Motorcycle Insurance: Keep two wheels on the road!

Did you know that your Massachusetts Auto Insurance carrier will now allow you to add a motorcycle to your insurance? In most cases, you no longer have to get a separate policy just for the bike. www.jmdins.com

Up until April of 2008, that’s when Massachusetts insurance rates went competitive, riders had to buy a standalone policy. Now that’s no longer the case. It’s a small triumph for riders because it saves time and money.

A separate policy meant separate invoices, a separate billing fee, plus the fact that the owner couldn’t get a multi-car discount for having more than one vehicle on the policy. Your coverage premium can range from just a couple hundred dollars for a “basic” program, to a couple thousand, depending on year, make, and model of the machine. Whether you’re insuring the bike for physical damage (comprehensive and collision) and the operators driving experience are all factors in the final rate.

There are two areas of the policy that can increase the cost of motorcycle insurance dramatically. Your Massachusetts Motorcycle Insurance policy provides coverage for Medical payments. On your auto policy Med Pay is reasonable. You can buy $5000 in protection for about $15.00 a year. Not so with your motorcycle insurance, the same $5000 med pay can cost $150.00 or more per year.

The second area of your plan that can get a bit pricey is part 12, Under-insured motorist. If someone injures you while riding and they have “low” limits, you can protect yourself by purchasing increased underinsured motorist coverage. UM- is expensive when compared to your auto insurance policy. I don’t know why UM is so expensive. But, you can save $$ by lowering part 12. Have your agent explain it, or we can.

I hear from customers everyday…” my neighbor only pays $ X. How come my premium is $ Y?
We want you to be informed. We want you to be protected too. Come by with your neighbor. Tell them to bring their policy with them. We can review it together and make sure you get what you paying for.

For more than “37” years J.M. Doherty Insurance Agency, Inc. “steering you in the right direction”.
Thank you!!
HD

Massachusetts Auto Insurance: Claim Delayed

So one of the insurance adjusters I know tells me that there is a problem with a claim he’s been working on. The vehicle is a brand new, luxury model, SUV. With a price tag well over $50,000, this claim is getting some extra scrutiny. He tells me that the insurance company thinks there is something “fishy” with the body shop that is planning to do the repair work. “What do you mean “fishy”?” I asked him.

Each company has something called the special investigations unit SIU. They look at claims that are questionable in nature. It might be that the garaging of the vehicle wasn’t correct. It might be that a driver that had the accident was not a listed operator. In this case, the repair appraisal that was submitted by the body shop wasn’t consistent with the damage on the vehicle. “You mean the body shop caused more damage to the vehicle after the accident and then inflated the repair order?” That’s right he said. They think a sledge hammer was used.
This insured reported a “hit and run”. Unless the SUV was hit by a Mack Truck, something’s not adding up.
What’s next…Special Investigations will conduct some accident reconstruction experiments and try to determine if the damage is “in line” with the accident reported or not. If this proves to be inconclusive then they will side with the insured and pay the claim. It can take a month for the findings to be returned.

The customer is caught in the middle. The only thing this poor guy can do is wait. He doesn’t have use of the nice SUV that he is still paying for. The company even told the insured that they are not paying for the rental charges until this gets settled. The claim is in limbo until this all gets ironed out. There is nothing more frustrating than having to wait, and wait.

We hear about the unfortunate situations that people get into every day.
If you have a claim that ends up with “SIU” Special Investigation Unit, be prepared to wait. If your issue is simple like the correct garaging or adding that driver who should be listed anyway, DO IT, GET IT FIXED, GET THEM LISTED TODAY!

www.jmdins.com For more than “37” years “steering you in the right direction”
Thank you!!
HD

Massachusetts Auto Insurance and Business Use

I have a friend that owns a small catering business. But, his could be a problem for ANY business.
He is always trying to save money on his insurance. I don’t object to that. We all want to save when we
can.

Several months ago he had an accident with his new truck. The one he uses for business.
The accident was minor, no one got hurt. The truck wasn’t so lucky. He had slid off the side of the road
on some ice and hit a large tree stump. It tore off the front wheel, tie rod, ball joint and half the other
stuff under there. He was upset because this is his brand new truck. He was more upset to find out that
the company was denying his claim.

He called me the same day he got the letter from the carrier stating the claim was being denied for
misrepresentation. “How can they deny my claim? I pay good money for this insurance.”
Apparently, he indicated during the phone interview that he was setting up for a party the day of the
accident and that he was delivering supplies to a home in that area.

“I have a loan on that vehicle. Who’s going to pay for the damages?” I had to tell him you are.
I turned his attention to the application that we had completed at the time we wrote the coverage.
Page 2 question 9: Is auto used in the scope of business? The question was answered NO.
I know we went over this, I said to him. Of course, he didn’t remember our conversation until I refreshed
his memory with the follow up letter I sent to him about the truck specifically. Right here in the letter...I
know you do catering...We should have this vehicle endorsed for Business Use. The last line of my letter
read; We can add this coverage for a small additional premium. Call me if you would like to add it.” He
never called.

He says to me that he only uses it for work once in a while. I said, the truth is out. The company has you
telling them on a recorded line that you were using it for business. How can I fix it, he asks? You can’t!!
The damage to his truck was almost $11,000.00. He had to pay that out of his pocket. To add Business
Use would have increased his premium by $30.00 a year!

We see issues like this all the time. Get the facts. Don’t give an insurance company a reason NOT to pay.

By answering the business use question with a NO, he had misrepresented himself. That
misrepresentation led to his claim being denied.
Before you have a problem using your auto for business, please call us. www.jmdins.com

For more than “37” years J.M. Doherty Insurance Agency Inc. “Steering you in the right direction”

CLAIM DENIED: VACANCY

You've packed the car, notified the post office to forward your mail. You even remembered to tell the paperboy to stop delivering your newspaper until you return. You're leaving for Florida next week.

Did you forget anything? Turn off the heat and drain the water pipes? Make sure you tell a friend to come by once a week to check on the property. You could have a nasty surprise when you return if not.

"unless otherwise provided in writing, we shall NOT pay for loss while a described building is vacant, whether intended for occupancy by owner or tenant, beyond a period of 60 consecutive days for residential purposes"

That's policy language from a typical Massachusetts home owners policy.

Now if your house is not vacant but is just unoccupied, that's different. An unoccupied dwelling is furnished. Someone could walk in the front door and start living there right away. However, if you pack your belongings into a moving truck and take it all south, then the home might be considered vacant.

Vacant = Empty. Insurance companies do not like vacant buildings because bad things can happen. Vandalism is the most common claim. Vacancy is the most common reason for claim denial.

It's important to remember that an insurance company could try to deny your claim if it can be determined that there is a vacancy issue.

This same issue is common when a person who already owns a home, buys another one and moves in. If the first home is empty, then the vacancy issue can be a problem as well.

Before you have any problems please contact us at www.jmdins.com We can review your existing policy together and see if we can do better.

Thank you!!

Claim Denied: Progressive, Geiko

You know the tag line "15 minutes can save you 15% on car insurance". How can they save you money every time? The answer is CUT your coverage!

Here are two examples of how they do it without raising any red flags.

Your Massachusetts car insurance policy includes coverage to help pay medical bills if your injured in an auto accident: Personal Injury Protection (PIP). You and household members are protected up to a maximum of $8000, depending on your health insurance coverage. The auto insurance carrier and your health insurance provider will coordinate the benefits. If you have no medical coverage PIP could pay all benefits.

You might be asked by the salesperson if you would like to apply the deductible to your PIP coverage? "That will bring the cost of insurance down." you are told.

That deductible is $8000. If you opt for the deductible for yourself and family members, you have eliminated that coverage completely. ** (but you did save $43)

Another way to CUT coverage and not know about it until after an accident is with waiver of deductible. This little known policy option only comes into play when there has a collision. With this waiver, your collision deductible will NOT apply when an accident is caused by an identifiable driver. Geiko and Progressive do not include this waiver unless you ask for it. (you just saved another $35).

Now lets say you are paying $650 for your car insurance. You call one these carriers and they tell you your quote is going to be $572. You did save about 15%.

You also reduced your coverage. You won't even know, until after an accident and your claim is denied.

Get a professional review by an independent insurance agent. www.jmdins.com Come visit us today.

Thank you!!