Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Getting Interactive with your Homeowners Insurance

The purpose for any type of insurance is to protect you or your things, in the event of an unforeseen event. Health insurance, in-case you come down with 'something'. Life insurance, so your loved ones will be protected in the event of an untimely death. Automobile policies protects you in the event of an accident, who really drives around looking to be involved in an 'on-purpose'? Homeowners and renters policies help to protect the things that we need (as in shelter) but it also protects us in many other ways as well.

The tool linked to today is proved by Kiplinger. Is Your Home Fully Protected? was originally posted in June 2010 but since the Stricker Insurance Report has only been available for 3 months, I would hope that you do not mind going back a few years to share with you this interactive tool to use when reviewing your own homeowners and/or renters policy.

Disclosure: As always please use the information provided to help in understanding insurance. Please do not use this information as your only resource when determining proper coverage you need (or have). It is always best to contact your insurance agent to discuss what is important to cover. Let me know if you have any questions and feel free to contact me anytime!

Friday, March 1, 2013

What about Health?

You may have realized there is one topic missing from the short list of insurance topics already mentioned on the Stricker Insurance Report. Did you know the missing topic without looking at the title of this post?

Health insurance and the more widely popular term Health Care has been a headline news story since the 2008 election cycle started and has not stepped out of the spot light since. Today is not the day where every and all parts of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will be broken down, I'll try to keep it to one provision at a time. But below are three links to a few of the easiest to follow interactive timelines:

The Kenry J. Kaiser Family Foundation - A great features allow you to filter the list by topic. If you are interested in seeing how it affects insurance and/or financing and taxes, just select those check boxes. Exact implementation dates are given for each provision, just click on the year and the title of interest.

Health Care Reform 4 You - Provided by Anthem BlueCross BlueShield. Click on the year then the image of interest. Helpful "Learn More" buttons allow for a better understanding of the parts.

Timeline of Provisions - Provided by UnitedHealthcare. When you scroll over the timeline a list box will appear over each year for you to make your selection. Also the dropdown list on the left allows for easy navigation.

Feel free to explore the sites listed above. It's okay to work ahead! I'll attempt to help you in understanding all that is in store as we work though Health Care Reform together!

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Protecting your Life (with insurance)

This infographic on life insurance is from Bankrate.com. It is geared towards families but even if you are single, life insurance is a great idea. Why not have financial protection to provide to your brother(s), sister(s), and/or parents if the unexpected were to happen? Generally speaking, every year you wait to apply for life insurance, policy premiums become more expensive. So find out how much that term life policy would be and make the smart financial decision for yourself and your future.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

5 Insurance Lessons from "Downton Abbey" | PropertyCasualty360

Before commenting, I have to admit that I am not part of the Downton Abbey cult following, but since there are many people who love the show it was hard to resist posting. 

Hope you enjoy this twist on the PBS hit series.


image credit to IMDB.com

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Ohio is TOP 10 for Personal Insurance

Have you recently wondered to yourself how lucky you have it in this great state of Ohio when it comes to how much you pay for your homeowners and auto insurance?

It may come to you as a surprise but according to an independent study and presented in a news release from the Ohio Insurance Institute (OII), we rank 6th and 9th lowest in-terms of premium expenditures in homeowners and auto insurance respectively.

Your competitive side might be asking, "Which states have better average rates than us?" For those who really (and I mean really) love Ohio you will be able to sleep tonight because Michigan does not beat us in the homeowners insurance category but the states that do are Idaho, Oregon, Utah, Wisconsin and Washington. For automobile insurance in-order are S. Dakota, N. Dakota, Iowa, Idaho, Maine, Nebraska, N. Carolina, and Wisconsin.

If you really have time on your hands check out the Insurance Information Institute which breaks down all the homeowners insurance and auto insurance costs and expenditures for each state.

For those who don't have time to look but are interested:
Highest average home insurance cost by state:  Texas-$1,560/year
Highest average auto insurance cost by state:  New Jersey-$1,157/year

There is no one specific policy that states recommend or companies sell. The statistics in this post are described at lengths on the links within this post and should not be taken as a comparison as to what you pay (unless you have the coverage described on the associated pages). It is always best to find out what coverage meets your need for your specific situation.

Friday, December 28, 2012

How much do you know about Life Insurance?

Financial guru Dave Ramsey and other professionals tell people to avoid being 'insurance poor' (spending so much on insurance that you can't afford your necessary expenses [i.e. food, utilities, etc]).

In turn they answer the question, 'How much insurance can I afford,' with another question, 'How much can you afford?' If your head is starting to spin, please know that we will save the life insurance calculators for another post.

The following image comes from H & R Block. It provides an idea on how others view life insurance.

To view the orignial posting of this infographic, click below:

Welcome to the Dynamic World of Insurance

The year 2013 is just around the corner and as we say goodbye to 2012 please let me introduce you to the Stricker Insurance Report. This blog will be dedicated to informing and sometimes entertaining on how you are affected and protected by insurance.

There will be no discrimination on types of insurance written about. This blog will cover individual, commercial, health, life, and property and casualty (commonly known as home and auto).  I understand that it is nearly impossible to discuss about one topic that applies to everyone. Content will be derived from my experiences, your experiences (your privacy will never be at risk), and current topics that have industry professionals talking.

Feel free to comment or to contact me if you would like any help in understanding any or all things insurance.

Happy New Year!