Do I Need to Keep My Insurance During The Off-Season?

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Why You Should Keep Your Insurance Year Round on Your Motorcycle, RV or Boat in Eugene, ORIt’s now time to enjoy some amazing fall camping excursions, calm boating on the lake or a motorcycle road trip. Each year we’re asked by many of our customers about the possibility to cancel your insurance policies on your summer toys like motorcycles, RVs, boats and ATVs. While you may not be using these alternative vehicles during the fall and winter months, your vehicles may be damaged and insurance claim would need to be opened. If you cancelled your insurance policy, you may be forced to pay for repairs or replacements out-of-pocket. During the cooler months while your toys are parked events can occur that could get expensive without a valid insurance policy.

Types of claims that could occur during the off-season:

Comprehensive insurance claims: Even though your vehicles are secured, theft or vandalism can still occur at any time. Having to pay out-of-pocket to repaint, repair or replace your toy could put a serious strain on your finances. Catastrophic events like floods or fires can occur during the off-season. If your comprehensive insurance policy is not in effect, you may be responsible to pay to replace your toys without assistance from your insurance carrier.

Liability insurance claims: Accidents can happen at any time, even if your toy is secure. During a party at your home someone thinks it would be great to take a picture on your Harley. They hop on and fall over damaging both your bike and themselves. Even if you did not give them permission to do so, you may be legally responsible for their injuries. Without a liability insurance policy in effect, you may be responsible to pay for the injured party’s medical bills and recovery costs.

Additional claims scenarios:

  1. A blustery storm knocks over a tree and it falls on your parked camper. (Comprehensive claim)
  2. A hail storm damages your vehicle (Comprehensive claim)
  3. Your garage catches on fire and burns your motorcycle, boat, or ATV inside (Not home insurance, Comprehensive claim for the vehicle)
  4. Your RV or Boat is parked in an off-season boat/rv storage facility and is damaged when an unknown party backs their vehicle into it. They don’t leave their information.
  5. A thief vandalizes your vehicle looking for valuable items

These are just a few of the many claims that can occur in the off-season. Some carriers understand that these vehicles are not used year-round and the premiums reflect the high and the low season.

Keeping your motorcycle insurance, RV insurance, ATV insurance or boat insurance in effect during the off-season may not only save your from a costly out-of-pocket repairs or medical payments, keeping a year-round policy may also save you money on your policy premium. Ask your insurance agent today about the benefits of keeping a comprehensive and liability insurance policy on your toys all year!

LeDoux Insurance Agency is committed to improving the quality of our community by insuring your life’s hard work. Setting a standard of excellence, our professional staff will help you understand your current and future risk exposures by building a lifelong relationship. Our clients can be confident in the proven stability and years of insurance experience. LeDoux Insurance Agency is dedicated to continuous improvement through the use of technology in order to provide the most comprehensive and cost effective solutions for your insurance needs. Whether you’re looking for auto, home, renters or business insurance, LeDoux Insurance can help. Visit us online anytime.

8 Scenarios That Would Warrant an Umbrella Insurance Policy

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There are many scenarios that would warrant the need for an umbrella insurance policy. We outline a few of them here.Umbrella Insurance Eugene

Example #1: Your teenage daughter is babysitting the neighbor kids and leaves the house for a moment to run to the store. When she returns, one of the children is badly injured and requires surgery. The child’s medical bills exceed $700,000. The parents of the children sue you to cover the medical bills.

Example #2: Your son dislikes his gym class as well as the teacher. He goes on social media and writes some very reproachful comments about the teacher that leave him in a bad light. The teacher sues and is awarded $650,000.

Example #3: Your 17 year old child decides to pick up some friends and go “cruising” in your car. He loses control of the vehicle while showing off how fast the minivan is. Each child is critically injured. Your umbrella policy helps cover the medical bills as your auto policy limits were exhausted.

Example #4: You invite friends over to your home to celebrate the 4th of July. You provide all the entertainment, food and refreshments, including alcohol. One friend who is known for drinking too much, does just that, gets in his car and drives home getting in a terrible car accident that kills one person. The family sues you and you’re found to be liable for serving the friend too much alcohol.

Example #5: Your rental property’s deck is rotted and your tenant falls through it badly injuring their leg and requiring reconstructive surgery. A jury awards the tenant $750,000 for damages.

Example #6: You host a wedding on your property and rent a bouncy house. The house is not staked down and blows away in the wind with children inside of it. The kids are fine, but you’re sued for negligence. The families of the children are awarded $150,000 each for mental and post-traumatic stress.

Example #7: Your dog gets out viciously attacks the neighbors show dog. The dog can no longer show because it has scars and a limp. You’re sued for loss of income and a jury awards the dog owner $750,000.

Example #8: You’re the “cool mom” and agree to buy your kids and their friends alcohol if they promise to stay at the house. One of the friends leaves the house and is killed in an accident. He is found to be intoxicated. The parents of the child sue you for providing them with alcohol. A jury awards $2 million.

There are countless situations that can occur and exhaust your current liability limits on your home or auto insurance policy. The good news is that umbrella insurance policies are relatively inexpensive. Contact an agent at our office for your personalized umbrella insurance quote today.

Who is responsible if your tree falls onto your neighbor’s house?

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How To Deal With a Fallen Tree

How to deal with a fallen tree in Eugene, ORNeighbors are great! You can count on them to keep an eye on your place while you’re away, let out a furry friend or even borrow some last minute ingredients! Shoot, some of your neighbors are probably some of your closest friends. But having neighbors can sometimes cause some uncomfortable exchanges.

With spring on the way, often high winds occur when the cold air and warmer air mix together. This, mixed with sometimes wet soil can bring a vulnerable tree toppling down. So, what happens when YOUR tree drops down onto your neighbor’s house, car, fence or other property? Who is liable for that and which insurance company should you call?

Well, the answer is most of the time quite simple. Whoever owns the damaged property is responsible to get the damage repaired – not the owner of the tree.

Let’s look at some specific examples:

Your tree falls onto your neighbor’s house:  Neighbor responsible to mitigate damages and call their own insurance company.

Your neighbor’s tree falls on your car: You should call your insurance company.

Now, proving any sort of negligence on the part of the tree owner is exceedingly rare. Trees die but can remain strong and standing for many years. If you or your neighbor has a tree that has died and you’re worried about it, you should call out an arborist. If the tree is the neighbors, have a conversation about the risks it poses and potential harm it could cause if it fell. Perhaps this will remedy the problem.

LeDoux Insurance Agency is committed to improving the quality of our community by insuring your life’s hard work. Setting a standard of excellence, our professional staff will help you understand your current and future risk exposures by building a lifelong relationship. Our clients can be confident in the proven stability and years of insurance experience. LeDoux Insurance Agency is dedicated to continuous improvement through the use of technology in order to provide the most comprehensive and cost effective solutions for your insurance needs. Whether you’re looking for auto, home, renters or business insurance, LeDoux Insurance can help. Visit us online anytime.

Keep a Home Inventory Checklist Just in Case

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Two Ways to Construct a List

Home Inventory List for your home in Eugene, ORFor most of us, we won’t have to experience a disastrous home loss such as a flood, fire, earthquake or other disaster. That doesn’t mean any of us should be less prepared for such an event should one occur. Preparing a home inventory can be a large task, but taking the time to do so can make a difference of thousands of dollars when it comes to your claims settlement as well as simple ease of processing your claim.

For many of us, where we live symbolizes us and what is in that house symbolizes our lives. Our belongings represent our memories, personal style and even investments that hold significant value such as art.  When you add up how much all of your personal items are worth, it can be a substantial figure into the many 10s of thousands of dollars or more.

Home insurance claims from disasters such as flood or fire are traumatic. A home inventory checklist can help you remember quickly what items you had. Would you recall exactly how many pairs of jeans you had and what brand they were? Would you recall how many pairs of shoes you had or what brands they were? What about art? Could you recall the name of the artist and how much you paid for it?

Taking the time to inventory your home can be useful in the event of theft or damage to the contents of your home. Keep track of your items with this easy to use chart! You can even attach photos of your items and quickly send this chart to your insurance agent to help speed up the claims process. Another way to document is with a thorough video or video series. Be sure to store your home inventory checklist in a safe place like in the cloud.

The good news is your insurance agent likely gave you sufficient coverage for your personal property. If you feel like you need more, be sure to tell your agent. Home, renters and condo insurance policies typically come standard with this coverage.

LeDoux Insurance Agency is committed to improving the quality of our community by insuring your life’s hard work. Setting a standard of excellence, our professional staff will help you understand your current and future risk exposures by building a lifelong relationship. Our clients can be confident in the proven stability and years of insurance experience. LeDoux Insurance Agency is dedicated to continuous improvement through the use of technology in order to provide the most comprehensive and cost effective solutions for your insurance needs. Whether you’re looking for auto, home, renters or business insurance, LeDoux Insurance can help. Visit us online anytime.