Are you getting the auto insurance discounts you deserve? How much does your neighbor pay? It’s not a common topic of friendly conversation, and there are so many factors at play, it’s hard to know.
Maine auto insurance rates are the lowest in the country, averaging $902 (Louisiana is the highest at $2,511). Of course those rates vary depending upon a lot of factors. Even with our comparatively low insurance rates, some Mainers pay many times the average.
Traditional Factors Influencing Car Insurance Costs
Type, age and value of your vehicles.
Where you live and drive.
How you use the vehicles (pleasure, commute, business use).
Those factors probably have about a 75% impact on your insurance rates, but other, newer factors can make the difference between getting a fair deal on your insurance and a great one.
Two Southern Maine families were startled awake in the middle of the night by the smell of smoke, and the nightmare of a fire. Fortunately, no one was hurt in either case, but there was extensive damage to their properties. In each case, the fire started in a garage.
Fire damage is covered by Maine homeowners insurance. Damage to vehicles is not. To have vehicle damage covered, You need to purchase “other than collision” coverage on a Maine auto insurance policy. Hopefully, both of these families did have insurance to help them rebuild their homes and replace their vehicles. Of course, the best fire insurance is of all is prevention and avoidance. Here are a few tips to help prevent garage fires and to reduce damage if one should occur.
Fire Needs 3 Things to Exist Fire can not exist without oxygen, heat and fuel. If you can prevent those three from being together at the same time, you’ve greatly reduced your fire risk. Here are a few tips to help improve your chances.
Store Items Safely
Allow gasoline-powered tools to cool completely before putting them away. Store them a safe distance from combustibles. Remove remaining grass from mowers, line trimmers, etc. before storing them.
Never use grills, outdoor fryers, or any other cooking appliance in your garage.
Store combustibles away from any source of heat.
Use a metal cabinet with a closed door to store flammables like gasoline, wood finishes, spray paint or thinner.
Get Proper Safety Equipment
photo credit: www.usarak.army.mil
At a minimum, your garage should have a fire extinguisher. It’s also a good idea to have a smoke detector in the garage, especially if it’s attached to your home. Your town or city may have other codes or ordinances. Check with your local Code Enforcement Department.
Use Safe Workshop Practices
Sweep wood chips and sawdust immediately after cutting or sanding wood.
Seal paint cans and containers of finishes and solvents, and store them away from flammables, preferably in a metal cabinet.
Dispose of oily rags in a steel bucket with a closed lid. If you need to re-use them, you can also hang them on a line with good separation between them, far away from any heat source.
The National Weather Service confirmed on Thursday what many Mainers knew Wednesday night: tornadoes touched down in southern Maine, causing widespread damage. Our Maine insurance agents have been busy answering clients’ questions about damage ranging from fallen trees to wind damage – even lightning damage. Their first question, of course: “Does my insurance cover my windstorm damage?”
Windstorm Coverage in Maine
A tornado is just wind – vicious, frightening, powerful, damaging wind whirling in a funnel cloud. Many insurance policies cover wind damage to buildings or vehicles. It doesn’t matter if it’s caused by a gale, nor’easter, tropical storm, hurricane, microburst or tornado. Some limited policies exclude wind damage – again, it doesn’t matter what kind of storm caused it.
Types of Wind and Storm Deductibles Every property and auto policy has a deductible. On personal and commercial vehicle insurance policies, wind is covered if you purchase “other than collision” (sometimes called “comprehensive”) coverage. This coverage varies by vehicle.
Some property insurance policies have specific deductibles for wind. In Maine, it’s common to see these types of storm deductibles (from least to broadest insurance coverage):
“Wind Deductible” – Any wind damage is subject to a flat dollar deductible – usually a higher amount than your normal deductible, or a percent of the amount of your property insurance.
“Named Storm Deductible” – Any damage caused by a storm that the National Hurricane Center has given a name is subject to a special deductible (see “wind deductible” above for some examples). Other wind damage is covered, subject to the regular policy deductible.
“Hurricane Deductible” – Any damage caused by a true hurricane is subject to the special deductible. Other wind damage is covered, subject to the regular policy deductible (usually a smaller deductible).
Insurance companies have different criteria for underwriting the peril of wind damage. A Maine independent insurance agency has access to many insurance companies, which gives you the most options.
We’re happy to answer your questions about property insurance for your home, auto or business. Contact Noyes Hall & Allen, or call us at 207-799-5541.
Every so often, a local news article like this one appears. Something goes wrong, and a Maine driver finds their vehicle in somebody’s living room – or bank lobby.
This accident happened right around the corner from our office. At noontime today, the damage was impressive: two large (and no doubt, expensive) glass walls were completely destroyed. Equally impressive was the speed of the repairs, which were in full swing. Fortunately, the bank was able to open today, so there was no “loss of income” suffered.
Hopefully, the driver of this vehicle had insurance. And hopefully, he paid attention to “the third number”.
The Third Number
Maine auto insurance policies provide liability coverage. Maine’s minimum liability limits are $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident for Bodily Injury, and $25,000 for Property Damage. When you get a car insurance quote, the insurance company might quote those figures as “50/100/25”.
In the accident that happened last night, there was no Bodily Injury (thank goodness), only Property Damage. That means that the Third Number is what will pay for the damages.
I have no idea whether $25,000 would be enough to repair this building, but I wouldn’t want to find out the hard way. If a Maine driver doesn’t have enough insurance for the damage or injuries they cause, their assets are wide open to help pay for the other party’s loss. That’s why we never recommend buying State Minimum limits.
What’s Your Third Number?
When you get a Maine car insurance quote, pay attention to ALL the numbers, including the “Third Number” – your Property Damage limit.
For professional, personal insurance advice, call Noyes Hall & Allen at 799-5541. We’ll help you understand what you’re buying, and help you make informed choices to find insurance you can afford.
The contest isn’t even close. Residents of the next lowest state, Vermont, pay about 7% more than Mainers. The nationwide average: about $1,450 – a whopping 38% higher.
With our snowy, icy winters, why would our car insurance be so cheap? It’s not all about weather. In fact, 7 of the lowest 10 states are in the snow belt.
Behind the Numbers Car insurance rates essentially pay for 3 things:
Repair Costs
Medical Bills
Legal Bills and Damages from Lawsuits
Maine’s costs for the first two are roughly in line with the rest of the country, but Mainers tend to be a bit less litigious than some other areas. That helps keep costs down.
Are Uncrowded Roads The Answer? Maine is less congested than much of the country, but that’s not the whole reason behind our lower car insurance costs. Otherwise, Ohio, North Carolina, Arizona, Tennnessee and Massachusetts (yes, Massachusetts) wouldn’t also be in the bottom 10.
You see, when someone has no insurance to pay their medical bills or repair their car, they’re more likely to try to “go against the other guy” after an accident, in an effort to avoid big bills. Even if you’re not at fault, if you’re “the other guy”, you can be sued, or the other party can try to make a claim against your insurance.
Even if a claim or suit is groundless, it costs your insurance company money to hire an attorney on your behalf or investigate the claim. That drives up insurance costs – for everybody.
So, maybe Maine really is…
Are you paying too much for car insurance? Get 4 competitive Maine auto insurance quotes in 10 minutes from Noyes Hall & Allen’s web site, or call us at 207-799-5541. We represent 10 of the state’s preferred auto insurers. One call gives you access to all of them!
Our Maine insurance agency has been very busy taking claims and reporting them to insurance companies, and keeping our clients informed of the progress of their claims.
So far, the damage that’s been reported to us has been mostly concerned with homeowners insurance: trees falling on property and wind damage to buildings, followed by water backup into basements. Many Mainers lost power, which caused their sump pumps to fail, allowing water to back up into their homes.
What kind of damage did you have to your property?
When you buy Maine auto insurance, you choose liability coverage to insulate your assets from damages you might owe to others after a car accident. Your policy also includes uninsured motorist coverage, usually at the same limits.
Here are 4 auto liability insurance mistakes our Maine insurance agency works hard to save you from – and how to avoid them.
1) Meeting State Minimum Limits.
Buying Maine State Minimum liability insurance limits is like getting a “D” on your report card. You pass, but just barely. Maine’s minimum requirements ($50,000 per person / $100,000 per accident for Bodily Injury, $25,000 for Property Damage) are comparatively strict – higher than every state except Wisconsin. That’s good, right?
Think about what that might need to pay for.
Bodily Injury coverage pays people you might injure for their
Hospital & Doctor Bills
Lost Time from Work
Physical and Occupational Therapy
Pain & Suffering
Attorney’s Fees
Those expenses can easily top $50,000 for a moderately serious accident. What happens if you have a REALLY serious crash?
Maine’s minimum property damage limit is $25,000. Still think that’s enough?
Property Damage Liability coverage pays for damage you cause to:
Other vehicles
Property in their cars (computers, golf clubs, etc.)
Buildings
Utility poles, guardrails, etc..
2) Forgetting that Insurance pays to defend you.
insurance does more than pay for damage and injuries you cause. It also pays for legal expenses – unless your liability coverage runs out. As long as you have insurance limits left, your insurer finds, hires and pays an attorney to defend you. The beauty of this is that your legal fees do not reduce the amount of coverage available to pay injured parties.
Still think $50,000/$100,000/$25,000 is enough?
If you watch TV in Maine, you’ve seen lots of ads urging injured Mainers to call a lawyer so they can “get what they deserve”. If you get in an accident without insurance – or, if you cause more damage than you bought insurance for – you’ll have to hire your own lawyer to defend yourself. With your own money. And, if you’re found liable, you’ll have to pay the damages on top of that. With your own money.
3) Keeping the Same Limits Year After Year
Insurance is the only thing between your assets and a liability judgement. The higher your net worth, the higher your liability limits should be. When you bought your first car, your net worth might have equaled the contents of your pocket. But gradually, you got ahead of the bills, made a little more money, maybe bought a house – and your net worth grew over time.
If you cause more damage than you have insurance, guess where the court will look for restitution? Your home equity, your savings, investments, and so on. So make sure your liability coverage at least matches your net worth. Think about buying an umbrella policy to supplement your auto & home liability coverage. They’re cheap, and can be the difference between an unfortunate accident and financial disaster.
4) Ignoring the Danger of the Uninsured – or Underinsured.
Your car insurance policy also protects you against uninsured or underinsured drivers. If someone hits you – their fault – and they have no insurance, your policy acts as if they had the same limits you do, and pays for your bodily injury. Same thing if they had low limits, and you bought higher ones.
See where this is going now?
But wait. Maine car insurance is mandatory. The State requires it to register your car. So everyone’s insured, right? Not really.
An estimated 4% of Maine drivers are uninsured – and that’s the 2nd best rate in the country. The Insurance Research Council estimated that nearly 14% of U.S. drivers had no car insurance at all. And that doesn’t count the people who buy minimal limits.
So Mainers are relatively honest folks. But what about everyone else? What’s that nickname on Maine’s license plates again? Oh yeah…
Most of our out-of-state visitors are from the northeast, right? Click on the map below to enlarge it, and you’ll see that of the 10 states within an easy day’s drive of Maine, 2 do not require drivers to buy insurance AT ALL. Six more require per person Bodily Injury limits of $20,000 or less.
Think you might want to increase your car insurance? Talk to a good Maine car insurance agent – like us for example.
Most schools couldn’t run without parents and grandparents who act as classroom helpers, dance chaperones, PTO officers, fund-raisers and field trip drivers. Volunteering is a great way to be involved in your children’s education, and to meet their classmates and their families. It can also expose you to liability. Does your insurance cover these activities?
Classroom Activities
flickr photo by cambodia4kidsorg
While you’re volunteering in the classroom, the school’s insurance policy protects them against liability if someone gets hurt, provided you’re engaged in a school activity.
If you are sued individually, your homeowners or renter’s policy should pay to defend you against claims for bodily injury or property damage. Not every homeowners policy covers “Personal Injury” – such accusations as slander, libel, defamation of character or invasion of privacy. Make sure your policy has this coverage!
Outside the Classroom
Things are a little trickier here. Let’s say you’re a chaperone on a field trip to the county fair, and one of your students wanders away from the group and is hurt.
Flickr photo gingerbydesign
The school’s insurance policy will protect them against liability on a school-sanctioned event. Most policies will also protect volunteers, but you never know how much coverage the school district bought, or even if the premium has been paid to keep the policy in place.
Your homeowners liability coverage should again protect you if you’re sued for bodily injury or property damage (or personal injury if you took our advice above and bought that coverage). How much coverage do you need? We generally recommend a $500,000 liability limit, the most you can buy on most homeowners policies. You should also consider an umbrella liability policy to provide even broader asset protection.
What if you’re an officer in the PTO, or a fund-raiser? Some school policies will protect the PTO. Others do not. Before you join any non-profit board, you should find out whether your activities are covered. If not, your homeowners policy should protect you in the same way described above.
Two Big Holes
Your homeowners policy does not provide “errors and omissions” coverage (incorrect administration of the board) or “fiduciary” coverage (theft of money or property). All the more reason to make sure that the organization offers protection to you as a volunteer before you agree to serve.
Transporting Children
flickr photo by woodleywonderworks
Most schools require proof of insurance before they’ll allow you to drive children to a school-sanctioned event. Their requirements may not be sufficient to protect you, though. It’s important to check on 3 coverages in your auto policy:
Liability – Too many people have liability coverage with “split limits” instead of “combined single limits”. A common split limit is $100,000 per person/$300,000 per occurrence for Bodily Injury, and $100,000 for Property Damage. Most people think that means they have $300,000 of liability coverage if they’re at fault in an accident. Not really – unless 3 people are hurt, each with up to $100,000 of injuries. What they really have is $100,000 per person. By comparison, a $500,000 “combined single limit” policy has up to $500,000 to pay for Bodily Injury or Property Damage, no matter how it’s needed.
Uninsured Motorist – Although Maine mandates that drivers have liability insurance, many still don’t. And, the State minimum limits are a scrawny $50,000 per person/$100,000 per accident. If someone who’s un- or under-insured hits you, your UM coverage protects you and people riding with you up to the limit you choose. Choose wisely!
Medical Payments – You don’t have to be in an accident for someone to be hurt in or around your car. It doesn’t even have to be your fault. A kid could slam someone’s finger in a door, or close a hatchback on someone’s head. Kids have even been known to engage in horseplay in the car – hard to imagine, isn’t it? Anyway, the kid’s family’s medical insurance should pay for those injuries, right? Yes – unless they’re one of the 45 million uninsured Americans. Then, they might sue you for their injuries. So, make sure you choose appropriate medical payments limits if you’re transporting other peoples’ kids – whether for school or not!
If your house is like mine, you have random piles of clothing, boxes of ramen noodles and bedding all over the place, waiting to load into the car for the annual college move-in. Ours moves in this weekend. Let’s hope the weather cooperates!
College is one of the biggest expenses we parents face in our lifetimes. With finances so tight, it’s certainly not the time to find out that your Maine auto insurance policy doesn’t cover an accident or theft isn’t covered by your Maine homeowners insurance. Here are a few common scenarios, and how the policies our Maine insurance agency sell respond. YOUR policy may be different.
Your kid’s “stuff”: Most home policies provide 10% of your personal property limit for belongings located at a residence other than the insured home. So, if you have $100,000 of contents coverage (“Coverage C” on your policy), $10,000 of it follows your student to school, if they live in a dormitory. Of course, the damage has to be caused by a peril covered by your policy.
Certain items, like jewelry or expensive electronics, might need special coverage. Contact your agent to discuss these items.
Liability: Even brilliant students can do stupid or careless things. Luckily, your homeowners liability coverage follows them, as long as their permanent residence remains your home. But that general dorm damage bill you got for the discharged fire extinguishers: all yours, sorry. Damage to a rented property is not covered by homeowners policies.
Car Insurance
Even though it’s tempting to remove your children from your Maine auto insurance policy to save money, it’s a bad idea. They still need coverage for times when they’re home, or if they borrow someone else’s car. Hey, it happens.
“You’re not taking that car to school”: If your child is away over 100 miles without a car, most insurers offer auto insurance discounts.
“But I need to have a car so I can (insert excuse here)”: Somewhere around second semester sophomore year -if not before- you’ll hear this. If you let them take one of your vehicles to school, make sure your insurer knows about it. Sure, you’ll pay more for insurance, but you won’t have to explain why your BU student was driving on Comm Ave on a Wednesday night. Awkward!
“So I borrowed Griz’ car…” Your student is covered under your policy as long as they remain a member of your household. The primary coverage for any accident comes from the owner’s insurance policy (if any). Yours would be secondary. Same thing applies if your child lends someone else your car (you just shuddered a little at that thought, didn’t you?)
Dean’s List pays: Just like high school, a “good student insurance discount” applies for kids who maintain a “B” average. Keep your agent posted to make sure you’re getting the discount.
For more information, contact your agent or company. Or, contact Noyes Hall & Allen Insurance at 207-799-5541. After all, we just gave you a bunch of free advice, didn’t we? And we’ve got kids to put through college too!
Everyone’s looking to tighten up their budget these days. Many people prefer to spread the cost of their insurance throughout the year by paying in monthly installments. But insurance companies charge an “installment charge” to cover the expense of sending those monthly bills, and to replace investment income they forgo by not collecting your premium up-front. The average “installment charge” is $5.00 per bill. That means if you pay your Maine auto insurance in monthly installments, you’re paying $50.00 or $60.00 extra a year.
Quick and Painless Savings
Instead of having the insurance company send you a bill, sign up for Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) – automatic monthly withdrawal of your premium payments from your checking account. Most companies waive the installment charges completely for EFT customers. That saves you an extra $60.00, plus the cost of stamps, checks, and the time it takes to pay the bill.
Clients of our Maine insurance agency who are snowbirds or travel frequently love EFT. They don’t have to worry about bills being forwarded, or accumulating unpaid while they’re away.
One added benefit of EFT: no more risking cancellation notices by forgetting to pay your bill. Because your payments are automatically withdrawn, they arrive on time every month, without any action on your part.
