How insurance premiums are calculated can be different from company to company. However, most companies will use the following when determining what to charge you for your homeowner’s insurance.
Location
Insurance companies will take into consideration the crime rate in your area, how close your home is to a fire department, and the likelihood for weather-related claims.
Type of construction
Whether your home is made of wood, stucco siding, brick, or stone.
Age of home
New homes can typically qualify for discounts.
Amount of coverage
The amount of coverage you purchase on your home, the contents of the home, and the liability limit will play a role in the cost of your policy.
Loss valuation
How your policy will pay for your home in the event of a claim, whether it will pay the actual cash value or the amount it costs to replace the items lost.
Deductible
How much of a loss you are willing to pay before you insurance kicks in. If you have a mortgage on your home, the maximum amount of your deductible many times will be dictated by your lender.
Contact Heritage Insurance Agency today for your Moose Jaw Home Insurance policy!
08/24/2011
08/03/2011
Three Misconceptions About Home-based Business Insurance
Starting a home-based business is easy, but that doesn’t mean that tax and insurance planning for the business is simple. And unfortunately, many small, home-based business owners skip the insurance planning part altogether, assuming that it doesn’t apply to them. But no matter how small your business is, or where you conduct it, insurance is a practicality that should not be ignored.
Let’s take a look at three common misconceptions about home-based business insurance, and the truth behind them.
1. My business is small—I don’t need insurance for it. Your business exposes you to a set of liabilities that you’ve not been exposed to before. As a business owner providing a service or product to clients, you can be found liable for damages that your product or service causes. Without professional liability insurance to protect yourself, you could be exposing your business or personal assets to loss.
2. My homeowners insurance will cover everything. Home insurance is a personal insurance product and does not automatically provide protection for commercial activities that take place in the home. It does not automatically protect business property that is stored in the home and does not cover liabilities that are brought on by business activities. Your home insurance policy, when your agent and insurer are notified of your business, may include special coverage for these items. If not, then you need to consider separate commercial insurance for business property and, as mentioned above, liability insurance.
3. Since my business doesn’t own my car, I don’t need commercial auto insurance. Your business entity does not need to have ownership of your car in order for you to need commercial auto insurance. The type of auto insurance you need is not determined by the ownership of the car but by the purpose behind the use of the car. If you drive your automobile for business reasons, such as picking up clients, delivering products or buying supplies, or if you ever store business or client property in the vehicle, then commercial auto insurance is likely necessary.
The goal of commercial insurance is to protect your financial liabilities and ensure that you are insulated from the financial damage that insurable incidents can cause to you and your clients. But more than that, commercial insurance products act almost as a business continuation plan by ensuing that you won’t lose business assets over liability, damage and accident expenses left uncovered by an insurance product.
Let Heritage Insurance take care of your Regina Business Insurance today!
07/18/2011
Remodeling and Home Insurance
Remodeling your house, either to increase the resale value or to increase quality of life while you live in it, is almost a no-brainer. But the activity of remodeling, and the results that follow, can have a drastic effect on your home insurance coverage.
Insurance during the Remodel
While you remodel your home, you need to make sure that you have the proper liability coverage in place. If you hire contractors to work on the home, they may have their own coverage. But handymen and friends of the family, if injured, will have the ability to place a claim against your home insurance policy.
Certain working conditions may create a more hazardous environment in your home and expose the interior to damages. Make sure that you do your best to minimize exposure so that you are not negligent and exposing yourself to more risk than is necessary.
The materials you choose to use during the home remodel could have an effect on your home insurance premiums. Make sure to follow the most recent code guidelines when making improvements and invest in materials that fortify your home against damage so you can see a discount reflected in your home insurance policy.
Finally, think about your contents during the renovation. In some rooms, you may have to find temporary, offsite storage for the contents. This can take them out of the purview of your policy and expose you to risk of loss unless you have a supplementary plan of coverage for them while they are offsite.
Insurance after the Remodel
Once you remodel your home, your property value will increase as will your replacement costs. And if any redecoration is included in the remodel, the value of your personal property might have increased as well. All of this translates into a need to update your home insurance policy to reflect your new values. Raising your limits ensures that you can get exactly what you need out of your policy in the event of a post-remodel insurable incident.
It’s not difficult to update your home insurance policy to reflect these changes. Just call your agent and let them know what you’ve updated, and they can help you decide what your new property and contents limits need to be. Since this will likely increase your insurance premium, you can consider raising your deductible a bit in order to balance it out.
Contact us at Heritage Insurance today to make sure your Regina Home Insurance policy is all up to date!
06/15/2011
Why Small Businesses Need Insurance
Small business owners often try to make do with minimal fuss. With the explosion of the internet, many small business owners are able to work out of their own homes to save on lease and rent expenses, hire freelancers to save on taxes and employee benefit expenses, and take classes to learn how to handle their own accounting, web design and other sophisticated needs.
Attempting to save money as a small business owner is smart and effective, but for each measure you attempt to save money with, you need to look beyond the “now” and try to determine whether or not this approach will actually cost you more in the future.
As an example, let’s talk about accounting. The small business owner who attempts to do his or her own accounting could be opening themselves up to future expenses in the form of additional taxes, fines and corrections if they are not dedicated to taking the time to learn how to do these things correctly.
This leads us right to the topic of insurance. Small business owners—especially those who work out of their home—routinely skip out on getting appropriate coverage for their business. Often, these individuals feel that the cost of the insurance premiums outweighs their risk exposure. Unfortunately this leaves them exposed to numerous liabilities and losses that could easily result in the closure of their business and the depletion of their personal assets as they attempt to make themselves or their clients whole.
One of the most important forms of insurance for small businesses is professional liability insurance. This protects you, as an acknowledged professional in your field, from the liabilities associated with errors, omissions, and malpractice.
Another important insurance for a small business to consider is commercial property coverage. Whether you are working out of your home or renting space to conduct your business, the insurance covering your location does not extend to your business property. You could lose all of your electronic equipment, machinery, supplies and stock without any recompense after the incident.
Finally, commercial auto insurance is a policy that many small business owners should consider. Personal auto insurance coverage will not cover insurance claims related to the business use of your automobile—even if that use is something as simple as picking up supplies at your local office supply store.
Insurance is a valuable asset to our personal lives as well as our business lives. Without it, we leave ourselves exposed to losses that we may not be able to recover from.
Make sure your Regina Business Insurance covers everything you need with Heritage Insurance!
05/09/2011
Commercial Package Policies
There are many different types of risks that a business owner might be exposed to and each requires its own insurance policy. When buying individual insurance policies to cover each risk, it can get confusing, which is why there are commercial package policies available to help business owners organize the insurance policies they need to protect their business into one convenient package. Often, this package can also afford an insured some discounts which makes it even more advantageous.
Not every type of insurance can be offered in a commercial package policy, however. Business owners can create their package using any of the following:
- Property coverage
- General liability
- Employment practices
- Auto
- Inland marine coverage
- Machinery coverage
- Crime coverage
- Boiler coverage
- Farm coverage
- Professional liability coverage
While the policy package may have some limitations, it is not cookie cutter. You individual package may have declarations, endorsements and conditions specific to you and the needs of your business. For instance,
- Each package will have what is called a common policy declaration, which spells out the details of who and what is covered. It will include the insured’s name, the date of coverage start and end, a description of the nature of the business covered and the premiums.
- Another package-wide spec is the common policy conditions, which spell out the responsibilities and obligations of the insured that is named first on the declaration. This ensures that, in the case of a business with multiple owners who are all named on the policy, one individual owner is responsible for making premium payments and responding to inquiries rather than having each business owner assume that another is handling it when none of them are. This is also the only individual on the policy with the power to cancel it. In order to do so, he or she must send the request in writing to the insurer. If the first named insured wishes to transfer these responsibilities to another, the request must also be made in writing and must be approved by the insurance company.
In this type of package policy, it’s also important to note that the insurance company is generally permitted to audit the insured company’s books and records at any time while the policy is in-force and for up to three years after it is canceled. They can also make an inspection or survey any time while the policy is in-force.
Be sure you understand your Regina business insurance policy with Heritage Insurance today!
03/01/2011
5 Safe Driving Apps for Your Teen Driver
Being the parent of a teen driver is not a relaxing experience. As you watch your teen bound out the door each day, car keys in hand, a million fears run through your mind. And while you can’t protect your teen from every driving risk they face once they walk out that door, you can take advantage of some phone apps that help enhance teen safety while they drive.
Text Disablers
There are many apps out there that can disable your teen’s ability to read or send texts while they are in a moving vehicle. These include: TextArrest and Key2SafeDriving. Other apps, like Drivesafe.ly Pro, read texts aloud and allow your teen to create an auto response that the phone sends on its own. Think of it as hands free responding.
Learn about the other available Safe Driving Apps for Your Teen Driver from Heritage Insurance today!
01/25/2011
Benefits of having Homeowners Insurance
There is no doubt that a homeowners insurance policy offers you and your family the financial reimbursement you will need to get your life back on track after an insurable incident. But the financial benefits of having homeowners insurance are not experienced by policyholders unless they endure an insurable incident with a financial impact that exceeds their deductible. Of course, that doesn’t mean that there are no intangible benefits to enjoy as you pay your premiums each month.
Peace of Mind is Priceless
When you know that you have an insurance policy protecting your family, then you have peace of mind. That might not prevent an incident, but it can certainly help you sleep at night. Without homeowners insurance you are left with a subconscious nagging prompted by the insecurity that being uninsured brings with it. In this state, a lot of mental and emotional energy is used up wondering how you would rebuild your family’s life if your home were to become ruined in an insurable incident.
Guarantee Your Continued Financial Security
Insurance also ensures your financial stability. You probably have big plans for your retirement, your children’s educational future and the repayment of all your debt. But without homeowners insurance to ensure that your personal savings do not need to be utilized after an insurable incident, there is no guarantee that you will be able to realize any of these plans and dreams in the manner you want. Instead, you may be forced to use the money you so carefully saved just to rebuild your home after a fire or other tragedy. Saving money without knowing that you will be able to use it the way you intend can leave you feeling insecure and may even impact your motivation to save.
Insurance is a serious topic. It’s not a fun purchase and it isn’t something that you will use in your everyday life. A homeowners insurance policy gives you permission not to dwell on how expensive and devastating an insurable incident can be and the confidence to know that you will be able to recover financially after one.
Be sure to learn more about your own Regina home insurance from Heritage Insurance today!
01/04/2011
Comparing Homeowners Insurance Quotes
It is easy to get tunnel vision when looking for homeowners insurance quotes. Sometimes, in the midst of many quotes and hours spent looking for policies, shoppers can resort to simply narrowing their selection down to price and choosing the cheapest quote rather than considering the actual value of the policies they are considering buying compared to all the other policies they have looked at. But doing so isn’t the best way to make sure you are getting the best and most affordable policy to actually fit the individual needs of your home and your family. Instead you must evaluate all aspects of the policy, from coverage to deductibles, and the cost in order to get the best deal. Here is a list of items you should review before you commit.
- Dwelling amount: The amount of the dwelling coverage is the amount you would get for the actual structure of your home. This includes the building that you consider your home and any other attached structure—like an attached garage.
- Contents amount: The actual structure of your home isn’t the only part of your property with value. The items you fill your home with are also valuable, both financially and emotionally. Contents coverage is what you are insured for on damages to your possessions like your furniture, electronics, clothing, etc.
Read more factors to know about when shopping for your own Saskatchewan Homeowners Insurance from Heritage Insurance today.
11/24/2010
Why Carry an Umbrella Policy
How often do you hear on the news about an injured car accident victim who received a million dollars in damages because the driver of another car accidentally crossed the double yellow or ran a red light? We all feel bad for the victim, but have you ever wondered who pays that million dollars? It's the other driver. And what if that other driver—who had no malicious intent but who simply looked away for just a second—were you? And what about the small business owner who must close up shop after someone slips and falls in her store and she can't afford to stay open while paying the awarded injury claim?
Put yourself in that hapless driver and business owner's shoes. You've been ordered to pay a million dollars in damages. Your car or business insurance policy covers $300,000, then the courts go after your personal and business assets. Soon, you're ruined—all because of a careless mistake. Fortunately, this doesn't have to happen if you protect your liability with a personal umbrella insurance policy.
Read the rest of this story with Heritage Insurance and see about changing your Saskatchewan Business Insurance into an umbrella insurance policy.
10/28/2010
What's in your insurance policy?
by Dianne Nice | The Globe & Mail | October 25, 2010
Five years ago, as a major rain storm pounded Toronto, I found myself in my flooded family room, toys floating by in ankle-high water, wondering whether my insurance policy would cover the damage.
Many neighbours were in the same boat, with water-stained bundles of carpeting placed curbside on every street. All told, the Insurance Bureau of Canada estimated more than $400-million was paid out to property owners to cover flood-damaged basements from that particular storm.
Like many home owners, I hadn’t thought much about my insurance coverage until I was faced with a claim. A recent TD Insurance poll reveals 23 per cent of Canadians are unsure or have no idea what’s covered in their insurance policies. And of those who do understand their policies, most do not bother to take the proper steps to take full advantage of their coverage, such as keeping a detailed inventory of their valuables and updating their policies when they acquire something of major value.
“Not updating your insurance policies is like not checking the weather before you get dressed and leave the house – you risk finding yourself in an unfortunate situation you could have avoided,” says Henry Blumenthal, vice-president and chief underwriter at TD Insurance.
Of the 1,500 Canadians polled, 53 per cent had made a claim on their insurance before, and of them, 42 per cent said they were surprised by something on their insurance policy.
Last year, 37 per cent of TD’s home insurance claims were the result of water damage, 17 per cent were the result of wind and hail, 14 per cent were due to theft and 2 per cent were due to fire.
Mr. Blumenthal offers a few tips for ensuring your insurance has you covered: To read them, click here
Make sure you know what's covered by your Saskatchewan Home Insurance from Heritage Insurance Ltd.
Heritage Insurance Ltd
Heritage Insurance LTD specializing in Regina Sask Business Insurance.
