If you have wind damage and/or a claim to call in, please call your insurance company directly. We hope to be back up later today but you never know! Sorry for this!

For me, landlording started in 1980 when my future wife, Bobbi & I bought our 1st home, a WWII side-by-side duplex. Instantly, I became a landlord with my 1st home purchase...Now What? Reading books, going to seminars was how I learned – trying to find the best lease, the best rental application, etc.

EPLI stands for Employment Practices Liability Insurance. This covers discrimination - like for age, sex, race, religion. You cannot discriminate against any employee based on this. It also covers wrongful termination - like getting rid of an employee because they are older.

It also covers sexual harassment, so things like sex jokes, touching, grabbing another employee, leaving notes on another's desk regarding sex.  EPLI is something every employer should consider because they don't when a manager or junior level executive does something like this. Because it covers what employees can/will do to another employee becomes your responsibility. 

Quick answer is NO as that would be a maintenance issue to upgrade your home. If your electric line maybe "arced" and caused a TV or other appliances to "fry" then those would be covered by the arcing. But to have the panel replaced because it is old or needs an upgrade - NO.

Consumer's of insurance should know that insurance is for things that are sudden & accidental and not for maintenance type issues. As the owner of a home, you are responsible to upkeep or take care of issues like this. As a fellow homeowner, I know this can be expensive to upgrade but that is the cost of homeownership.

There is some confusion as to what comprehensive coverage is on an auto insurance policy. Comprehensive insurance coverage is for fire, theft, glass and collision with an animal - yes collision with an animal. So as the deer start looking for food every fall and come out more, we see much more comprehensive claims being put in.

Some clients ask, should I keep full coverage on my car that is 10 years old? (By full coverage they really mean comprehensive & collision coverage). Collision coverage maybe not, as the value of your car may not be worth fixing. But if you wish to keep glass coverage & collision with a deer (most of the "comp" claims are these 2) then just keep comprehensive coverage on.

This is also true when you are storing a car for the winter. So the risk of collision with an animal is gone but what if something falls on the windshield? Or the garage catches fire? You would need the comprehensive coverage on that auto insurance to file a claim.

​Always be a smart insurance consumer and know your risks. We are always here to help and provide advice because your financial future depends on it. 

We believe in a teaching philosophy, the more you know, the better consumer you will be. Teaching you how to be a better insurance consumer is what we hope to achieve. Your families and/or your business depends on protection from sudden and accidental events.

You should have an educated idea of when and when not to put a claim in on auto, home or business insurance. Your claim history often dictates where or with whom we can place your insurance. So your independent insurance broker - like us - always have your back on advising during a claims process.

You should never be alone when it comes to the handling of a claim. You should have the ear and advice of your insurance professional. Watch our video's and educate yourself, it would benefit both of us!

Every insurance company uses some form or a "replacement cost estimator" to come up with a rebuilding value. Since this is what it would cost to replace your home, based on square footage, year built, where it is and any "extra" amentities - this is smart. The problem is that there are many versions of "replacement cost estimators" and no two come up with the same figure.

Us in the insurance world, would wish there would be a more standardized solution or at least less comparisons out there. After all, the cost to rebuild based on square footage in a certain zipcode, will not change. The year it was built and certain things like cherry wood floors would change but not the basic cost per square feet.

That is why independent insurance brokers like us use a variety of insurance companies. To re-build or replace a home could often be $100,000 to $200,000 based on who'e estimator you are using. Then the resulting premium cost vary by $400-$800 a year. So it definitely pays to shop around and get the best cost for your insurance dollars when it comes to your home.

​Tom Larsen

The quick answer is NO, a hard pull credit report isn't done and nothing shows on your credit report. We can do 15 different insurance quotes for you and nothing would show on your credit report at all. Insurance companies get a "score range" you fall in when factoring for your home and/or auto rates.

But what is called a "hard pull" that shows on your credit report is never done. In my opinion, insurance companies would never be allowed to use credit as a rating factor if that was the case. Consumers credit would be affected, which shouldn't and doesn't happen. I see this question a lot on various consumer credit sites and on insurance related blogs.

                                                                                             Tom Larsen

No they do not. There has to be a police recorded report for the DMV to pick it up. If it was a fender bender between 2 parties, with no police involved, it wouldn’t get to the DMV. However, the insurance companies loss WILL report it to C.L.U.E. (Comprehensive Loss Underwriter Exchange) which will show up. When changing insurance companies, they ALL go a C.L.U.E. check and want to know what happened in the incident.
(We’ve had $25 reported on a C.L.U.E., $121 mirror on a C.L.U.E, $75 towing on a C.L.U.E…….they are all there!)

Insurance follows the car, so even if you are not insured, the insured car you are driving is covered. As far as cheapest coverage, deal with an independent insurance broker, who can shop your insurance for you (often with 7–10 different insurance companies.