Hauswirth & Sons Insurance

Rich Hauswirth

Once again, the Lacey Township Historical Society will be holding their Annual Apple Festival at the Schoolhouse Museum on Route 9 in Forked River. Admission is free and the festival will have games and activities for children, Apple Pie-Eating Contests and apple related foods for sale. Kids can walk through the Pumpkin Patch, ride on a fire engine and have their face and nails painted.

The museum will be open to visitors all day and holds a treasury of information about our area dating back to the 1600′s. The building was built in 1868 as a one room schoolhouse and was converted into a museum by the Historical Society who is focused on preserving our local history.

Lunch and Snacks Will also be available to purchase. The event runs from 9AM to 3PM and parking will be available on Oak Street in front of the fire house. Hope to see you there!

Margareth & Rich Hauswirth

One of the most intriguing, undervalued benefits of your personal insurance is the “free” lawyer part.
It’s easy to pick on lawyers, I know, until you need one. And if you ever looked at the cost, it’s a bunch. $250-$500 an hour billed in 15 minute increments, plus “costs,” ( everything from express mail, experts, photocopies, depositions, on and on.). And should you ever have to go to court? Never mind, you can’t afford it. Settle now.

When I say “free,” I mean free to you. Your insurance company foots the bill. Let me explain.

Your insurance company (in exchange for all rights to settle claims against you) “picks and pays” for your legal defense.

Your policy is an agreement, a contract. The standard language says the insurance company agrees:

“to pay for damages for bodily injury or property damage for which any insured becomes legally responsible because of an auto accident…In addition to our limit of liability, we will pay all defense costs we incur.”

Emphasis on “all.” Naturally, the company has an interest in getting the best, experienced legal help since it’s their money on the line (i.e., your limits of liability).

In order to keep the free attorney, though, it’s important to keep your insurance company on the hook. If the insurance runs out, so does the free attorney. There’s the catch. The clause continues like this:

“Our duty to settle or defend ends when our limit of liability for this coverage had been exhausted by payment of maximum limit of liability. “

This is the “free lawyer” part I think is so valuable. If you only have, say, $100,000 of car insurance and cause an accident with five times that amount, your insurance company is going to cut you loose and pay your plaintiff it’s $100,000 and be gone. This leaves you to negotiate and pay for the remaining obligation. Legal fees and settlement.

My point is simple. You want lots of insurance-at least $250,000 for your auto and home plus a $1 million personal liability policy, at least. This way, your pretty much guaranteed your insurance company is going to stick around with the free attorney until a just settlement is reached.

Remember this, an insurance company will not defend you ’on principle.’ If they can settle and go, they will-leaving you in a lurch.

Let’s avoid this and bulk up on liability insurance.

The obvious part about your policy is that it pays for damages for bodily injury or property damage for which you become legally responsible because of an auto accident.

How do you do this?

Buy large limits of liability including a personal umbrella.

Rich Hauswirth

Take out your cell phone or other wireless device and read the last text message you received out loud. Now, ask yourself the question: “would reading this message or responding to it from behind the wheel of a moving vehicle be worth the risk of getting into an accident or worse?” Chances are, it could wait!
That’s what corporate America is saying to its employees who drive company owned vehicles or use their personal vehicles for company business. In fact as a result of a recent accident settlement, a Fortune 500 company told their own employees to turn off ALL personal electronic devices while driving, PERIOD!
A recent court case involved an employee using a company owned cell phone while driving down a highway. The employee was texting and according to police records, the driver did not even see that there was a traffic slow down and hit the car in front. The collision pushed the vehicle into the ditch on the right side of the road, overturning it so that the driver’s side hit and then slid along the roadway — with the driver’s arm trapped between the door and the asphalt. Medical complications eventually forced the injured driver, a widowed mother of four, to have her arm amputated almost up to the shoulder. Police records also revealed that the employee had set her cruise control at 77 miles per hour — in a 70 mph speed zone.
The fact that the company employee was texting on the cell phone and was exceeding the speed limit allowed the lawyers to seek punitive damages in the suit. What’s interesting to note here is that the courts are finding the employer of the person “texting” just as much at fault as the individual who was driving. The settlement in this case amounted to $5.2 Million.
Various State Bar Associations are showing settlements which have recently been as high as $15 to $20 million dollars where accidents involved “texting” and consistent cell phone use. Katherine L. McArthur, a practicing attorney in the State of Georgia and spokesperson for the Georgia Bar Association said she has seen studies showing that cell phone use while driving may actually cause drivers to exhibit greater impairments than those who are legally intoxicated. She also cited statistics from Human Factors, the journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, indicating that cell phone distraction causes 2,600 deaths and 300,000 injuries in the United States each year.
As of December 30, 2009, federal employees have been banned from texting while driving government-owned vehicles or with government-owned equipment following an executive order signed by President Obama. In Addition, the latest in a series of actions to curb distracted driving, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has announced it is prohibiting truck and bus drivers from sending text messages while operating commercial vehicles. The ban, which is effective immediately, means that truck and bus drivers who text while driving commercial vehicles may be subject to civil or criminal penalties of up to $2,750, the DOT said

Rich Hauswirth

You heard me correct! I’m hot under the collar about these “1-800 AUTO INSURANCE ORDER TAKERS” who sit in their cubicles all day and speak to faceless consumers in all 50 states. Do you really think that these strangers in headsets care one way or another if you buy $15,000 or $500,000 worth of auto insurance? NO, they do not!

The fact remains that if you are sued because you cause an accident and the judgment exceeds the limit on your policy, you will be held personally liable. The court can grab assets, garnish wages and place a lien on your home.

Recently, our friends at Geico were found guilty on a class action law suit for not offering proper limits on their web site to NJ consumers under the Personal Injury Protection (PIP) health coverage option. Many of their customers who were involved in auto accidents had bare bones medical coverage and were stuck with huge bills to pay by themselves. The settlement was in the tens of millions of dollars. They don’t care!

We believe it is best to offer you a choice when it comes to coverage and when it comes to your insurance company. Our office has several companies to select from when it comes to your auto insurance. We offer several different coverage options to choose from for your liability, medical (PIP) and comprehensive and collision deductibles.

You do not have to settle for bare bones coverage in order to save a few bucks. At Hauswirth & Sons Insurance, you do have a choice.

Realtor Tom Smith of Re/Max of Barnegat Bay Realty is hosting a free Informational Home Buying EXPO this Thursday, April 1st between the hours of 5PM to 8PM at REMAX At Barnegat Bay 31 North Main St, (Rt. 9), Manahawkin.

This EXPO will bring together a panel of area real estate experts to help not only the first time buyer but repeat buyers and buyers who want to know more about the home buyer tax credit.

Professionals who will be attending include:

• Realtor Thomas Smith and Realtor Amanda Nichols from RE/Max at Barnegat Bay Realty

• 2. Representatives from Superior Mortgage Corporation

• Representatives from ON THE LEVEL HOME INSPECTIONS

• Title Company officers from ALL STATE TITLE & SEARCH CO.

• Representatives from Ocean Tax Consultants

• Richard & Margareth Hauswirth from Hauswirth & Sons Insurance Consultants

• Attorney Thomas J. Dellane, Esq. of Manahawkin.

All are welcome, feel free to bring anyone you know who is thinking about making a home purchase.

As insurance and real estate agents and homeowners feared, Congress left Washington on March 26 without extending the National Flood Insurance Program. Congress adjourned until April 12 after failing to agree on an unemployment benefits bill that included a provision with an extension of the NFIP.

As a result, the federal flood insurance program’s authority to write new policies ends on Sunday, March 28, at midnight. After that time, insurance agents will not be able to provide new or renewal flood insurance policies, which are required by lenders to close on some real estate sales.

A similar hiatus occurred at the end of February and the NFIP was closed for several days until Congress renewed it on March 2. But this time the hiatus will be longer, as Congress is not scheduled to reconvene until April 12. At that time, Congress could renew NFIP retroactively.

While no new policies can be issued during a lapse in NFIP authorization, consumers with current flood insurance policies remain covered. Claims payments are not affected. But in a time when the real estate market is just crawling out of the basement, this will delay any real estate closings for properties in flood hazard areas where mortgage financing is required.

Chances are good however that congress will pass this measure when they return and make it retro-active back to March 28th.

Not long ago, TV comic Jay Leno told a funny in his opening monolog that there were serious financial problems facing the Educational TV Show for children called “Sesame Street”.  Leno’s  punch line was that “ due to the current economic crises, “Sesame Street” will be forced to remove from the alphabet,  the letters….A-I-G. 

When I wrote this article the first time about being a Middleman, back in 2007, firms like GEICO, Allstate and AIG were bad-mouthing independent insurance agents as being costly go-betweens that served no purpose to our industry. In two years we’ve seen AIG change the name of it’s direct auto insurance division from AIG Direct to 21^st Century Insurance who will save you a bundle on your auto insurance when their parent company can’t pay it’s own bills, is receiving bail-out funds from Uncle Sam and giving away millions in bonus money. 

Allstate has filed with the State Department of Insurance for another 9% rate increase for auto premiums.  Are you really in “Good Hands”?  The fine folks at GEICO, Allstate, State Farm and AIG are spending millions of dollars trying to convince you they can save you money by eliminating the middleman.  The way they save you money is by selling you decreased limits when you call their 1-800 number. Saving money by reducing your limits is really NOT saving you money.  It’s placing your assets at risk. 

We believe in offering the best possible products from the best companies at the lowest possible rates. 

• We offer plans from several companies to get your the best rate
• All of our associates are licensed and trained insurance representatives
• We save you time by shopping for the best rate for you
• My companies can beat State Farm, Allstate, GEICO and 21^st Century
• Save money on your auto insurance by dealing with us at Hauswirth & Sons Insurance and me – The Middleman!

On December 9, 2009, Dr. William Gray of Colorado State University, the venerable prophet of “storm season doom and gloom”, released his predictions for the 2010 Hurricane Season: Forecasting 16 named storms, 6-8 smaller hurricanes and 3-5 major hurricanes.

As we start the 2010 year, our weather patterns along the east coast have been anything but normal! This alone is a cause for concern. Add to that the fact that each of the last few hurricane season storms have become more and more costly and you can see why FEMA, the government agency that oversees the National Flood Program, must make changes in order to keep the program solvent.

To solve this financial dilemma, FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program will be bringing more properties into the mandatory flood insurance program, updating their flood hazard maps across the country and initiated a rate increase last fall. At present, they are updating maps in Monmouth County and will continue into Ocean County this spring.

How will this affect you?

When new maps are issued, YOUR home flood zone category may change as well—along with some flood insurance requirements for your location. What this all means is if you’re home flood map category has been changed from a low or moderate flood risk area( such as “I’m not in a flood zone but I’m darn close”) into a high-risk flood zone, you will be required to purchase flood insurance, minimum to the amount of your mortgage loan. Obviously, high risk flood zone rates are more expensive.

The good news is that you can save money through a process known as “grandfathering”. The National Flood Insurance program has initiated grandfathering rules to recognize policyholders whose homes were built in compliance with the flood map in effect at the time of construction and have maintained continuous preferred flood insurance coverage. OK Hauswirth, say it in layman’s terms. Say for example that your home is not in a federally mandated flood insurance zone but you’re home is close to a high risk flood zone. Chances are your area will be re-mapped and you’ll be deemed to be in a high risk flood zone. So if you purchase a flood policy now, you will be paying preferred rates even after the zone does change. That’s “grandfathering”. That’s also cost effective!

To lock in the lower rate, you must purchase the flood insurance before the new maps become effective. At the present time, FEMA is re-drawing the maps in Monmouth County which will take effect this fall, followed by Ocean County then Atlantic County.

For many of our policyholders there will be no change in the risk level. However, this is a good time to review your coverage and to ensure that your building and contents are adequately protected.

So, after several weeks of grueling work on the part of our web design team, copywriters and search engine optimization specialists and some undue influence on my part, our new web presence is completed. 

Our entire protection team at Hauswirth & Sons Insurance is excited as we have finally found a vehicle to communicate quickly and easily with our clients and friends on a subject that can be confusing and annoying. 

 We have incorporated into this site an extensive library of information, which we call the Resource Center.  In it you will find free reports and videos that will show you how to protect yourself and things that matter most in your life.  We have also added some “Real Life Situations” to give you ideas on how your insurance coverage will change as your life changes. 

Best of all, we have a center for our existing clients; our Client Support Center.  In it you will be able to get help for billing questions, request changes to your policies and make sure you have the right protection, even when our office isn’t open. 

And of course, you will be able to obtain a quote for your insurance and get prompt attention from our team of highly trained protection specialists.  We hope you’ll come by and take a look at us, online at www.hauswirthinsurance.com and let us know what you think!