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How To Prevent Student Loss

July 14, 2025 By cary

Protecting Your College StudentCourtesy of iii.org

With burglaries constituting approximately 50 percent of all on-campus crimes, it’s important for college students and their parents take steps to prevent theft, adhere to safety measures—and review their insurance coverage.


Campus coverage basics

It’s best to consult your insurance professional for the details of your family’s specific coverage and where you might need additional protections, but here are some general guidelines:

  • Students who live in a dorm are covered under their parents’ standard homeowners insurance policies – That is, their possessions are protected by “off premise” coverage. However, some homeowners policies may limit this amount of insurance, so make sure you understand your own policy.
  • Students who live off campus are likely not covered by their parents’ homeowners policy – Your insurance professional can tell you whether your homeowners or renters policy extends to off-campus living situations. If it does not, to protect student belongings, those living off campus may need to purchase their own renters insurance policy.
  • Computers and smartphones may carry stand-alone insurance – If you’re getting these items new, at the time of purchase you may be offered insurance or other protections against theft or loss. Also, check the credit card used for the purchase, to see what protections might be available.
  • Consider a stand-alone policy specifically designed for students living away at college – This can be an economical way to provide additional insurance coverage for a variety of disasters.
  • If your college-bound student is leaving the car at home, make sure to tell your insurance agent – Depending on how far he or she is going away to school, you might be eligible for a premium discount.
Take pre-campus precautions with belongings

It’s better to prevent a loss than to deal with the aftermath. To help prevent loss:

  • Leave valuables at home, if possible – While it may be necessary to take a computer or sports equipment to campus, other expensive items—such as valuable jewelry, luxury watches or costly electronics—should be left behind or kept in a local safety deposit box. These items may also be subject to coverage limits under a standard homeowners policy, so if they must be brought to campus, consider purchasing a special floater or endorsement to the homeowners policy to cover them.
  • Create a “dorm inventory” – Before leaving home, students should make a detailed inventory of all the items they are taking with them, and revise it every year. Having an up-to-date inventory will help get insurance claims settled faster in the event of theft, fire or other types of disasters.
  • Engrave electronics with IDs – Permanently engraving a name and other identifying information on computers, televisions, smart phones and other electronic devices can help police track stolen articles.

Guard against theft or damage of personal belongings while on campus

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, burglaries constitute more than 50 percent of all on-campus crimes. In addition, carelessness can cause other types of damage. To help prevent losses, students should:

  • Always lock dorm room doors, and keep the keys with you at all times – Know that most dorm thefts occur during the day, and even if you leave briefly, lock up. Share the theft statistics with your roommates, and get agreement that they’ll do the same.
  • Don’t leave belongings unattended on campus – Classrooms, the library, the dining hall or other public areas are the primary places where property theft occurs, so keep book bags, purses and laptops with you at all times.
  • Buy a laptop security cable and use it – A combination lock that needs decoding may be just enough to dissuade a thief.
  • Be aware of fire hazards – Most campus fires are cooking related so be careful about the types of hot plates or microwaves you to bring to school, and how you use them.

 

Filed Under: Insurance, Insurance News

Professional Liability Insurance and You

July 7, 2025 By cary

Liability InsuranceCourtesy of iii.org

Do you or your business provide professional services or advice to other businesses or individuals? Could your counsel or service lead to losses by your client for which you could be held responsible? If so, you’ll likely want to purchase professional liability insurance, also known as errors and omissions insurance (E&O).

Claims not covered by general liability insurance that are covered by professional liability insurance include negligence, misrepresentation, violation of good faith and fair dealing, and inaccurate advice.

What types of businesses need professional liability insurance?

In some states, professional liability insurance is required, especially for attorneys and doctors. Legal and medical malpractice insurance policies are special types of professional liability insurance. Other professionals that should consider professional liability insurance include:

  • Accountants
  • Architects
  • Engineers
  • Graphic designers
  • Information technology (IT) consultants
  • Insurance professionals
  • Investment advisors
  • Management consultants
  • Real estate agents and brokers
  • Software developers

This list is not exhaustive. Consult with your insurance professional or inquire with your profession’s trade association to determine if you might need professional liability coverage.

What’s covered… and what’s not

There are two types of professional liability polices: claims-made and occurrence. Most professional liability insurance policies are “claims-made,” meaning that the policy must be in effect both when the event took place and when a lawsuit is filed for a claim to be paid. If, however, you change careers or retire, you may want to purchase an “occurrence” policy that will cover any claim for an event that took place during the period of coverage—even if the suit is filed after the policy lapses.

Professional liability insurance will pay the cost of legal defense against claims and payment of judgments against you, up to the limit of the policy. In general, coverage does not extend to non-financial losses or losses caused by intentional or dishonest acts. Other fees, such as licensing board penalties, may also be included. Policies will generally have a deductible ranging from $1,000 to $25,000. The amount of professional liability insurance you will need and how much it will cost depends upon the size of your business and the level of risk it poses.

You may be able to include professional liability coverage in a Commercial Package Policy (CPP) as an endorsement. Note, however, the professional liability coverage is not included in an in-home business policy or Business Owners Policy (BOP).

Filed Under: Insurance, Insurance News

Do I Need an Umbrella Insurance Policy?

June 29, 2025 By cary

Umbrella InsuranceCourtesy of iii.org
If you are ever sued, your standard homeowners or auto policy will provide you with some liability coverage, paying for judgements against you and your attorney’s fees, up to a limit set in the policy. However, in our litigious society, you may want to have an extra layer of liability protection. That’s what a personal umbrella liability policy provides.

An umbrella policy kicks in when you reach the limit on the underlying liability coverage in a homeowners, renters, condo or auto policy. It will also cover you for things such as libel and slander.

For about $150 to $300 per year you can buy a $1 million personal umbrella liability policy. The next million will cost about $75, and $50 for every million after that.

Because the personal umbrella policy goes into effect after the underlying coverage is exhausted, there are certain limits that usually must be met in order to purchase this coverage. Most insurers will want you to have about $250,000 of liability insurance on your auto policy and $300,000 of liability insurance on your homeowners policy before selling you an umbrella liability policy for $1 million of additional coverage.

Filed Under: Insurance, Insurance News, Umbrella Insurance

Water Damage & Insurance

June 22, 2025 By cary

Water DamageCourtesy of iii.org

Pop quiz: what’s one of the most common types of homeowners insurance claims? (Hint: it’s not fire.)

It’s water damage. Maybe that’s not surprising – it rains a lot in many places. But what may surprise you is that things like pipe bursts and broken appliances are increasingly the main causes of water damage in homes.

In insurance-speak, these are called “non-weather water damage claims.” Worryingly, these claims are happening more often and are getting a lot more expensive. A Best’s Review article reports that the average homeowners water damage claim is now over $6,700. Large losses (over $500,000) have doubled in number over the past three years. Non-weather water damage is now costing insurers (and their policyholders) billions in losses every year.

This is happening for several reasons. Our housing stock is aging, as is our infrastructure. More houses are being built and they’re getting bigger – many houses now have extra bathrooms and second-floor laundry rooms, which means more piping. (The story is probably different in Florida. You can read why that is here.)

But the worst part is that many – if not most – water damage claims are preventable. Inspecting pipes or conducting routine maintenance can go a long way. That’s where the internet of things (IoT) comes in. Smart devices and connected sensors installed on piping can detect leaks before they occur or before they cause too much damage. They’re basically smoke detectors, but for water.

And they work. Best’s Review noted that installing IoT devices can reduce water losses by up to 93 percent.

The Review quoted an IoT company CEO who claimed that leak detection devices could save insurers and their customers $10 billion every year.

Homeowners have admittedly been slow to install IoT to help detect leaks. But insurers are hopeful that raising awareness about the issue, offering policyholder incentives like premium discounts, and encouraging IoT installation during home construction will begin to turn the tide.

Update: Of interest, Washington state adopted a rule in 2018 that specifically mentions water monitors and water shut-off systems as permissible tools for an insurer’s risk reduction program.

Filed Under: Insurance, Insurance News

Road Rage and Auto Insurance

June 15, 2025 By cary

Car InsuranceCourtesy of iii.org

Road rage incidents are not only dangerous, they are exempted from coverage by many auto insurance policies. Understand your risks and take precautionary measures to avoid being a victim—or a cause—of aggressive driving accidents.


Crowded highways and traffic backups at times cause drivers to lose control and become extremely aggressive. Road rage is a real problem that can lead to serious accidents or even incidents of violence on the road.

It’s important to realize that road rage is listed as an exemption in many auto insurance policies. This is because any damage or liability stemming from aggressive driving isn’t considered an accident but rather as having been caused by risky behavior.

Rather than risk paying the consequences of road rage—one of which may be not having your auto insurance claim paid—it’s best to avoid a dangerous and costly aggressive driving incident in the first place.

If you encounter an aggressive driver on the road…

 

  • Stay as far away as possible. Slow down or change lanes if need be, let the driver pass you and give yourself room at intersections to drive away.

 

  • Record a description of the car and note the license plate number if possible so that you can report him or her to the police for the sake of everyone’s safety.

 

  • Do not engage with or challenge the offender in any way. Ignore the driver’s rudeness and don’t give into the temptation to react in kind or you might escalate the risky behavior.

 

  • Put your safety first. If an aggressive driver starts to follow you, keep your doors locked, and head to the nearest police station. Never stop and confront an aggressive driver.

 

If you have a short fuse yourself stay cool and…

 

  • Leave plenty of time to get where you need to go. When you’re in a hurry, your patience is short and you are much more likely to become aggravated.

 

  • Remember other drivers are not annoying you on purpose. People make mistakes or they might be driving more slowly for a reason—they might be lost, or their sight might be impaired by sun glare.

 

  • Don’t use hand—or single finger—gestures other than a wave to someone who lets you into your lane.

 

  • Don’t tailgate slow drivers. Hanging on another car’s back bumper is dangerous. If the car in front of you has to stop short and you rear-end it, the accident would be considered your fault.

 

  • Don’t honk your horn insistently. Leaning on your horn is a bad practice. While it might make you feel better to express your frustration in a traffic jam, it won’t make anyone go any faster, it’s annoying to other drivers and passengers and it increases everyone’s stress level, which may lead to more aggressive behavior.

 

  • Never stop to confront another driver. It could lead to a dangerous situation for all concerned.

Filed Under: Car Insurance, Insurance, Insurance News

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The Griffin Insurance Agency
2139 NE 2nd Street
Ocala, FL 34470

Phone: (352) 732-7105
Fax: (352) 732-9705
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