How to plan for insurance attentively

In a 2009 article in Psychology Today, mindfulness was described as the practice of being in the present moment. This means that instead of being distracted, thinking about the future, dwelling on the past, or allowing lots of noise in your head over everything but “the now,” when you are mindful you are fully invested in the current moment and what's happening during that tiny piece of time.

Mindfulness and Insurance
When you buy insurance, it's important that you allow yourself to be quiet and mindful. It’s understandable to feel anxious when working on final expense and legacy planning, when thinking about all the perils facing your home and vehicle, when imagining your future potential disabilities and contemplating all the liabilities and other negative aspects of life that make insurance necessary, but if you want to be properly insured and prepared for the future, you must allow yourself to be fully invested in the process of insurance planning rather than distracted and intimidated by what-ifs.

Mindful Insurance Planning
Instead of being cowed by the unknown, when insurance planning you focus on the known: the risks that any individual in your situation may actually face and the value of the property you want to protect. It’s really as simple as that—and knowing this will allow you to create a much more secure financial future.

Being frightened of a potential future event that has not yet come to pass, or being overwhelmed by the amount of data you must consider as you buy insurance will not help you purchase and amounts you need to protect your family and it won’t make it any easier to select the types of policies that offer you the kind of protections you’re looking for. Instead, it makes you feel powerless during what should be a very empowering process.
When you give yourself the space and permission to be mindful, you allow yourself to approach the task of buying insurance as practically and unemotionally as possible. This makes it easier to be deliberate and reasonable as you assess the practical risks you face each day and assign a dollar value to them, and then make relevant adjustments as you consider your budget and potential premiums.

Your insurance agent can be a big help in keeping your emotions on track and your approach to insurance planning practical. If you are ready to start searching for insurance policies that will protect your family, give us a call at (254) 547-2381 for a Copperas Cove insurance quote.

Does a Home Inspection affect my Insurance?

When shopping for a new home, it's easy to get drawn in by what you may consider the perfect house. Finding the perfect house, in your ideal price range, located in your dream neighborhood can cause you to overlook minor details and run forward to submit an offer and secure this perfect home. But after the shininess has worn off and it's time to get home insurance coverage, you may regret this impulsive decision.

Instead of giving in to the desire to own the home of your dreams, take the time to have a new home inspection completed. Even if your home is of completely new construction, a home inspection can save you time, money, headaches, and risk.

Types of Home Inspections

There are many different inspections that can be done on your new home. In order to get the most comprehensive inspection and the most thorough understanding of the condition of your home, a new home buyer should consider a general home inspection, a termite inspection, a radon test to check levels of this unscented, cancer-causing radioactive gas, a septic system inspection (when a septic system is present), and, when appropriate, an oil tank testing.

Each of these inspections will give you a difference assessments regarding the health of your hew home. You may think that it’s enough to simply get a general inspection, but each of the specialized inspections mentioned above allow for a deeper look at areas that can be the source of major potential problems.


Learn more about the cost and effect of inspections on your home insurance.

To get Killeen home insurance quote on your current home or a quote on the home you are considering buying, give us a call at (254) 547-2381. We can help you discover what your potential home insurance rates might be and assist you in setting reasonable limits based on your risk and budget.

Updating Your Auto Insurance for 2012

Auto insurance policies, when not planned out carefully, can have dangerous gaps in coverage that leave the policyholder at risk for financial problems after an accident, theft, fire or other insurable incident. This year, update your auto insurance policy to consider the following:

Is your limit on pace with car repair costs and value? Auto repair costs don’t always stay the same from year to year; labor, parts and shipping costs can all change drastically leaving you little actual recompense from your policy unless you adjust your limits. Work with your agent to determine what your limits should be based on these expenses and your Kelley Blue Book value.

Do you have enough coverage for the average liability claim? Your automobile coverage will offer you protection from both bodily injury and property damage liabilities, but will it offer you enough? Talk to your agent about a limit that gives you protection based on current-day claims averages and talk about the possibility of adding an umbrella policy for your auto and home liabilities.

Do you need uninsured motorist coverage? You may be insured, but that doesn’t mean every motorist on the road is. Uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage supplements your damages when the person who causes your accident doesn’t have the insurance policy to pay them.

Can you reduce your overall risk exposure? If you’ve just gotten state-required coverage then you’re doing little to protect your own interests in an accident. Without collision and comprehensive you could be exposed to financial losses after an accident, theft, vandalism, fire or other natural disaster.

How affordable are those deductibles? Make sure your deductibles are still practical for your lifestyle. After a job loss, big expense or other life change, large deductibles can become a greater burden than they initially were.

Do you need to add roadside assistance? A breakdown, flat tire, or depleted gas tank can happen to anyone. If you don’t currently have roadside assistance on your policy, don’t wait until you wish you did before you add it.

Should you add loss of use? If you can’t use your car after an insurable incident damages it, how are you going to run errands, get to work and bring the kids to school? With loss of use coverage, your auto policy can keep you on the road by paying your emergency rental car expenses.

We have all the tools you need to compare premiums, set limits and deductibles and choose coverage options. Give us a call to complete your annual auto insurance review and you can start 2012 out on the right foot.

Call us today at (254) 526-0535 to make sure your car insurance in Killeen Texas is up to par or visit our office.

Buying Used Motorcycles

Buying Used Motorcycles

Motorcycle enthusiasts sink a lot of money into their rides by adding extra equipment, personalizing and modifying them. One way to help reduce the overall amount that you spend on your bike is to start with a used motorcycle that you can customize the way you want.

Before you Buy: Get the Bike’s Story

While buying a used motorcycle is, in theory, a perfect solution, insurance doesn’t cover the damages that come when you purchase a bike that is mechanically unsound, so you need to take care in getting the whole story about the bike’s history.

·         Ask if this is the bike’s original owner: If you are buying the motorcycle from its original owner, then they will know the bike’s whole history. If not, there may be skeletons sitting in the bike’s closet.

·         Ask if the bike has ever been in an accident: If the motorcycle’s been in an accident or has been dropped, it’s possible there is irreparable damage to its frame. You can also enter the bike’s VIN number into the Carfax system to get a report.

·         Get the maintenance records: A properly maintained bike can be a good buy, but a bike that has had no tune ups and little attention paid to oil and other fluids could be a nightmare.

Contact us at (866) 851-5220 for a free Texas motorcycle insurance quote or visit our office. Read the entire “Buying Used Motorcycles” article.

5 Ways to Find Your Ideal Insurance Agent in Killeen, TX

When you work with an insurance agent, you aren’t simply striking up a deal, you are creating a partnership for risk hedging and liability planning. The agent you choose will have a tremendous influence on your family’s and asset protection, making this an extremely important partnership. You must find an agent that you not only trust, but one whose knowledge and experience are vast enough to ensure that he or she will cover all the bases while still being personally compatible with you.

If it seems like choosing an insurance agent is almost as intense as choosing a future spouse, you aren’t exactly on the wrong track. But before you start going to speed dating events to find your ideal agent, here are a few tips you can try:

1. Ask friends and family for referrals: If you know someone who has an agent, and loves them, then finding out who that agent is. Doing some research on them is a great way to weed through all the options.
2. Do a web search: Most agents are on the web now. If you do a web search in any search engine for the type of insurance you are shopping for and your location, you will turn up hundreds of results that allow you a starting point to further your research.
3. Read an agent’s blog: Blogs are a less formal way of communicating with potential clients. Often, a blog post will give readers a hint about the underlying personality of the agent while giving an indication of how knowledgeable they are.
4. Read newsletters: Agents who offer newsletter subscriptions to visitors of their website are educating people at no charge...

Contact us at 866-851-5220 to learn more about Killeen auto insurance as well as homeowners & business insurance in Copperas Cove, Temple, Gatesville and across Texas, or continue reading "5 Ways to Find Your Ideal Insurance Agent in Killeen, TX"

Can you only purchase rental car insurance from rental car companies?

Occasionally you may feel as if your entire working life is defined by a single event each year—vacation. Taking a vacation is one way of reminding you of the reason for working so hard all year round, but you should plan in such a way that you get the most value for your money.
It’s simple to forget about rental car insurance when budgeting for your vacation. So if you don’t want to arrive home from your holiday with a car repair costs that competes with the cost of a holiday abroad, consider purchasing rental car insurance or at least finding out whether you already have adequate protection from other sources.

1. Will your current car policy cover it?

First things first, contact your insurance agent. They can tell you what coverages you have for rental cars on your current auto policy. You need to be sure to have something to protect yourself in the event of an accident, theft, and vandalism. This coverage should include protection for damage to the car, as well as also property damage and bodily injury.

Click to read more about how your credit card can help alleviate rental car insurance rates.

Call us to talk about your car policy or get a free car insurance quote in Texas by calling (254) 547-2381.

How can the Drive-Other-Car Endorsement help my business?

It can be challenging to deal with all of your different insurance policies and assets that you have between your business and personal life. From business insurance to home insurance, life insurance to auto insurance for your personal and business vehicles the perfect balance of personal and business coverage can be hard to manage. Although a lot of these complex insurance arrangements cannot be simplified, the one involving your business and personal car insurance can be.

When you buy a business auto policy to cover your company car you can choose the Drive-Other-Car endorsement to cover your driving activities with a personal vehicle rather than buying a separate policy for personal use. 

What is included in this endorsement?
The coverage provided under this endorsement is similar to that of conventional, personal auto insurance but only one bill payment is necessary—to your business auto policy. This makes paperwork easier for you and lessens the risk of one of your policies being interrupted due to nonpayment. The Drive-Other-Car endorsement can also be used to provide coverage to employees who are provided with a company car to take home.

The Drive-Other-Car endorsement can also provide bodily injury and property damage liability coverage as well as uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage. Whatever limits and deductibles you choose for the business auto insurance policy are extended to the endorsement.

Critical Factors to Consider
The Drive-Other-Car endorsement does not just cover you when you drive personal vehicles, it can also cover claims resulting from accidents that occur while you, or a covered employee, are driving a rental vehicle or a friend’s car. That helps to make this extremely flexible endorsement extremely comprehensive.

This endorsement can cover other drivers in the employee or business owner’s household too—but you must read your policy before you assume that this is the case. If your policy does cover household members then they will be protected whether driving a rental car, borrowed car or their own personal vehicle. However, this does not mean that they are covered under the business portion of your policy if they use your company vehicle.

In order to qualify for this endorsement, the business vehicle you use and insure must be owned by your business and not by you, a spouse or a member of your family. When looking for ways to buy insurance policies that protect you against financial risks and simplify your life, additional endorsements like the Drive-Other-Car endorsement are important and valuable tools to consider.

Contact us at (866) 851-5220 for a free company car insurance quote or visit our office.