Insurance Professionals of Arizona would like to welcome the additions of our new agents, Tim Hunt and Denise Gabriel.  Tim and Denise bring enthusiasm and experience to our team of qualified professionals.

IPA is also looking forward to the addition of a few new insurance carriers that will make us even more competitive in today’s environment.  Check back soon to see who they are.

I read an article today published on MSN money that really bothered me; it was about lowering your auto insurance by dropping or lowering coverage limits.  Although I understand in today’s tough economic climate the need to save money; I just want to reiterate what Robert Passmore from the Property and Casualty Insurures Assciation of America said, which is essentially, by lowering or dropping coverage from your auto policy, you are opening yourself up to substantial risk.

The article suggested dropping under and uninsured motorist coverage from your policy.  To me this is the most important part of coverage, next to liability, on your policy.  Your auto policy can be broken down into three areas which are:

1. Liability: This is what covers everyone else if you cause an accident.  It covers their medical and pain and suffering, known and bodily injury and their vehicle, knowns as property damage.

2. Comprehensive and Collision coverage: This is what covers your vehicle.  It protects your vehicle against damage done by either yourself, or another driver who may not have insurance.

3. Underinsured and Uninsured Motorist Coverage:  This coverage protects you as the driver of your vehicle should the other driver not have any, or, not enough insurance to cover your injuries and pain and suffering.  Most people would argue, “well I have good medical insurance for that,” which is great.  However, what happens if you can’t go back to work right way?  What if you are laid up in bed for over a month, two months, or three months?  Who pays your mortgage while you are away from work?  What about your other bills you can’t pay because you miss work due to the fact that you can’t move becaue of your injuries?

Don’t think this happens!  It does, every day.  It has happened to my very own clients.  I have a client who has been out of work for a year now when he was hit by another driver that fled the scene.  He did not have uninsured motorist coverage and he was injured so severely he has not been able to perform his work as a plumber.  He has basically had to live off his wife’s meager income and they have had severe financial difficulties.  Had he carried uninsured motorist coverage in the amount recommended of 100/300, there would have been up to $100,000 for him to help out.

Cutting expenses is sometimes a necessity but I would strongly recommend you cut other expenses first before you start to cut auto insurance coverage.

As the economic down turn continues to cause financial stress on individuals and families, more and more people are going without auto insurance these days.  Recent reports indicate that 1 in 6 drivers are uninsured.  What does this mean for those of us who continue to pay our auto insurance on a regular basis.

In the short run it means we should be extra careful that we have the right coverage and enough coverage to take care of oursevles and our vehicles should we be unfortunate enough to be hit by one of these uninsured motorist.  You should certainly have plenty of uninsured motorist coverage on your policy and make sure your collision deductible is at an amount you are comfortable with.

In the long run, if this trend continues, it could mean higher premiums for the rest of us as insurance carriers scramble to recover some of the lost premiums.

For more information on insurance terms and definitions, please visit the Insurance Resource tab on our website.

At one time or antoher we have all heard insurance being described as a necessary evil.  I will be honst with you, I agree; however, I would submit that it is more necessary than evil. 

Most of us go about our business day after day, month after month and year after year, paying our bills, insurance included and hating it each time we submit that check to the insurance company.  Most of us never see the other side of that money, when a claim is submitted, and for that, let us be thankful.

That wasn’t the case with my client and friend who is a high powered attorney.  The attorney had worked hard to build his own law firm and hire good employees to a point where he made a very substantial living.  He had a beautiful home, beautiful cars and even a vacation home.  One summer he turned the keys over to his son to take their ski boat out on the lake with a bunch of his friends.  Little did my friend know that the decision to give his son those keys could have cost him everything.

As they were out at the lake having a good time, in one small moment, a mistake was made and my friends son hit one of his friends who was in the water with the propeller of the boat and tore his leg and foot up.

Long story short, the insurance company settled with the family of the injured boy out of court for $750,000.  Thankfully for my friend and client, he was well insured and had a $1,000,000 liability umbrella protecting him and his assets.

My friend later said to me, “I will never complain about another insurance premium again.”

That is exactly what insurance is for.  Its not for the small stuff.  Its for the stuff that could ruin our lives and drastically alter our financial status.  So, although it is painful to write that check to the insurance company, next time you do it, maybe you will remember this story about my friend and it will help to take the edge off.

Did you know that auto theft is a huge problem here in Arizona.  According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, the Phoenix Metro area ranks 8th out of the top 10 highest theft rate areas.  Further, Arizona as a whole ranks fourth out of the top 10 for highest theft rate states.

The FBI estimated that auto theft cost in 2007 where an astonishing $7.4 billion dollars.  All of us pay for this kind of cost in our auto insurance rates.

So what can you do to help protect your own vehicle.  First, do the simple things like never leaving your car unlocked or leaving the keys in the car.  Second, if you go out at night, be sure to park in areas that are well lit.  Third, theft devices like the Club are affordable and help deter theives who will look for easier targets.  Lastly, you might consider a passive or active disabling device.  These devices will not only protect your car but most insurance companies give nice discounts for them.

Remember, $7.4 billion dollars in theft is a lot of money and insurance carriers turn around and charge that in premiums to all of us who own cars.  If we all do our part to protect our cars from auto theft, then maybe, even if just a little bit, we might do our part to keep insurance rates as low as possible.

For more information on auto theft and to see which cars have the highest chacne of being stolen, visit the Insurance Information Institutes website http://www.iii.org/media/hottopics/insurance/test4/.

During these tough economic times, saving money on things we can control is a must.  Every penny counts!  Sometimes though, during tough times like we are currently facing it is almost instinctual to put our “heads in the sand” and not want to deal with anything that pertains to money.  One such thing is insurance.  However, more now than ever it is important to make sure that you are not paying more than you need to for insurance.  How much of a difference would it make to save $10, $20, $50, $100 dollars a month or more on your insurance?  I’m not talking about saving by cutting back on coverage or going to some unknown lower credit rated company.  I’m talking about saving the smart way, using an independent broker such as Insurance Professionals of Arizona.  Unlike a captive insurance company such as State Farm, Allstate, Farmers or American Family, an independent broker like IPA can shop the market for you and “partner” you with the company that is looking for a client like you.  Not all insurance carriers  are looking for the same clients.  Some carriers give discounts to a certain “type” of person and not to another.  This means shopping around to find that company that is going to give you the best discounts is imperative.  Consult with an independent agent today and see how much you might save.