Bodily Injury, Property Damage Insurance Melbourne, Florida

Frank: Not everybody has a home, but most of us have an auto, and everybody has to buy auto insurance. And I think we should at least understand basic coverages and some basic problems with auto insurance. Kevin’s going to give us some basic information on that.

Kevin: Right. In the state of Florida, what is required of you at the time of the accident is that you have what we call 10-20-10, and what that means is $10,000 worth of Bodily Injury Liability Insurance, $20,000 maximum per accident bodily injury limit, and $10,000 property damage requirement. Basically, what people need to know is that if you have the minimum limits in the state of Florida, then that means that if you cause an accident where people are injured, then the most your insurance is going to pay for any one person’s injury is $10,000. Now, $10,000 is a lot of money. I’m never going to scoff at $10,000. But when you’re talking about bodily injury, you can go through $10,000 pretty quickly. It doesn’t take more than one hospital visit.

Frank: Or how about one ambulance ride?

Kevin: Yeah, one ambulance ride and one treatment can easily eclipse $10,000 for a single person. If there’s more than one person injured in the same accident, the maximum you’re going to get for that accident that you’re responsible for is $20,000. So think about it if it’s a serious accident, it’s a horrible thing to think about. But $10,000 for one person and $20,000 total is not a very significant amount of insurance.

Frank: Actually, statistically, one out of the two of us will get injured in an automobile accident.

Kevin: One out of the two will be injured in an automobile accident. And then finally, the third component is the $10,000 property damage requirement, which was made law in the state of Florida in the early 1980s. And the reason that that’s important is because in the early 1980s, $10,000 could fix a pretty nice car; $10,000 could buy a pretty nice car. If you’ve suffered any damage to your vehicle within the last couple of years, you probably know it doesn’t take much to do thousands of dollars worth of damage to your vehicle. So, a $10,000 physical damage requirement is something that you need to pay very close attention to when you’re trying to make sure you have enough automobile insurance to cover your liability in an accident.

Frank: And you need to consider if you have any teenagers out there driving. if older people are driving now, their reflexes aren’t as good as they used to be. The other part, too, when you’re talking about property damage, it’s not always necessary for the vehicle you damage. Sometimes there’s collateral damage. An example I saw one time was a guy who ran a dump truck off the ground. The dump truck ran into the dirt and had a fuel spill, and they had to dig up that fuel spill and haul it away for pollution clean up. The fuel spill itself was $6,000. So, that can add in there. So, you do want to consider how much coverage you do buy.

Kevin: Absolutely, and it’s unfortunate, but over 40% of drivers in the state of Florida are driving with either no insurance or with the absolute minimum required by law. and as we’ve just discussed, even the minimum amount can be insignificant if you have any form of bodily injury or property damage resulting from the accident.

Frank: Again, give your agent a call, review your policy, and if youd like a second opinion, give us a call at the Insurance Center of Central Florida. Our number is below.

Pool slides, Trampoline, Diving boards – Are they coverd by Homeowners, Melbourne FL

This is Frank Hanrahan from the Insurance Center of Central Florida. All of our kids love the things that are fun and dangerous. They love trampolines, they love diving boards, they love pool slides, but the problem is they cause injuries. Insurance companies don’t like injuries ’cause they cause claims. So when your child says, hey, I want a pool slide, trampoline, or diving board, check with your insurance company first to make sure that they’re not gonna come out and see that and then cancel your policy, and then you spent all that money and have to remove it. If you have any questions, give us a call at 1-800-659-0986 or look us up on the web. Thank you.

Jewelry Coverage and Your Homeowners Policy Melbourne Florida

Hi, I’m Frank Hanrahan from the Insurance Center. I’d like to give you a tip on jewelry insurance. Most people can either insure their jewelry under their Homeowner’s policy or you can buy a separate policy from a company that specializes in jewelry coverage. The advantage of buying it under your Homeowner’s is, hey, it’s one policy, one bill, it makes it a little easier. The downside is if you have a claim under that policy, that claim counts against your Homeowner’s. The other way you can do it is you can buy a separate jewelry policy from a company that specializes in it, and then if you have a claim, it doesn’t go against your Homeowner’s. In Florida, with the policies up in the air sometimes, it’s best not to have a claim, so I would suggest you look at that situation, price it out, see what you want to do. If you have any questions or we can help you, give us a call 1-800-659-0986 or look us up on the web. Thank you.

Melbourne Florida Auto Insurance – Teen Drivers Contract

Hi, I’m Frank Hanrahan from the Insurance Center of Central Florida, and one of our biggest concerns is our kids driving. One of the ways we can help our kids and help ourselves is we have them sign a contract stating what the rules are regarding the vehicle, what grades are required, if they stay out too late what the penalty will be. We feel this is very important, and it spells out and makes it easy for our parents and for the kids to know what the rules are ahead of time, and there’s no confusion in case something does happen.

You can find a contract at our website, theinsurancecenter.us, or you can call us at 1-800-659-0986. Thank you.

Monitoring Teens Driving? Melbourne FL

This is not an issue of trust, it’s an issue of safety, and security.

Watch as Frank tell you why.

Vacant Land Insurance? – Melbourne

This is Frank Hanrahan from the Insurance Center of Central Florida. Here’s a tip most people don’t know. When you own vacant land, your Homeowner’s policy will cover that land. And I say “vacant,” it must be vacant — no structures on it — and also, it will cover your home if you’re building a new one while it’s being built for liability. It was designed so that if you’re building a home you would have that coverage for that land while it’s being built. If you have questions on this give us a call at 1-800-659-0986 or look us up on the web. Thanks.

Did You Know that Water…..

LOSS IS THE NUMBER ONE CLAIM ON HOMEOWNERS POLICIES.

This is Frank Hanrahan from the Insurance Center of Central Florida. Today, I’d like to talk to you about water losses. Water loss is the #1 claim on Homeowner’s policies, and a lot of these losses could be prevented. Where we see the losses is that washing machine hose breaks or the supply line to the toilet breaks or the dishwasher hose leaks. My suggestion is every couple years, you have a plumber come in and inspect them to make sure they’re good and that they don’t need replaced. Most of these lines are very inexpensive to replace. So again, I would have them checked and replaced if necessary to prevent that claim. You know, even if you do have a loss you still have to pay your deductible, so it’s gonna cost you money out of your pocket. If you have any questions, please give us a call at 1-800-659-0986 or look us up on the web. Thank you.

Let’s Talk Teen Drivers – Melbourne FL

This is Frank Hanrahan from the Insurance Center of Central Florida, I’d like to give you a tip to save your family money. When we start having kids and they start driving, you need to shop for insurance more than ever. It’s one thing when there’s a husband and a wife, but when you start adding teens, a lot of companies have varying rates. I’ve seen rates from as low as $1,200 to $2,000 for the exact same risks. The difference is being different companies. We’d like to shop for you. Give us a call at 1-800-659-0986 extension 215 or look us up on the web

Bodily Injury, Property Damage Insurance Melbourne, Florida

Get FREE information about bodily injury, property damage and uninsured motorist insurance. Why you should review your auto policy. Log on to www.TheInsuranceCenter.us for complete details.

Frank: Not everybody has a home, but most of us have an auto, and everybody has to buy auto insurance. And I think we should at least understand basic coverages and some basic problems with auto insurance. Kevin’s going to give us some basic information on that.

Kevin: Right. In the state of Florida, what is required of you at the time of the accident is that you have what we call 10-20-10, and what that means is $10,000 worth of Bodily Injury Liability Insurance, $20,000 maximum per accident bodily injury limit, and $10,000 property damage requirement. Basically, what people need to know is that if you have the minimum limits in the state of Florida, then that means that if you cause an accident where people are injured, then the most your insurance is going to pay for any one person’s injury is $10,000. Now, $10,000 is a lot of money. I’m never going to scoff at $10,000. But when you’re talking about bodily injury, you can go through $10,000 pretty quickly. It doesn’t take more than one hospital visit.

Frank: Or how about one ambulance ride?

Kevin: Yeah, one ambulance ride and one treatment can easily eclipse $10,000 for a single person. If there’s more than one person injured in the same accident, the maximum you’re going to get for that accident that you’re responsible for is $20,000. So think about it if it’s a serious accident, it’s a horrible thing to think about. But $10,000 for one person and $20,000 total is not a very significant amount of insurance.

Frank: Actually, statistically, one out of the two of us will get injured in an automobile accident.

Kevin: One out of the two will be injured in an automobile accident. And then finally, the third component is the $10,000 property damage requirement, which was made law in the state of Florida in the early 1980s. And the reason that that’s important is because in the early 1980s, $10,000 could fix a pretty nice car; $10,000 could buy a pretty nice car. If you’ve suffered any damage to your vehicle within the last couple of years, you probably know it doesn’t take much to do thousands of dollars worth of damage to your vehicle. So, a $10,000 physical damage requirement is something that you need to pay very close attention to when you’re trying to make sure you have enough automobile insurance to cover your liability in an accident.

Frank: And you need to consider if you have any teenagers out there driving. if older people are driving now, their reflexes aren’t as good as they used to be. The other part, too, when you’re talking about property damage, it’s not always necessary for the vehicle you damage. Sometimes there’s collateral damage. An example I saw one time was a guy who ran a dump truck off the ground. The dump truck ran into the dirt and had a fuel spill, and they had to dig up that fuel spill and haul it away for pollution clean up. The fuel spill itself was $6,000. So, that can add in there. So, you do want to consider how much coverage you do buy.

Kevin: Absolutely, and it’s unfortunate, but over 40% of drivers in the state of Florida are driving with either no insurance or with the absolute minimum required by law. and as we’ve just discussed, even the minimum amount can be insignificant if you have any form of bodily injury or property damage resulting from the accident.

Frank: Again, give your agent a call, review your policy, and if youd like a second opinion, give us a call at the Insurance Center of Central Florida. Our number is below.

Auto Insurance – Uninsured Motorist Insurance Melbourne, Florida

Kevin: And that’s why there’s another form of insurance that’s extremely important for you to consider when you’re purchasing your auto insurance, and it’s called uninsured motorist. And the reason that’s important is because there’s so many drivers out there who just don’t have enough insurance if that happens to be the person that you end up getting into an accident with. Even if it’s their fault, if they don’t have very much insurance. you could still incur a massive medical bill. You could still incur significant bodily injury. Those expenses still need to be paid.

Frank: As a matter of fact, there was an article in the Wall Street Journal yesterday that said that they expect uninsured motorists to go up as the economy does poorly because people can’t afford their insurance. if it’s food, housing, or auto insurance, auto insurance is at the bottom of the list.

Kevin: right. It’s unfortunate you have to even consider buying insurance to protect yourself from the actions of others, but that’s just the way it is because the limits in Florida are so low, you just don’t have any control over how much money’s going to be available to you if you actually do get hurt. It’s extremely important that you review your auto insurance with your agent so that you feel comfortable with the limits that you have, and you can also see how inexpensive it might be to significantly increase these limits. Significant increases might not cost all that much.

Frank: We had a guy who was a passenger in a car, a car crossed the median, hit him, broke his neck. Father, engineer, family of three. He was out for a year, and I think that claim was $250,000.

Kevin: $250,000. And it’s extremely important that you know exactly the insurance that you have if you cause the accident as well as the insurance that you can have if somebody else causes the accident to you so that when the worst happens, whether it’s caused by you or caused by someone else, you know that there’s going to be enough insurance there to help you pay the bill.

Frank: And think about it. every night you watch the news, there’s always an accident. it’s not something that’s random like a hurricane, once every five years. There’s auto accidents, people get hurt every day. Nobody does it on purpose. It’s an accident. So, in case it happens to you, you want to make sure you have the right coverage.

Kevin: Absolutely. Call your agent and ask for a review of your auto insurance policy today.

Frank: Again, give your agent a call, review your policy, and if youd like a second opinion, give us a call at the Insurance Center of Central Florida. Our number is below.