PC&L Insurance Blog http://www.thedesigngrouponline.com/~pcl/blog The Wonderful World of Insurance Thu, 03 May 2012 20:05:15 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Homeowners Insurance Issues http://www.thedesigngrouponline.com/~pcl/blog/?p=25 http://www.thedesigngrouponline.com/~pcl/blog/?p=25#comments Thu, 03 May 2012 19:48:06 +0000 pcladmin http://www.thedesigngrouponline.com/~pcl/blog/?p=25 Continue reading →]]> For over 30 years, PC&L Agency has been insuring the people of South Carolina.  We’ve been adept at making changes when necessary to accommodate our client base.  Recently while moving many homeowners who
were placed in the South Carolina Wind and Hail Underwriting Association pool by
their current carriers, we’ve made some surprising observations.  To keep the additional cost of the SC Wind & Hail Association down, many policies we are coming across have been written with reduced limits or no limits of coverage for personal property or “Contents” on their SC Wind & Hail Association policies.  This means that insured may not have as much coverage as they think they do in the case of a wind & hail claim.  It is very important to review the coverage limits with your agent.  If your Homeowners limits and your Wind & Hail policy limits are not the same, then you should ask why.  There may be limitation reasons for this or the insured may have requested these differences in coverage, but we’re finding that many folks were un-aware of the discrepancy.

Recently we’ve also been moving many homeowners from a “State-Farm”, “Nationwide”, or “All State” policy with separate homeowners and SC Wind & Hail Association policies to a policy with one of our carriers which include Homeowners and Wind & Hail coverage.  Most clients are pleasantly surprised by the lower premiums and deductibles.  We have had a few clients reluctant to move coverage from one of the “Bigger Named Carriers” to a carrier that they do not know.

In our experience one of the most important questions for the insured to ask is not the name of the insurance company, but if the insurance carrier is “Admitted” or not.  AM Best and Demotech ratings are useful and sometimes required by a lender to be a certain level or higher (We prefer to write with A rated or higher).  An “Admitted”
carrier is one that is licensed by the SC Department of Insurance.  The “Admitted” carriers are backed by the South Carolina Guaranty Fund.  The South Carolina Guaranty Fund will kick in if that “Admitted” carrier is financially unable to pay its debts.  We have had several insureds even purchase a slightly more expensive policy with an “Admitted” carrier to move their policy away from a “Non-Admitted” carrier.

A “Non-Admitted” carrier is one that is allowed to write business in the state of South Carolina, however if that carrier becomes financially unable to pay its debts, then the carrier nor the carrier’s insureds are eligible to receive assistance from the SC Guaranty Fund.  There are cases when placing insurance with a “Non-Admitted” carrier may be necessary, or your best option.  This should be discussed at
length with your agent to make sure you understand your particular situation.

Make sure price is not your only factor in moving coverage.  In most cases we are able to keep the same coverage for you and still save you money, but our ultimate goal is to provide an excellent product when you need it most.  Finding out that your limits are too low is not something you want to find out at the time you’re filing a claim.

]]> http://www.thedesigngrouponline.com/~pcl/blog/?feed=rss2&p=25 0 Wind & Hail Insurance http://www.thedesigngrouponline.com/~pcl/blog/?p=20 http://www.thedesigngrouponline.com/~pcl/blog/?p=20#comments Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:42:30 +0000 pcladmin http://www.thedesigngrouponline.com/~pcl/blog/?p=20 Continue reading →]]> You may or may not be aware that many insurance carriers, such as State Farm, Nationwide and Allstate are dropping or non-renewing many insureds Wind & Hail coverage on the South Carolina coast. This has been going on since September of 2011, and there does not seem to be a change on the horizon.  Article from the Post & Courrier.  The SC Wind & Hail Association or “Pool” is the only solution for these insurance companies. The SC Wind & Hail Association, is an option, but not usually the best one as rates and deductibles are less than ideal. The parts of Charleston hardest hit by these changes are James Island, Johns Island & Mount Pleasant. Frankly, if your property is east of Hwy 17, you are probably going to be affected.  Many residents in the Horry and Georgetown county areas have been impacted as well.  PC&L Agency offers many options.  We provide access to several carriers that are actively trying to write new business in the areas affected by this underwriting change.  We have been very successful in writing coverage for clients in Mt. Pleasant, James Island, Johns Island, Georgetown and the Grand Strand.  Not only are we able to provide the same great coverage with better deductibles, but in most cases we end up saving the client money!!  Contact one of our sales staff today for more information!

]]> http://www.thedesigngrouponline.com/~pcl/blog/?feed=rss2&p=20 0 Blog http://www.thedesigngrouponline.com/~pcl/blog/?p=16 http://www.thedesigngrouponline.com/~pcl/blog/?p=16#comments Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:06:38 +0000 pcladmin http://www.thedesigngrouponline.com/~pcl/blog/?p=16 This is the first post on our new blog – stay tuned for information and announcements!

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