Loss of Use—A Benefit Worth Keeping

Often, when we think about insurance, we think about how it covers many of the damages that occur during a covered peril such as a fire or flood. But there are more consequences to the damages these incidents cause to your property than just the loss of your tangible goods and shelter, because by making your property useless, insurable incidents force you to find a substitute until your repairs are done.

Loss of use is a valuable part of a home or auto insurance policy that can keep you and your family safe and active, even after a total loss.

Auto Loss of Use

If you are in an accident and your vehicle cannot be driven until repairs are made, the world doesn’t stop spinning. You still need to get to work, bring your kids to school, run errands, and more. When you have loss of use benefits in your auto insurance policy, your insurance company will pay for a car rental to get you around while you wait for repairs to be completed. You will be permitted to rent a car that is in a similar class to your own and the rental can generally last until you are able to pick up your own car again.

Home Loss of Use

There are some insurable incidents that do not require you to evacuate from your home or apartment afterward—such as damages that are limited to just one, small area of your home and carry no health hazards through the rest of your dwelling. But sometimes it’s not safe to be home until repairs are done, such as after a fire. When this happens, a loss of use benefit in your renter’s or home insurance policy will pay for a hotel or temporary rental until it’s safe to go back to your house or apartment. Your policy will have limits, restricting the total benefit to a certain percentage of the total limit of your policy.

It’s hard to imagine just how stressful it is to lose the ability to live in your home or drive your vehicle—even if the loss is temporary. Add in the extra burden of having to foot the bill for a short-term replacement and your life has become even more difficult than it needs to be—unless you have loss of use coverage. If you aren’t sure whether your home, renter’s or auto policy has this generous benefit or you want to add it to your policy, give us a call at Premier Group Insurance today!

Best way to Pay Your Home Insurance Premiums

When you purchase a home insurance policy to protect the value of your dwelling, outside structures, and contents while safeguarding your savings against certain liabilities, you have many different options for premium payments. As with almost any insurance policy, you can pay premiums four different ways:

• Annually
• Semi-annually
• Monthly
• Quarterly

But it isn’t just your payment intervals that are flexible; you can also choose up to three different methods for your payments:

• Payment via automatic bank draft
• Check or money order
• Web payments initiated through the insurance company’s website (not available in every instance)

Once you review all of your options for home insurance premium payments, the question really becomes: Which, of all these methods and possible combinations, is the best? Let’s take a look at a few different points.

The most cost-effective methods for payment: Annual premium payments result in less money spent on premiums since insurance companies charge additional fees when payments are broken up. You can also save money by making premium payments online or by automatic bank draft since you won’t need to mail checks. However, if you forget a payment is due and end up with an insufficient funds charge, you will increase your overall costs.

Methods that help ensure continuing coverage: You never want to find out that you don’t have home insurance coverage after you’ve suffered an insurable incident and if you pay your premiums annually, you won’t have to. You also won’t have to worry about a lapse after an insurable incident that prevents you from accessing your checks and calendar.

Automatic bank drafts offer another way to help prevent lapses without opting for annual payment intervals, but you must stay vigilant about ensuring that you have the money in your bank account before the draft occurs or you could end up not making the payment and lapsing your policy.

No matter what your financial situation or personal preference, you can find a payment interval and method that suit your needs. And if the same method is less suitable the following year, you can ask your agent to change it before renewal.


Find out about your Colorado Home Insurance by premiums by contacting Premier Group Insurance today!

Possible Liabilities Issues for Business Owners

There are numerous things to do and deliberate when deciding whether or not to go into business for yourself. One very crucial item to consider is the capacity to be sued because of your efforts or inactions as a business owner. We have outlined some everyday potential liability exposures business-owners’ encounter:

• Premises Liability - the possibility of visitors being injured or harmed while at a business location.
• Operations Liability - the possibility of injury occurring because of the work accomplished by the business.
• Products Liability - the possibility of products being manufactured by a business to cause harm or injury
• Injury to employees - laws exist that dictate the liability a business owner can have when an employee is injured while employed.
• Professional liability - Professionals, for example doctors and lawyers, can have further legal duties placed on them because of their professional reputation.
• Management Liability - the possibility of directors and officers of a business being accountable because of their duties to those they attend to.

Let our agency help you determine what dangers your business can encounter and the specific insurance coverage you need so you can breathe easy knowing you are properly covered at a cost that meets your financial means.

Learn about options for your own Colorado Business Insurance from Premier Group Insurance today!