Whether it’s a flood, tornado, hurricane, or fire, you’re left to clean up after the mess (hopefully with insurance). More and more, residents along the Kansas-Humboldt fault  and Missouri New Madrid fault line need to be considering earthquake insurance as well. The world is changing, the weather is becoming more unpredictable. Like most things in life, it is better to be prepared for disasters that cannot be prevented than it is to wake up one day and find that everything you have worked for is gone.  

The damage from an earthquake can range from minor to catastrophic, and once that ground starts shaking, it’s too late to call your insurance agent. Chances are they will be heading for a doorway and ignoring the telephone call.

The cost of preparedness is miniscule compared to the cost of starting over. Give your agent a call and find out how you can avoid being all shook up.      

Kansans encouraged to buy quake insurance  http://www.nbcactionnews.com/dpp/news/state/kansas/kansans-encouraged-to-buy-quake-insurance

It’s easy to get confused by the dwelling amount. You figure that if you were to sell your house today you might get $300,000. So why do you need it insured for $400,000? It’s simple. If you had to rebuild that same house in today’s market, it would cost $400,000 to do it. Labour, material and energy costs are increasing even though market values are down. So forget about market value. It is not the right indicator when getting home owner’s insurance.

Do you think your children are going to give you an easy time when they find out their bedrooms are half their old size? Or what if – heaven forbid – they had to share a room with another sibling or worse – Great Uncle Morty is taking over the top bunk at Christmas?

So how can you protect your precious child from listening to Uncle Morty snoring all night? Be sure that you are getting current replacement cost analysis from your insurance agent. All carriers have a program they use to determine this amount. In some cases the amount of savings is very minimal in relation to the amount of coverage you are cutting back on, so if you need to lower your costs, it might make more sense to increase deductibles, but don’t go backwards on the replacement cost of your home.

Ways You Can Save

-Most insurance companies will offer substantial discounts for covering both your home and auto, so package these together if possible.

-Raise your deductibles -Work with an independent insurance agency, where one agent can shop with several top carriers and do the work for you

-Go without some of the “extra bells and whistles” before you lower your dwelling amount. In the end it would be better to have an uncovered $2500 piece of jewellery than to have 100,000 + of an uncovered home.

That is after all why we started covering homes in the first place…

Call Govea Insurance Agency for a free replacement cost analysis of your home today! 913-322-7785

Bo Govea “Covering YOUR Community”

Imagine going for a long leisurely walk along the beach, when suddenly it begins to pour rain. You wore a raincoat because the sky looked overcast, but as the rain begins to fall you realize the raincoat wasn’t enough. An umbrella would have offered you much more protection. You wished you had brought one with you, but it’s too late. You’re soaked.

Umbrella insurance isn’t any different. It protects you where your other coverage falls short. Under most circumstances the insurance you have will protect you. But life is full of surprises, and not always pleasant ones. You don’t want to find yourself in a situation where your insurance coverage is exhausted and your assets have to cover the difference.

Bob and Sandy’s 18 year old son was driving their car on a short trip to the store with his girlfriend.  The car left the roadway and struck a tree.  Bob and Sandy’s son told the police that a vehicle cut him off, but there were no witnesses and no evidence of any impact with another car.  The girlfriend has no recollection of the accident.  

The Girlfriend was hospitalized for over a month with multiple fractures and internal injuries.  She was in a wheelchair but is now able to walk with crutches and continues with physical therapy.  She has a right drop foot as a result of the injuries.  Bob and Sandy’s personal umbrella policy limit was paid.

If Bob and Sandy hadn’t had the personal umbrella policy, their sadness over the accident wouldn’t be all they would be dealing with. They would also likely be having to use their beautiful home and any other assets to cover the medical bills and a possible lawsuit to cover the ongoing costs for the girlfriend.

So who needs a personal umbrella policy? Anyone with assets, families with young drivers, owners of boats or personal watercraft, anyone who has a swimming pool, rental property owners and owners of recreational vehicles.

An umbrella policy is simply additional liability coverage. It’s fairly inexpensive and gives you additional coverage where your auto or personal liability falls short. Remember the old saying, when it rains – it pours…..don’t get caught without an umbrella. You don’t need to get soaked.

Contact Bo Govea at Govea Insurance 913-322-7785

So what should you do after the storm has hit?

Contact a trusted roofer, one who is established in your community and has a good reputation for being available after the job is done if there are any problems. Don’t choose a roofer who blew into town with the storm.

Only a professional can assess the damage and determine if you have a claim. Composite roofs are difficult to assess without having a professional on the roof.

Once it’s been determined that you do have a claim, it’s time to make a business decision. If the damage to your roof is $1500 and you have a deductible of $2000, it’s not a good decision to file a claim. If the damage is enough to file a claim, it’s time to approach your insurance company. A good roofer will be available to validate the claim when the insurance adjuster arrives to adjust the claim.

A good roofer will explain the process to you, how they get paid, usually in two checks, one at the start of the job, and one at the completion. If your roofer offers to pay your deductible, or issue you a kickback, this is illegal. It is insurance fraud. Don’t do it.

Please contact us if we can be of any assistance! Bo Govea 913-220-9097

The standard homeowners policy excludes coverage

for water damage in your basement due to backup of

sewers and drains? Your basement is not automatically

covered in the event of water damage from a long night of

rain. To be covered for this peril, you need to have “water

backup of sewer” as part of your policy. If your basement

is finished, or you use any part of it for storage, you need

this coverage. Fall is one of the wettest seasons—so don’t

wait—the coverage is too inexpensive to go with out!

Contact BO @ 913-220-9097 for a quote today!!!

With the value of today’s automobile dropping faster than the Dow, it is very easy for consumers to get upside down on their car payments.  Most auto insurance policies only cover your car at market value and GAP insurance is an inexpensive way to cover that difference between what you owe on your vehicle and what the insurance company will pay you.

If your vehicle is totaled due to accident, flood, tornado, vandalism, or theft, your insurance company will typically pay the market value, which is often considerably less than the actual amount you still owe on your loan or the amount due for a lease payoff.

The amount between your insurance deductible and the loss from this financial shortfall is the “gap” you can be left owing.

Claims scenario:

• Buy a car that costs $30,000 and you drive it off the lot.
• After making the down payment, you owe $28,000 in car payments over five years.
• You purchase an insurance policy with a $1,000 deductible.
• You have an accident and the vehicle is totaled, but the value of the car is now only $25,000.
• You still owe $28,000 on the vehicle and the insurance policy pays $24,000 ($25,000-$1,000 deductible).
• You have a gap of $4,000 that you still owe on the car.

If you would have purchased GAP insurance, you would owe nothing at this time.  GAP coverage would pay the difference.

How much does GAP insurance cost?  GAP coverage on this vehicle would have been approximately $16 for the year!

To find out the cost of GAP insurance on your vehicles, please call us at (913)-322-7785.  Ask for Mary or Nate!

Visit us at http://goveainsurance.com

Bo Govea