Can Landlords Require Renters Insurance?

Renters insurance protects your belongings against vandalism, fire, theft, and other potential disasters. Additionally, renters insurance provides you with liability coverage in the event someone is injured where you reside.

“Some people make the mistake of assuming the landlord’s policy will replace their personal contents if they’re stolen or damaged. The landlord is not responsible for any of your personal property,” stated Robert P. Hartwig, chief economist with the Insurance Information Institute, in the Wall Street Journal. The only way the landlord will be held legally responsible for your personal property is if proven negligence caused damage or loss.

In this post, we’ll examine the relationship between landlords and renters – specifically with regard to renters insurance.

Can Landlords Require Renters Insurance in Indiana?

Your landlord can mandate that you have Indiana renters insurance in order to rent an apartment or home. Requiring renters insurance in Indiana is a standard practice, and it actually benefits both you and your landlord in the case of property damage or loss.

For example, refurnishing an apartment after a fire can easily cost upwards of $50,000, but if you have renters insurance it can pay for the damage to your apartment, neighboring apartments, and your personal property.

Requiring renters insurance is not unreasonable. In fact, many insurance companies ask that landlords require renters to carry renters insurance coverage. This helps insurance companies keep their rates lower for landlords, which can ultimately translate into fewer rent increases for renters.

Can Landlords Legally Require Current Renters to Get Renters Insurance?

According to FindLaw.com‘s Real Estate section, “…by the terms of some leases, tenants may be required to have insurance to cover their liability exposure if someone is injured on the premises, or if damages occur from items owned by the renter, such as waterbeds. And, the landlord can, in fact, require the renter to have liability insurance. When signing a new lease, or after proper legal notice for a month-to-month rental agreement, the landlord can even lawfully change the terms of the agreement to require renter’s insurance. This may be particularly important if the renter has animals, or if the property contains a pool.”

Having an Indiana renters insurance policy is smart. Without renters insurance, you may be held personally responsible for financial coverage of damages of your personal property as well as the building you rent.

Get Indiana Renters Insurance

The independent agents at Kincaid Insurance will help you inventory your possessions to determine what kind of renters insurance coverage will best suit your personal needs. Protect your home and belongings with a policy that will cover you when disaster strikes. Contact Kincaid Insurance for a free quote. We’ve been helping families and landlords in the Tri-State for two decades. Our customers in Newburgh, Chandler, Boonville, Evansville, Henderson, Owensboro, Jasper, and other communities are well protected. Isn’t it time you felt the same way?

Self Funding Insurance 101

Today in the health insurance industry, we often hear of fully-insured policies and self funded policies.

Most people are very familiar with fully-insured policies, which companies have offered to their employees for many years. Because of the rising cost of health insurance, employers are now starting to inquire about self funded insurance policies.

What is a Self Funded Insurance Policy?

Self funded insurance is also known as Administrative Services Only (ASO). With ASO, the employer provides health or disability benefits to employees with the employer’s resources. With fully-insured insurance, the employer works with an insurance company to provide coverage and benefits for its employees. In self funded insurance the employer assumes direct risk for payment of claims for the benefits. To help offset the monetary liability of self funded claims, the employer will purchase stop loss insurance from an insurance carrier.

What is Stop Loss Insurance?

Stop loss insurance is a policy that provides for risk retention limitations on a distinct claim and aggregate claims basis.  What do we mean by a distinct claim stop loss insurance? This kind of insurance covers extreme losses for an individual person covered by the plan.

If the individual would have a catastrophic illness or injury, which would cause extremely high medical expenses, the distinct stop loss coverage would start when the bills would exceed a certain level as defined in the policy. In an aggregate claim, the stop loss coverage protects the employer when the total claims by the entire group exceed a certain level.  In the stop loss plan, it is run only between the company and the stop loss company. There is not explicit risk to the individuals that are protected by the plan. This is a very important difference between the fully-insured plan and the self funded health insurance plan.

Is Self Funded Insurance Right for Your Business?

Is a self funded insurance policy something that could benefit you, the employer, as well as your employees? The expert agents at Kincaid Benefits will be happy to sit down and discuss with you the advantages of self funded insurance for your company. We’ve been helping small businesses in the Tri-State area (Evansville, Newburgh, Jasper, Vincennes, and beyond) for many years.

Please contact Melissa Middleton or Susan Cross to see how you can offer affordable health insurance coverage to your employees!

Indiana Semi Truck Insurance

Whether you operate a single delivery truck or own a fleet of trucks in Indiana, it’s essential to ensure that your business and employees are protected in case of an accident or emergency. There are several considerations to keep in mind when choosing semi truck insurance in Indiana.  It’s one of the most important decisions you will make for your business.

Commercial motor vehicles travel billions of miles each year in Indiana. After all, Indiana didn’t become the “Crossroads of America” for nothing! Semi truck insurance in Indiana is required by the state for the approximately 100 transport companies located here.

What are the Rules?

There are several state-mandated requirements for semi truck insurance in Indiana. Here are the current minimum policy requirements from the Indiana Department of Revenue’s Commercial Motor Vehicle Guidebook:

• $750,000 policy for for-hire carrier transporting non hazardous property in a vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 10,001 pounds or more

• $1,000,000-$5,000,000 policy for private and/or for-hire carrier transporting hazardous material

• $300,000 policy for for-hire carrier transporting non hazardous property in a vehicle with a GVWR of 10,000 pounds or less

The start of a new year is a great time to reexamine your company’s semi truck insurance. It may be possible to lower your rates due to changes in policy or state requirements. It’s a good time for a fresh look.

Looking Ahead to the Mid-America Truck Show

Also, as we enter into March, many Indiana truckers look forward to crossing the Kentucky border into Louisville’s Kentucky Expo Center for the Mid-America Trucking Show (MATS) from March 26-28, 2015. MATS is the biggest trade show for the trucking industry on earth; it gives truckers and fleet owners the chance to see the latest advances in the trucking industry firsthand. Over 1,000 exhibitors will be present alongside more than 70,000 attendees. Let us know if you’re planning on attending; we’d love to meet up with you at MATS.

About Kincaid Insurance

Finding semi truck insurance in Indiana that fits your business doesn’t have to be a hassle. Kincaid Insurance offers comprehensive and affordable coverage with flexible payment options available – we’ll work with you so you can focus on growing your business while ensuring that everything you’ve worked so hard for remains protected.

Coverage options include: on-hook & cargo, automobile & general liability, auto physical damage, garagekeepers legal liability, and excess liability in addition to other coverages and endorsements. Nothing is too specialized or difficult for Kincaid Insurance to write. We make it our business to understand the trucking industry and have been providing coverage to fleet owners and truckers for many years. You’re always welcome to visit our headquarters in Rockport, Indiana, but you can also fill out our online form to request a call from one of our team members or give us a call toll free at 877-888-5506. Thank you for considering Kincaid for your semi truck insurance needs in Indiana.

Commercial Truck Insurance in Indiana

With over 70 major trucking companies in the state of Indiana, commercial trucking is an important industry for the Hoosier state.

The “Crossroads of America” is well known for everything from grain to plastic products to hospital beds, all of which need to be moved throughout the state and the country. Simply stated, Indiana relies on truckers like you.

To keep operating expenses low, many trucking companies and owner-operators regularly review their options for affordable commercial truck insurance in Indiana.

Whether you’re an owner-operator or a fleet manager, you know that commercial truck insurance can be one of the most costly parts of running your business. Affordable coverage can be difficult to obtain, especially if your trucks carry hazardous materials.

Minimize Risk for Your Trucking Business

The good news for you is that trucking insurance is actually designed to minimize your risk. You or your employees log lots of miles carrying precious cargo in all kinds of unpredictable weather. Because you’re on the road so often, even the most cautious drivers may experience damage to their truck or the property of others. Commercial truck insurance should provide protection against damage and liability.

Kincaid serves trucking companies in virtually every niche, ranging from commercial ag to long haul big rigs. Our policies offer a variety of coverage options, ranging from liability-only to more comprehensive plans.

Hard-to-Write Trucking Policies

At Kincaid Insurance, we specialize in what some Evansville insurance agencies may classify as the “hard-to-write” policies. Nothing is too specialized or difficult for us to write. We understand the trucking industry and have been providing coverage to truckers and fleet owners for many years.

Visit our headquarters in Rockport, Indiana. Drive your rig to our office today, and we’ll handle the rest. You can also fill out our online form to request a call from one of our team members. You can also give us a call toll free by dialing 877-888-5506. Thanks for considering Kincaid for your commercial trucking insurance needs in the Evansville, Henderson, and Mt. Vernon tri-state area.

What Info is Needed for a Commercial Insurance Quote?

Are you looking for a quote on your small business insurance needs? If so, there are certain bits of information an agency like Kincaid Insurance will need from you. This may vary based on coverage type, but in general, most quotes will require you to gather the following:

General Information

• Policy Effective Date

About the Business Owner

• First and Last Name

• Address

• Date of Birth

• Social Security Number

• Phone Number

• Email Address

About Your Business

• Federal ID #

• Receipts

• Web Address

• Year Business Started

• Entity Type (LLC, Sole Proprietorship, Partnership, S Corp, C Corp, etc)

• Ownership Information (Name of Owner, Corp. Officers, Partners)

• Payroll Information by Job Description

• # of Employees

• Employee Breakdown by Job Description

• Business Description

• List of Carriers for Last 3 Years

• Copy of Current Policy & at Least 3 Years of Loss Runs

• MOD# (If Trucking / Transportation Company)

Once you’ve gathered this information, feel free to contact us to initiate the quoting process for your small business insurance needs.