How do you prove what you lost?

Can you remember everything you owned, where you got it and what it cost?  Those are some of the questions you'll need to answer if you want to take advantage of your insurance policy's Replacement Cost for your personal property.

After a loss, most insurance companies will give you a check that covers the Actual Cash Value (aka: depreciated value) of your personal property (couches, TV, clothes, etc...)  In order to get the full replacement cost you have to re-buy the stuff.  However, many companies want to have some idea of what was in your home before you replace an Ikea couch with something from Ethan Allen.

It's a good idea to take pictures of your home.  Get a snapshot or two of each room and then put the images somewhere safe OUTSIDE OF YOUR HOME.  It's a whole lot easier to prove what you had (and what you didn't, i.e. original Picasso) and it should only take you a matter of minutes.

Contact us for more good ideas that aren't that exciting, but really do make sense.

When my car gets hit, when does it get fixed?

One of the stickiest situations for an insurance agent is when their client gets into an accident and it's the other person's fault.  Why, you ask?  Because any report, of any kind, to your own insurance company becomes part of your driving history.  So you're at the mercy of the other party's insurance carrier, and that's where things can get ugly, or usually just slow.

I'll explain more after the jump.