The Haas Agency

There is a better way than wandering aimlessly for online auto insurance quotes and you won’t spend a nickel more than you would, if you had done the quotes all by yourself. You’ll receive the benefit of working with a professional, and you’ll avoid insurance coverage gaps that you seriously might regret after it’s too late.

Consider this approach: Gather your insurance policy documents in one place. You’ll need the declaration pages that show the insurance carrier, the effective dates, automobiles and coverages. You should also gather similar documents for your home, condo, renters or boat policies. Having more policies with one company affords bigger discounts.

Now that you have all the documents you need, call or visit someone that you can trust — your local independent insurance agent. Send your documents to him, and he will provide a competitive proposal that compares your current policy to the proposal. You decide if making a change is worth the little effort required to switch. Tim or Peter will make the transition as smooth as possible, by making sure you don’t pay for coverage you don’t need and dropping the old policy in the most effective way. The team of agents at most independent firms are trained and put their reputation on the line in the communities where they live and work. Haas Insurance Agency offices are located in Newtown, CT and Glastonbury, CT. Don’t hesitate to jump out of the online quoting maze to find out what value a professional can bring, especially when you’ll save as much or more than you could quoting everything alone without any help from someone that shares a mutual interest in your insurance protection at a great rate.

Recently Gov. Malloy encouraged Connecticut residents to consider flood insurance to protect their property from the potential damages that may occur from the melting snow pack from the numerous winter storms we’ve been experiencing.

Here’s what the Governor had to say:

“There is simply nowhere for this record snow to go and homeowners across Connecticut are understandably anxious about what will happen to their basements, garages and other structures once it starts melting,” Governor Malloy said.

“It would be devastating to find out after the flooding that losses are not covered. Given the 30-day waiting period for flood insurance, I urge anyone interested to begin making plans now to buy it. January was the snowiest month on record in Connecticut, and little – if any – of the snowpack has melted so far,” Governor Malloy said.

The Federal Government requires a 30 day waiting period before coverage goes into effect, so the sooner you investigate whether flood insurance makes sense for you the better.  You can learn more on our research page on our website HaasAgency.com.

Wireless technology has changed the way we communicate.  Cell phones and Wi-Fi Internet access keep us constantly in touch with each other and with what’s happening around us.  But this 21st century revolution also poses a serious threat…to our wallets and our peace of mind.

When crooks get their hands on our wireless devices and services, they’ll either use them at our expense, sometimes running up bills for thousands of dollars, or they’ll steal the confidential information we store digitally so they can impersonate us – a crime we know as identity theft.

And, in the same way that wireless usage and technology have advanced by leaps and bounds in the past few years, so too have the skills of hackers and other criminals seeking ways of breaking into our wire-free worlds.

Yet a handful of simple safety precautions can largely stop most of these crooks in their tracks.  Go to the Downloads section of our Research Page and click on our Free Report on ways you can protect yourself from Wi-Fi and cell phone hackers.

Connecticut residents are preparing for another snowy winter.  The 7 day forecast is calling for snow in the next week or so.  The Haas Agency wants you to be prepared.  Take the following 4 Steps and watch the video below to make sure your prepared as we enter the new winter season.

• Make sure you have plenty of windshield washer fluid
• Make sure the tread on your tires are at safe levels
• Don’t forget to put the ice scraper in the backseat of your car
• Make sure your windshield wiper blades operate properly, and you have new wiper blades for the season.

What are some of your tips for safe driving in the winter?  (leave a comment).

A new study from the Employee Benefits Research Institute shows that without long term care insurance the ability to cover the costs in your retirement years will be difficult at best.

The earlier you face the issue of planning for long term care the better.  Start prior to your retirement.  A general rule of thumb is to engage in the planning process five to seven years before you plan to retire.  Waiting to long can have multiple consequences inlcuding the inability to secure the best solution, which may be long term care insurance.

Check out the report I mentioned above to read more about how important it is to plan for post-retirement expenses.  You can find the article here.

With the heavy rains in Connecticut recently, people are finding their basements flooded. Your standard homeowners’ policy does not cover damage from ground water, so that prevention is critical. First, take a look around your basement to check for any water or damp areas. Perhaps, some water has already come inside, and this should be removed quickly with a shop-vac to prevent mold.

Here are other tips:

1. Do some outdoor maintenance around your property. Check your gutters are cleaned out and clear so water can flow freely. If they aren’t cleared out water gets backed up and will pool below the gutters, often near your basement which causes flooding.
2. Take a walk around your yard and check that you provide some sort of drain for the area. Any standing water could leak in and cause major basement flooding damage.
3. Check any drainage pipes and downspouts are clear and properly aligned to move water away from the foundation of the house, and extend any drainage pipes further away from the foundation.
4. Be sure trees and shrubbery are kept neat and clean around the perimeter of the house. Allow space for the sun to reach the ground and dry any standing water beneath the plants.
5. Inspect the house, especially the basement walls; make sure that you don’t see any cracks. If you find cracks in your basement foundation you’ll need to make sure they are properly sealed with caulk.
6. If you have a history of basement flooding in your home, any items you have stored in the basement should be kept a few inches off the ground. The same should be done for any appliances like a washer and dryer, or refrigerator. If the basement gets flooded these items will get rotted or rusted and contribute to the problem.
7. If you don’t have a sump pump installed in your basement, you should have one installed. Sump pumps remove water that forms in the basement and drain it into an area where it won’t cause much damage; a dehumidifier and desiccants can help keep the air dry and absorb some of the moisture that could potentially flood the basement if condensed.

As you can see a lot of these tips are very simple and can do a lot to prevent flooding in your basement. With a little upkeep on your property and some minor adjustments to your basement you can prevent serious water damage from basement flooding.

Should you want to learn more about flooding or flood insurance, please contact us. We’re here for you.

Connecticut homeowners need to be aware of the importance of reinsurance.  Reinsurance is the protection insurance companies purchase in order to put a cap on losses they incur in the event of a catastrophe.

For example,  your home insurance carrier purchases an insurance contract that protects them if the losses from a catastrophe exceed $20 million.  In this case the insurance company that insures your house would pay the first $20 million in claims  and another insurer would reimburse the carrier for any amount above that amount.

The companies that provide reinsurance charge a premium to the primary carriers for the cost of the protection. Recently, the State of Connecticut Insurance Department has allowed  insurance companies to pass along their cost of reinsurance to consumers.

Why is this important to you? Well, if the carrier that insures  your home or business does not have reinsurance they may not have enough capital to pay all the claims as a result of a serious catastrophe. The question is not if a serious storm should occur it is when a serious storm occurs will your carrier have the capacity to pay the claims.

Two questions should be asked of your agent?

1. Does the carrier the agent is placing the business with have reinsurance to cover claims if there is a catastrophe?
2. Will that carrier be passing on the additional cost of the reinsurance premium to the policyholder?

Here are 5 key questions to ask yourself!

In their advertising, most insurance companies emphasize the cost of insurance as the standard in selecting carriers and coverage. The implication, of course, is that the lower the cost, the better the insurance.

We call this the Insurance Commodity Trap℠ It’s a trap because it fails to take the individual’s overall needs into account.

Cost is relative to protection! When loss occurs, your family’s peace of mind is all that really matters!

To help our clients view protection from a broader perspective, we developed The Peace of Mind Conversation℠. Avoiding The Insurance Commodity Trap℠ is based on answering 5 simple questions.

1) Do you update your insurance protection as often as you update your financial portfolio?

Most people pay more attention to their financial portfolio than their insurance portfolio. This can have catastrophic consequences. The solution is “rebalancing” protection on a regular basis.

Rebalancing protection means shifting premium dollars to pay for catastrophic losses by paying a greater percentage of the smaller losses. This same principle also should be practiced when deciding the protection balance desired between assets (home, cars, boats) and income (life insurance, disability income, long term care). It comes down to personal priorities.

The balance of protection people have between large losses and small losses needs to be corrected. The insured’s objective should be to limit their exposure to large, catastrophic losses and take a bigger portion of the small loss, the one they can afford.

It’s better to absorb small losses, for example, than to be vulnerable to catastrophic losses.

2) Does your coverage reflect recent lifestyle changes?

Each year all of us go through many changes; jobs, income, new purchases, renovations of parts of the home and changes to benefit packages at work.

While these changes are happening little attention is given to the impact they have on the overall protection plan in place. Over time gaps or excesses in coverage occur. These lifestyle changes are important to account for in your protection planning. It’s vital that you focus your dollars on areas that count the most for your family.

3) When was the last time you obtained an independent review of your coverage?

Not only does your lifestyle constantly evolve, but the companies that serve you change too. In response to increased competition companies add benefits and make changes to policies. Some changes are added automatically; some have to be requested.

An annual agency review can provide the platform to evaluate recent changes and discuss their impact. Your number one priority should be to continually ensure that you are receiving the maximum value for your protection.

The wiser choice is developing a relationship with an agent that can keep you in the loop, and help you make decisions that best meet your needs.

4) Are you over-paying or under-paying for coverage?

One of the most common mistakes is focusing on cost instead of focusing on protection.

• A small mistake is to pay a little too much over time for appropriate coverage.
• A big mistake is to have the wrong coverage at the time of a loss. This needlessly puts your hard-earned income and assets at risk.

The important thing is to focus on the purpose of the protection—to insulate assets and income from loss.

5) How effectively do your various policies work together?

Do the various types of auto, home, life, health and disability coverage work in concert with one another?

For example, if a person doesn’t have health insurance they can add coverage for injuries as a result of a car accident to the auto policy.

In order to create efficiency all policies should be evaluated to make sure there are no gaps in coverage that may cause problems later.

C O N C L U S I O N

The Haas Agency’s Peace of Mind Conversation℠ is a special, integrated discovery tool that helps you draw a clear picture of your life’s most important assets, so—together—we design a protection plan in which you have confidence.

Through your picture we identify the lowest cost insurance solution that properly covers your assets, lifestyle, business and hobbies. Gaps and excess coverage are easily seen and resolved.

We encourage you to call us and learn more.

In these economic times peace of mind is priceless

With people facing the most severe economic challenges of their lives why do we advocate going back to basics? With the right focus we can build confidence in the future. That future begins with creating the knowledge that what you are already doing is the right thing at the right time. By taking that small step, the journey toward a brighter future can begin. The Peace of Mind Conversation℠ is that first step.

What is it?

The Peace of Mind Conversation℠ is an interactive, copyrighted tool that provides a graphic representation of your complete protection portfolio. The picture we draw depicts how each policy works individually and in conjunction with all the other insurance you own. From auto to life to disability and health insurance, the client will actually experience how policies work to provide a complete wall of protection around their assets, income and peace of mind.

Why was it developed?

The Peace of Mind Conversation was developed to combat the effects of a trap many people fall into that we call The Insurance Commodity Trap™. The trap is set by the media and the marketing budgets of large insurance companies that encourage people to select insurance based on the lowest cost— the lower the cost the better the insurance.

Because people fall into this trap, they fail to take into account their overall needs, which leaves them vulnerable and sacrifices their peace of mind. They have cost focused insurance instead of cost effective coverage. Our belief is that peace of mind is priceless, especially today!

How does it work?

• Step 1: Define what peace of mind means to you. Using a series of questions we help you develop your definition of what peace of mind means to you, so that you can judge whether or not you have created a plan to protect your family and assets on your own terms.

• Step 2: Through a graphic representation of your current insurance coverage we can “model” what happens under different circumstances. When people see the wall of protection they have built to protect their physical assets (cars, home, boat, etc.) and lifestyle assets (401k, income and human life value) it is easy to see the gaps or overlaps in coverage. Actions can then be taken to make sure your definition of peace of mind is achieved.

• Step 3: Create balance within policies and between physical asset protection and lifestyle asset protection. This is where the power of the conversation emerges. Each policy provides protection value; however, the cumulative effect of all combined policies is exponential. The objective of creating this balance is to make sure that catastrophic coverage is not sacrificed because of a desire to limit out of pocket costs. If a few dollars can be saved on the home policy to increase disability coverage, that may be a good tradeoff. These three simple steps can be done in an online meeting or sitting down face to face. The objective of this conversation is to give people the opportunity to escape The Insurance Commodity Trap™ once and for all.

What do other people say about The Peace of Mind Conversation?

“I never understood how my insurance worked until today.”

“This is incredible, did you invent this?”

“Through this short discussion I was able to keep my cost about the same but improve the protection I provide my family and it really meets my own definition of peace of mind. Thank you for taking the time to make a difference.”

“With the economy the way it is right now you are going to be very busy.”

How to schedule your Peace of Mind Conversation sm Experience?

We invite you to take action right away by calling our offices and scheduling your own peace of mind experience. Our goal is to make this process very convenient.

Please call:

Glastonbury: 860-659-1301
New Fairfield: 203-746-5077

Or

E-mail:

Paul@haasagency.com
Peter@haasagency.com
Tim@haasagency.com

As part of our series on what it costs not to have an agent I have an example of someone who had no idea that their liability coverage was so low and the effect it could have, they were completely focused on the great premium they were paying.

I was contacted by an existing insured who had their home insurance with us but wanted to check on the auto premium. During our discussion of the coverage he indicated that he had liability coverage in the amount of $20,000 per person and $40,000 per accident. I stopped him in his tracks when I asked the following question: If you had an accident in which you were at fault and the other person had injuries greater than $20,000 do you have the assets and income to pay the balance? His response was a very scared but emphatic “Yes”.

Insurance company call centers do not ask questions to uncover assets and income that need to be protected, the call center employees  job is to provide the low cost solution, sometimes that means low coverage.

Luckily an accident did not occur and this person did not have to find out the hard way. He now has much more effective coverage that provides peace of mind.