What You Need To Know About Renter’s Insurance

What You  Need to Know about Renters Insurance Wenzel & Associates Insurance Offers Advice for Apartment Living Protection (St. Louis, MO) – Renters experience apartment theft 50 percent more than homeowners, yet nearly 70 percent of renters live without renters insurance, according to an Apartments.com national survey.

Apartments and home rentals can be a great option for residents not ready to make the leap toward home ownership, but taking the appropriate steps to protect their belongings is just as important for renters as signing their lease. That’s why Wenzel & Associates Insurance outlines the importance of renters insurance and why every renting tenant should be covered by an insurance policy.

“Although many landlords require renters insurance coverage from their tenants, there are some that make it optional,” said Jane Dwyer, president of personal lines for Wenzel & Associates Insurance. “Because of the high percentage of burglaries and the risk of damage due to other tenants’ actions, having renters insurance is a great safety net for tenants.”

Renters insurance typically covers furniture, appliances, televisions and clothing — all of which are identified as a person’s personal property inside the rental unit. If the items inside the unit are damaged due to fire, smoke or water damage, they’re covered under the renters insurance policy. Tenants should also consider policies that provide coverage for vandalism, malicious mischief and falling objects. “Since tenants have no control over their neighbors’ actions, it is very important that their policy protects against the unexpected, including objects falling from patios above your unit and any type of vandalism,” Dwyer said.

While looking for renters insurance, tenants should also confirm coverage includes personal liability. A crucial part of renters insurance, personal liability provides coverage for compensatory damages if a tenant is legally liable for another person’s bodily injury or property damage as a result of an accident.

“Accidents can happen when we least expect them,” Dwyer said. “Medical bills from bodily injuries can be expensive, but with proper renters insurance, you and your finances are covered.”

Wenzel & Associates Insurance offers comprehensive coverage under its carriers that offer renters insurance coverages to protect the items most important to tenants. To learn more or to speak with an agent, visit www.davewenzel.com or call us 636.394.9070

About Wenzel & Associates–

Wenzel & Associates Insurance, is considered the premier, independent insurance agency serving the Greater St Louis area.  We are also lisenced in: Indiana, Illinois, Utah, Iowa, California, Arizona, Texas, Wisconsin, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Nevada. Wenzel & Associates has been in business for over 30 years and continues to grow simply based on the premise that we are, ‘Covering You Better’.

A Mother’s Day Remembrance

 

Vote with Your Time – Only Time Will Tell!!

In the busy world of today time is our most precious commodity and one for which there are no additional assets. In essence we cannot add time to our days, weeks or lives.

Please take a moment to reflect and remember your mother in honor of Mother’s Day this Sunday. Mothers are our unsung heroes who do not get the recognition or honor as often as she should. To follow I humbly submit to you this story which hits home on the importance of remembering by saying ‘Thank you’

A man stopped at a flower shop to order some flowers to be wired to his mother who lived two hundred miles away. As he got out of his car he noticed a young girl sitting on the curb sobbing.

He asked her what was wrong and she replied, “I wanted to buy a red rose for my mother.

But I only have seventy-five cents, and a rose costs two dollars.” The man smiled and said, “Come on in with me. I’ll buy you a rose.” He bought the little girl her rose and ordered his own mother’s flowers.

As they were leaving he offered the girl a ride home. She said, “Yes, please! You can take me to my mother.” She directed him to a cemetery, where she placed the rose on a freshly dug grave.

The man returned to the flower shop, canceled the wire order, picked up a bouquet and drove the two hundred miles to his mother’s house.

 As my father always told me “you vote with your time” and if it is important your time will tell.

Happy Mother’s Day!

 

Dave Wenzel

Dave Wenzel & the Team

Fighting Commercial Insurance Fraud Takes Teamwork, Diligence and Resolve

Fighting Commercial Insurance Fraud Takes Teamwork, Diligence and Resolve

As long as commercial insurance has been around, fraud has been right there with it, hitting the bottom-line of honest policyholders.

But risk managers, brokers and agents are far from defenseless when it comes to combating fraudulent general liability, commercial auto and workers compensation claims. Buyers should work with their insurance intermediaries and providers to proactively protect their companies against the significant financial impact of false claims.

According to experts at Liberty Mutual Insurance, three best practices are emerging as critical ingredients for effectively deterring commercial insurance fraud:

• Partnering with your insurance intermediaries and providers to develop a “battle plan” detailing how your company and insurance partners will protect against false workers compensation, general liability and commercial auto claims
• Creating clear and specific guidelines for reporting, investigating and managing claims
• Building a company atmosphere where fraud is not tolerated

Understanding the Impact

The roots of commercial insurance fraud go way back. In the 16th century, beggars would pretend to be accident victims to collect money from tavern and other business owners. Early in the 20th century, an enterprising woman, Ana Strula earned the title of “Banana Annie” after reporting 17 separate banana peel “slips” between 1909 and 1912 in an attempt to collect. More recently, Isabel Parker, a retiree with a serious gambling problem, pulled off 50 slip-and-fall claims over seven years before being snagged by a suspicious insurance agent.

The history of commercial insurance fraud is littered with colorful, sometimes humorous, anecdotes. Unfortunately, nothing is funny about the negative impact fraud has on policyholders.

While the aggregate level of commercial insurance fraud may be hard to definitively quantify, companies can protect against false claims, according to Mike Butler, manager, Special Investigations Unit, for the Commercial Markets strategic business unit of Liberty Mutual.

“Credible studies estimate that anywhere from five to 10 percent of all insurance claims – personal and commercial – are fraudulent,” said Butler. “The real questions commercial policyholders should ask are how does fraud impact my company and what can I do to protect against fake claims, rather than worrying about the macro situation and accepting it as a necessary cost of doing business.”

For Steven Friedman, director of Special Investigations, Liberty Mutual Agency Corporation, effectively fighting insurance fraud is all about commitment. “Insurance fraud has been estimated to be an $89 billion industry,” notes Friedman. “Those committing insurance fraud are not going to stop, but it is critically important that we do whatever we can to ensure that fraud’s impact is minimized. Fraudsters tend to go for the easiest targets, making it critical for companies to proactively build fraud-resistant organizations.”

Developing Effective Solutions

Kate Gordon, national coordinating counsel, Liberty Mutual Special Investigation Units, said that those numbers, while daunting, do not mean commercial insurance policyholders are defenseless. Whether it is in workers’ compensation, general liability, auto, property or any property and casualty line, Gordon said there are “best practices” that can be used to fight fraud and lessen its impact on the bottom line.

“The first thing you need to do is create a ‘battle plan’ for your organization, ideally working closely with your insurance broker and provider,” Gordon said. “It takes a clear, step-by-step process to create an action plan, starting with the fundamentals.”

Those basics include determining how insurance fraud might affect your company. Do you face the potential for fraudulent workers compensation, general liability or commercial auto claims? Are you most exposed to internal fraud from employees or external fraud from the public? Are there specific issues for potential fraud that apply to your industry or organization?

To effectively determine how fraud might impact the company, Gordon said each organization should decide if there is a department in place that can make this judgment. If not, can an internal team be created, or will it take outside resources, including legal or investigative help? Of course, working with your insurance carrier and/or broker or agent is critical in exploring your exposure to false insurance claims.

The next step in building the battle plan is to set goals for your organization, goals that focus on zero tolerance for fraud, referrals to law enforcement, and internal investigations. Understand the state and federal laws and regulations covering insurance fraud, and know which information will be most helpful to insurance carriers and law enforcement.

The second best practice for building fraud-resistant organizations is to set clear and specific written guidelines detailing how your company and its insurance partners will fight fraud.

“With these formal guidelines in place, your company can defend against fraudulent claims more effectively,” Gordon said. “When procedures are in place, routinely followed and documented, the resulting inspection logs, videos and other documents reduce the chance a fraudulent claim will succeed in court.”

The final best practice is developing proactive strategies that prevent an atmosphere where fraud will be more likely.

“Communications is the key,” Gordon said, adding that everyone from front line workers to the public must understand the company’s zero-fraud tolerance, and the procedures that exist to prevent, investigate and prosecute false insurance claims.

“Fighting commercial insurance fraud takes a team effort,” Butler said. “It starts with the customer and quickly involves insurance intermediaries and providers. And once a claim comes to the carrier, that means partnering with a whole host of people – including investigators, doctors and nurses, legal professionals, and field representatives – to ensure fraud is rooted out.”

Survey: Why Agents and Customers Choose Higher-Priced Insurers

Insurance customers are price-sensitive shoppers, and they have become more so given the financial pressures of the struggling economy.   Many observers fear that standard coverage is becoming commoditized to the point where customers routinely pick the cheapest policy for a given coverage without regard to brand, service reputation, or product features. As one agent said: “It used to be easier to sell better coverage at a higher cost, but due to the economy, most people are more concerned with cost.”   However, new research shows that this is the case far less often than many suspect. Many independent agents and their customers are willing to select higher-priced insurers for certain factors, according to preliminary findings in a study by Channel Harvest Research. This finding suggests that carriers can compete effectively on factors other than price.   The survey of independent agents on their attitudes regarding carriers — on a wide range of issues — was sponsored by Insurance Journal.   It is true that about one-quarter of independent agents report that their customers almost always go with the cheapest policy — at least 90 percent of the time.   “Companies are so impressed with themselves and their coverage that they have lost touch with the reality that the consumer is looking for the lowest price, period,” one agent said. “The name, the coverage selection, the service almost make no difference.”   However, one third of all agents taking the survey said they and their customers end up selecting more expensive carriers 25 percent of the time or more. Some reported that more than half of clients go with higher-priced policies for various reasons.   What influences this? Several things do, according to the survey. While cost is a factor, customers still need the proper coverages and product features to meet their needs — even if that means going with a higher-priced carrier. Having the right coverages and add-on features were the most commonly cited by 60 percent of agents selecting. Even though this is more of an issue in larger commercial policies, about half of personal agents still note that coverages and add-on features were what drove the customer to a higher-priced carrier. As one agent said: “We highlight the coverage differences so if a carrier has a good coverage enhancement, it can win the business.”   However, customer service and brand reputation are also significant factors that lead agents to select higher-priced companies. Almost one-third of agents say they recommended — or their customer chose — more expensive carriers because of prior poor service or claims experiences with the low-cost carrier. This held true for both personal and commercial lines-focused agents. In addition to wanting to make sure their customers have excellent treatment generally, many agents believe the carrier’s claims experience reflect on agents themselves.

About the Survey   The study, “2012 Survey of Agent-Carrier Relationships,” is the fifth in a series examining independent agents’ views on marketplace issues. The survey was sponsored by Insurance Journal and conducted by Channel Harvest — a partnership between Aartrijk and Campbell Communications.   The survey instrument covered more than 90 separate questions. More than 1,500 agents responded to the survey and passed validation criteria. Quantitative survey results are presented in a variety of formats, including importance rankings of specific carrier attributes, industry issues, and open-ended agency comments about what breaks superior carriers out from the pack. Information quoted in this article and the included graph is based on preliminary data and final survey findings could differ slightly.