Do you have plans to travel internationally?
We offer medical and trip cancellation coverage!
| Single Trip Plans | Multi Trip Plans |
| Coverage for up to 182 days | Coverage for all trips within a 364-day period |
| Ideal for leisure, missionary, or business travel | Ideal for frequent international travelers |
Please reach out to Alliance Financial & Insurance for any questions or on how we can help!
Thanks to an unusual convergence of market trends, ushered in by the pandemic and followed by other disruptive events, you may see a bigger change to the cost of your home and auto insurance than usual when it comes time to renew your policies this year.
Insurance rates are based on what an insurer thinks it will cost to make you whole in the event of a loss – whether it’s roof damage during a windstorm or a vehicle totaled during a traffic accident. As you’ve likely noticed, pretty much everything costs more than it did even a few years ago.
What’s driving higher home insurance costs
If you’ve shopped at Home Depot or Lowe’s lately, you’ve certainly seen that the price tags on building materials have gotten pretty expensive. Last year, the cost of building materials rose 4.7%, reflecting a particularly strong uptick in prices on things like asphalt shingles (16.2%), concrete blocks (18.5%) and drywall (20.4%).
To make matters worse, the home-building industry is facing a shortfall of more than 300,000 skilled laborers, which is driving up construction-related labor costs. Combined with the high cost of construction materials and historically low housing inventory, this has been making home claims much more expensive for insurance companies.
What’s driving higher auto insurance costs
Ongoing supply chain issues are driving a shortage of car parts and equipment, which were 22.3% more expensive at the end of 2022 than they were two years earlier. The overall cost of maintaining and repairing vehicles increased 18.4 % over the same timeframe – exacerbated by a growing shortage of car repair technicians.
The same issues depleted the supply of new and used cars during the COVID-19 pandemic, and inventories have not yet recovered. As a result, the average price of new cars has risen 20% since 2020, while used car prices have skyrocketed 37%.
Rising medical costs are another key factor. While the number of injuries and fatalities from car accidents has somewhat declined from its peak in 2021, the rising cost of medical care continues to drive higher claims costs. Between 2020 and 2022, the overall cost of medical care in the U.S. increased 6.8%
It seems more like winter now in Michigan but technically it’s still Fall and we’re getting ready for Thanksgiving! We have this blog ready to help everyone have the most prepared and easy going Thanksgiving that you’ve ever had! This way we can feel prepared for Black Friday shopping without any stress from the previous day.
We’re hoping to help you have a very relaxing holiday and we’ve made a couple lists for you!
Ideas for an organized Thanksgiving:
Thanksgiving Conversation Starters:
Wishing you a very safe and happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Fall is here and times to transition our lives for the season change! We’re putting away summer clothes, getting out the winter clothes, prepping our homes for winter, and setting up holiday décor. It’s time to update your insurance policies as well!
Do you have a vehicle to put in storage or take out of storage? Do you want to add coverage to your vehicles for the winter months? Have you double checked your home insurance coverages to make sure you’re okay in the event of a loss? Have you prepped your home for winter? Do you need to add drivers to your policy? It’s always better to be prepared for the worst so you can have peace of mind if an accident occurs. Call your insurance company to review your policies before winter hits!
If you’re wondering what to do to prep your home for the winter months, we’ve made a quick list for you! This list will vary based on your home but these are just some things to be considering during this time of year.
Summer seems to be in full swing here in Michigan and we’re living for it! After the extreme winter weather that we experienced, this sunshine has been welcomed with open arms from us Michiganders!
August is upon us and it’s almost back-to-school season. This is just your friendly reminder to update your home and auto insurance policies! New school year brings new changes that you’ll want to address, here are a couple of examples:
It’s always good to contact your insurance agent when you’re making any changes to your household. If you have anything new going on just give us a call to make sure that your insurance is accurate!
We’ve also put together a short list of back to school items for those of you who are looking forward to sending your kids back to school!
EXTRA CREDIT – it’s always kind to bring some extra supplies for the classroom too. Tissues, dry erase markers, colored pencils, staples, etc. There are many classroom essentials that the state no longer provides and teachers are responsible for getting. Many hands make light work, if everyone pitches in and donates a little to the classroom then your child’s classroom environment will be a much more positive place. This way the teacher can start off the year right and your child can get the education they deserve!
For those of us in Lowell, be sure to check the school website for all events coming up! It’s the start of busy season and we want to be prepared! http://www.lowellschools.com/
We’re finally starting to see some sun in the state of Michigan, thank goodness! Everyone is getting more excited and more proactive as the weather warms up. We’ve got a big holiday weekend coming up here that’s going to be the start of Michigan’s outdoor season! This is when we break out our tents, RV’s, and recreational vehicles for the summer months.
Along with this means it’s time to update your insurance policies. You need to make sure you have the correct vehicles on the road and the correct vehicles in storage. You have to have all of your recreational products insured to verify that they’re safe to be driving on the trails. If you have a pool or trampoline, make sure you’re covered for those on your home insurance and ask your agent about an umbrella policy to guarantee that you’re covered for everything.
Remember, this weekend is going to be a fun time with friends and family. Safety is the key to a good three-day weekend. Always keep the nearest hospital in mind when settling down in an unfamiliar area. Make sure to review fire, boating, and camping safety tips prior to engaging in the activities.
Have a great weekend everyone, and drive safely on the busy roads!
April showers bring May flowers, right? Maybe not in Michigan because it still snows half of the time! Regardless of whether we have snow or flowers, the storms will come. The thunder, lightning and wind are going to “rain” down on us again! If we know that every Spring, the storms are on their way then we should prepare for them as best as we can in order to avoid any unfortunate events.
How to prep your home and yard for storm season: Make sure you’re completely ready for the powerful rain and the wind gusts of lake effect storms! Make sure your roof is up to date and that none of the shingles are curling at all. Loosing shingles in a storm is messy to clean and hard to replace. Keeping an updated, quality roof over your head is going to be key if you’re living in Michigan! Also, make sure any large or leaning trees are removed if they’re even remotely close to your home or any outbuildings. Getting these removed ahead of time will cost about the same as it would to remove them but without the stress or damage that they would cause if they came crashing down. For further help on how to prepare for storms and wind, check out this guide!
https://www.newjerseyrealestatenetwork.com/home-high-winds-preparation/
What to do when a storm starts getting out of hand: Make sure you have an EAP (Emergency Action Plan) for your household. Whether it’s simply going down to the basement or designating jobs to people to ensure that everything is okay, it’s always best to have a predetermined plan in the event of an emergency.
What to do if damage occurs: If you think that you have a potential claim on your hands then call your insurance agent. Give them as much info as you can and make sure you’re able to describe damages. You should have an idea as too how much the fix should cost and also how much your deductible is. Filing claims on your home is risky business so it’s best to stay well informed. A claim has to be sudden and accidental, so keep that in mind when assessing the damage. If there’s a ton of damage and it seems to be urgent then it’d be best for you to call your agent asap. If your agent isn’t available then call the company directly so you can get everything taken care of, make sure you still report it to your agent as the earliest convenience. You’ll want to take lots of photos of the damage no matter what. If it’s damage that doesn’t need immediate attention then it’s best for you to have an estimate done so you can better determine if you’d like to file a claim or not.
What does it mean to file a claim on your Home Insurance: When determining whether or not you’d like to file a claim on your home, first find out the cost of the damage. You’ll need to subtract your deductible from that total amount and then decide if that’s an amount that you’re able to pay to fix or if you’re going to need some help from your insurance company. Home claims are okay if it’s only 1 or 2 within a 3 year time span but any more claims could cause your home insurance to drastically increase and/or nonrenewal from your company. So it’s important to be cautious and informed when filing a home claim.
Last Week Michigan got hit with some of the coldest temperatures and LOADS of snow and ice. Everyone was stuck inside with a lot more down time than we had planned, and you should stay inside to be safe! Most of us were somewhat unproductive during that time, posting on Facebook, eating, watching movies, etc.… but we have a couple of things that you can do during a Polar Vortex to help you get ahead! You may even be looking forward to the next polar vortex!
Update your schedules: I’m sure we all have plenty of times that we’ve “made plans” with someone and then not followed through. Now is the time to sit down and analyze your calendar. You want to be spending time with friends and family so schedule them in! Make your doctor/dentist appointments too while you’re at it! We can always stand to get our eyes checked or our teeth cleaned.
Clean: You have an entire home to clean and all of the supplies with you! Get to work! You’ll function better with a clean home and you don’t have much else to do when stuck inside.
Restock your home: I do this about every other week. It keeps me relaxed so that I’m not running out of random things. I just go through and make sure that I have all of the basics (toothpaste, deodorant, plastic bags, etc) and then I double check that I have a spare of everything.
Family time: What a great time to have some family fun! Break into the game cupboard or bake desserts together! This is the perfect time to take advantage of the bad weather and use it to build stronger bonds with family.
New recipes: I’m sure we all have a couple of fun things saved that we’ve been waiting to make! If you have extra time then you can make one of those recipes that takes longer than usual and master something new!
Call your insurance agent: It’s always good to review your coverages and make sure you’re completely up to date. Especially with this crazy Michigan weather, make sure your vehicles and home are covered properly!
Pay your bills: We all dread doing this task but if you get this done on a cold day in then you’ll feel accomplished and prepped for the rest of the week!
Do your taxes: It’s that season! We’re all working so hard and yet we HAVE to make time to do this. Sooner is better than later and once it’s done you’ll instantly lose the stress that this puts on you. It’s best to get it done now instead of putting it off until the last minute!
Make a budget: This is a great way to get organized and get productive! Everyone should have a budget so if you don’t have one then now is the time to make it! If you already have one, then you should update this every year and tax season is the perfect time to get it done!
Online shopping: We all do this with our spare time already, there’s no shame in online shopping when it’s too cold to go out. Find those things that you’ve been wanting and have them delivered! We all love this activity and it’s easy to lose track of time while filling up your cart.
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Valentine’s Day, the holiday that most people either love or loathe. There’s not much in between. People go nuts over this holiday, buying flowers, balloons, chocolate etc. to shower your significant other with attention and romance. Meanwhile, others hate all of the lovey dovey stuff and prefer to celebrate February 15th when all of the chocolate is 50% off in the stores. There are many different ways to celebrate this time of year and we have 4 of them right here for you! Now is the time to start preparing for it!
If your significant other is moving in or if you’re getting engaged then there are some potential changes to your insurance in the future! While all of these exciting things are happening, make sure you call your insurance agent to verify that you’re covered properly!
We want to know how your Valentine’s Day goes so please let us know!
Its half way through January so we’re all starting to wear down a little on our New Year’s Resolutions of staying fit and eating clean. You may be needing a little more push to keep your momentum going, and this is it! You want to feel and look your best, and I’m sure you’ve been doing so well, but it gets tiring and hard to keep going. We have some endurance tips to help you keep pushing yourself to reach and keep your goals. Keeping your health up is more of a mental game than it is physical.
We’re working our hardest to make this year the best year yet! While you’re on your productive streak here in January of the New Year make sure that you update your home and auto insurance. It’s always good to look over your coverages and make sure that it’s exactly what you want, if you need to make any changes you can get that done asap. You’ll also want to make sure that all of your winter toys are insured and all of your summer toys have storage coverage on them!
If you have questions or need help then call us at 616-897-1515, we’re your local, Lowell insurance agency!
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