Nationwide Insurance Austin

Insurance in the state of Texas:

auto insurance
home insurance
commercial insurance
health insurance
group insurance
workers compensation
trucking insurance
fleet insurance
life insurance
Get a quote today



www.nationwide.com/joshlewis

www.austinhealthbrokers.com

Commercial Insurance quote

Here is a quick form you can use if you are calling around for commercial insurance quotes.  You will not need eerything here but this will give you a guide of some of the information to have available.

Name:		Phone:
Mailing Address:		Contact:
Location Address:
Detailed description of business:
Corp. Individual Partnership Association Other:
How long in business?	Product brochures obtained? Yes No
How long with current carrier?	Happy with carrier/agent?
Reason for changing from current carrier/agent:
Any exposure in other states? Yes No If yes, name of states:
Average longevity of employees:
Personal Insurance with same company/agency:
Life/Health with same carrier/agency:
What is client looking for in agent?
Property – Photo Yes No Construction:       Alarms/Sprinklers:       PC:       Distance to Hydrant:       Date built:       Age of electrical/plumbing systems:       Square footage:       # of Stories:       Years at this location:       Safe:       Other Tenants:       Deductible:       Values: Bldg.:       Loss of Income:       Contents:       Signs:       Inland Marine:       EDP:       Glass:       System Protector:       Spoilage:       Carrier:       Date:       Annual Premium:       Copy of Policy: Yes No	Losses (by policy type) Property:       Auto:       Liability:       Crime:       Workers Comp:       Umbrella:       Note: 3 full years of hard loss runs are required for risks that generate $10,000 of more in premium or is to be experienced rated.
Liability # of Employees: Full-time       Part-time       Payroll:       Sales/Receipts:       Limits: Occurrence:       General Aggregate:       Products Aggregate:       Pers. & Adv.:       Fire Legal:       Medical:       Professional (limited classes eligible at NW):       Carrier:       Date:       Annual Premium:       Copy of Policy: Yes No

Umbrella Coverage Limit:       Retention:       Carrier:       Date:       Annual Premium:       Copy of Policy: Yes No						Auto Number of Autos:       (see chart below)Combined Single Limit:       MVR’s run? Uninsured Motorist:       Safety program? Medical Payments:       List of Drivers?Comprehensive Yes No Deductible:       Collision: Yes No Deductible:       Hired/Non-owned: Yes No Carrier:       Date:       Annual Premium:       Copy of Policy: Yes No
Workers Compensation Excluded parties? States:       FEIN #:       Carrier:       Date:       Annual Premium:       Mod:       Copy of Policy Yes No
Crime Employee Dishonesty (Form A):       Forgery or Alteration (Form B):       Money and Securities (Form C):       Computer Fraud (Form F):       Robbery and Safe Burglary (Form Q) (M&S):       Annual Premium:					Ratable Employees:       Deductible:       Ratable Employees:       Deductible:       Exposure:       Deductible:       Deductible:       Exposure:       Deductible:       Copy of Policy: Yes No
Miscellaneous
Directions to risk:
Additional Insured: Yes No
Auto Schedule
#	Make	Model	Year	Cost New			Weight	Use	Radius of Use
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Notes
Property Comments:       Casualty Comments:       Other Comments:

Initial Client Review – Commercial Risk

Initial Client Review – Commercial Risk

Tow Truck Insurance Austin, Texas

Nationwide offers commercial vehicle insurance for many types of business auto risks. Today’s topic will be Tow Truck Insurance. What insurance issues arise when you own a tow truck? How much is tow truck insurance and how long does it take to get it started? What are filings and which do you need? I will answer these and present a few other questions you need to consider when shopping for tow truck insurance in Texas.

Tow Truck Insurance has a few nuances that separate it from other types of commercial or business auto insurance. Specifically, cargo insurance, vehicle storage facility, consent vs. non consent towing, and incident management are a few terms you will need to be familiar with.

The type of tow truck insurance you need will depend on what exactly you are using your tow truck for.

Consent Towing

– Most basic type of towing, this is a tow that is requested by the owner of the vehicle

Incident Management

– Tow Trucks who take vehicles away from accident scenes, this type of towing can require additional filings (VSF, H)

Non Consent

- Tows resulting from "no parking"

Repo

– Many insures will deny a policy if repossessions are part of the scope of business. Make sure you let your insurance broker know about this ahead of time

TOW TRUCK FILING REQUIREMENTS

Form E – required for all tow truck operators, this is basic insurance verification that is sent to TDLR

Form H – Cargo Filing, required typically if your business tows for Incident Management, Non Consent, or Repo’s.

Form VSF – Vehicle Storage Facility, if you tow for Incident Management, Non Consent, or Repo’s and you have a storage facility.

HOW MUCH IS TOW TRUCK INSURANCE

This is such a broad question and is very hard to answer without all the info that determines premium. Liability only coverage can run as low as $1500 a year but can be as expensive as $5000 a year. It could even be more if you have a more expensive truck, tickets, extra filings, etc. The best thing to do is to call around for quotes and see what you can get. You will want to go with a reputable carrier that can pay claims and also be responsible enough to get your filings sent in on time. If they don’t send your filings correctly you could be looking at fines or refilling fees that aren’t cheap! A quote shouldn’t take longer than a day for a basic tow truck business. If you have multiple locations, cars and drivers it could take longer.

　

WHAT ELSE?

If you have contracted with another company to tow cars they may require additional coverage. A common extra coverage is General Liability in addition to the Liability on the tow truck policy. Get something in writing so you can send this to your agent.

The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation is the regulatory agency that oversees tow truck operators, you can find out more info @:

http://www.tdlr.state.tx.us/towing/towing.htm

Fleet Auto Insurance

Let me help with your Fleet Auto Insurance.  I can write through multiple carriers to get you the best coverage at the best price!

A few possible options:

Zero Glass Deductible
One comprehensive physical damage deductible per occurence
Business auto enhancement tailored for business auto fleets
Composite rating for larger fleets
Interest-free installments available for some risks that generate at least $2,000 in premium
Multi-state capability
Owned Auto
Non-owned auto
Hired auto
Leas Gap Coverage
Towing
Hazmat
$1,000,000 Combined Single Limit


Call today for a quote on your commercial auto or fleet insurance.

512-441-2763
Lewis Insurance

Car Insurance for young driver / teenager

Rates are typically higher for younger drivers because loss experience shows they have more accidents. Also, if they are a new driver, they have no driving history so insurance companies assume the worst. They assume the newly added driver will have more accidents than more established drivers.  Once they have been driving for several years and can prove, via their clean record, they are a good driver, the rate will drop.

You should know some ways to save money on your insurance when you have added a youthful driver.  Below are some tips for you to discuss with your agent:

　

Establish credit before they start driving as many insures rate partly based on credit. If your child has no credit whatsoever they will not receive any discount. This is a major discount that could change the rate tremendously.

Consider getting the child a vehicle that requires liability only. The premiums for full coverage can be very expensive for a young driver.

Ask your agent ahead of time what discounts are available. Good Student, Defensive Driving, Driver Training, away at school over 100 miles, etc.

If you plan ahead of time you might be able to make your insurance rates more affordable!

Josh Lewis

www.nationwide.com/joshlewis

Buying a car need auto insurance

So you are getting ready to purchase a new vehicle and are wondering what insurance hurdles are ahead. I am going to briefly discuss 3 situations you may be in; hopefully this insurance blog will better prepare you for what to expect. First, you have insurance and need to replace or add a vehicle to it. Second, you already have insurance but want to compare rates from other companies on your newly purchased car. Third, you have no insurance.

Once you have a car in mind you might check with your existing agent to see how much it will cost to add it to your insurance policy. If you think you might purchase the vehicle on the first visit you should call your agent ahead of time. If you have a vehicle that has full coverage on it currently, that full coverage insurance might extend to the newly purchased vehicle without you having to call your insurance office. You will want to verify this ahead of time. I can speak to Nationwide Insurance and Progressive’s policy…that newly purchased vehicle will be covered for up to 30 days without you calling in as long as you have full coverage on another car. Again, you need to verify ahead of time. However, you do need to consider that the dealership may not honor proof of full coverage insurance on another vehicle and instead require you to show insurance on the actual car you are purchasing. I would not want to haggle over a new vehicle for three hours and then find out they are going to have to see proof of insurance on my new car before I drive it off the lot. What if it is after hours, on a weekend or on a holiday? You may either be waiting for longer than necessary or not get to take home your new car at all! Figure all this out ahead of time.

Did you just budget a certain amount of money for a newly purchased vehicle only to be unpleasantly surprised when you called your existing insurance agent for the new price? It happens all the time. Don’t worry, you usually don’t have to pay the increased rates until your next bill is due (if you cancel you will owe the increased insurance rate for the prorated amount of days you have the new vehicle on your policy) so go ahead and add the car if you’ve already bought it. Express your concern to your agent. Maybe they can do something to lower your rate, maybe they can’t and then again maybe the new rate you were given is fair. This may be a perfect opportunity to call a couple of places to see if you can get a better deal.

If you don’t have any insurance and are in the market for a new car you will definitely want to call around for insurance rates before you make a decision on how much to spend on that car. If you have not had current insurance for at least 6 consecutive months you are going to be looking at paying more expensive rates for at least the first 6 months. Don’t sign a new car contract for $350 a month only to find out later that the best insurance rate your can find is $400 a month. If you are getting very expensive rates, ask the insurance offices you call to tell you how much the rate will be for the bare minimum full coverage. Also, ask what your rate will be if you pay on time and keep your policy active for 6 months…will the rate automatically decrease? Additionally, you might get a better deal on insurance if you have a checking account and will let them take the insurance payment directly from that account once a month on a predetermined day. Your insurance is due every month; you might as well do that but just make sure you have money in your account for the payment.

http://www.nationwide.com/agent/austin-texas-insurance-agent/joshlewis/office.html

COBRA Insurance

OK, you have left your job and are trying to decide what to do about COBRA. In fact, you don't really know what COBRA does. Sound familiar? Don’t worry, you have options. Call someone to help or go online and get some answers. Here are a few quick thoughts to help your cause…

1. If your employer has 20 or more employees, and you have been covered under the group plan for at least 3 months, you are probably eligible for COBRA. (There are other situations where you may not be eligible. Involuntary termination with cause is one of those.)


2. You will probably receive COBRA instructions from your employer within a couple of weeks


3. You have 60 days after qualifying for COBRA coverage to decide if you want to enroll


4. WHAT DOES COBRA COVER? It covers you the same way your policy worked through the employer plan.


5. HOW MUCH DOES COBRA COST? What was your prior cost and what was your employer’s cost? You pay the total cost of your healthcare plus 2%. If you were paying $150 a month and your employer was paying 50% of your coverage, so another $150, your total was $300. Including the 2% that would be $306.


6. CAN I PURCHASE AN INDIVIDUAL PLAN INSTEAD OF SIGNING UP FOR COBRA? Yes you can. It will probably be less expensive but you may get a little less coverage.

More at the follow link to the Texas Department of Insurance:

http://www.tdi.texas.gov/pubs/consumer/cb005.html