What you’ll discover in this report:

• Surprising secrets about what’s covered in a standard Renters Policy!
• The most dangerous myth about renters insurance
• What to do before you ever have a claim
• Protecting your jewelry, art, computer equipment and other valuables that may not be covered!
• Renters Insurance demystified! What are you really getting? Find out here…

Busting the Myths about Renters Insurance

It is one of the most commonly repeated myths about insurance. Renters don’t need insurance because their landlord’s policy provides coverage for the renters’ property.

No, it doesn’t. Further, if someone slips and falls in your apartment or rented home, your landlord’s insurance usually won’t provide any coverage for you if you are sued.

Renters insurance is basically like homeowners coverage without coverage for the structure.

* Note. Renters insurance provides coverage for your possessions and for liability if someone injured while on your premises sues you. Renters insurance also covers any of your possessions when they are away from your residence, including in your car.

In addition, renters policies provide what are called additional living expenses. If some catastrophe covered by the policy — fire, bursting pipes — makes the place you are renting uninhabitable, the policy will pay some of the costs you incur to live somewhere else while the residence is being repaired.

The coverage is usually limited to either a specific period of time, say 12 months, or what the insurance company considers a “reasonable length of time.” Also, there is a cap on the amount of additional living expenses the insurer will pay, usually a percentage of the total liability limits.

Like homeowners insurance, renters policies do not cover damage or losses resulting from flooding, landslide or earthquake — although it is possible to buy coverage for these risks separately.

Actual Cash Value vs. Replacement Cost for renters

Like homeowners insurance, there are two options for covering your possessions:

• Actual cash value, which is the replacement cost of an item minus depreciation.
• Replacement, which allows you to buy a new item to replace the one lost, stolen or damaged, no matter how old that item is.

* Note. Because replacement cost is better coverage, it costs more. Usually about 10% to 15% more.

Speaking of cost, renters insurance is fairly cheap when compared with other personal insurance policies. Usually, you can get a decent policy for about $300 a year, depending on where you live. If you choose higher limits for your personal property and liability coverage, you could pay up to $400 a year.

The policy has dollar limits on certain types of items. For example, there is usually a $1,000 limit for jewelry and anywhere from a $3,000 to $10,000 limit for computer equipment. If you want higher limits, you can purchase an endorsement, or “floater,” to the basic policy.

Like homeowners insurance, renters coverage has a deductible — the amount you will pay before insurance kicks in. The higher the deductible, the less your policy will cost.

You probably should have the same liability limits on your renters policy as you do on your auto insurance policy. Like your auto policy, you want to make sure your renters insurance will cover all your assets if you are sued.

If you are renting with a roommate or roommates, it’s probably best to include all your roommates on the policy. In addition, if you are living and renting with a significant other, many insurance companies will allow you to obtain joint coverage, just as if you were married.

If You Rent: How to Keep Track of What You Own…

* Tip. Like homeowners, you as a renter should have a written and visual inventory of all of your possessions. For items of significant value, you should write down the model numbers, serial numbers, date of purchase and price. Make a written copy of your inventory and keep it at another location, along with your photographs and/or video of the items. A safe deposit box is a good place to keep such records.

* Note. If one of your “possessions” is a dog, you may find it more difficult to get coverage, particularly if that dog is a Rottweiler, Pit Bull or Doberman.

* Tip. Finally, remember that many insurance companies give discounts to those who have multiple policies with a given insurer. Shop around, or have your agent shop around, for insurance companies that have the best rates, discounts, etc., for renters and auto insurance if both are placed with the same company.

The unfortunate truth is no insurance policy covers you for everything that could possibly happen to you or your property.  However, with a little bit of understanding you can make sure you have the protection you want … and make sure your claims get paid by the insurance company.

Beware: It’s Not Always Covered

Just because you have an insurance policy that doesn’t mean your home is covered for everything.  Your home policy doesn’t cover you against every “cause of loss”.  What’s that?  Fire is a cause of loss.  High wind is a cause of loss.  These are also known as “perils” in insurance terminology.

A standard home policy excludes many causes of loss.  That is, it does NOT protect you from certain perils – like earthquake, flood and surface water, termite damage and many more.  That means if your home is damaged by one of these excluded perils your policy will not respond.  You have no insurance against them.

If you want insurance against some of these perils, you can buy it … like earthquake or flood insurance.  However, some excluded perils are not insurable … like insect damage.  Be sure to discuss your policy exclusions with an agent in our office and buy the protection you really need.  Don’t be caught by surprise after the damage is done.  It’s too late to buy insurance then.

Special Limits On Personal Property

As if your home policy wasn’t complicated enough already it includes “special limits” of protection for some of your personal property.  A “special limit” reduces the protection specifically available for certain types of property.

Property subject to a special limit typically includes … property used for business … cash & coin collections … jewelry & furs … guns … silverware … and more.

Additionally, some of these special limits apply only if the property is lost or stolen – making things just a little more confusing.

For example, the standard home policy typically includes only $1,000 of protection for stolen jewelry.  If your $2,500 diamond engagement ring is stolen you’ll get only $1,000 from the insurance company.  Ouch! And, if the stone falls out of the ring and is lost, there may be NO coverage at all!

The bottom line is it’s very important you fully discuss these conditions and special limits with your agent and buy the protection you need.  Otherwise, you could find yourself with a very nasty surprise … an unpaid claim!

Conducting Business At Home

WARNING!  Your home policy has very strict limits and rules about business conducted at home.  The protection offered by your policy is severely limited if your claim arises from business activities.  Your business property has very little coverage.  And in some cases you may have no liability protection at all.

This is not something to take lightly and just assume everything will be fine.  Be sure to discuss your home business activities with a licensed agent in our office to make sure you’re still protected.

Other Exclusions and Options

The standard home policy excludes protection for many things.  But then the insurance company gives you an opportunity to buy some of them back.

Additionally, you have the option of increasing protection where you personally need it.

There are literally dozens of optional coverages available in your home policy.  Here are some of the more common options available to you.

Identity Theft – many home insurers now offer protection for Identity Theft in their home policies.  This will help pay the expenses you incur to restore your identity if it’s stolen.

Water & Sewage Backup – the standard home policy excludes damage caused by a water or sewage system backup.  You can buy this protection if you want it.

Ordinance & Law — pays the increased costs of repairing or rebuilding your home that are a result of changes in local building codes. For example, your home has single paned windows. After a loss, the local building department requires double-paned windows. This endorsement pays for the increased cost required by the new building code.

Packaged Endorsements – often times an insurance company will package the optional coverages people most commonly buy into a single endorsement.  That means for a lower price you can get several optional coverages added to your policy.

There are many more optional coverage and exclusion buy-backs your agent can explain to you.  Take a few moments to understand them and make good decisions about your protection.

• Young people up to age 26 can now remain on their parents’ health insurance. Some 2.5 million have so far opted to do so.
• En route to closing the “donut hole” prescription coverage gap for Medicare recipients, seniors now qualify for a 50% discount on Part D brand-name drugs when they reach the gap.
• The Independent Payment Advisory Board has been established and, from next year, will be able to intervene if Medicare costs rise too much.
• States are now allowed to offer home-based services to disabled people through Medicaid instead of institutional care in nursing homes.
• From the start of this year, new rules encourage physicians to set up “Accountable Care Organizations” by working together to improve the standards of care and reduce costs.
• From March 1, federal health care programs have to collect racial, ethnic and language data about patients to identify inequality of treatment.
• From October, health records will have to be stored electronically – with new rules in place to make sure they’re secure and confidential.
• Also from October, hospitals will have to publicly report on performance for a range of treatments, and reveal comments from patients.

The official Government site has also launched an easy-to-use action page to help individuals identify which public, private and community programs meet their needs. Check it out at
finder.healthcare.gov.

So, I thought I’d send you a quick “reminder” this month.  PLEASE … read through this short list of safety reminders.  It won’t take long, and it could save your life!

We drive so much it becomes sub-conscious.  So, let these safety reminders dwell in your sub-conscious, too…

• Back off.  Odds are, if you can clearly read the bumper stickers on the car in front while moving- you’re too close!

  I wish I had the statistic of how many car accidents are rear-ending collisions.  It’s a lot.  I realize in heavy traffic it’s sometimes impossible to keep a safe distance between you and the car in front.  But try.

  A safe distance is determined by a 2 second gap – that is, when the driver in front of you passes a road marker, you shouldn’t get there for 2 seconds.  That means the faster you’re going, the bigger the gap between you and the driver in front should be.

• Slow down.  I know its cliché, but speed kills.  It really does.  Plus, speeding tickets are expensive.  And if an insurance carrier finds out about it – and they do check – you could get a rate increase, too.

• Put on that seatbelt.  Why fight the odds?  Statistics prove that seatbelts save lives.  Not to mention in most states being caught without your seatbelt on means a hefty fine.  Be safe – put it on!

• Are you too close to the airbag?  Make sure you’re more than 10 inches from the steering wheel.  If you’re too close, an inflating airbag could hurt or kill you.

• Pay attention to road conditions … and slow down!  If you lose control of your vehicle on a wet road, you might blame the road, but the cops and the insurance company won’t.  They’ll blame you!  Remember, you’re responsible for controlling the car you’re driving in ALL conditions.

• Check all around before changing lanes.  Never assume another car isn’t there.  Look.  It only takes a few seconds for a car to move into a dangerous position.

Of course, there are tons of safe driving tips, these are just the top ones…hope this short list sticks in your sub-conscious mind and keeps you safe.

From everyone here at Hejny Insurance Agency, we thank you for your business and may the roads you travel always be safe ones!

Well, we haven’t got the answer. If we had, there’d be no debate. But there are definitely plenty of things you can do to help make an informed decision about whether to take them and what to take.

First off, let’s be clear that you should always speak to a professional before making decisions about your health and nutrition. With that in mind, here are some points to know and think about when you’re weighing things up:

• Having routine and regular bloodwork done will identify anydeficiency in essential elements like iron and zinc. Specific tests can also be ordered for presence of certain vitamins like B12, a deficiency of which was recently claimed to be a factor in dementia and depression (for more on this, see http://tinyurl.com/B12-vits).
• We certainly need many vitamins and other important nutrients but the best, most effective and potentially least risky sources are those that come from natural foods, especially fruits and leafy green vegetables. Sunshine is an excellent source of vitamin D.
• Though always the subject of research, the Recommended Daily Amounts (RDAs) or Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) as they’re now being called are publicly available. The Institute of Medicine produces downloadable tables which you can access via the US Department of Agriculture at http://tinyurl.com/dri-tables.
• Everybody (meaning every body) has different needs. Key factors that make a difference include your gender, your general state of health and your age. Only a physician or nutritionist can advise you on this.
• Excessive amounts of some vitamins, such as A, C and D (but not from sunshine) can cause mild to serious problems. So can too much iron.

Final word to the National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements: “Do not self-diagnose any health condition. Work with your health care provider to determine how best to achieve optimal health and always check with your health care provider before taking a supplement, especially when combining or substituting them with other foods or medicine.” Visit http://ods.od.nih.gov/ for more on dietary supplements.

Of course the other thing coming soon is Tax Day on April 17, 2012 – You might be thinking it’s the 15th and it usually is – however- this year the 15th lands on a Sunday and Monday the 16th happens to be Emancipation Day in the District of Columbia.  So April 17th is the date for all Federal Tax returns this year.

Thought I’d send you some tax tips in case you’re the kind of person who manages to get them done early (despite the two day ‘extension’).

Here are seven of the most common errors on tax returns. If you can avoid these errors, you’ll greatly minimize the chance of an audit … and NOBODY wants to go through that!

1. Mistakes on social security numbers top the list of tax return errors. Make sure all the SSNs on the return are correct. And it’s a good idea to put your SSN on each page of the return in case the pages get separated at the IRS.
2. Math errors are another common mistake – especially when subtracting. If you’re not using a computer or tax-preparer carefully check the math.
3. Forgetting to sign and date the return. Yeah, happens all the time. And remember for a married couple filing a joint return, both must sign.
4. Failing to attach all the paperwork – like W-2s.
5. Putting income in the wrong place. This is interesting. If you record dividend income as interest income – like for mutual funds – the IRS computers will probably see that as under-reporting dividend income, because they get that information from the mutual fund companies. Then the hassles begin.
6. Failing to file because you can’t pay in full. BIG MISTAKE! File your return on time, even if you can’t pay the tax due. Willful failure to file is a federal crime. You’ll only pay interest on amounts past due.
7. Failing to file when no tax is due. I guess it happens. You’ve got to file the return whether you owe any money or not.

There’s lots of information on the Internet to help you avoid problems. Just do a search on “common tax errors”.

All of us here at Hejny Insurance Agency wish you a joyous tax season! OK … how about a reasonably fun tax season? OK … good luck, we hope you get through it. How’s that?

Seriously, though, I hope this information was helpful to you. Thanks for your business!

Phony eCard Greetings
You get an email either from a mystery sender or someone you know with a link to a supposed Valentines eCard, or with an eCard actually attached. By clicking on either, you download a virus onto your computer. Two simple actions can prevent this– having an up-to-date anti-virus program installed and, if you know the supposed sender, contacting them to make sure they really did send the greeting.

Bogus Flower Gifts
You order flowers from a new online company advertising incredibly low prices. If the price is too good to be true, it probably is and you’ll lose your money. Plus, the scammers now have your credit card number and may use it to make purchases in your name. Best to use a reputable online florist or go to a local store.

Online Romancing
Spoof emails arrive in our email boxes all the time but we might let our guard down when a message
arrives from a mystery admirer around Valentines. It’s often a prelude to an online “romance” in which the victim receives photos of the attractive admirer ( which are really just pictures stolen by the con artist). The crime ends up with the victim being asked to provide money to pay for the admirer to come visit. Just don’t fall for this trick – never give money to people you don’t know.

Now the bad stuff’s out of the way, it leaves us with the chance to wish you Happy Valentines!