<![CDATA[RELIABLE INSURANCE GROUP - Blog]]>Fri, 12 Dec 2025 06:06:41 -0800EditMySite<![CDATA[September Is Life Insurance Awareness Month]]>Wed, 28 Sep 2022 15:41:54 GMThttps://www.reliableinsgroup.com/blog/september-is-life-insurance-awareness-monthThe global pandemic raised awareness of how fragile life is and the importance of preparing for the unexpected. According to LIMRA research, 31% of Americans say they are more likely to buy life insurance as a result of COVID-19. This is even higher across many demographics, including Millennials (44%), Black Americans (38%), and Hispanics (37%). 

Our research also shows that people who own life insurance are more likely to feel financially secure. Nearly two thirds of insured Americans say they feel financially secure, compared with less than half of those uninsured.
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Overall, 41% of Americans say they don’t have sufficient life insurance coverage. Many underserved markets have even greater insurance needs, including:
  • 44% of women believe they have a life insurance coverage gap
  • 45% of Asian Americans say they need more coverage
  • 47% of Millennials live with a life insurance coverage gap
  • 48% of Black Americans acknowledge they don’t have enough life insurance
  • 50% of LGBTQ+ Americans say they need (or need more) coverage

This is increasingly critical since LIMRA research shows that 4 in 10 families say they would face financial hardship within six months if the primary wage earner died. For 1 in 5, it would be within just one month.

Engaging the various markets requires understanding their perceptions about life insurance. Take this quiz to see how much you know about the different market segments. 

There are at least 106 million Americans living with a life insurance coverage gap. To help raise awareness, LIMRA joined seven trade associations and 76 life insurers and distributors to launch the “Help Protect Our Families” campaign to address the growing coverage gap in the U.S. Now in its second year, the campaign if focusing on an underserved market each month, including Black Americans, women, Asian Americans, Millennials, middle-income, etc.

https://www.reliableinsgroup.com/blog/september-is-life-insurance-awareness-month
]]><![CDATA[Does Renters Insurance Cover Theft?]]>Tue, 23 Nov 2021 22:51:54 GMThttps://www.reliableinsgroup.com/blog/does-renters-insurance-cover-theft
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If you rent a home or an apartment, you likely have considered ways to protect the things you own. You may even have purchased a renters insurance policy. Does that mean your renters insurance covers theft? It’s a good question. With millions of home larcenies and burglaries reported in the U.S., victims may be unsure about potential recourse when they are the victim of theft. With a renters insurance policy, you’ll likely be able to recoup some or all of the value of your lost items.

What Is Renters Insurance?

Renters insurance is a personal property policy that helps protect your personal belongings ‒ such as electronics, furniture, clothing – from the costs associated with damage or theft. It also includes personal liability coverage to protect you, the renter, from claims related to bodily injury or property damage for which you’re held legally responsible.

For example, imagine that a burglar breaks your apartment window, gains entry and steals your television. The cost of the television would likely be covered under your renters insurance policy, but the cost to repair the window would not. Landlords typically will hold a separate insurance policy to cover structural damage to your dwelling.

Renters insurance also provides coverage for improvements to your rental property. As a renter, you may spend time and money on alterations or improvements to your rental unit. Under a renters policy, you may apply up to 10% of your personal property coverage (higher amounts are available) to repair or replace improvements made by you or acquired at your expense if damaged by a covered loss.

So, Is All My Stuff Covered by My Renters Insurance?

Renters insurance can cover personal property from a covered loss ‒ up to your policy limit. Before purchasing a policy, some renters take an inventory of their belongings, cataloging the cost to replace each item so they understand the dollar amount of coverage they may need.

Let’s revisit that hypothetical window-smashing burglar who stole your television. Say he also swipes your silverware while prowling the house. While the television would likely be covered under a typical renters insurance policy, the silverware may be subject to special limits. Consider adding Valuable Items Plus Coverage to your renters insurance policy to cover these items.
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Your renters insurance typically covers the belongings of your spouse and kids as well, but not a roommate’s items. If you share your home with a non-relative, he or she may want to consider getting their own renters policy.
Pro Tip: If you store fine arts, precious jewelry, rare collectibles or other high-cost valuables at home, you may want to consider a Personal Articles Floater in addition to a renters insurance policy.

​Will the Full Value of My Items Be Covered?

There are two types of renters insurance coverages that differ based on the way claims payments are determined. They are replacement cost value (RCV) and actual cash value (ACV). Should you have a claim, the type of policy you purchase could make a difference in the amount of payout you receive.
  • Contents Replacement Cost is coverage in which the insurer pays the amount it would cost to purchase the same or similar item, after a covered loss, minus your deductible. That means the policy would pay $900 to replace a three-year-old television, even though it may now be valued at a substantially lower price than when you bought it new (due to depreciation).
  • Actual Cash Value (ACV) is coverage that pays the depreciated value of an item. That three-year-old television may only be worth $125, and reimbursed as such (after your deductible), even though it would cost substantially more to replace the TV.

​Another concern when considering the replacement value of your items is your policy deductible. Choosing a lower deductible means you’ll likely receive a larger payout after a claim but will pay a higher premium each year.

​How Much Does Renters Insurance Cost?

In general, a renters insurance policy offers broad coverage at a low cost. A typical policy premium falls between $15 and $30 per month, depending on the location and size of your rental, as well as the value of your possessions.1 Talk to your local independent agent or Travelers representative for guidance on your coverage needs.

What Happens if My Stuff Is Stolen While Traveling or Away From Home?​

Renters insurance can protect your personal belongings from theft, whether you’re at home, on vacation or driving to your local supermarket. That means a leather briefcase stolen from the trunk of your car while shopping – or from a hotel room while traveling – is protected in a similar manner as a leather briefcase stolen from home.

However, there could be a limit of 10% if the item is in storage or at another residence. If you’re a college student, you may even be partially covered under your parent’s or guardian’s policy, so long as you’re still part of their household. That means a television stolen from your student dormitory room or a bicycle bilked from a bike rack may be covered. A typical arrangement will cover losses up to 10% of the parent’s policy limit.2

Pro Tip: While items stolen from the inside of your car may be covered by renters insurance, your car itself is not. You’ll need separate auto comprehensive insurance coverage for that.

​Do I Really Need Renter’s Insurance?

Some renters – particularly those just starting out – assume they don’t own enough to make renters insurance coverage worthwhile. Still, the cost of replacing clothes, furniture, gaming consoles, TVs, computers and other valuables can easily add up.
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Some renters also mistakenly assume their belongings are covered under their landlord’s policy, but that’s often not true. A renters insurance policy is often the most effective way to protect your personal property. An added perk? The peace of mind that comes from knowing your property is protected from theft, whether you’re at home or on the road.

Ready to get started? Contact your local independent Travelers agent today to learn more or to receive a renters insurance quote.

Sources:
  1. https://www.naic.org/documents/protecting_your_belongings_with_renters_insurance.htm
  2. https://www.iii.org/article/renters-insurance​
]]><![CDATA[Life Insurance Awareness Month, September 2020]]>Thu, 02 Sep 2021 18:54:42 GMThttps://www.reliableinsgroup.com/blog/life-insurance-awareness-month-september-2020​Facts from LIMRA

​Who Currently Owns Life Insurance?

  • More than half of American adults (54%) own some type of life insurance.
  • In January 2020, prior to the coronavirus pandemic, 36% of Americans who didn’t currently own life insurance said they intended to purchase it within the next 12 months.
  • In May, more than half of Americans (53%) expressed a heightened need for life insurance because of COVID 19.
  • Women are less likely to own life insurance than men. Just 47% of women own life insurance, compared with 53% of men who own life insurance.

Why do Americans own life insurance?

The top reasons for owning life insurance are:
  • Paying for burial costs and final expenses (84%)
  • Transferring wealth across generations (66
  • Replacing lost wages or income (62
  • Supplementing retirement income (57%)
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Between 2018 and 2020, reasons for having life insurance changed wanting burial/final expenses declined in 2020, and saving for retirement increased.

Why don’t people own life insurance

Sixteen percent of consumers 41 million Americans say they need life insurance coverage but don’t have it.

The top three reasons to not purchase (or to not purchase more) life insurance are:
  • They have other financial priorities (67
  • It is too expensive (65
  • They don’t feel they need it (56%)
  • Many also overestimate the cost of life insurance. Half (50%) of Millennials believe the estimated yearly cost for a $250,000 term life policy for a healthy 30 year old is $1,000 or more when, in actuality, it’s closer to $160 per year.

How do people buy life insurance

  • In 2011, 64% of consumers said they preferred buying insurance face to face; by 2020, just 41% felt this way
  • Consumers who prefer internet/online sales grew from 17% in 2011 to 29% in 2020
  • Half (50%) of Americans are more likely to buy life insurance if simplified underwriting is used. Consumers prefer simplified underwriting because it:
    • Is fast and easy 66%
    • Is unbiased and objective 58%
    • Provides transparent explanations of risks and pricing 58%
    • Avoids medical exams, blood and urine samples 56%
    • Avoids the need to see a doctor 55
    • Almost half (49%) of Millennials are more likely to buy life insurance using simplified underwriting.

How is social media changing the way people learn about life insurance

  • Over one third of Americans (34%) say they go directly to the company’s website when researching an insurance brand.
  • Facebook and YouTube are the most popular sites when searching for financial topics. Between 2019 and 2020, Facebook use doubled from 13% to 26% and YouTube use grew from 8% to 17%.
  • Currently, 1 in 4 consumers are looking for an adviser via social media a rise of 64% in the past three years.
  • More than one third (32%) of Millennials are using social media to find a financial advisor.
  • Among Millennials, Facebook (43%) has the highest rated importance to those looking for financial professionals. LinkedIn (33%) and YouTube (31%) have comparable importance ratings for the younger generation.
]]><![CDATA[Does Your Small Business Need Errors and Omissions Insurance?]]>Tue, 10 Aug 2021 16:59:11 GMThttps://www.reliableinsgroup.com/blog/does-your-small-business-need-errors-and-omissions-insuranceLucy Lazarony, Editor Forbes
​Errors and omissions (E&O) insurance comes to the rescue if you make mistakes in professional services while doing business.

This coverage is also known as professional liability insurance and it will help cover the cost of a client or customer who makes a claim against your business. Errors and omissions insurance assists with legal defense costs, judgments and settlements. Without errors and omissions insurance, you’d have to pay out of your own pocket if a customer says you owe them money because of a mistake.

If your business provides a professional service or offers advice to clients, you may be a good candidate for errors and omissions insurance.
What Does Errors and Omissions Insurance Cover?
 
Mistakes happen with every kind of business. In addition to actual errors and omissions in work, here are some mistakes that could prompt a customer to sue your business.

  • Misrepresentation
  • Violation of good faith and fair dealing
  • Negligence
  • False or inaccurate advice
 
If your business gets hit with an errors and omissions claim, you could be facing legal defense costs, including court costs and attorney fees, and paying any settlements or court judgments.
 
Depending on the claim, you could face disciplinary hearings from a regulatory or licensing board. As you defend yourself against an errors and omissions lawsuit, you could also incur a loss of earnings for your time spent in court and on depositions. Errors and omissions insurance helps pay for all these costs.

Types of Businesses That Need Professional Liability Insurance

There are certain states and licensing boards that require some businesses to have errors and omissions coverage. For example, more than 10 states require real estate agents to show proof of errors and omissions coverage before they receive their real estate licenses.
 
In addition to real estate agents, here is a roundup of the types of businesses that can benefit from professional liability insurance.

  • Accountants
  • Advertising agencies
  • Graphic designers
  • Interior decorators
  • Management and business consultants
  • Tax preparers
  • Technology professionals
  • Travel agents

How Much Does E&O Insurance Cost?

The cost of errors and omissions insurance is based on a number of factors such as:

  • The size of the business and number of employees
  • The revenue of the business
  • The industry and the type of risks that you face
  • Business location and state
  • The past claims history of the business
  • The E&O coverage limits that you choose

Here are more details about E&O insurance according to Insureon.

  • The median cost of errors and omissions insurance is $59 per month
  • 51% of small business owners pay between $500 and $1,000 per year for their E&O policies
  • 18% of small business owners pay less than $500 per year for E&O coverage

What’s Not Included in Errors and Omissions Insurance?

Employment practices including wrongful termination or harassment are not covered under errors and omissions insurance. You will need an employment practices liability insurance policy to help with these costs.

Patents and trade secrets that you’ve taken without permission are also not covered by E&O if you’re sued. A general liability policy may offer some protection if you’ve stolen intellectual property.

Bodily injury or property damage caused by your business would not be covered by an errors and omissions policy. For these claims you would need a business liability insurance policy.

Work-related illnesses and injuries fall under workers compensation insurance.

Personally identifiable information that gets lost or stolen by your company is not part of errors and omissions coverage. A data breach insurance policy would help to cover these costs.
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How Does Technology Errors and Omissions Insurance Work?

If you work in the technology field, you may be able to purchase an errors and omissions policy specifically for your field of work. Technology errors and omission insurance can pay legal and other costs from claims made by customers.

Here are some instances where technology E&O insurance would be useful:

  • If the software program you sold had glitches and ruined a client’s billing data
  • If the equipment you installed malfunctioned and a customer was unable to receive orders
  • If a website you created looks too similar to a competitor’s website
  • If you miss important deadlines when developing a new technology product and this leads to a loss of profits
  • If you sell the wrong product to a client that causes their system to crash

Types of technology professionals who could benefit from technology E&O insurance include:

  • Businesses that produce electronic components for computers
  • Computer consultants
  • Internet service providers
  • IT contractors
  • Software developers
  • Website developers

Technology E&O Insurance vs. Cyber Liability Insurance
 
A cyber liability insurance policy helps to protect a business from cyberattacks and data breaches. Let’s say some private customer information gets leaked from your company’s database. If the customer files a claim against your company, cyber liability insurance will help pay for the costs.
 
In contrast, technology errors and omissions insurance would cover instances of negligence and product failures as well as errors and omissions made by your technology company.
 
Technology E&O coverage kicks in when you have had a hand in what went wrong for a customer. With cyber liability insurance, your company is being attacked from an outsider through a data breach or cyberattack.

]]><![CDATA[Do I Need Life Insurance Outside of My Work Policy?]]>Wed, 08 Jul 2020 20:23:08 GMThttps://www.reliableinsgroup.com/blog/july-08th-2020If my husband and I have life and disability policies through our employers, is that sufficient? Both of us have very high coverage amounts, but neither of us has policies outside of work. If we ever left those jobs, voluntarily or otherwise, we would have to replace our group coverage with personal policies then. Is that a solid strategy?
 
You got one thing right – I am the type of person who has a strong opinion about group life and group disability insurance. It is also worth noting how great it is that you value life insurance and disability insurance. Many people do not share your prudence. I also like that you’re thinking ahead in regard to how a job change might affect your benefits strategy.
 
I am clearly building you up because you’re about to learn why you need to restructure your entire plan.
Group life and group disability benefits are fantastic. They are generally cheap, easily attainable, and wonderful when you have an insurability issue. However, they should not be used in place of policies you can buy outside of the workplace, especially when it comes to life insurance.
 
The latest number I could find from the Bureau of Labor Statistics suggests you, and every other American will hold roughly 11 different jobs in your lifetime. This means you will likely have jobs with good benefits and jobs with bad benefits. And just because your current gig allows you to amass large amounts of life and disability insurance coverage, does not mean your next job will.
 
This is precisely why you should buy your coverage outside of work, and only use group policies to supplement your coverage for cheap. Is it more expensive to do it this way? Yes, but life insurance is about buying the right to transfer risk to another entity. When your entire insurance strategy is predicated on staying at your current job, then you are taking-on additional unnecessary risks.
 
Both life and disability insurance are the cheapest when you are young and healthy. And while some people are able to improve their overall health as they get older, no one has figured out to stop the clock on aging (as far as insurance underwriters are concerned). My big fear for you is that everything goes wonderfully for you for a very long time, and then it doesn’t. At the point it stops going so well, you might be much older and much less healthy. Therefore, coverage might either be prohibitively expensive, or you may not qualify for coverage at all.
 
Please believe me, I am not fearmongering. I have witnessed this awful reality several times over the years. The best way to prevent this from happening to you is to purchase the proper amount of coverage outside of work. With life insurance, your work coverage will be very cheap gravy which would go a long way in providing for your family in the event of your death. Some people choose to purchase permanent coverage as their primary coverage, and then let the group insurance, which is term coverage, fall-off over time.
 
Some people choose term life insurance as their primary coverage for three reasons, which often all happen at the same time. First, it is tremendously less expensive than permanent coverage. Second, you can purchase a lot more of it for the price. It is very important to have the right amount of coverage, as most people have too little. The final reason people choose term is that it is part of their overall financial plan. In this instance, the goal is to build assets and repeatable retirement income, throughout your career, thus creating a layer of self-insurance at retirement.
 
With disability insurance, your personal coverage will actually wrap around your group coverage. If you’re trying to be as comprehensive in your planning as possible, do not ignore the need for supplemental disability insurance.
 
Call your insurance agent and restructure your plan sooner rather than later. You will absolutely spend more money than you’re spending on your current plan, but part of the pain from that comes with having utilized a suboptimal strategy for years. As long as you’re still relatively healthy, changing your strategy will be the permanent fix you need when it comes to this not-so-fun area of your financial plan.
 
Peter Dunn, Special to USA TODAY

]]><![CDATA[Why Choose to Work With an Independent Agent?]]>Tue, 19 May 2020 21:36:27 GMThttps://www.reliableinsgroup.com/blog/why-choose-to-work-with-an-independent-agentThere are many benefits of working with an independent insurance agent. The most obvious one is the ability of an independent agent to shop multiple companies for the best coverage, discounts and price for you, the customer. This does not lock the customer in to just one company and their unique product lines.
 
As a former owner of a captive insurance agency, I can tell many stories of frustrated customers calling me to discuss why their rates went up due to no fault of their own. I had no options to give them except to modify their polices in an effort to save them the money their policy was going up. This was not a viable option due to the fact it would lessen their coverage on their home or autos and leave them exposed to liability. On those occasions, I apologized for having my hands tied and would recommend another agent I trusted to offer them a quote with the same coverages.
 
As an independent agency, Reliable Insurance Group has the ability to continually monitor your insurance needs, quote those needs in the marketplace and find the best coverage and price to meet your needs. Now, if your rates go up, we simply provide a new quote with over 20 companies we work closely with to test the market and find the best rates while still protecting you and your family.
 
If you would like a FREE insurance review to assess your current and future needs, click on the link below to set an appointment.

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]]><![CDATA[Reliable Insurance Group Blog]]>Tue, 21 Apr 2020 14:14:16 GMThttps://www.reliableinsgroup.com/blog/rider-insurance-group-blogPicture
Welcome to our new insurance agency blog!
 
This is our very first post. We're not quite sure what we're going to write about here, but the plan is to create helpful content for customers and prospective clients about information that is relevant to you.
 
We hope you'll come to view this as a top resource for keeping your family and your finances safe.
 
Here are a few of the topics we may be writing about:
  • Answers to clients' frequently asked questions.
  • Helpful information about insurance shopping.
  • Safety and Health Tips and Ideas.
  • Local Community Information.
 
Stay Tuned!

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