When people think of claims they think the standard car accident and windshield claims, but don’t forget natural disasters also damage vehicles.

Natural disasters sometimes hit without warning. All you can do is be prepared ahead of time.

With the recent fires, earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes visiting our shores there has no doubt been many natural disaster car insurance claims being filed. Claims for trees falling on vehicles, flooding and vehicle fires all usually accompany these natural disasters.

If you have a vehicle and it has been damaged after your area is hit with a natural disaster, do you know what to do?

What Coverage?

Depending on how your vehicle was damaged during the natural disaster will determine whether the claim will fall under comprehensive or collision coverage. If another driver crashed into your car because the rain was so heavy they couldn’t see, it would be collision coverage. For broken windshields, flood damage and fires, the damage would be fixed by your comprehensive coverage.

Also depending on the type of natural disaster, you may not have coverage at all. In all cases, it is best to read your policy.

Best Way to File Your Claim

If you are used to talking to your Agent when you file a claim, keep in mind that they may be taking care of their own property or be swapped with other clients.  Don’t wait around for your agent to help you. Instead call your insurance company directly to speed up the process.

The turnaround time to hear back from an adjuster may be a little longer due to the widespread damage so be patient. While you are waiting to hear for a call back try and prevent any additional damage from happening.

For example, if a flying object shattered your windshield cover the area so that the interior of the vehicle does not get also damaged by any coming rain. On the other hand, if your vehicle is a total loss leave it alone until you are told to do something with it.

Moratoriums

Don’t bother trying to get insurance coverage just before a hurricane or other natural disaster hits your area.  Insurance companies watch the weather and news very carefully and will put moratoriums on areas that are about to get hit with a natural disaster. 

Moratoriums are when an insurance company makes the decision to stop all changes to current insurance policies and to deny any new applications. The companies do this to limit their claim exposure to the people that purchased insurance with them prior to a natural disaster threatening an area.

If insurance companies allowed people to purchase insurance right before they needed it, the companies would go out of business. You can’t run an insurance business if you are paying out more claims then you are collecting in premium. This is exactly what happens when a person starts an insurance policy and pays the minimum they can and then files a claim shortly after.

Protect Yourself and Loved Ones First. 

Your vehicle is replaceable, lives are not. If your area is hit with a natural disaster do not do anything foolish to protect your vehicle from damage. Think first of getting yourself and your loved ones to safety.

If you are concerned for you vehicle and you have warning of an oncoming natural disaster, protect you vehicle as soon as you know something is coming. Never leave this preparation to the last minute when it is too late.

Driving restrictions on teens are showing positive signs of decreased accident activity which should start leading to decreased insurance premiums.

If a new Federal Act passes, all teens will have to go through an even more steps to get their driver's license.

 Teens have the highest insurance rates of any other driving group and there is good reason. Teens also have the highest accident rates of any other group. Now, this is not to say that all teen drivers are bad. They just do not have the experience and maturity level that is learned with experience and this leads to more accidents.

To try and keep our teen drivers safe (and the rest of us) a new law is making its way through congress that would impose teen driving restrictions for drivers under the age of 18.

Safe Teen and Novice Driver Uniform Protection Act

 Senator Kirsten Gillibrand from New York has submitted a proposal to the Senate that would set getting a driver’s license into a multi-tier process rather than the two steps it is today.

The act would have the first level stay the same with the new teen driver being issued a permit. The only difference is that it would be illegal for permit drivers to text or talk on a cell phone while driving.

The second level is a restricted license at age 16. The driver would be restricted from driving at night and also from texting and talking on a cell phone while driving. An unrestricted license would not be issued until age 18, different from the unrestricted license that is now issued at age 16.

My State Already Restrict Teen Drivers

Driver’s licensing is similar to insurance; it can vary from state to state. Some states have very loose rules such as a driver can be issued a permit at age 14 and a license at age 15. Other states already adopt a graduated licensing approach like the one that is trying to make its way through the Senate.

The difference is that if the Safe Teen and Novice Driver Uniform Protection Act is passed and put into effect that this would be a federal law. Meaning that each state will have to adopt this law instead of the licensing laws being different from one state to another.

What it May Mean for Your Insurance Premium

Because drivers that are age 16-17 will be restricted from driving at night their driving exposure is cut to half of what it was previously. Also, with restrictions on cell phone usage while driving, one would reason that there should be a decrease in insurance premium for their teen driver.

Of course, this all will depend on the insurance company. If your teen has restrictions on their license right now ask you agent how it makes a difference on your insurance premium. Also if your insurance company offers any discounts for a restricted teen license.

Also as more and more statistics are being released to confirm that restricting teen driving time does decrease teen accidents we may see insurance rates start to be more reasonable for this group.

Car theft is something that no one is safe from, but there are ways to protect yourself and decrease the odds of it happening.

No one is safe from finding that empty parking spot where you car was until it was stolen.

You walk out of the store only to find that your vehicle is not where you parked it. In fact it is nowhere to be found. It has been stolen.

What do you do now?

First, call the police to report the car theft. Second, if you have comprehensive coverage on your vehicle call your insurance company to report the theft. If you don’t have comprehensive coverage, then you are left with just the first step and no vehicle.

Comprehensive Coverage

Comprehensive coverage on your policy covers for all “other than collision” claims. These are claims to fix or replace your windshield, vehicle fires and also theft claims. Theft claims can be someone stealing something that was attached to your vehicle or up to the whole vehicle being taken.

If you find yourself missing part of or even your whole vehicle due to a theft, your comprehensive coverage is what will get back to where you were prior to the theft. This means that if your whole vehicle is stolen, the insurance company is going to pay the current value of your vehicle (minus deductible). They will not be buying you a new vehicle.

The insurance companies use a formula of what a value guide (usually the NADA Blue Book) states the value of your stolen vehicle to be at and also the sales prices of other similar vehicles in your area. Once they have these numbers calculated they contact you with an offer of what they are willing to pay for your vehicle.

Discounts, Alarms and Tracking Devices

Some new cars come with tracking devices such as On*Star which uses satellite technology to track down the location of your stolen vehicle. You would think by having a device like this you would qualify for an insurance discount, but most insurance companies don’t offer this.

Because the tracking device does not deter the theft from happening in the first place, insurance companies don’t see it as a measure to prevent a loss. Most insurance companies will waive your comprehensive deductible though if you have a theft loss and there was a tracking device in the vehicle.

A car alarm is considered a theft deterrent and not only discourages someone from stealing your vehicle, could also get you a discount on your comprehensive coverage.

Are any Vehicles Safer from Theft Than Others?

Yes, some vehicles act like magnets to car thieves and others they pass on by. If you are in the market for a new vehicle and theft is a concern for you below is a list of the vehicles to buy and not to buy.

Vehicles with the Lowest Theft Rates

1. Audi A6 4WD
2. Mercury Mariner (2009-10)
3. Chevrolet Equinox (2010)
4. Volkswagen CC (2009-10)
5. Chevrolet Equinox 4WD (2010)
6. Lexus RX 350 (2010)
7. Saturn VUE
8. Chevrolet Aveo (2009-10)
9. BMW 5 series 4WD
10. Mini Cooper Clubman

(2008-2010 analysis of insurance claims data from the Highway Loss Data Institute)

Vehicles with Highest Theft Rates

1. Cadillac Escalade (4 versions)
2. Ford F-250 crew 4WD
3. Chevrolet Silverado 1500 crew
4. Ford F-450 crew 4WD
5. GMC Sierra 1500 crew
6. Chrysler 300
7. Ford F-350 crew 4WD
8. Chevrolet Avalanche 1500
9. GMC Yukon
10. Chrysler 300 HEMI

(2008-2010 analysis of insurance claims data from the Highway Loss Data Institute)

Liberty Mutual opts to make themselves look responsible rather than following everyone else into the cut-rate insurance premium advertising war.

Summary

Commercial opens at what looks like a train station with guitar music playing in the back ground. At the train station we see a gentleman remove an object out of the way of a blind woman. He does this silently and without being asked.

This one act of kindness is viewed by another person who in turn acts kindly to an opponent during a soccer game. As the commercial progresses, each act of kindness is view by another person who in turn acts kindly to someone else; creating a chain of events.

Narrator (at end of commercial): Everyday millions of people choose to do the right thing. There’s an insurance company that does that too. Liberty Mutual Insurance. Responsibility: What’s Your Policy?

Point of the Commercial

The whole base of this commercial is to “do the right thing”. In the field of insurance, this means to pay claims when they are legitimate and to not price gouge. But, they never tell you what they mean when they say this so you are left to assume their meaning.

The ending also puts an exclamation point on what they are trying to say when they add the tagline “Responsibility: What’s your policy?” Again, they are telling you that they are going to be a responsible insurance company for you, but they don’t tell you in what way.

Liberty Mutual is very much playing up on the current distrust that people have for big businesses right now with the current recession. They are making the point that they will be there for you to “do the right thing” and to act “responsibly” for you.

What the Insurance Company Wants You to Do

Naturally they want you to contact them for an insurance policy; but they don’t come out to encourage you to do so. This is a psychological move on their part to put the ball in your court and make you not feel like you are being pressured into contacting them for a quote.

They are telling you straight out that they will accept the responsibility of doing what is right by you if you had a policy with them. Then they let you think about what they just told you.

Right now this is a little bit of a gamble for them. With so many people looking for ways to cut corners and save money, they are instead trying to gain your trust in them as a corporation.

My Opinion

I am riding the fence with this one. I do like it, it is different and the company plays up on something other than how much money they can save you.  The commercial is also a nice reminder to those of us that live in this “me, me, me” world that one act of kindness can set off a whole chain of kindness.

But, I am still not liking that they are not specific in their claims of what they are going to be doing the right thing with.

I give it a thumbs up and a thumbs down.

Travelers Insurance is bringing us back to what insurance is really about.

Summary

We follow the adventure of a very worried dog as he tries to find a secure place to hide his bone. At first he tries to hide his bone around the house. No matter where he hides it, the bone is either obvious or he doesn’t feel secure about the hiding place.

He tries to bury the bone outside and a cat goes running by. Now that the cat has seen the hole, the dog keeps watch overnight thinking that the cat is going to come back for the bone.

Taking a bus into town, another dog that is on a walk spies the bone in the dog’s mouth. The dog on the bus quickly ducks down below the window level to hide the bone.

The bus takes the dog to a bank where he deposits the bone in a security box that goes into a locked bank vault. During a following nap the dog dreams that the dog he saw on the walk and the cat both have gotten into the security box and took his bone.

Running back to the bank he gets his bone back and takes it home. We find that the dog is no longer worried about his bone as it is safely out in the open in his dish with a Traveler’s Umbrella protecting it.

Narrator: When it comes to things you care about leave nothing to chance. Travelers: insurance for auto, home and business.

Point of the Commercial

Travelers Insurance is presenting to the consumer the original concept of insurance; protection of your assets. They use the dog to portray us and how protective some of us are with our “stuff” and also how paranoid we can get over making sure it is okay.

If you watch the commercial closely, you will notice that they throw in the line “leave nothing to chance”.  This is a nice point being made by Travelers, especially if you are already distrusting of your current insurance company or if you have any items that are uninsured.

What They want you to Do

Travelers Insurance wants you to trust them with your stuff. This means placing your insurance coverage with them so it is all protected. As the end of the commercial points out also, they aren’t just after your car insurance. They are letting you know that they can protect it all for you.

My Opinion

A fun commercial to watch, but once you see it a handful of times the novelty definitely wears off and it just feels long. The point that the insurance company is making though is put to the consumer in a very entertaining way. It is also not a commercial that will be forgotten quickly.

Overall, I feel that it deserves a thumbs up.