company does. There is no negative impact on your credit as a result of an insurance company looking at it.

When I say “pull” what I mean is that the insurance company is doing what’s called a soft inquiry, which is not the same thing as having your credit pulled (hard inquiry).

When does credit play a role in insurance rates?
It’s important to understand that insurance companies don’t continuously check or monitor your credit. Usually, they only check it when you first get a quote and/or sign up with them in the very beginning.

This means that if your credit score increases (or decreases) your insurance company does not automatically know about it.

So, to my customers question of whether or not his increased credit score will lower his rates, the answer is not automatically.

What has to be done on our side as the agent is contact the carrier the insurance and ask them to do what’s commonly referred to as a “re-score”. This is when the insurance company can re-run the person’s credit (soft inquiry) to see if there is any positive bearing on the rate.

This isn’t something that the insurance company is going to let the agency do every single year, so it’s not worth even asking unless there has been a significant change in your credit score, and only you as the customer would know if that was the case.

If you’d like to get a better handle on your credit rating, it could be helpful to setup credit monitoring. We hope this was helpful! As always, leave us comment below if you have any questions.

Why Do My Auto Insurance Rates Keep Going Up Even Though My Car Keeps Getting Older?

Why do my auto insurance rates keep going up even though my car is getting older?  At Gnade Insurance Group, Inc., many of our clients ask this question so I would like to address it from a couple of angles.

First things first, even though it’s called car/auto insurance, it covers more than just your car. It should technically be called “auto-owners” insurance, similarly to how home insurance is actually called “home owners insurance”.

It’s important to understand that there are a lot of variables that go into insurance premiums, and with auto insurance, it’s no different.

The insurance company is much more concerned with you crashing into someone and causing them (or yourself) bodily harm, or death, than they are about your car. A car is a material possession which can be replaced.

A human life is not.

When is the last time you looked at your auto insurance policy?
If you look at it you’ll notice there are a lot of different coverages on your auto policy.

  • Bodily injury
    Property damage
    Un-insured motorist
    Under-insured motorist
    Medical Payments
    Loss of Income
    Funeral Expense
    Loss of use
    Rental Reimbursement

These are all things that you are covered for on your auto policy. How many of them have to do with your car?

None.

How many of them have a price next to them on your policy?

All of them.

Your car isn’t the only thing you’re being charged for on your policy
That’s because auto insurance covers far more important things than your car as mentioned above.

Let me re-phrase that: your car insurance rate isn’t just based on your car.

You’re not the only one…
It’s also important to understand that you are not the only person your insurance company insures. You are one fish in an ocean of other fish, sharks, and sea creatures, all who have different characteristics and risk profiles.

Insurance is all about spreading costs over a large number (risk pool) of people, which each person paying their fare share. That risk pool is constantly changing, and is impacted by a ton of different things, including the overall economic climate.

This means that you are sharing in the cost of millions of other people, many of whom may have poor loss history and/or credit.

That’s what insurance is though — sharing in the cost.

The next time your auto insurance rates go up, take a look at the big picture. Make sure you’re looking at ALL of the coverages, and corresponding rates.

Hope this helps!  If you would like to know more about Car Insurance be sure to visit our page dedicated to it.

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Gnade Insurance Group
219 N White St
Frankfort, Illinois 60423
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(815) 464-8800
info@gnadeinsurance.com
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