We now offer Pet insurance through our partnership with Safeco insurance. So for Fido and Frisky, we can now offer to cover your dog or cat through out Pet Insurance program. Very simple and easy process that you do yourself online!

You can do the quote here: ​https://lm.force.com/adjprod/s/

This is to cover your pet for insurance direct with Hartville insurance company.
Get Fido or Frisky covered today!

Their are some worker's compensation programs out there that are called Pay-as-you-go, where you pay for worker's compensation along with your payroll. So when the audit is then done, your business would (should) be even on what you've paid and what you owe. Since your payroll is current and your worker's compensation would be current, there would be no big bill at the end.

For larger business with a large payroll, this worker's compensation solution could be what you are looking for.

​Tom Larsen

One of our insurance companies just announced that they have agreed with Plymouth Rock Insurance company to offer UB alumni an insurance affinity program. That means you get an extra discount on auto & homeowners insurance if you are an alumni with UB.

This is exciting news for our agency because we are affiliated with Plymouth Rock and their sister company,  Palisades for homeowners.  Exciting for the thousands of University of Buffalo alumni still in Buffalo!

​Tom Larsen

How to buy auto insurance in Buffalo, NY

I know you are confused with "15 minutes can save you 15%", "don't let mayhem happen to you" stuff. You are exposed to ads every day regarding auto insurance - online, on your drive to work, on the evening news, in your Facebook feed...but what is the truth?

The truth is nobodymcan make a blanket insurance statement and it be true for everyone. The factors used in rating auto insurance will be different from insurance company to insurance company. Your credit score, your driving record, your age, your home ownership status, how you use your auto's....al factors different from household to household.

How to buy auto insurance in Buffalo, NY

The fact is, years ago all auto insurance companies had, like 5 tiers of pricing - Ultra Preferred, Super Preferred, Preferred....etc.  Now every auto insurance company has 80 or 80 tiers of pricing! The algorithims used by every auto insurance company are all over the board. One might use your homeowner status (and bundling) as the main factor. Another will use credit as the main factor. Yes another will use claims history as the determining factor.

So the TV ads you see everyday are sort of misleading because they make a blanket statement that just isn't true. The auto insurance playing field just isn't level when there are so many factors that go into pricing. Independent insurance broker's like us are the best option because we'll have 10, 12, 14 insurance companies to rate you with - thus we are doing the shopping for you.

Just don't believe those misleading auto ads you hear.

Bundling means putting your home and auto insurance with the same insurance company. For homeowners, that means having your home insurance and auto insurance with the same insurance company (maybe a personal umbrella too). For a renter, that means having your personal property or renters insurance with the same company that insures your cars.

​This makes sense, as all insurance companies give a discount with bundling. It varies from insurance company to insurance company but most are 10% off your premium. So if your 2 auto's insurance costs $1,800 a year, you'd get $180 off of that. And is your homeowners insurance is $1,000 per year, you'd get $100 off of that.  So because of "bundling", you save $280 per year off your insurance costs. I'd say bundling does save you money!

Steve Barron asks: If a tree falls on your house due to a storm, does insurance cover the damage and tree removal or is it considered "an act of God"?

Answer: Your insurance would cover the damage and the tree removal. When you mention “act of God” that would be if the said tree that fell was on your neighbors property but fell on your house. It would be your insurance that paid not your neighbors insurance because it was an “act of God”. Many consumers think it is the fault of the person who "owns" the tree on their property but it is not.

I personally had a neighbors tree fall into my inground pool but it did no damage, so a claim was never filed. But if I had to file one, it would be on my own homeowner's insurance policy.

​Need a homeowner's insurance quote? tom@larseninsurance.com

      You can see the cars damaged in this garage fire due to an arsonist in Buffalo,NY.  But did you know that the insurance claim damage goes on their car insurance (comprehensive coverage) and not on the property/garage insurance? Things stored in your garage that are used for land or water conveyance need their own insurance policies. Let's say their was a boat stored in there....it needs a boat insurance policy to be covered!

What if there was an antique car someone was restoring that had no plates on it? The owner should have comprehensive only coverage on it for fire and/or theft....also not covered by garage insurance on the property insurance policy. Or if there was a 4-wheeler in the garage, that too needs it's own insurance policy to be covered. These are things your homeowner insurance policy isn't designed to cover.

Many consumers assume that because something is in a garage, that is where the coverage for a claim is - so VERY not true! They need there own policy to be covered for a fire loss, a theft loss or vandalism. So don't be that consumer that "assumes" coverage is there when it is not! Ask questions, ask questions, ask questions before you assume something!

Have a question?  Want a homeowner's insurance quote? Talk to me - tom@larseninsurance.com

      There are a lot of driver's in New York, who carry just what the state minimum insurance coverage's are required by the state. In New York insurance minimums are $25,000 per person/$50,000 per accident and $10,000 of property damage. So if you hit another car, a building, a gas pump (yes this happened to our convenient store client) you only have $10,000 of insurance to fix the damaged property!

     That really isn't enough in today's climate, as so many people drive better cars that are worth much more than $10,000. And if you don't have the insurance to pick up the damage figure, a judgement would be favored against you until paid off.

      So be aware that us as an insurance broker, we are never in agreement to carry the state minimum coverage. As a matter of fact, our insurance agency has a $100,000/$300,000/$50,000 standard coverage we insist upon. We never want a client to come by or call and say "you never offered me this better insurance coverage". It just doesn't happen in our agency. We want our clients to all be protected against any loss that may occur due to their fault.

We do this because we care. need an auto insurance quote in NY?
​tom@larseninsurance.com
​Tom Larsen

Worker’s Compensation for Restaurants in New York.

Newer restaurant owner’s in New York (maybe some established one’s too) don’t realize that they can co-join a “safety group” with other restaurants in New York. This is a pooling of money paid in and also of money paid out in claims. A good way for any restaurant to save money, especially during this pandemic of 2020.

The safety group we are affiliated with has a 20% UPFRONT discount and then historically, a 30% backend dividend. So saving 50% off the standard rates set by the New York Worker’s Compensation Board. A really great deal for restaurant owner’s, especially new one’s.

A warning is that you cannot move from one safety group to another. There are 2 other safety groups I am aware of and they do not allow movement from one to another. I guess they try to protect each other from adverse claims if a higher claim risk wanted to jump ship. Makes sense.

So if you are looking for help with worker’s compensation, you can call 716-684-3203.

      The problem in our real estate market of Buffalo is there is a difference between market value (or Actual Cash Value) and replacement cost, sometimes a big difference. And in some places like North Buffalo, a 3/3 double is now worth $280,000 - $350,000 but to replace it would cost $530,000 in today's dollars.
      The choice a landlord needs to make is do I carry Replacement cost or Actual Cash Value? Most parts of Buffalo where the values are less (like Lovejoy for example) RC does not make sense. The reason? You have to rebuild at that same location to use the replacement cost coverage. If you do not, then the loss settlement is based on Actual Cash Value anyway. Many real estate investors would prefer to take the insurance proceeds and go buy something else. They do not want to put the damaged property back together.
      Then we have the issue of getting claims covered before an event happens, like with Underground Utility coverage. Where your sewer, water, gas & electric lines are covered up to $10,000 and in an older infra-structure city like Buffalo, this would be important. Our insurance office has 7 such companies that offer this the the landlord community, where some big, national, name-brand insurance companies do not.
        Finally, do you deal with a true expert in the landlord space for insurance? We know the marketplace, know the coverage's and can help the real estate investor's because we insure over 2000 of them. This is what we know and have the insurance companies that WANT your real estate business. Call us 716-684-3203