How to prevent identity theft in Coppell, TX?

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Having your identity stolen is one of the most traumatic experiences anyone can have and it’s something we hope will never happen to us. Even in places like DFW and Coppell, identity theft is fast becoming one of the most prevalent crimes out there. Not only is it easy for criminals to commit identity theft, it doesn’t help that there’s a vast amount of personal information that’s easily available to criminals. By the time you discover your identity’s been stolen, the damage has already been done.

How Can I Prevent Identity Theft?

You can’t completely prevent identity theft, but you can make yourself less of a target. Here are a few tips that can help you reduce your risk of being an identity theft victim in Texas:

  • Make sure your Social Security card is kept somewhere safe. Only bring it along with you if you need it.
  • Collect your mail as soon as it arrives in your mailbox. Consider a post office box if you can’t be there to pick up your mail immediately.
  • Always shred documents that contain personal or financial information.
  • Be wary of phone calls or e-mail correspondence with companies you’ve never done business with.
  • Never click on links found within your e-mails. Verify the validity of the link and copy/paste it into the address bar instead.
  • Keep your credit card and debit card receipts in a safe place until you’re ready to shred them. Go through each receipt at the end of the month, tally up your expenses and compare those to your current balances.
  • Never give out your banking information online via e-mail or through unfamiliar and unverified links.

Give us a call to speak to an independent agent about other ways to prevent ID theft, as well as to find out more about the benefits of having home insurance.

What Does Replacement Cost Coverage Mean on my Home Insurance Policy?

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Regardless of whether you are living in Coppell, elsewhere in the DFW area, or anywhere else in the state of Texas, you have several options as to the extent of insurance coverage you get with a home insurance policy. Your independent agent will educate you regarding the different types of home insurance you can get for your Texas home. We will help you see where and how you might benefit from having coverage that includes replacement cost rather as opposed to actual cash value coverage for your property. Named Perils Home Insurance A named perils home insurance policy will only cover you for damages that are related to things that are specifically named in the policy. Because you get substantially less coverage with this type of home insurance, you will pay less for your policy. All Risk Home Insurance All risk is the most comprehensive type of home insurance you can get. It is designed to provide you with coverage for everything. Any exemptions must be clearly stated in the policy. Comprehensive protection is significantly more expensive, but in the long run, it can wind up saving you money. If you opt for a higher deductible, the rates for your coverage in Coppell, the DFW metroplex or elsewhere will be lower. Understanding the Meaning of Replacement Cost Texas homeowners and renters can choose between replacement cost or actual cash value for their property. Replacement cost is significantly more expensive, but it will pay for the cost of replacing your personal property — or your home as long as the damage was caused by something that is covered. The essential difference between actual cash value and replacement cost coverage is that a policy that only reimburses you for actual cash value will consider what you paid for the damaged property. Since things depreciate over time and with use, a home insurance policy that only covers the actual cash value of things will deduct depreciation for however long you’ve owned the item(s.) If your home was totally destroyed, as long as the cause of that devastation is covered under your home insurance plan in Coppell, DFW or anywhere else in Texas, and you opted to insure your home and its contents for replacement cost, you would get the full cost of replacing the home and its contents from your insurance company. You could easily afford to rebuild your home, something you couldn’t do if you opted for actual cash value.

Should I buy insurance when renting a car?

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One of the most common questions that is asked of an insurance agent is “Should I buy insurance when renting a car?” The car rental agency will often try to talk you into an additional policy when you rent the car. The agents are trained to make it seem like you need to purchase this insurance or you will not be covered if you have an accident in the rental car. This is not always the case.

It may be that you are already covered for a rental car with your normal auto insurance policy. Read through your current policy and find out if it includes coverage for these situations. If you are covered with this policy, you do not need to worry about paying for the coverage through the rental agency. Just make certain you inform them of your existing coverage and perhaps you will even need to give them your policy number.

Another way you could be covered is through a credit card. Some of the major cards include rental car insurance as a benefit for holding the card. This is another case where you need to look through your documentation and find out if this is the case.

No matter what your situation, talking with your independent agent is always a good idea. If you are located in or around Coppell or DFW Texas, let our agents discuss your options with you. We can run a real-time scan of your insurance options and we may be able to find you a better rate or find a policy that includes benefits such as rental car insurance. Come in and experience our excellent customer service and our dedication to meeting your needs. Auto insurance does not have to be a hassle when you work with us!

What Should Homeowners Do After Wind Damage in Texas?

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Whether you live in Coppell, elsewhere within the DFW Metroplex, or anywhere else in Texas, you are certainly aware of the intensity of Texas winds. Additionally, Coppell and the entire remainder of the DFW area, and much of the rest of Texas are located in the heart of tornado alley. This means that there is a greater likelihood that those living in this area will incur some sort of weather-related wind damage. It also means that there’s a very good possibility that a standard homeowners insurance policy – even one that has additional endorsements, may not cover wind damage to your property.

With the exception of homes within the 14 counties along the Texas Gulf Coast that are most likely to incur flood or wind damage from hurricanes, most Texas homeowners insurance policies will cover windstorm and hail damage.

Things to Do to Be Prepared for Storm-Related or Other Wind Damage

A few simple tips will make the process of dealing with the aftermath of wind damage a lot easier. The things you do to prepare yourself will help you when dealing with your homeowners insurance company.

  • Keep an inventory of all of your property and personal possessions. The Texas Department of Insurance website has a checklist you can download and print, or you can create one for yourself. Go through each room and list the items in there.

  • Make sure you have all of your insurance cards and any documents related to your policy. Be sure you fully understand exactly what your policy covers. Keep all of this information in a safe place

  • Be sure you know the monetary limits of your policy, and whether or not you insured your property and possessions for actual cash value or replacement value.

When you call or go to see your independent agent to report wind damage to your property, be sure you have all of the paperwork with you. Unless you insured your property and possessions for replacement value, and unless your policy is an All Perils homeowners insurance policy, you may not have sufficient coverage to pay for wind damage to your home in the DFW area or Coppell, Texas.

Is Water Damage Covered on my Texas Home Insurance Policy?

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Residents of Coppell, the DFW Metroplex and elsewhere in Texas know how unpredictable the Texas weather is. Home insurance is designed to protect your home and other personal property, but there are limitations on what is covered, and how much you’ll be reimbursed. Weather conditions result in water damage. Although Texas home insurance never covers flood damage, homeowners in Coppell, DFW or other Texas communities can and should purchase flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program.

Other Water Damage

Since home insurance policies don’t cover flood-related damage, it is also likely that your home insurance won’t cover other types of water damage. If you want to protect yourself against various types of water-related damage, including water damage caused by air conditioning, heating or plumbing problems, or backed up drains and/or sewers, consider adding provisions to your home insurance policy that will cover you for all types of water damage, and for clean up related to mold.

Residents of all of Texas, but in particular, Coppell and the rest of the DFW Metroplex, know that there are all sorts of weather-related situations that can cause water damage, and that damage can extend beyond the inside of the house to your garage. If you keep your watercraft in your garage rather than docking it at a marina, you may need to add to your existing home insurance coverage to ensure that your watercraft and other vehicles are protected.

Talk to an independent agent in the DFW or Coppell, Texas area to find out whether you are living in a designated flood area, and whether you’d be required to have flood insurance. If you are about to purchase a home, and your home lies with in a designated flood area, your lender will require you to prove that you have purchased flood insurance in addition to your regular home insurance before you can take possession of the home.

Does filing bankruptcy lower my chances of getting insurance?

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Many people in Coppell, Texas wonder if filing bankruptcy will affect their ability to purchase insurance. While there is some reason to be concerned, in practical terms, you can still get insurance in Texas after filing for bankruptcy.

Over the past four or five years, DFW, Coppell and many other parts of the state were impacted by the weak economy. Although the state of Texas had a lower unemployment rate and a stronger overall economy than the nation as a whole, there was still a significant percentage of people living in DFW, Coppell and all parts of Texas that fell on hard times and had to file for bankruptcy.

When you file for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy and have all of your debts discharged, you are actually in a much better financial position than if you were behind or in default on payments to your creditors. As your independent insurance agent, here in Coppell, we can help you find affordable insurance even if you have filed for bankruptcy.

While you may have a more difficult time securing the most favorable rates, there are many insurance companies that are more than happy to work with people who have taken a misstep in their financial lives. In Texas, an insurance company can not discriminate against people with bad credit or people who have filed for bankruptcy. They can, however, charge higher premiums and also ask for more of a down payment when you take out a policy.

Insurers issue policies based on risk. One of the factors that they consider when evaluating risk is financial stability. People with bankruptcies on their record are considered to be in a higher risk group than people with perfect credit. Although a bankruptcy can affect your rates, if you are a safe driver and do not have any traffic violations, you should have no trouble finding insurance at a reasonable rate.

If bankruptcy forces you to initially pay a higher premium, as time goes by, your rates will come down, especially if you stick with the same insurance company that wrote your original policy.

What is Umbrella Insurance And Do You Need it in Texas?

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Regardless of whether you are a homeowner or business owner in Coppell, Texas or anywhere else within the DFW Metroplex, you might want to think about protecting yourself, your business or your other assets even more by adding umbrella insurance to your existing insurance portfolio.

Both business and homeowners insurance policies have built in provisions to protect the policy owner against liability. The amount of that liability protection depends on the type of insurance, and the amount of coverage you purchase.

Protecting Your Assets

At one time, insurance agents only recommended that people who had over $200,000 worth of assets purchase umbrella insurance. Today, there are many reasons for which a person or business might get sued.

Umbrella insurance is designed to pick up where the liability insurance leaves off, protecting you above and beyond the limits of liability coverage that is built into your homeowners insurance or business insurance.

Other Reasons for Umbrella Insurance

If you have some sort of large-scale celebration at your home, and one of your important guests (your boss, a doctor, the company CEO, or anyone else whose net worth is substantial,) is seriously injured, your liability insurance may not be sufficient to cover all of the medical costs, lost wages or other expenses that the person will incur as the result of that injury. This is the sort of situation where an umbrella insurance policy may save you from financial ruin.

If for some reason, you are involved in an automobile accident for which you are at fault, and there is damage to your car and several others, including at least one luxury vehicle that is totaled, there is no way that your liability insurance would cover the damages of the other cars, let alone the replacement cost of any luxury vehicle. Umbrella insurance provides protection after the amount of liability insurance coverage is exhausted.

Talk to your independent agent in Coppell, DFW or anywhere else in Texas to determine whether you would benefit from umbrella insurance.

How to Improve your Credit Score

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No matter how much money you earn or where ever you may live, having a poor credit score can affect you in more ways than you might realize. If you are trying to finance a new car in Coppell or obtain a mortgage for a house in the DFW area of Texas, you can have a hard time getting a loan if you have bad credit. Poor credit score can be a reason that you do not get a job or it can cause you to have to pay more for your auto insurance.

As your independent insurance agent in Coppell, Texas, we see the large discrepancy in car insurance rates that someone with a 500 FICO score and someone with a 750 FICO score pays. While we understand that good people run into financial problems all of the time that causes a decline in their credit score, if you find yourself in such a situation, there are ways to rebuild your credit score and qualify for a lower premium on your car insurance.

Insurance companies consider your credit score as a factor in assigning risk premiums. Statistics show that people with good credit scores act more responsibly and get in fewer accidents. If your credit score is low, you should start working on a plan today to build it back up to a solid number.

You can not improve your credit overnight. Just as it took months or years to fall into financial distress, the process of re-establishing your credit will take some time. You should start by making sure you pay all of your bills on time. If you have past due bills, contact your creditors and make arrangements to pay the debt off at a rate you can handle.

You can also improve your credit score by paying off your credit cards. Credit rating agencies look at your debt to credit limit ratio. For instance if you have a $10,000 limit on your unsecured credit cards and only $1,000 of available credit left, that will reflect negatively on your score. Stop charging and pay down your debt.

If you want lower auto insurance rates, make a concentrated effort to reform your spending habits. When you reduce debt and pay your bills on time, your FICO score will go up.

Windshield crack, will my car insurance cover it?

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Imagine driving down the road in Coppell or DFW, only for the vehicle in front of you to kick up a small pebble into your windshield. If you’re lucky, nothing will happen and you would have dodged a bullet. Otherwise, a crack might form then and there or the damage may become visible the next day.

A cracked windshield not only represents a rather unattractive flaw, but it also represents a safety hazard that has to be taken care of as soon as possible. If not, the crack can spread across the windshield and become large enough that the entire glass has to be replaced. It’s always a good idea to fix cracks sooner rather than later.

Will My Car Insurance Cover This?

Windshield cracks are usually covered under comprehensive car insurance coverage. In most cases, you’ll have to pay the stated deductible for your policy before the insurer will step in and handle the remainder. This may prevent your insurer from stepping in if you have a high deductible ($1,000 or more), but you’ll most likely benefit if you have a low deductible ($100-$500).

Some states offer zero-deductible windshield replacements. Unfortunately, Texas is not one of those states, but you may be able to have the costs of a windshield replacement taken care of by your insurer if the repair fails to take hold.

Keep in mind that liability insurance won’t be able to cover the costs of repairing your cracked windshield. On the other hand, it will cover such damages to other vehicles affected by your negligence. For more information about cracks and other damages covered by your insurance policy, it’s best to talk to your independent agent. Simply give us a call and we can help you along the process of fixing your windshield quickly and economically.

Things that auto insurance companies don’t tell you

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As your independent insurance agent in Coppell, Texas, we want you to understand everything about your auto insurance policy before you sign on the bottom line. We are in a unique position as we act to connect you with the insurance company. In the interest of full disclosure, we earn our fees from the carriers when we sell a policy.. We also want to treat you fairly and get you the best rates possible so you will continue to do business with us.

Auto insurance companies in DFW, Coppell, and for that matter, all across the country do not readily reveal all of the information you might want to know when buying a policy. It is not that they are dishonest, but rather that they have certain proprietary information they want to protect. If you are persistent and ask the right questions, you can become very well informed about all aspects of auto insurance.

For instance, insurance companies will not tell you precisely how they calculate your premium or why they are charging you more than another customer with the same model car. Each carrier has their own methods of characterizing risk and may use factors like your credit score, the type of neighborhood you live in or any other metric that they choose.

Some independent agents will recommend a specific carrier because they earn a higher commission from that carrier and not because it offers you the best policy. Most insurers will total your vehicle if the cost of repairs due to an accident are more than 70 percent of the repaired value. They also tend to low ball the totaled amount they offer to settle the claim.

Be sure to ask what discounts an auto insurance company offers because agents do not always bother to offer such information. You must realize that insurance companies are in business to make as much money as they can for their share holders. Watch out for agents who gently try to persuade you to carry more liability coverage than you need or encourage you to get a low deductible.

Finally, if you are involved in a serious accident and your insurance agent tells you not to worry because they will take care of everything, it is reason to be concerned. If you want the best settlement, you might want to consider talking to an attorney first.

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