This is where your auto policy’s First Party Benefits coverages come into play, often baffling you and making you feel that you are somehow to blame and are being held responsible for an accident you may or may not have caused.

The common misconception is that if an accident is caused by someone else, their insurance should pay for everything.  That isn’t always the case in Pennsylvania, and keep in mind that there are drivers out there who have no insurance at all or are “staying legal for less.” Yikes!

PA First Party coverages step in to financially protect you and your family, regardless of who is at fault in an accident and what kind of insurance they have.

So who is a First Party on your insurance policy.  You are, of course, as a Named Insured and any driver listed on your auto policy.  Also included as First Party are your minor children and any older children and relatives residing in your household who don’t have their own insurance policy.

Now, what is PA First Party coverage?  It includes Medical coverage of at least $5,000.  This is the first insurance to pay your medical expenses if you are injured in an auto accident, regardless of fault and regardless of what auto you are occupying, with some exceptions. Pennsylvania state law requires a minimum of $5,000 in First Party Medical on every auto policy, but you can choose to increase that limit up to $100,000, and even add First Party Extraordinary Medical for an extra $1,000,000 in medical coverage. 

Other optional (not required by law) PA First Party coverages include Income Loss, which replaces your income if you are injured in an auto accident and are unable to work as a result.  There is also Funeral coverage and Accidental Death coverage.  These both act as life insurance if you pass away as a result of an auto accident.  Since many people don’t have life insurance policies for their children and motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death for children in the USA, this is an important (and inexpensive) coverage to add to your auto policy.

It’s important to mention that there are exceptions to the First Party coverages, including when you are injured in an auto accident in the course of employment or if you are driving a company car, and each coverage has optional limits, so you can tailor your First Party coverage to suit your specific needs. 

Turning in a claim on your auto insurance for First Party coverages doesn’t cause your premium to increase or count against you as an at fault claim on your policy.  They are usually inexpensive and can provide valuable financial protection for you and your family.

So, don’t count on the other guy’s policy to cover all of your losses in an accident.  You are your own best advocate when it comes to protecting yourself and your family, so review your First Party Benefits coverages with your insurance provider today.

The key component to any successful business is their people and this summer we had the privilege to add another great team member to our family, Beth Kilpatrick. Beth brings a wealth of business and life experience to our team and as you will learn she also has a real passion for her family and helping others.

As a child I loved pretending I worked in a store selling my toys, serving ice cream to people, or actually having a lemonade stand. Needless to say, I’m not pretending anymore and I can really do what I love, helping people. Over the years I have worked in the customer service field and even owned my own business with my husband while staying home with my children. Then I returned to work part-time as a Para-educator at Manheim Twp School District. Now that my children are older, I am excited to make a career change into the world of insurance and jump back into a full-time customer service career.

As a para-educator, I was fortunate to become educated to work with special needs children for 11 years. During those years of working with children, I learned the importance of being patient and understanding. I believe patience and understanding are critical when working with customers, because I appreciate when others show these same qualities towards me. Simply put I believe in the Golden Rule. I expect a customer service representative to be pleasant, knowledgeable, patient, and understanding under any circumstance and that’s what I want to give to my customers.

My husband, Mark and I have been raising our 5 sons in Manheim Township for the last 20 years. Our oldest son Erik is 27 years old, a second grade school teacher at Pequea Elementary, head basketball coach for the JV Penn Manor basketball team, and a new father to my first granddaughter, a beautiful 7 month old named Finley. Next in line are 21 year old twins, Michael and Travis. Michael is a senior attending Shippensburg University with a dual major in International Management, Supply Chain/ Logistics, and a minor in German. He plans on graduating in December 2012. Travis is a senior attending California University of PA with a major in Sports Management and a minor in Parks and Recreation. He will be graduating in December 2011. Fourth in line is Wesley, who is 18 years old and a Freshman attending Slippery Rock University, with a major in Sports Management and minor in coaching. Last but not least, there is Justin who is 13 years old and in eighth grade attending the Manheim Twp Middle School. Justin loves to play baseball, football, and is a devoted Green Bay Packers fan.

Mark and I love traveling to the Caribbean together. As a family, we love to have cookouts on our deck, go to the boys sporting events, spend time with our new addition to the family (Finley), and play a competitive game of Clue.

I currently passed my Life and Health Insurance examination and now I am working on getting my Property and Casualty license. I am learning so much working at Baron Insurance and I look forward to using my knowledge and education to help customers achieve what they’re looking for in a personal insurance agent. I am very excited to be part of the Baron Insurance Group family!

When my husband died I was 24 and neither of us had life insurance. Three weeks prior we learned that FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) was approaching its 12 week limit and we would lose my husband’s work issued life insurance policy. With his cancer diagnosis, there was no possibility of being approved for any life insurance policy. It was too late.

When I was 22 and marrying my husband I never would have imagined that at 24 I would a) need a life insurance policy or b) that it would be too late to purchase a life insurance policy for my husband. We were both young, active and healthy enjoying our newly married lives. While both of us had experience death and serious illness with our parents, we did not believe we needed to worry about long term planning for quite some time. We both wanted to be established in successful careers and buy a home before making decisions about our long term wishes and financial goals. To us, life insurance was a perk that came with his great new job as an HVAC repairman. We believed that his work life insurance policy would offer us enough protection until we became more established.

In the past year I finally went through the process to place a life insurance policy on myself. I do not own a home. I do not have children. My largest debt are student loans from community college. To the average 20-something it doesn’t seem necessary to have a life insurance policy. Now that I know the costs of funeral expenses, having to process end of life affairs, and the possibility of high medical bills due to death or illness, I know that a life insurance policy is a necessity, not a perk.

Life insurance for myself was simple to obtain and inexpensive. It was a quick and painless process that involved meeting with my insurance agent, having an at home examination, and paying the bill. Now that I have this in place, I know that if I died, my family would have the financial means to be able to pay for my funeral, pay off all of my bills and debt, and have some extra money for what I term the ‘death fund’. This can be everything from affording some time off of work, paying to travel to see family in other areas of the world, going on a vacation to escape it all; whatever the choice, I want my family to have options when I die.

As a young adult, especially if you are married or a parent, life insurance is important to protect yourself against the ‘what ifs’ in life that you hope never happen. The assumption that it will not happen to you is naive, and the best way to protect your family and ensure a more stable future is to speak to your insurance agent about life insurance. Go with someone you trust, and it will make the experience much more pleasant.

Learn more about Brenda on her blog at http://crazywidow.info/. Also support Brenda’s non-profit organization Keepin’ it Kevin to promote awareness and provide research funding for Angiosarcoma cancer.

Photo by Scott Keuper via LancasterOnline

Just two days after Christmas I got a call from my wife, who was extremely upset, because our neighbor’s house was engulfed in flames.  Thankfully, no one was injured by the fire.  I arrived home about an hour later and the firemen were still fighting the flames that were being fueled by 30 mph winds. As I walked up to my house that was completely blocked off by emergency crews and fire hoses, debris and smoke filled the air. This was the second fire in our neighborhood in the last 3 months and I remember telling my wife that I never want to experience the heart-breaking smell of a house fire ever again.

The home that caught fire was a unique 1700’s stone mill house that people would admire when they walked or drove by. When I tried to explain to people where I lived, I actually used this as a reference landmark because so many people knew where it was located. The reason I bring this up is because the materials needed to rebuild this home were unique and they just started rebuilding the house this past March.

Photo by John Crawford via LancasterOnline

Then two weeks ago on May 26^th we had a small group of friends over to our house when someone said they smelled smoke. At first I thought they were joking because it was the evening major storms rolled into our area and we were watching the weather channel to make sure no tornados were coming our way. After realizing they were serious, I ran outside and to my devastation I saw the same house that caught fire in December was on fire again. This time the 3 car attached garage was on fire and the heat was so intense that I could feel it in my driveway 100 yards away. Again no one was injured but I will never forget seeing the owner’s crushing reaction as he walked up to see their home was being lost again.

As the firefighters tried to save the hard work that was done on the home from the first fire, we stood and tried to comprehend how this could happen twice to the same house and family. The probability had to be unfathomably small that the same house could catch on fire twice within 6 months.

I tell this story because many people, including myself, put important things off, like buying enough life insurance, disability insurance or completing a will. We think that we can either avoid a “lightning strike” in our life or we hope it won’t happen before we get to it. So if you have an insurance need, a will or anything else that you know is important but you have been procrastinating, please don’t wait. As a first hand witness, “lightning” can strike unexpectedly anytime, and in the most unimaginable ways, it can strike twice.

Primary Disability Pricing Factors

Occupation – Even though nearly 90% of disabling accidents and illnesses are not work related, what you do as an occupation does have a large impact on disability insurance rates. Occupations that are more hazardous and physically demanding will have higher rates than someone who works primarily in an office.

Health – Similar to life insurance, disability insurance will review your medical history, including build and tobacco use. For larger disability policies they may also require a paramedic exam (blood & urine).

Benefit Amount – This is the portion of your salary covered by the disability insurance. Generally, you can replace between 45%-75% of your salary, and benefits are normally paid on a monthly basis. Disability policies normally do not replace a 100% of your income because most individual policy benefits are paid tax-free.

Benefit Length – This is the length of time you will receive payments from your disability policy. Generally, you can choose from: six months, one-, two-, five- and 10 years, or to age 65. A general rule of thumb is any policy less than 2 years is “Short Term Disability” and over 2 years is “Long Term Disability”.

Waiting Period – Most insurance policies have a deductible that requires you to pay a specific amount out of pocket before the insurance will start paying any benefits. The waiting period for disability insurance is the same thing as a normal insurance deductible except it is based on time instead of dollars. Generally, you can choose to wait 30, 60, 90 or 180 days before you start receiving disability benefits. The longer the waiting period, the lower the price for the insurance.

What Qualifies as being Disabled?

When shopping disability insurance, it is critical to understand what qualifies as being “disabled,” because this definition will determine if and when you will receive benefits from your policy. Most policies will define “disabled” as either when you cannot perform your own occupation (Own Occ) or when you cannot perform any occupation (Any Occ).

A policy with an “Own Occ” disability definition has much broader coverage than a policy with an “Any Occ” definition. It is important to know the definition of “disabled” when shopping disability insurance and not focus solely on the price. Otherwise, you could be paying for a policy that might not replace your paycheck when you need it.

Overall, Disability Insurance is one of the most important but one of the least talked about insurance coverages. Most people either believe the odds of becoming disabled are negligible or a program like Social Security Disability will replace their entire income if they are unable to work. However, just like so many things in life, education is key. As we finish up Disability Awareness Month, please consider sharing this article or the official Disability Insurance Awarness website with a friend or family member that needs to protect their paycheck.

Auto Insurance Options

Many times parents are surprised to learn that they can purchase a limited form of life insurance on their auto insurance policy. For example, First Party Accidental Death coverage acts like a life insurance policy if you, your spouse or your resident children die as a result of a car accident only, even if you were a passenger in someone else’s auto. It literally can cost a few dollars a year and you can add up to $25,000 in Accidental Death coverage to your policy in Pennsylvania.

Another inexpensive option on your auto insurance policy is First Party Funeral Benefits coverage. This coverage works the same as Accidental Death coverage except the maximum benefit is $2,500 in Pennsylvania and benefit must be used for funeral expenses.

Life Insurance Options

Since the coverages offered on auto policies can be limited with inadequate benefit amounts, many families will look at a life insurance option. If you already have a life policy on yourself and/or your spouse, you may be able to add a Child Rider to one or both of your policies. This would insure your child for a set premium and a set limit, often between $1,000 and $10,000 per child. Again, this is very inexpensive and the premium for a child rider is the same whether you have one child or a dozen, so it is an especially good choice for large families.

If you are looking for more than $10,000 of coverage or you want your child to have their own policy, there are a wide variety of Universal, Whole and Term Life policies you can purchase for a child of any age. If they are under the age of 18 years, a child will most likely receive a standard life insurance rate, so, if your child is in good health with no medical issues, I often recommend applying for a new life policy once they are 18 years old, so they can receive the best life insurance rate and lowest premium.

Remember when you are considering life insurance for yourself or a child, it is not just about having enough money to cover the cost of a funeral, but to include funds to pay off emergency or long term medical expenses, college debts, estate settlement and other unexpected expenses.

Unfortunately, having enough life insurance won’t necessarily make you feel any better about tossing the car keys to your teen on a Friday night out with his or her friends, but it will give you some financial peace of mind as you raise your teen to become a safe and responsible adult.

Photo provided by listal

Many of you have seen the movie that seems to play every year around this time, “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.”  Or, as my wife affectionately calls it, “The Griswold Family Christmas.”

Whatever you want to call it, I’m sure there are some classic scenes that stick in your memory.  For me, some of those scenes are…

 1. Clark’s run-in with the attic stairs (my personal favorite!)

2. A Squirrel running through the house

3. Uncle Eddie emptying the RV waste in Clark’s front yard, with explosive results

4. A cat being electrocuted (This scene is particularly enjoyable for dog-lovers…)

5. Clark’s desire to install a swimming pool with his year-end bonus

6. Clark’s boss “kidnapped” by Uncle Eddie

7. An electrical outlet with too many things plugged into it

8. An icicle flying into the neighbor’s house

I could go on and on…You remember those scenes, right?  Well, more than providing us with a good laugh, these scenes can teach us a thing or two about insurance.  Don’t believe me?  Let’s look at each scene in order…

The 8 Insurance Lessons

1. Your homeowners policy won’t pay for your injuries after a close encounter with the attic stairs.  You would need Health Insurance for that.  So, if you need to get something out of the attic, have your Cousin Eddie do it…

2. Damage to your home from rodents and pests, including from your own pets, is generally not covered on your homeowners policy.  So, don’t leave the catnip, a raw slab of meat, or the mailman lying around.

3. Consider purchasing Life Insurance, and if you’re a smoker, watch where you light up. 

4. If you have pets, consider pet insurance.  Your homeowners policy may not cover Fluffy’s death by electrocution.

5. Swimming pools are covered under the “Other Structures” section of your homeowners policy.  However, there may be a limit to the amount of coverage extended to a pool.  So, make sure you have enough coverage, or build a small one.

6. Intentional acts are not covered.  Don’t kidnap your boss.

7. Make sure your home is insured for 100% replacement cost, and consider a policy that offers Guaranteed Replacement Cost.  And remember, besting your neighbor’s light display is best left to the movies.

8. Make sure your liability limits are adequate and consider a Personal Umbrella Policy, which increases your liability coverage in the event you do accidental damage to your neighbor’s mansion, master bedroom and massive home theater system.  What’s more, icicles, in general, are a potential sign of ice damming, which could cause water damage to your property. 

See, I told you we could learn something about insurance!

Now, I know what you’re thinking.  No one wants to think about insurance the next time you sit down at your table to enjoy the holiday feast.  But remembering these tips, as silly as they may be, can go a long way in protecting you and your loved ones during this holiday time and beyond.

And maybe, most importantly of all, remember the greatest lesson we can learn from the Griswolds…a dysfunctional family is still a family.

Photo provided by Flixster

Happy Holidays everybody!!

What would you do without the value such a key person brings to your business?  The death of a valued employee could have a fatal impact upon what you do.  The loss of an important person to your organization is just like losing a key piece of operational equipment.

It’s not just the output of the person you are losing. There are other considerations as well.  Premature death of a highly valued employee could have a significant effect on your credit rating.  The loss of the person’s abilities or reputation could cause creditors to question your business financial vitality.  Can you continue to pay your debts in the event of the curtailment of revenue?  What about the drop in profits after the death of a key individual?  There will be increased expense to replace the individual with a less productive person until the training process is completed.  The special abilities the former employee possessed may not even be replaceable.  All of this hits the bottom line in a negative way.

There are still other factors to consider.  This loss could disrupt management, especially if there were expert skills that were lost.  The subsequent loss could also cause key customers or employees to lose confidence in the business’ ability to perform into the future.  When customers or other employees highly depend on the special skills of an individual they will often lose that confidence, particularly in a down economy.

Life insurance written on this key person does not replace the individual.  However, it can replace the revenue lost by the business in the event of their death.  It provides cash.  Enough cash to keep the firm going in a declining revenue period and a time of increased expenses.  It provides cash to continue to pay salaries, bills and suppliers.  This will reassure everyone that the business is well capitalized to move ahead through this difficult time.  There will be costs to hire a replacement worker and train that individual.  The cash from the life insurance will cover these expenses.  Cash will be needed for stabilization of the business in a tight economy when revenues are not robust.  This cash can strengthen the credit position of the business.  This infusion of net working capital cannot be under estimated to a small business dependent on a few key persons.

Key Person life insurance is the writing of a life insurance policy on the life of the key person.  This benefit can be funded through permanent or term life insurance.  There are reasons and a place for both types of life insurance.  Determining the amount of coverage can take several forms.  Replacement cost and contributions to earnings are the principal methods to determine coverage amounts.  How each business is organized, sole proprietorship, S-Corporation or LLC etc. must also be considered before coverage is to be implemented.

The best advice is to think about this topic in relation to your business.  Seek out council from trusted advisors with experience to guide you through the thought process and putting a plan into effect.

If you’re the business owner, this overlooked protection could be your “Key” to great success!

We previously discussed a basic term life policy, but there are riders that can add important coverages to your policy. 

What is a Rider?

Riders are additional benefits that can be added to your life policy for an additional premium. Not every life insurance company offers every rider, but here are three of the most common riders and their benefits.

1. Accelerated Death Benefit

An insured person can use a portion of the death benefit (usually between 25% and 50%) if he or she is diagnosed with a terminal illness that will significantly shorten the insured’s lifespan. The total death benefit would then be decreased by the amount that is accelerated upon the insured’s death. That means, if you are diagnosed with a terminal illness, you would be able to withdraw part of your death benefit early to help you get your affairs in order, pay off loans or medical bills, or just enjoy a vacation with your family.

2. Waiver of Premium Rider

The Waiver of Premium rider waives future premiums if the insured becomes permanently disabled or loses his or her income as a result of injury or illness. Most insurance companies, impose a 6 month waiting period from the time of disability until the first premium is waived and the rider usually expires at age 65. So, you keep your policy with no further payments unless you are able to work again or the rider expires at a specified age.

3. Child Rider

This rider provides a death benefit in case a child dies before a specified age. When the child reaches the specified age, the rider can be converted to his or her own permanent life insurance policy without the need for medical exams. Note that the premium for this rider is usually the same whether you have one of ten children.

Life insurance can offer a gift of financial security to you and your family, and by adding appropriate riders to your policy, you can tailor it to meet your specific needs. Ask your life insurance professional to help you build a life policy suited to you.

After 45 years, b.i.g is now doing business in so many new ways compared to 1996 or 1978 and especially 1965. In the past, everything was paper intensive. Our shelves were full of manuals that told us the rules of doing business. We rated auto policies by hand using a pencil, paper and calculator. Polaroid cameras were the rage for taking instamatic pictures of homes that were insured. There were rows of file cabinets full of folders that contained the customer information and policies in force. Communication was only by mail or telephone until the arrival of the fax machine and the computer.

Today, at b.i.g you will see a business that uses computers to do just about everything. Technology has pushed businesses into a new frontier and embracing it takes courage and a will to change. We have accepted that at b.i.g.  It began with adding other insurance carriers and the adoption of a new paperless system. It continues with our entry into social media. On our new website you will find our staff blogging insurance tips for families and business as well as links to our twitter and facebook accounts.

Speaking of staff, we now have one of the best groups of employees in the history of the agency. You will find them competent, energetic and willing to go the extra mile to meet your needs.

b.i.g is prepared to meet the future. Even though we commenced to do business in 1965 we are just beginning. So, thank you to our loyal customer base for making our journey and our 45th anniversary possible!