Flor & Associates Insurance Agency

El Paso Texas Insurance Agent Flor & Associates Insurance

Disability Insurance

Shopping Around Always Saves Money, Let Your Agent Do That For You

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It’s always nice to have someone help you save money, especially when it’s in their best interest to do so. Independent agents are there to help you, and usually they can do this by giving you the best coverage for the least amount of money! They want to keep your business for when you have to renew, due to this it is not in their interests to push insurance products that are of no use to you or your checkbook.

Outside of just price, independent agents have a vast understanding of the way different companies work, so they can lend insight to the claim process with each company. This might be an important factor for some and this can be a valuable tool in your search as well!

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A captive agent may steer you towards a certain product knowing that you will probably come back if you are exhibiting that level of loyalty to go with a single company in the first place! Avoid that conflict of interest and go with an independent agent in order to be good to yourself, your assets, and your wallet!

Independent Agents Can Provide a Variety and Security

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Going back to the candy shop analogy, what if a candy shop sells only one kind of candy? Now there aren’t many places that I can think of that sells only one kind of candy, but the idea doesn’t sound very appealing to me. I want to be able to pick and choose, and if I want something different I want to be able to have it! This same concept can be applied to many different things, but it really rings true with choosing insurance. 

Story time: Once I had a couple of windows broken from a storm and had a claim filed to get them replaced (Double paned windows are very pricey!), and a couple of weeks later my car was damaged by hail, and naturally I did another claim—a week later I received a nice letter from my insurance provider telling me that my coverage was going to stop forever upon my coverage end date!

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Hail is not fun

And yes, I was using a captive agent to get my coverage at the time; being with a captive agent was not fun since I was not able to go back to her and had to find someone new, so I really learned my lesson with that experience and went with an independent agent!

What is an Independent Agent?

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An independent agent is someone who is representing several insurance companies and can shop around while remaining in-house when making a pricing decision for a customer. Due to this independence, an agent in this capacity is able to make objective decisions when it comes to which policy to choose for their client.

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All those choices!

With this choice to choose, the best interest for the client is usually always taken, so for example if your rates go up and you have an independent agent you can shop around for a better rate with many different companies if you want to keep the same amount of coverage. There’s a huge upside to this in if you have a great relationship with your agent, but not with your insurance company due to a botched claim. If that happens you can just get coverage with another company through your trusted agent!

Like a candy shop there’s many different options, shouldn’t you be able to choose what you want and who makes it?

What Is A Captive Agent?

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An insurance agent that only works for one insurance company is a Captive Agent, but they are not literally held captive as their name would imply! They can work for only one of the many insurance companies out there, and will offer plans under their label. Much like a cook from Taco Cabana cannot work at Taco Bell!

Different taco places don’t share cooks!

Captive agents usually have a very deep understanding of their company’s product offerings, but there’s a downside to this as they cannot help people that do not qualify for their product offerings since they are limited to only what their company offers and their thresholds. But there is an upside to this though, if there is a rate pricing concern a captive agent will be able to work with the customer on price rather than just reducing coverages to achieve this.

They sometimes have quotas!

Captive agents will also sell products that their company asks them to sell over others, so they do have quotas and due to this it causes them to push certain products only to meet their numbers—not just because it was in your best interest. So it becomes a question as to if this staying with one provider is an important factor to you, and if you accept both sides of that coin!

Save Time When It Isn’t Time You Want To Waste

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christmas-tree-1856343_960_720A couple of holiday seasons ago, I had a neighbor who loved to cut down a tree on a plot of land he owned in New Mexico and bring it back to decorate with his family. When he was backing up his truck near the front of his house, he gave it a little too much gas and ended up knocking down a brick wall and badly damaging his truck!

He had a good laugh about it and brought his tree inside for his kids to decorate. I remember that the very next day, him having an agent come out and look at both his house and truck—and within a 2 week span he had everything fixed without a hitch. He thankfully had his insurance bundled, and was able to just take care of everything in one afternoon!

Since this was the time between November and December, he was able to be done with it house-2595330_960_720before the upcoming holiday and without wasting any undue stress on the whole situation! Now, not all accidents happen around the holiday season, but if it does it might be possible to save time and money with a bundle! Don’t waste the time you could have with your family!

Disaster Hits, What Now?

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flood-642586_960_720If you have lived through a disaster or know anyone who has, you will know how hard it is to get back on your feet in the aftermath. It’s a long process and you pretty much have to fight to gain back everything that you had.

I had some family from South Carolina come to El Paso after their house and place of business was flooded out during Hurricane Charley in 2004. I remember them not knowing what would come next, and what would happen if they had to start over again. We as a family helped them with anything that they needed and got them through the next couple weeks so they could figure out if they wanted to come back here or go back to South Carolina.

It would have been devastating for them to lose everything, they owned their house and had a profitable business— and one of the saddest things to me was my cousins didn’t want to make new friends and start all over, they knew them all since they moved out there when they were kids. My aunt did have insurance, but all her documents were ruined in the storm—and she was right (she always was/is right!), but she called in to her insurance companies and after a few weeks of getting everything in order she was able to get back to South Carolina. hurricane-matthew-1769040_960_720

I called her up and asked her about the process when I was writing this blog to catch up and to see what she went through. She said that it took an extremely long time and she actually mentioned to me that what made it so long was that she had to deal with separate companies! After that ordeal she ended up finding out that bundling would’ve saved time and that it’s easier to deal with one company, and one deductible, and that’s how she has it set up now!

Worker’s Compensation vs. Occupational Accident Insurance

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I was looking at the differences between Worker’s Compensation and Occupational Accident insurance and thought to myself, “What’s the fuss about? And why all the confusion?”

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In a nutshell, Worker’s Compensation provides benefits to hired employees through astate-regulated insurance program that pays for medical bills and replaces lost wages if something were to happen on-the-job. Occupational Accident Insurance does provide money to pay for bills and lost wages but it is through a private provider, and it all depends on the coverage level that was set!

Occupational Accident Insurance premiums are usually less than Workers Compensation and employers can control the type and amount of coverage they feel they need.

Occupational Accident Insurance can also save an employer some money if they insure their hired employees since they can choose the coverage and the limits of the contract— But doing it this way provides some risks since the employee can still sue the company they were injured while working for even after their claim. But, with a Worker’s Compensation claim a worker cannot pursue further legal action after the claim is processed!

pexels-photo-401796Say I worked at a mechanic’s shop as an employee and a transmission were to fall on me (God forbid!), Worker’s Compensation covers all related medical expenses to the accident, as well as covering lost-income— even years after, but I cannot sue the employer for more.

In my case, since I am independent, I opting for Occupational Accident Insurance, so I’ll get the coverage that I can afford and am comfortable with! Occupational Accident Insurance like I mentioned before depends on the coverage I had, so I would really feel it in the wallet after an accident if I did not get the right coverage for myself— it is always smart to plan ahead!

By Aaron Young

3 Top Reasons We Need Disability Insurance

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When taking an audit of your own life it’s important to identify what is the most valuable asset that you have, some may think it’s your house, car, jewelry, a rare collection of Hummel Figurines that your great-aunt left you when she passed (In my case it was my great-uncle, I have a couple of Hummels on my desk as a write this). But everyone seems to overlook the most important asset that a worker has:

Their ability to make money  

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Something so simple can cause a world of trouble, be prepared!

You do not want to find yourself up the creek without a paddle if something were to happen to you! So with this being the case, it’s astonishing to hear how many people out there do not have a great idea of how Disability Insurance should be essential, and before I became aware of the reasons why it is necessary I was one of those people as well.

I started to look around at plans when I learned of the benefits that Disability Insurance could do for me in the event of an injury that prevented me from working. During this search for the best Disability Insurance plan I came to realize 3 big reasons why it is essential in everyone’s life and wanted to share them with you:

  1. Protection of My Assets

house-insurance-419058_960_720-2.jpgWhen I was considering Disability Insurance, I was looking into what I have to lose if I were to be disabled and if there was anything that would protect my assets. I don’t want to lose everything that I’ve worked for because I did something like bruise my tailbone, or have my back go out because I didn’t lift a box properly. I do not want my life that I built up to crumble around me because I did not get Disability Insurance. For just a dollar a day I found it was possible to save myself the worry and ensure that my cash flow wouldn’t be interrupted by an accident!

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Potential result of the banana peel accident!

  1. My Family’s Livelihood

I want my family to be able to navigate any financial troubles they will face if I were to become disabled. Since they will be dealing with my injury I do not want to make the situation worse by not having any financial security in place for them. I want to keep a roof over their heads and I want to give them everything that they desire, even when I am hurt. Keeping my family at our level of comfort is paramount to me, and it was a big part of my decision to opt for Disability Insurance.

  1. Insufficient Employer’s Insurance 

With my previous employer I did have Disability Insurance, I was curious about what they had to offer and dug out my old policy forms. After looking through them I found that if I were hurt that I would’ve received only 60% of what I earned normally! If I had known about this insufficient coverage I would have opened up a policy long ago, so this was a definite eye-opener for me and showed me that opening up my own policy is a must!

Having Disability Insurance is important, as well as having the correct amount of coverage. So, do not ever be shy to look into a disability plan! When you do decide to get Disability Insurance just be sure that your policy is guaranteed renewable so you will always have the amount of coverage you agreed upon initially. And most importantly, don’t allow life to push you around if you become disabled; it’s always best to be prepared!

 

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Aaron Young