Heritage Insurance Agency

The Postive and Negative Aspects of Group Insurance Coverage

One of the most important benefits that employers give their employees is the benefit of group insurance. For some, these group benefits are the only forms of insurance protection that an individual will ever have. But when possible, employees should enjoy these group benefits not as a sole source of protection from all the financial risks they face, but as a supplement their personal insurance policies.

If you aren’t sure why you should have both individual and group insurance coverage, consider these points on three different types of group insurance policies:

• Life insurance: Group life insurance benefits are very inexpensive and can be a great comfort to your family if they lose you while you are employed. But these plans are not portable—meaning you can’t take them with you when you leave. Having your own life insurance policy allows you the comfort of knowing you are insured whether you are employed or not. In addition, group life insurance benefits do not generally include accruing cash values which can be a source of tax-free loans in the future.
• Health insurance: Group health insurance coverage is especially helpful when you have a pre-existing condition that is hard to get covered with an individual health insurance policy. Group health costs can also be more affordable for those who have pre-existing conditions. However, group coverage can be less competitively priced for those who are young and healthy. It is also restrictive in options. You may not be able to see your existing doctors and have it covered in-network. And when you leave your employer, you can only carry the coverage for an additional 18 months in most instances.
• Disability: When you are employed and covered by a group disability insurance plan, you will have an affordable premium along with the protection of either short- or long-term disability benefits—and in some cases, both. This will be especially helpful if you suffer an injury that is not covered by workers compensation. But if you leave your job and go to another employer who doesn’t offer that benefit, you could be left without a disability benefit after a non work-related accident, illness or injury.

It is up to you to fully protect yourself and your family from financial risks. Insurance policies offer you an affordable, reliable means for doing so. And while employer-sponsored group policies do offer some attractive benefits, they may not be suitable as your only source of protection. Contact us to discuss your options for Group Health Insurance in South Carolina at (864) 269-6860.

Covering Your Liabilities with Commercial Auto Insurance

Being a business owner is a lot like being a professional athlete in a competitive sport. Not only do you need to do that thing you do—and do it well, but you must also pay attention to everything going on around you and look out for potential problems before they occur. This can be an exciting and invigorating way to live, but it can also expose you to many risks that are easily covered if you invest in the right kind of insurance coverage for your company.

Commercial auto insurance is one of the types of insurance policies that can offer your business protection, but it’s often overlooked by business owners who underestimate the amount of risk they face by carrying the wrong kind of car insurance for the business use of their vehicle.

Customer-related Liabilities

If any of your client’s property ever enters your vehicle, then you could be facing some major potential liabilities.  Not only could an accident or theft result in the loss of the client’s property and value, but depending on the nature of the property, that loss could lead to negative impacts on your client’s business or personal life, which would increase your liability. 

And your ‘customer’s property’ doesn’t just mean items that they hand over to you for your care or repair, it can also mean deliverables that your customer paid you for and expected you to deliver by an agreed upon date. This broadens the pool of what you can consider your client’s property and, as a result, increases your potential liability.

Employee Liabilities

If you send an employee out on an errand for your business or have them carrying your customer’s property in their vehicle, and they have an accident during this business-related travel, you are liable for their injuries and damage to their vehicle. If you have commercial auto insurance, then the claim can be put through your auto policy. If not, your business could lose money settling its responsibility.

There is no benefit to not buying the right kind of insurance for your car and business. Commercial auto insurance is an affordable way to protect your business assets and ensure the continuation of your company. Without it, you could lose your business and your livelihood after just one uncovered accident. Contact us today to discuss your options for South Carolina Business Auto Insurance at (864) 269-6860.

Understanding Cash Value Loans on Life Insurance

If you have a whole life insurance policy then part of your annual premium payment is applied toward your policy’s accumulating cash values. Cash values create the surrender and loan value of your life insurance contract, which means that your policy has a value beyond its death benefit, and that value can be borrowed against. Before you decide to take a loan from your life insurance policy, there are some things that you should understand.

A loan is a loan: Cash value loans are just that—loans. They do need to be paid back. If you don’t pay back the loan before death, your death benefit can be reduced by the amount of the outstanding loan balance and interest. Depending on the amount you’ve borrowed, this could have a serious impact on your beneficiaries.

Interest charges: You will be charged interest on cash value loans, but that interest is paid back to you in your cash values.

Premium loans (APL): Your cash values can be applied to premiums due if you have this feature set up through your insurance company. It is called an applied (or automatic) premium loan (APL) and while it may prevent your policy from lapsing, it is still a loan and, if not paid back, can reduce your death benefit. Don’t take for granted that your insurance company has automatically set your policy up for this process, call your agent to make sure.

Surrender value: While this post is primarily about cash value loans, it is important to clarify surrender values since they represent a different portion of your cash value reserves. Your actual cash value may not be the amount of money that you are entitled to if you decide to surrender your policy. Your surrender value represents the policyholder equity, and the amount of money you would be paid by the insurance company if you decided to surrender your policy.

Taxes: Loans from cash values are not taxable. Because they are loans to be paid back, they are not considered gains. Cash received through a cash surrender may be all (or partially) taxable.

Cash value loans, while convenient and accessible, should not be taken lightly. The decision to borrow from your life insurance policy could have an impact on your heirs if you aren’t able to pay it back before death. Additionally, if you take enough, you may wipe out any remaining balance, leaving your policy without the option for an APL if you miss a premium, which puts you in danger of lapsing. Take some time to evaluate your need for the loan and the possible consequences of taking it before you move forward. Call us if you have any questions or concerns about South Carolina Life Insurance at (864) 269-6860.

What is the difference between Flood Insurance and Home Insurance?

When you first contemplate buying insurance, there are many various terms and policy choices that can be easily misinterpreted. Many consumers don’t realize the full scope of what their policies cover. What are the deductibles and limits on the policy? What special situations are covered in the auto or homeowners policies? All of these questions are easily answered by calling your insurance agent or scanning your policy.

But not all insurance misunderstandings are innocent. If you believe some insurable incident is covered by your existing auto or homeowners’ insurance policy and it really isn’t, you could be exposing yourself to financial risks that you are unable to face on your own. One cause of this type of uncertainty involves flood insurance.

Many consumers believe that flood insurance is included in their homeowners’ policy. Unfortunately, this assumption is so common that many policy holders don’t ask their insurance agent if their homeowners’ insurance policy will cover the destruction caused by flood waters—they just assume that it will.  This assumption can turn out to be a very costly mistake after a flood actually occurs. Presuming that their homeowners insurance policy provides flood coverage stops them from taking the required steps to find out the truth about flood insurance and protect their family and their assets accordingly.

Now that we know that homeowners insurance policies do not cover damage caused by flood waters, let’s determine what actually comprises of flood waters. The National Flood Insurance Program defines a flood as:

“A flood is a general and temporary condition where two or more acres of normally dry land or two or more properties are inundated by water or mudflow.”

The definition of a flood is simple to understand, but the reason that many homeowners think it’s included in their insurance policy is because many of the events that can cause floods cause other damages that are covered under a homeowners insurance policy. For instance, a hurricane may cause wind damage to your home that is covered in your policy, but it may also cause normally dry land to be briefly flooded by water, which could seep into your house and damage your floors and furniture—but because those are flood waters, they will only be covered if you have a flood policy.

So call us to get your flood policy in place today, whether you live in a flood zone or not. It’s protection that isn’t covered in your homeowners policy but needs to be in place to keep your family safe. Call us today at (888) 269-6860.

How do insurance companies assess drivers’ risk?

When you apply for an auto insurance policy, before the insurance company can issue the policy they must try to foresee how much risk you will be worth if the policy is written. This helps them to manage the claims experience they have, determine whether or not to issue your policy and, if they do issue your policy, decide how much to charge you for it. The process during which they assess your risk is called underwriting.

While underwriting your auto insurance policy for coverage, underwriters will take into account various criteria including your previous driving record. They will obtain a motor vehicle report (MVR) to see how many tickets, accidents and other driving incidents you’ve had, what the tickets have been for, and decide how much influence those actions have on your current driving habits. Some of your past behavior—like speeding—will make you a riskier candidate to insure than others. This is because your past deeds and choices imply something about your personality and habits. Someone who has been cited with several speeding tickets in the past is more likely to have an accident and has also shown a propensity to ignore the legal speeding limit. This shows that the driver might be liable to disregard other driving laws and safe driving practices, therefore making him more likely to have an accident resulting in an insurance claim. Read more on underwriting for auto insurance.

As an independent agency we can offer our clients what direct writers cannot; More Choices and Better Rates.  We combine old fashion values and service with only select companies that provide stable financial stability. Contact or call us today for a free South Carolina auto insurance quote at (888) 269-6860.

South Carolina Auto Insurance

Auto Insurance

Auto insurance protects you against financial loss if you have an accident. It is a contract between you and the insurance company. You agree to pay the premium and the insurance company agrees to pay your losses as defined in your policy.

It's really all about protecting yourself financially.

• If you're in an accident or your car is stolen, it costs money, often a lot of money, to fix or replace it.
• If you or any passengers are injured in an accident, medical costs can be extremely expensive.
• If you or your car is responsible for damage or injury to others, you may be sued for much more than you're worth.
• Not only is having insurance a prudent financial decision, many states require you to have at least some coverage.

An auto insurance policy is comprised of six different kinds of coverage. Most states require you to buy some, but not all, of these coverages. If you're financing a car, your lender may also have requirements.

Most auto policies are for six months or a year. Your insurance company should notify you by mail when it's time to renew the policy and to pay your premium.

South Carolina

Can a state really be “Made For Vacation?” The answer is "Yes!" when that state is South Carolina.

From Table Rock in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains to the wide sandy beaches of our breathtaking coastline, the Palmetto State is made for vacation. From the crystal clear water of Lake Jocassee to the cobblestone streets of historic Charleston. From delicacies like she-crab soup to more South Carolina events and festivals than there are days of the year to 368 emerald green golf courses and 47 unique and beautiful South Carolina state parks. From our quaint small towns to our Heritage Corridor to incredible shopping, entertainment and nightlife… if vacation is on your mind, it’s time you put South Carolina vacations on your calendar.

Maybe you’re thinking about holding that next family reunion. Maybe it’s time for a romantic escape, that long-overdue girl’s getaway or an incredible guy’s golf week in America’s #1 golf destination. Or maybe what you really want is the best family vacation destinations in the country.

Heritage Insurance Agency

As an independent agency we can offer our clients what direct writers cannot; More Choices and Better Rates.  We combine old fashion values and service with only select companies that provide stable financial stability. Contact or call us today for a free South Carolina auto insurance quote at (888) 269-6860.

(Source and Photo: DiscoverSouthCarolina.com)

Basics of a Homeowners Policy

A homeowners insurance policy is charged with an extremely important task: providing financial protection to make you (the policyholder) whole after an insurable incident that damages your greatest asset—your home. But if you don’t understand what you are getting with the purchase of your homeowners insurance policy, you could be putting your home and financial future at risk.

Dwelling Coverage—a Shared Foundation

The amount of coverage you have for your dwelling covers the actual structure of your home including any built-in appliances, wiring and plumbing. It also covers attached garages that share a foundation with your actual dwelling but does not cover unattached buildings or structures like fences and sheds (these would be covered under Other Structures).

Your dwelling coverage could cover you for either replacement costs or actual cash value. While it may seem that this difference is minor, coverage for replacement costs is actually very different from actual cash value because replacement costs allow your insurer to reimburse you the amount of money you actually need to buy a similar item to replace the one that was lost, damaged or stolen. That means your claim could be equal to the amount needed to rebuild your home or buy one that is similar and in a similar location. Actual cash value, however, gives you the assessed property value regardless of whether or not it is enough to help you replace what you lost.

Personal Property Coverage—the “Things” Inside Your Home

The contents inside your home are covered under the Personal Property/Contents section of your policy. This section covers all your furniture, clothing, electronics, jewelry, free standing appliances and other interior contents. The limit of coverage for your personal property must be reasonable when compared to your dwelling coverage and most insurers impose ratio limits that restrict your personal property coverage from exceeding a certain percentage of your dwelling limits.

Just like your dwelling coverage, your personal property coverage could provide replacement value or actual value which will subtract the lost, stolen or damaged property’s depreciation from the replacement value in order to determine the amount of the claim.

Liability Coverage—Accidental Injury to a Visitor

It’s an unfortunate reality, but sometimes visitors in your home have accidents. They may trip over a loose walkway stone or slip on your deck, but if they are injured and want to have their medical fees reimbursed along with pain and suffering, your liability coverage is there to handle the claim.

Loss of Use Coverage—An Uninhabitable Home

If your home becomes uninhabitable, then you may not be able to live in it until repairs are completed. If the loss is an insurable incident, loss of use coverage in your policy will reimburse you for any living expenses that you incur which are above your normal expenses while your house is uninhabitable.

Call us today Toll Free at (888) 269-6860 or get an online Anderson SC home insurance quote.

Personal exposures with a Company Furnished Vehicle

It can be difficult to manage all the different insurance policies and assets you have between your business and personal life. From business liability insurance to homeowners insurance, life insurance for the benefit of your family and life insurance as part of a buy-sell agreement, and car insurance for your personal and business vehicles the perfect balance of personal and business coverage can be hard to maintain. While many of these complicated insurance arrangements cannot be simplified, the one involving your business and personal car insurance can be.

When you buy a business auto policy to cover your company furnished vehicle you can choose the Drive-Other-Car endorsement to cover your driving activities with a personal vehicle rather than buying an additional policy for personal usage. 

What the Drive-Other-Car Endorsement Covers  

The coverage provided under this endorsement is similar to that of traditional, personal auto insurance but it requires the payment of only one bill—your business auto policy. This makes paperwork easier for you and reduces the risk that one of your policies could lapse from nonpayment of premium. The Drive-Other-Car endorsement can also be used to provide coverage to employees who are given a company car to take home after work.

The Drive-Other-Car endorsement can provide bodily injury and property damage liability coverage as well as uninsured or under-insured motorist coverage. Whatever limits and deductibles you choose for the business auto insurance policy are extended to the endorsement.

Important Points to Remember

The Drive-Other-Car endorsement does not just cover you when you drive personal vehicles that you own, it can also cover claims resulting from accidents that occur while you (or a covered employee) are driving a rental vehicle or friend’s automobile. That helps to make this extremely flexible endorsement very comprehensive.

This endorsement can cover other drivers in the employee or business owner’s household—but you need to read the details of your policy before you assume that this is the case. If your policy does cover household members then they will be protected whether driving a rental car, borrowed car or their own personal vehicle. However, this does not mean that they are covered under the business portion of your policy if they use your company vehicle.

In order to qualify for this endorsement, the business vehicle you use and insure must be owned by your business and not by you, a spouse or family member. When looking for ways to buy effective insurance policies that protect you against financial risks and simplify your life, additional endorsements like the Drive-Other-Car endorsement are important and valuable tools to consider.

Call us today at (888) 269-6860 for a free business insurance quote.

More storm insurance options available

Jun. 02, 2010

A potentially blustery hurricane season is on the horizon for the storm-prone South Carolina coast. But for now, at least, all is calm on the property-and-casualty insurance front.

Industry experts agreed that competition within the industry has increased, coverage is more widely available to consumers, and price increases have, for the most part, remained reasonable since spiking several years ago.

Also, the state has enough backup insurance, or reinsurance, to cover wind-damage claims from a 150-year storm, according to Scott Richardson, director of the State Insurance Department.

“You’re always just one hurricane away from going to heck in a handbasket, but right now, it’s so far, so good,” he said.

That’s somewhat reassuring. Hurricane season started Tuesday, and it’s expected to be an active six months.

Read more: Full Story

Nighttime driving is biggest danger for teen drivers

by WashingtonPost.com May 07, 2010

Driving after dark is the single most-dangerous risk a teenage driver can take and is more likely to result in death than drinking, speeding or disregarding a seat belt, according to a national 10-year study of highway fatalities released Thursday.

"Everything points in the same direction for this age group, and that is to the use of cellphones behind the wheel," said Bernie Fette, one of the study's authors. "Whenever you combine the nighttime danger and the cellphone danger with inexperience, you have created a perfect storm."

That "perfect storm" took the life of Cady Anne Reynolds, a high school sophomore whose summer vacation had just begun in Omaha three years ago. Reynolds, 16, was driving home from a movie when her car was hit broadside by a vehicle driven by another 16-year-old who sped through a red light at 11 p.m.

"She almost hit two other cars before she hit our daughter," her mother, Shari Reynolds, said Wednesday. "She clearly was distracted by something, and she hit our daughter at 50 miles per hour without ever touching the brake."

The report, conducted by the Texas Transportation Institute, used federal traffic fatality data from 1999 to 2008, a period in which the number of traffic deaths declined nationwide.

Safer cars, safer highways, seat-belt laws and drunken-driving enforcement have been linked to the drop in fatalities -- all factors in darkness and daylight alike.

So why didn't nighttime traffic deaths drop, too?

Among drivers 20 and older, alcohol was a clear culprit in the proportional increase in nighttime deaths. Not so with teenagers, among whom there was a greater increase but no corresponding jump in deaths that could be attributed to drunken driving.

"We have a test to see whether someone's been drinking, but there is no test to see whether you've been on your cellphone," Fette said. "Because teenagers have grown up with these devices in their hands, they feel a comfort level and a very false sense of security. They will tell you, 'I can text with my phone still in my pocket, so I certainly can text while I'm driving.' "

The report adds to data amassed by U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who has crusaded for more than a year about the dangers of texting and cellphone use.

"A quarter of all teens admit to texting behind the wheel and, in 2008, the highest proportion of distracted drivers in fatal crashes were under the age of 20," LaHood said. "Teen drivers are some of the most vulnerable drivers on the road due to inexperience, and adding cellphones to the mix only compounds the dangers. We're doing everything possible to get the message out to teens that driving while talking or texting on a cellphone is not worth the risk."

In addition to dismissing the dangers of cellphone use, Fette said, few teenagers are aware that nightfall magnifies the risk posed by their inexperience and fatigue.

"More than 80 percent of teens can name alcohol as a driving risk," Fette said, "but only 3 percent are aware that driving at night is dangerous."

The report cites research from the National Sleep Foundation that says the average teen needs nine hours of sleep but gets seven.

"The resulting fatigue, especially late at night, can contribute to impairment that is similar to being intoxicated," the Texas Transportation Institute report says.

Data compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that the crash rate per mile driven for 16-year-olds is almost 10 times the rate for drivers 30 to 59. NHTSA research has also shown that teens killed at night are less likely to be wearing seat belts. About 6,000 teenagers die in car crashes each year.

The Texas research indicates that nighttime driving was the No. 1 risk for fatalities among teenage drivers, followed by speed, distractions, failure to wear a seat belt and alcohol use.

Maryland, Virginia and the District have graduated licensing laws that limit driving privileges until teenagers gain experience, as do most states. The laws restrict hours for nighttime driving and the number of passengers that a teen can have in the car.

"If you add one kid in a car [driven by a teenager], you double the risk of crash," Fette said. "With two kids, you triple it, and with three kids, it goes up by a factor of six."

All of those factors -- darkness, speed, alcohol, inexperience, lack of seat belts and distractions -- contributed a spate of fatal teen crashes in the Washington region to Fette's database.

Seventeen teenagers died on area roads within a four-month period in 2004. Speeding was a factor in eight of the crashes, failure to wear a seat belt was a factor in seven, alcohol was involved in at least two, one vehicle carried six passengers and inexperience was cited in five cases. Thirteen of the accidents happened after dark.

Since their daughter died, Shari and Rob Reynolds have campaigned for laws to counteract distracted driving. Rob Reynolds is a founding member of FocusDriven, a group patterned after Mothers Against Drunk Driving that wants to ban cellphone use behind the wheel.

"We're fully aware of the problem of nighttime driving," Shari Reynolds said. "When teens are in a group, they exhibit more risky behavior. Being with their friends, feeling the freedom, maybe being out a little late, and the adrenaline starts pumping."

Learn more about Auto Insurance or get a free insurance quote for your teenager by calling 864-296-6860.

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