Home and Auto Insurance: Why insurance is the perfect medium to touch people's lives.

   Recently my wife and I had our fourth child, a daughter named Evelyn. Every time we have been pregnant we make an effort to go out a few times before the baby is born, which for us usually means sneaking out to an early movie or two. With this past pregnancy-induced movie binge we were able to catch the movie "Chef" starring Jon Favreau and Sofia Vergara. It is essentially a story about a successful chef who becomes fed up with having to satisfy the owner of his restaurant, and decides to strike out on his own. He comes to the realization that at his core he loves feeding people. He knows that when you feed someone well, you can literally feed their soul. Satisfying their need for a good meal can conjure feelings of comfort and satisfaction that very few experiences can replicate.
   It is with this same sentiment that the agents and CSRs of Crawford-Butz handle our client's needs. At our core we know that when client's insurance needs are handled with all the care, experience, and knowledge we have, we have done our client's a great service. We take great pride in being well informed on the current trends in the insurance industry. We then use this knowledge to help better protect our clients. Our driving purpose is looking for gaps in coverage and ensuring that our clients are satisfied in the event a claim situation does arise. We are fueled when a client relays their satisfaction with our service or the auto and home insurance coverage we have provided.  
   This has been the mission of Crawford-Butz since the firm was formed by Norbert Butz in 1961, and excellent service to our clients and writing company partners continues to be our greatest motivation.         

Auto Insurance: Keeping your auto insurance premiuim competitve by maximizing discounts and credits

   Every day we are bombarded with advertisements that claim you will be able to save money on auto insurance if you switch from company A to company B. While in some cases this is true, the advertisements do not tell you about the potential hassle and potential negative effects associated with switching companies. Insurance carriers try very hard to keep their clients, and with that effort they instituted certain credits and discounts that allow their clients to maximize the savings on their auto insurance premium.

   A well educated and professional auto insurance agent knows the various discounts and credits that a client is eligible for. The discounts available to an auto insurance client can change over the policy life of an insured, and it is very important to maintain a relationship with your auto insurance agent to keep them aware of any major life changes that could have an effect on the discounts available to you the insured.

   A few of the more obscure discounts and   credits available are as follows:

·         Child away at school (more than 100 miles) without a car

·         Multi-car discounts (very important for newly combined households)

·         Safe driver (accident or violation free)

·         Paid-in-full discounts

·         Electronic billing discounts

·         Longevity (the time you been with a carrier) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

   An annual or semiannual review of your auto insurance policy with your agent can help ensure that you are continuing to get the best possible auto insurance coverage for the best possible premium. As for myself and all of the agents at Crawford Butz & Associates, we love hearing from our clients and getting to know more about them. Every client’s situation is unique and the more we know about our auto insurance clients, the better we can serve them.

Making Smart Savings Choices

We are all looking for smart and easy ways to save money. Unfortunately, sometimes this includes changing insurance coverages to extremely low levels or eliminating coverage entirely. Before you make any drastic moves, read the money-savings tips below and give Crawford-Butz Insurance a call (314) 752-2500.

• Review all possible discounts and credits with your agent:  Most insurers offer a variety of policy credits and account discounts that can translate into significant savings — without endangering the level of protection you need for your home, autos and other valuable property. And often, if you purchase multiple policies through the same insurance company, you’ll receive further discounts. People who own motorcycles or boats and who complete approved safety courses can qualify for discounts, and families with teen drivers who earn good grades in school may qualify for auto policy discounts.

• Increase deductibles for cost savings: Only a small percentage of homeowners have claims in any given year, so you might consider increasing your deductible.

• Full payment on policy: Depending on your financial circumstances, you may be able to make lump-sum payments instead of partial premium payments, such as monthly or quarterly. Partial payments often include small transaction fees, so paying the full amount can eliminate those extra costs.

Saving money is important, but so is making sure that what you’ve got is protected. If you’re looking for ways to save, or want to review your coverages, give us a call!

Some information provided courtesy of Safeco Insurance.

Auto Insurance: Keep your contact and rating information up to date ensures proper customer service

   Your auto insurance policy maybe the last detail you think of when contemplating all the factors involved in the moving process. As a homeowner or renter you have to remember to move the most vital pieces of your life, such as your cable service or internet account. This would also include remembering the myriad of other billing changes that make up the various aspects that keep your life running smoothly. Sadly though your auto insurance policy sometimes gets over looked when reorganizing your life.
   One of the most basic ways to lift any confusion in providing you with best auto insurance customer service is to make every attempt at keeping your contact and address information up to date. A portion of your auto insurance rate is generated by your garaging address, and it can have an effect on the rate of your auto insurance coverage making the premium rise or fall depending on the new garaging location.
   Another aspect effected by accurate location and contact information is claims service. By ensuring the garaging location and contact information on your auto policy is correct; you are taking the basic steps in ensuring that your claims adjuster will be able to handle claim in an efficient manner.
   With the many facets involved in servicing an auto insurance policy it is very prudent to eliminate any barriers to service. By eliminating these barriers you are ensuring that you have done your part to streamline the service of the auto insurance policy, and thus creating a mutually beneficial relationship between yourself, your auto insurance agent, and your insurance carrier.

Auto Insurance: Understanding you liability coverages

   Your auto insurance policy can be the first line of defense in covering your financial exposures in the event of an auto accident. The various areas of coverage on your auto policy extend coverage to very different areas of financial exposure. Bodily injury coverage  is what most people think of when they think of  the liability coverage on your car insurance policy. This portion of your car insurance policy is coverage that provides protection in the event that someone is subject to an injury resulting from your participation in an
accident.
   The areas of coverage on your car insurance policy include but are not limited to uninsured, underinsured, and medical payments. Uninsured and underinsured bodily injury are coverage areas that are often overlooked or not explained when a new policy is purchased or comes up for renewal. These areas of coverage award coverage to the party not at fault in an accident given that the other party does not carry an adequate coverage limit or possibly no coverage at all. In effect it is a liability coverage that covers the car insurance policy owner instead of another party. It is of paramount importance that attention be paid to these separate limits on your auto insurance policy; because if it were to ever happen that you would need to rely on these areas coverage you  will be thankful a comprehensive limit was put in place.

Homeowner's Insurace: Protecting your college student's property while away at school.

   Under home insurance contracts there are certain provisions provided for college student's property. Certain portions of their parent home insurance coverage is extended in event of a property loss while away at school. In most cases there is predetermined limit for the extended coverage, and is usually 10% of the personal property limit on the primary home insurance policy. For example, if you currently carry $150,000 of personal property coverage on your home insurance policy the limit for your college student's property would be $15,000.
   In addition to the personal property coverage being extended to your college student's property; you can also add a property schedule for higher value items such as a laptop computer to the primary home insurance policy. When these items are scheduled it awards more comprehensive coverage to the listed items, which in most cases can mean agreed value coverage (retail purchase price) in stead of actual cash value coverage in the event of a loss.
   Your home insurance policy is not the only policy effected by your student moving away to school. You will want to inform your insurance agent of the move to allow them to endorse your auto policy with the appropriate rating changes. There are different effects to policy if your student takes a vehicle to school as opposed to them leaving the car behind. In all cases you will want to leave your student on the policy as they will still be considered a listed driving member of the household.

Auto Insurance: Increased liability limits can be your first line of defense.

   When you begin to have the auto insurance coverage limit conversation with your current, or potentially new insurance professional; a large emphasis should be placed on the bodily injury, underinsured, and uninsured coverage limits you are placing on your auto insurance policy.
   These three auto insurance coverages are your front line protection in the event you are involved in auto accident where injuries have occurred. The bodily injury coverage on your auto insurance policy is the coverage that protects you in the event you injure another motorist, while the underinsured and uninsured coverage on your auto insurance policy gives you a personal level of protection in the event the other motorist is deemed at fault and is not adequately insured.
   Writing adequate levels of protection on your auto insurance policy should be the number one priority of any prudent insurance professional. The price difference between higher and lower limits of coverage on your auto insurance policy is sometimes smaller than you might think, and can easily be endorsed onto an existent auto insurance policy . If you are currently satisfied with the service you are being provided by your insurance carrier and agency, than a simple policy review and endorsement quote can tell you any additional premium difference it would cost to increase the liability limits on your existent policy.