Welcome to the Shield Insurance Agency Blog.
Here you will find a ton of articles on each of these topics: Auto Insurance, Boat/Watercraft Insurance, Business Insurance, Flood Insurance, Health Insurance, Home Insurance, Insurance, Life Insurance, Michigan Auto Insurance Reform, Recreational Insurance, Renters Insurance, RV Insurance, Things To Do At Home, Umbrella Insurance, and even a list of the Shield Agency Weekly Gift Card Winners,
If you have any suggestions for content, please drop us an email.
Visit Shield Insurance at the Farmers Market
on July 28, August 25, and September 25
Register to win a RoboVac 35C Wi-Fi Connected Robot Vacuum Regularly priced at $300 !
The weather was beautiful for a morning out and about for the first Hudsonville Farmers Market. The food and people were fabulous and it was fun to meet a lot of new people. Come and see us!
Click here to visit the Farmers Market web site for all the details!
Shield Insurance Agency Blog | By Ann Carrns Published May 14, 2021Updated May 29, 2021
Competition for homes in many cities is leading potential buyers to take steps they may not have considered a short time ago, including waiving the inspection. Lets take a look at how to navigate a hot housing market.
The home-buying market this spring is not for the faint of heart.
The main challenge is that the supply of homes for sale in most parts of the country continues to fall far short of demand. That is pushing up prices to heart-stopping levels in many markets. A lack of construction over the past decade, plus pent-up demand from pandemic shutdowns, has unleashed a national seller’s market. The median price for a single-family home rose about 18 percent in March to almost $335,000, a record high, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Daryl Fairweather, the chief economist for the Redfin online brokerage, said homes being listed for sale are selling quickly. About half sell in less than a week, usually after multiple offers.
The usual tips — like getting preapproved for a mortgage — apply more than ever. But competition in many cities is leading potential buyers to take steps they may not have considered even a few months ago, including offering tens of thousands of dollars above the asking price; agreeing to let the seller live, rent-free, in the house for several months after the closing; and waiving certain contingencies, like the right to inspect the house before buying.
Waiving inspections has long been common in competitive housing cities like Seattle, but it is becoming more frequent elsewhere, real estate professionals say.
Buyers will sometimes send personal notes to sellers to distinguish themselves from others vying for the same property, though some Realtors discourage the practice. Such “Dear Seller” letters include an introduction to the buyers and copious compliments about the house.
Mark Strüb, a real estate agent in Austin, Texas, sometimes invites buyers to write the letters, he said: “It never hurts.” He said he once had a seller with a strong sentimental attachment to the house pass over the highest offer because the potential buyer failed to write a letter, while the others vying for the home had all done so.
But agents often discourage sellers from reviewing such letters out of concern that the letters may reveal details about a buyer’s family status, race or religion that could inadvertently cause sellers to run afoul of fair-housing laws in their decision-making.
“It can actually backfire,” said Francine Viola, an agent in Olympia, Wash.
Buyers may note, for instance, that they look forward to gathering around the fireplace on Christmas, or that they find the home attractive because it is near a mosque. Should the seller be influenced by those details, the thinking goes, other buyers whose offers were rejected could potentially challenge the sale, claiming that they were victims of religious bias.
The Realtors association issued guidance last fall recommending that agents avoid using “love” letters. “Seemingly harmless,” the association said, “these letters actually raise fair-housing concerns.”
by Rachel Nania, AARP, May 18, 2021 | Health Problems
En español | There’s a lot to celebrate when you hit the big five-oh. Discounts start to kick in, investments begin to mature and — how does the saying go? — with age comes wisdom and maybe a few health problems.
But for all the money saved and knowledge earned, there’s a small price to pay: It’s time to really start tuning in to your health and addressing health problems.
“What we see is that some chronic health conditions are frequently diagnosed starting at age 50,” says Renuka Tipirneni, M.D., an internist and assistant professor in the Division of General Medicine at the University of Michigan.
The good news is that many of the conditions that creep up in midlife can be managed. And if they’re caught early and treated promptly, you can “prevent complications that are more serious,” Tipirneni explains.
Here’s what you need to look out for after you turn 50.
Click here for the rest of the story …
Stop by to meet Joe, Sean and his wife Kat, and register to win a robot vacuum or local gift cards!!
All the details can be found at the Chamber website be sure to check it out and visit the market!
The home of Hudsonville’s Farmers Market.
Hudsonville farmers are passionate about bringing the community together over farm fresh produce they have been growing for generations. The Terra Square Farmer’s Market will be a place where we inspire healthy, full, and abundant living. Growing together, food and community.
Shield Insurance Agency | Shield Blog | About Us | Start A Quote Today! | Business Excellence Award
We are pleased to announce that Shield Insurance Agency has been nominated for the prestigious Business Excellence Award. This recognition is a testament to our commitment to providing exceptional insurance services and our dedication to our clients.
The Business Excellence Award is given to companies that have demonstrated outstanding performance, innovation, and leadership in their respective industries. It recognizes organizations that have achieved significant growth, maintained high ethical standards, and made a positive impact on their communities.
We are honored to be considered for this award and would like to express our gratitude to our clients for their continued support and trust in our services. This nomination serves as motivation for us to continue delivering the highest level of service and to constantly improve our offerings.
We would also like to extend our appreciation to our dedicated team members who have worked tirelessly to ensure the success of our agency. Their hard work, expertise, and commitment to excellence have been instrumental in our nomination for this prestigious award.
Winners of the Business Excellence Award will be announced at a ceremony later this year. We are excited about the opportunity to be recognized among other outstanding businesses and look forward to the results.
Once again, we would like to thank everyone who has contributed to our success and helped us achieve this nomination. We remain committed to providing exceptional insurance services and being a trusted partner for all our clients’ insurance needs.
Thank you for your continued support.
The Chamber is SO excited to be hosting the Chamber Awards once again this year!
Here are our nominees for the 2021 Awards!
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The winners of the Awards will be announced at our official Awards Ceremony MEAL. June 17th at noon at the Pinnacle Center.
Make sure to get registered, we hope to see you there!
Visit the Shield Insurance Blog for some great reading…
On average Michigan has 15 tornadoes per year. Tornadoes are known to develop rapidly, with little advanced warning. The average lead time for a Michigan tornado warning is 10 to 15 minutes and winds can reach over 200 mph, which is why Michigan residents are encouraged to prepare and make a plan before a tornado strikes.
Each year during Severe Weather Awareness Week, a statewide tornado drill is held so you can practice your plan.
Terms:
Michigan Tornado Watch: Tornadoes are possible. When there is a Watch, move near enough to a shelter or sturdy building to be able to get inside quickly if there is a Warning or if you see signs of a tornado approaching. Remain alert for approaching storms. Watch the sky and stay tuned to NOAA Weather Radio, commercial radio, or television for information.
Michigan Tornado Warning: A tornado has been sighted or indicated by weather radar. Take shelter immediately.
Supercell: A system producing severe thunderstorms, featuring rotating winds sustained by a prolonged updraft that may result in hail or tornadoes.
Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale: Rates the strength of tornadoes in the United States and Canada. There are six categories for the EF scale and are in order of increasing intensity. *It is based on wind estimates of a 3-second gust.*
Home Business Insurance. The line between homeowners insurance and business property insurance can be blurry if you have a home-based business.
Your homeowners policy may provide some coverage for your business property, but limits are typically low. And it may not be enough if the value of the property is more than a few thousand dollars.
Home business insurance can help protect everything you need to run your company with much higher limits than those provided by homeowners insurance. And it offers additional protection homeowners insurance doesn’t have.
Homeowners insurance is meant to protect your home and personal possessions.
If your house burns down in a fire or a tree comes crashing through your roof, the insurance company will help you cover costs to repair or replace your personal belongings and the physical structure of your home.
But most homeowners insurance policies only cover business property up to $2,500. So if that same tree comes crashing through your roof and destroys the equipment you use in your business, your insurer will reimburse you up to the policy’s limit for business property.
If you only need a laptop and some basic office supplies, that might be enough.
If you have special business equipment, office furniture, or inventory stored in your home, you probably need more coverage than what your homeowners insurance can provide.
For example, let’s say you’re a photographer and you have a studio in an extra bedroom or garage at your home. The tree destroys your camera, lighting, backdrops, props, and other equipment. If you don’t have commercial property insurance, your homeowners insurance is unlikely to reimburse you for everything you lost.
If the limit isn’t high enough to cover all the property that was damaged, you’ll have to pay the difference to replace your equipment so that you can get back to work.
If you keep business supplies somewhere other than your home, such as in your car or a storage unit, the coverage limits in a homeowners insurance policy are typically even lower.
Commercial property insurance helps protect all the things you need to do business. Plus, it covers things homeowners insurance doesn’t. Here are three types of coverage commercial property insurance offers that can help protect your home-based business:
Here are a few business insurance trends that are likely to dominate in 2021, along with tips on how to position your business for growth. For small businesses across America, 2020 has been one of the most challenging years in history. Despite the coronavirus pandemic, small business owners have been resilient, pivoting and adapting their business models to navigate continually changing conditions. With the new year on the horizon, there are potential new opportunities to take advantage of and ways to adapt to challenges you may face.
Due to the hit that the economy has taken in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, business owners must prepare for hard market conditions in 2021: this will include higher premiums. Insurance companies will likely be erring on the side of caution, introducing new coverage limits and adding new terms and conditions to policies to ensure they aren’t hit too hard by any potential further waves of Covid-19.
Although higher premiums may be in the forecast, insurance companies will no doubt double down on their efforts to add value and ensure that customers don’t look for other options when premiums rise.
Over time, Big Data and sophisticated models will allow insurance companies to lead with risk-based pricing at an increasingly granular level. The emergence of new risks will create new underwriting and portfolio risk management techniques as well. Data-enabled processes will minimize friction and streamline the customer insurance journey, from request for coverage to claim.
In the long run, this pricing strategy will save insurance companies money and ensure that pricing is fair. As a result, low-risk customers will enjoy lower premiums, and only truly high-risk customers will be required to pay steeper rates.
Since higher insurance premiums are in the forecast, insurance companies will need to come up with creative ways to retain existing clients and earn the business of new clients. To stay competitive, insurance companies will likely bring new value propositions to the market to gain that competitive edge. This is likely to take the form of more flexible insurance offerings, including usage-based solutions.
In 2021, business owners will continue to face pressure to reduce insurance premiums or at least battle against the rising prices. As a result, many business owners will be considering alternative insurance options such as captives.
Captives and similar alternatives have been an effective and financially beneficial way for small businesses to mitigate risk for decades, and that’s no different in the age of COVID. Captives will take a leading role in 2021 renewals and give business owners a stronger hand when it comes to negotiations with insurers. They will be at the core of companies’ risk transfer and risk management strategies.
One of the first things a person must consider after purchasing an RV is RV insurance. That said, camper insurance can be a bit confusing and overwhelming. Often, this means an RV owner ends up with insufficient coverage or the wrong type of insurance altogether. This is something that can backfire terribly in the long run.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by all there is to know about motorhome insurance, know that you are not alone. In fact, there are so many people looking for information on this very topic that we’ve decided to put together a guide to make things as clear-cut as possible.
We’ll start at the very beginning by talking a bit about what RV insurance is. As you might imagine, motorhome or travel trailer insurance is a lot like auto insurance (or even homeowners insurance) in a lot of ways.
Essentially, this insurance protects you and your RV should something go wrong while you’re out camping, or when the rig is in storage. That said, there are some key differences between RV insurance and auto insurance or homeowners insurance. Most of these involve the items and events that are covered.
You may be wondering if you really need camper insurance at all. The answer? It depends.
The owners of motorhomes of all shapes and sizes must, at the very least, hold liability insurance in order to drive their motorhomes legally. Of course, if you have a loan out on your motorhome, you will probably need to carry much more than just liability insurance—and honestly, this is what we recommend anyway.
If you have a towable RV and you own it outright, you are not legally required to hold any kind of travel trailer insurance policy. However, if you are paying off a loan on the trailer, the lender will likely require you to keep a certain level of insurance until the loan is paid off in full.
It’s also important to note that some campgrounds require campers to have insurance on their RVs. If this is the case, they will request to see valid proof of insurance before allowing you to stay.
Even if you don’t have a loan on your trailer and don’t visit campgrounds that require every camper to have insurance, we still highly recommend holding an insurance policy. Depending on the policy you choose, your insurance could protect you should a person be injured by your trailer. It will also protect your investment should something happen to the camper.
There are many different types of insurance coverage for RVers. There are policies for motorhomes, which usually include the things you might see on a car policy—bodily injury and property damage liability, uninsured motorist, personal injury protection, and so on.
Motorhome policies may be liability only, or they may include collision and comprehensive insurance, so be sure you know what you’re getting before you purchase anything.
Additionally, there is insurance specifically for travel trailers and fifth wheels. These policies can also be full coverage policies or liability only. However, they will not include coverages that involve on-the-road incidents, as these things should be covered by the insurance you carry on your tow vehicle
Finally, we must mention full-time RV insurance. These policies protect those who live in their RVs full-time by covering the possessions in their RV and helping them find a place to stay should their RV be totaled.
As you might’ve guessed, full-time RV insurance is more expensive than typical RV insurance, so you will want to be prepared to pay a pretty penny for such coverage.
By GLENN CURTIS Updated Apr 16, 2021
Car insurance is necessary to protect you financially when behind the wheel. Whether you just have basic liability insurance or you have full auto coverage, it’s important to ensure that you’re getting the best deal possible. Wondering how to lower car insurance?
Here are 15 strategies for saving on car insurance costs.
One of the ways to lower car insurance is through a discount bulk rate for insuring several vehicles and drivers at once.
Lower car insurance rates may also be available if you have other insurance policies with the same company.
Maintaining a safe driving record is key to getting lower car insurance rates.
Car insurance costs are different for every driver, depending on the state they live in, their choice of insurance company, and the type of coverage they have. But when trying to save money on car insurance, it helps to know what the typical driver pays.
On average, the typical person spent $1,190 on car insurance in 2018, based on the latest figures available from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)1. According to the NAIC data, car insurance premiums rose 30% between 2014 and 2018, despite the number of insured vehicles only rising by 7%1.
Data from AAA put the average cost of car insurance for new vehicles in 2020 slightly higher, at $1,202 annually2. The numbers are fairly close together, suggesting that as you budget for a new car purchase you may need to include $100 or so per month for auto insurance.
NOTE
While some things that affect car insurance rates–such as your driving history–are within your control others, costs may also be affected by things like state regulations and state accident rates
.
There are a number of strategies you may use to save on car insurance. Once you know how much is car insurance for you, you can put some or all of these tactics to work.
If you obtain a quote from an auto insurance company to insure a single vehicle, you might end up with a higher quote per vehicle than if you inquired about insuring several drivers or vehicles with that company. Insurance companies will offer what amounts to a bulk rate because they want your business. Under some circumstances, they are willing to give you a deal if it means you’ll bring in more of it.
Ask your insurance agent to see if you qualify. Generally speaking, multiple drivers must live at the same residence and be related by blood or by marriage. Two unrelated people may also be able to obtain a discount; however, they usually must jointly own the vehicle.
If one of your drivers is a teen, you can expect to pay more to insure them. However, if your child’s grades are a B average or above or if they rank in the top 20% of the class, you may be able to get a good student discount on the coverage, which generally lasts until your child turns 25. These discounts can range from as little as 1% to as much as 39%, so be sure to show proof to your insurance agent that your teen is a good student.
Incidentally, some companies may also provide an auto insurance discount if you maintain other policies with the firm, such as homeowners insurance. Allstate, for example, offers a 10% car insurance discount and a 25% homeowners insurance discount when you bundle them together, so check to see if such discounts are available and applicable.3
In other words, be a safe driver. This should go without saying, but in today’s age of increasing in-car distractions, this bears mentioning as much as possible. The more mindful you are, the more accidents or moving violations you’ll be able to avoid—events that raise your insurance rates. Travelers offers safe driver discounts of between 10% and 23%, depending on your driving record.4
For those unaware, points are typically assessed to a driver for moving violations, and more points can lead to higher insurance premiums (all else being equal).
Sometimes insurance companies will provide a discount for those who complete an approved defensive driving course. Drivers may also be able to reduce the number of points they have on their licenses by taking a defensive driving, accident prevention, or other course.
Make sure to ask your agent/insurance company about this discount before you sign up for a class. After all, it’s important that the effort being expended and the cost of the course translates into a big enough insurance savings. It’s also important that the driver sign up for an accredited course. Every state has its own rules about accredited defensive driving courses.
If your policy is about to renew and the annual premium has gone up markedly, consider shopping around and obtaining quotes from competing companies. Also, every year or two it probably makes sense to obtain quotes from other companies, just in case there is a lower rate out there.
Remember, cheap doesn’t always mean good, and going with the lower-priced company isn’t always the wisest decision. That’s because the insurer’s creditworthiness should also be considered. After all, what good is a policy if the company doesn’t have the wherewithal to pay an insurance claim?
To run a check on a particular insurer, consider checking out a site that rates the financial strength of insurance companies. The financial strength of your insurance company is important, but what your contract covers is also important, so make sure you understand it. Insure.com’s site bases its insurance company ratings on data assembled by Standard and Poor’s.6
In general, the fewer miles you drive your car per year, the lower your insurance rate is likely to be, so always ask about a company’s mileage thresholds.
Since 2006, Shield Insurance Agency has been an Endorsed Local Provider with Dave Ramsey.
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