EPS Insurance

Monument Valley - halfway between Denver and Phoenix Credit: www.arizonahighways.com Here's what I learned recently about insurance while moving. My client sold his house near Denver and moved to the Phoenix area. The moving company wanted $400 to insure his property while it was in transit. I wanted for him not to have to pay this money.   1) Both his current carrier and his new carrier where I placed him said that unfortunately, he would need to pay this as neither would cover property while in the custody of the moving company. 2) He should either keep his old policy until he arrived in Arizona or start his new policy when he left Colorado – he would be a few days in transit – in order to cover the belongings in his car.   To learn more, please call me. 30+ carriers ... 44 states Auto-home-commercial Offering life & AFLAC in Colorado 720-675-8119 epsinsures@gmail.com Powered by  www.tagins.net

Credit: www.medium.com Renting out rooms through AirBNB or VRBO is, like Uber, Lyft, and food delivery, a very common side hustle nowadays. And for many people, it can be very lucrative. However, just as with about anything else in your life, you need to make sure you are insured properly. When you rent rooms to people you don’t know who could be visiting from anywhere in the world, you increase the chances that SOMETHING could go wrong. And if this happens because you rented out a room and your insurance company finds out, it can result in either the denial of a claim and/or the cancellation of your policy. You NEED to update your home or landlord insurance to reflect this new exposure. What will the extra coverage cost? I don’t know for sure as it will depend on the carrier, your state, and, potentially, several other factors. Hopefully, you may well be pleasantly surprised. Don’t rent to another guest without reviewing and making the necessary updates on your insurance. 

Credit: www.miller-ogorchock.com Not long ago, someone asked me an excellent question: “If I’m on Medicare do I need uninsured and underinsured motorists’ coverage?” (UM/UIM) The answer is YES! You absolutely need UM/UIM if you are on Medicare. UM/UIM is the part of your policy that pays if you are hit by a driver with no insurance or without sufficient insurance to cover your losses from the accident. It also pays in the event of a hit and run. It is every bit as important as liability coverage. (To learn more, about UM/UIM, and why you should NEVER play games with it, please read this article .) If you are on Medicare, you need to carry UM/UIM for the following reasons: You never know for sure what your medical insurance will pay in the event of an accident.  UM/UIM is not just for medical expenses. It can also pay for:  Pain and suffering.  Long-term care.  Lost income. (I was asked this question by a self-employed solar professional who had no work-based disability plan.) To lear

Credit: co.kent.de.us  Contrary to a common belief, your homeowners’ association’s (HOA’s) insurance policy will only partially cover losses to your condo or townhome. HOA policies vary, but they will typically only pay “walls out” or “paint out”. You, the homeowner, are responsible for the rest. What does this mean to you? Damage or theft to your belongings. Your liability should someone be injured on your property or, God forbid, you are accused of starting a fire. Loss-of-use should you be put out of your condo or townhouse due to, for example, a fire or a bursting pipe. This coverage can pay for rent on a temporary residence and other incidentals. (You will still be responsible for your mortgage.) Loss assessment should your HOA assess individual homeowners to pay the costs of a claim. Please read this story! Sewer water backup. Other potential exposures. Bundling your condo or townhouse policy with your auto policy will almost always result in savings on premium.

I just learned that last week – the second week of October – was National Home-Based Business Week. Numerous factors in our contemporary economy and society are prompting more people than ever to explore the world of home-based businesses. If you think a home-based business may be the ideal choice for you, you need to explore the insurance implications. The BAD NEWS is that your homeowners' or renters’ insurance will probably not cover liability claims or property losses stemming from your business activities. The GOOD NEWS is that insurance for home-based businesses is often less expensive than for traditional brick and mortar businesses. The ADDITIONAL GOOD NEWS is that you may well be able to write the premiums for your home-based business insurance policy off of your taxes. Talk to your tax professional to learn the specifics. Talk to your insurance agent to find out what insurance program is right for you. My team is very well-equipped to help you navigate this

Credit: www.congress.gov This is not a political post, but rather an economic and financial one. And please know that I have contempt for about 95 percent of elected things. That said, there is a very dangerous bill in Congress known as the PAID Act. HR 1270, the Prohibit Auto Insurance Discrimination (PAID) Act, would be the Obamacare of automobile insurance. Just as the so-called Affordable Care Act made health insurance far more expensive than it already was by eliminating almost all underwriting criteria, the PAID Act would have a similar effect on auto insurance. According to Independent Agent magazine, “this legislation would prohibit automobile insurance companies from using education, occupation, employment status, credit scores, previous insurer information, zip codes, census tracts, or homeownership status in insurance rating or underwriting decisions and give the Federal Trade Commission regulatory authority over some aspects of insurance underwriting.” Insurance co

Construction workers at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan Credit: Bettman Collection   Many people do not know that most states have more than one option for workers’ compensation coverage. Please contact me for more information. 30+ carriers ... 44 states Auto-home-commercial Offering life & AFLAC in Colorado 720-675-8119 epsinsures@gmail.com Powered by  www.tagins.net

Credit: www.customerbliss.com Uber & Lyft are like social media: you can hate on them all you want, but they are a permanent part of the landscape. They didn’t just change transportation, they changed how we live our lives. How many “gig” apps have been inspired by them? Recently, we discussed the importance of insuring yourself properly for food delivery . Now, let’s talk about insuring yourself properly for Lyft and Uber. Between the time your phone lights up with a request and the time you reach your passenger’s destination, your personal car insurance   WILL NOT cover you . If you are in an accident while doing food delivery, and your insurance company finds out, it can result in either the  denial of a claim and/or the cance llation of your policy. Also, you could have a claim that has nothing to do with delivery, e.g., hail damage. Or you could be in an accident while you are not driving Uber or Lyft. If the adjuster sees an Uber or Lyft decal on your car and starts a

From a billboard in Oklahoma - I'm not sure what the advertising laws are there,  but this is very misleading. By Doug Newman I don’t know where the phrase “full coverage” came from.  Please just know that there is no such thing. You are only covered by the stated coverage limits on your policy. And once you exhaust these limits, your insurance company walks away, and you are on your own. At that point, if you are at fault, you can be sued personally. You could wind up giving your house to this guy. Credit:  https://bit.ly/3A6OiZw And if you don't have a house, your wages could be garnished for years. This applies even if you are not at fault . NEVER PLAY GAMES with your uninsured and underinsured motorists’ coverage (UM/UIM). UM/UIM pays should an uninsured or insufficiently insured driver hit you. The higher the liability limits you carry, the more UM/UIM will be available for you and your family. And, no, everyone under your roof is not automatically covered. They

Credit: Chicago Tribune This is a great article  from Reason Magazine . From this article: "Most Americans' most frequent direct encounter with their government is through their government's agents stopping them for moving through the world in a motor vehicle in a disapproved manner, then fining them for some infraction—often one harmless to others. "Those fines need not be (and generally are not) adjusted to any poor citizen's actual ability to pay. As a result, many Americans find themselves criminals for not being able to afford these sorts of petty fines, commonly losing the ability to drive, which often means losing the ability to make a living to pay those fines without undue hardship. This situation got so bad in Virginia that at one point, one in six licensed drivers had their licenses suspended—not over behavior that  actually harmed others , but often just over not paying the state the money it was trying to mulct from them. ______________________

Someone asked me recently if my agency asks a lot of questions. Any GOOD insurance agent or carrier asks a lot of questions for very good reasons. Every question has 1 of 2 purposes - insure you properly and/or save you money. Our intent at EPS Insurance is to do both of these things. Also, as we shop dozens of carriers, each carrier asks a different set of questions. If something bad happens and you have to file a claim, we don't want you to have any additional unpleasant surprises. Furthermore, every client is unique, be it an individual, a family, or a business. What your Facebook friends pay has absolutely nothing to do with what you pay. What the Jones’s pay has absolutely nothing to do with what your family pays. What the Acme Widget Company pays has absolutely nothing to do with what Wally’s Widget Company pays. What Jose's Mexican Restaurant pays has absolutely nothing to do with what Hose-Bee's Mexican Restaurant pays. (Get it? Hose-A and Hose-B? ) DN