The Eastern seaboard has seen some dramatic weather in the past few weeks, which makes knowing your homeowner’s insurance policy coverage all the more important. There’s nothing worse than enduring a rare weather event or natural disaster only to find that your policy requires you to pay a large deductible before your coverage kicks in, or that you don’t even have coverage in the first place.

My wife Patti has previously written about the importance of knowing what your homeowner’s policy hurricane and windstorm deductible is. New York’s recent experiences with both a major tropical storm and earthquake aftershock is a reminder that such events, while rare, can and do happen, so it is important to be covered before you experience a loss.

Find the right balance between coverage and premium

Are you looking for maximum premium savings, or the most comprehensive, generous coverage? Your requirements determine what kind of policy you should have for your home, and we can help you find the perfect balance. Call us today at (516) 484-5200 or send us an email at info@ccpinsurance.com for a free review of your current policy.

What is travel insurance?

Travel insurance coverage can be as narrow or as broad as you need it to be. The most popular kind, package plans, can provide coverage for trip cancellation or interruption, travel delays, baggage loss or delay, emergency evacuation, and medical expenses. Travel insurance premiums are based on your age and the cost & length of your trip. (Get a free travel insurance quote now)

Not all health insurance plans automatically cover you for medical expenses incurred while traveling abroad, so you should check with your health insurance provider to find out if you need separate travel medical insurance.

Why should you have travel insurance?

1. Travel insurance is cheap

   A comprehensive travel insurance policy typically accounts for as little as 5% of a vacation’s cost, providing thousands of dollars worth of protection for the equivalent of a restaurant meal. Protecting a single trip isn’t as expensive as you thought it would be.

2. Vacation costs are an investment

   You protect your home, your car, and your health with insurance. The cost of your vacation is just as much of an investment—in your rest and relaxation. The average American spends $2,700 on a vacation trip, a considerable sum that is worth protecting from unexpected events.

3. Travel insurance comes in handy

   A survey by the US Travel Insurance Association found that 17% of travelers who purchase insurance file a claim, more than double the rate of policyholders who file a claim on their homeowner’s insurance. Travel insurance provides affordable protection when you need it most.

4. Plan without worry

   If you’re planning a trip far in advance, spending a significant sum, or dealing with complicated vacation plans, travel insurance gives you the flexibility to make worry-free arrangements. Recoup nonrefundable costs, don’t sweat when a problem crops up, and enjoy your vacation the way you were meant to—all you need is travel insurance.

Get a quote now

Get a free travel insurance quote right now, or give me a call at (516) 484-5200 to learn more. You can also email us at info@ccpinsurance.com.

What are the advantages of having an independent insurance agent?

1. Choices. An independent agent can offer you a policy from a number of different carriers. We represent only the best, A-rated personal & commercial carriers in New York. If you’re not happy with your coverage or your premium is too high, we simply shop around to find you the right policy from a carrier that would suit you better.
2. Savings. Since independent agencies like us represent a variety of carriers, we can shop around to find the best policy at the lowest price. A good agent knows what coverage you need for your family or business so you don’t pay more than you have to. Since your agent works for you, they don’t waste time trying to sell you a policy you don’t need.
3. Personal Service. Your agent knows your insurance needs inside and out. We develop a relationship with you so we can anticipate opportunities for savings and manage your risk better. Best of all, when you need to make a claim, your agent is there to help you.

Experience the difference an insurance agent can make

If you’re in New York, call us at (516) 484-5200 or send us an email at info@ccpinsurance.com to learn how we can help you lower your insurance premiums and manage your risk better.

Mike & Patti Wittkowski

Today marks a very special milestone for my wife Patti and I. We’re happy to celebrate our 20th year at Curran Cooney Penny Agency, a moment made possible by the wonderful clients we’ve been lucky to serve for so many years.

Some of you have been with us since we first purchased the agency in 1991, and others we’ve been fortunate to develop a relationship with recently. Helping our clients with their personal & commercial insurance has been our passion since we first entered the insurance business.

To all of our wonderful clients, we’d like to say Thank You for letting us handle your policies. We look forward to developing even stronger relationships with you over the years.

The Curran Cooney Penny office will be closing at 12 PM on Wednesday, August 17th for a small celebration. Please keep this in mind in case you need to get in touch with us on that day. You can always send us an email at info@ccpinsurance.com or call us at (516) 484-5200 and leave a message, and we will get in touch with you as soon as possible.

Make sure you know what your hurricane deductible is

Deductibles vary depending on your carrier, the type of storm (“trigger”), and location of your home. In New York State, for example, a deductible for a home within 1,000 feet of the South Shore on Long Island may be different than for a home within 2,500 feet of the North Shore.

Many triggers only go into effect when the National Weather Service issues a hurricane watch or warning that remains in effect for 24 to 48 hours after the storm has passed. Triggers are also affected by hurricane intensity, which is classified on a scale from 1 to 5.

If a policy has mandatory deductibles, then the insurance company will not sell homeowners coverage without a hurricane deductible. When the deductible is optional, you can choose a lower deductible in exchange for a higher premium (a “buyback”) or a higher deductible for a lower premium (a premium credit).

If you’re a homeowner in New York State, you can find hurricane deductibles by company at the New York State Department of Insurance website. Check out the “Windstorm Deductibles” link at the bottom. Knowing all of your policy information is an important part of making sure you recover completely in case of a disastrous loss. Don’t be left unprepared!

If you have any questions about your property insurance or hurricane deductibles, be sure to give us a call at (516) 484-5200 today, or email me at patti@ccpinsurance.com.

The easiest way to save 10% on your auto premium is to take a defensive driving course online

If you’re a driver in New York, you can save 10% on your auto insurance premium and remove violation points from your driving record by taking a defensive driving course. But like most drivers, you live a busy life and don’t necessarily have the time to sit through a course.

Certified online defensive driving courses offer the convenience of allowing you to complete the course on your own schedule from the comfort of your own home, while still reaping the benefits of having a defensive driving certificate. It will reduce your premium and remove up to 4 violation points from your record. You can pause and resume the course whenever you have time, and there’s no exam at the end.

If you have your auto insurance policy with us, all you have to do is send us your certificate once you complete an online defensive driving course and we’ll take care of the rest. (Don’t have us as your agent? Call us today at (516) 484-5200 to find out how we can manage your insurance policies.)

Our affiliates at the American Safety Council offer a New York DMV-approved online course for $24.95. Register for the course on their website, or call us at (516) 484-5200 to speak with a personal insurance agent. You can also visit www.ccpinsurance.com/defensive-driving to learn more.

Any business that collects and stores customer information faces cyber liability exposure

Would you buy and live in a home without purchasing insurance? A home is often a family’s biggest single asset, and it would be crazy to leave it unprotected. The same goes for any business that collects and stores information about its customers. Cyber liability is a huge issue for companies in 2011, but typical business insurance policies don’t protect against cyber losses. Does your business have cyber liability exposures? You might be surprised at the answer.

Your business does not have to be web-based to have cyber liability exposures. Almost every business collects some form of private or personal information about its customers, such as credit card or Social Security numbers. If that information is lost, stolen, improperly shared with a third party, your business can face legal liability and regulatory action.

Is Cyber Liability a serious threat?

Sony recently experienced a major breach of their Playstation Network that exposed data of more than 77 million customers. The New York Yankees accidentally leaked personal information about season-ticketholders, while a data breach at Epsilon exposed information about customers of several large businesses. Information security is a serious issue, but you might think it only affects large or internet-based companies.

Does your business accept credit cards? Do you have any kind of customer database? Businesses of all sizes benefit from collecting and using customer information, but that information can also put you at risk of cyber liability losses. All kinds of businesses may have cyber exposures, whether you operate a small retail shop with only a Point-of-Sale computer or a multi-office company with advanced network infrastructure.

How much can a data breach cost your business?

According to the Ponemon Institute, the average cost of a data breach is $202 per customer record compromised. It takes as little as 30 seconds to download or transfer 10,000 records of information—that’s more than $2 million of liability in 30 seconds.

When you hear “data breach,” you may automatically think of hackers and assume your business isn’t at risk—after all, hackers tend to target large organizations with highly sensitive information. In reality, cyber liability losses are triggered by a variety of events, including the theft of business laptops, hard-drives, or tape backups, an employee’s improper disposal of private customer information, or software glitches that expose sensitive information on the internet.

Learn more about how cyber liability may affect your business

Keep in mind that typical business insurance policies do not cover losses due to cyber exposures. To learn more and receive free advice, give me a call at (516) 484-5200 or email me at joe@ccpinsurance.com.

Mike Wittkowski, CLU

If you’ve begun to think about your life insurance options, you probably already know about Term Life. For most people, Term Life insurance may seem like the best option, but it’s important to know about your other choices. Term Life & Whole Life have different features, benefits, and disadvantages, so your policy should match your financial and family situation.

The first step in finding the right policy is to consult a qualified Life Insurance Agent. Even if you generally like to do your own research when it comes to financial decisions, an insurance agent can help you make sure you fully understand your policy and make the right choice. It’s important to choose an agent carefully, because you need a life insurance expert, not an insurance salesman. (As a Chartered Life Underwriter, I’m happy to help you in this area.)

A Life Insurance agent like me can answer any questions you have, but having a basic understanding of the differences between Term and Whole Life will help you make an educated choice.

Term Life

Term Life insurance allows you to purchase a large amount of coverage at competitive prices for a fixed period of time. When you find instant quotes online, what you’re getting is a price for a Term Life policy. A 20-year term policy with $250,000 in coverage for a 30-year old man in excellent health, for example, would cost about $13.78 per month.

For those in excellent health, Term Life is a very affordable way of buying significant coverage. Unlike Whole Life, however, a Term Life policy pays a benefit only if you die before the policy term expires. If you purchase a 30-year policy when you’re young and in excellent health, you’ll have nothing to show for it at the end of the term since Term Life policies do not build cash value. In 30 years, your health and circumstances may change and make term life less affordable. Because of this, Term Life is ideal for limited needs.

Whole Life

A Whole Life policy builds cash value and leaves your family a financial legacy

Whole Life is a form of permanent life insurance. Unlike Term Life, a Whole Life policy is a useful financial planning tool. It provides permanent protection and builds cash value that you can borrow against. Although the premiums for Whole Life policies are generally more expensive than Term Life, you pay a constant premium for your entire life.

A major advantage of Whole Life policies is that they are guaranteed to pay a death benefit since they last until the end of the policyholder’s life.

Plan now to avoid problems later

Do you know what your health will be like in 20 or 30 years? Your financial situation? Family? By planning and purchasing the right policy now, you can save money in the long run and provide adequate financial security for your loved ones.

To get started with some free advice, give me a call at (516) 484-5200 or email me at mike@ccpinsurance.com.

With the cost of materials and equipment constantly rising and falling, insureds hoping to have a claim for damaged property settled quickly and hassle-free should consider one word: photographs.

Some say a picture is worth a thousand words. In insurance, a picture may be worth a thousand dollars or more when it comes to disputes on make, model, and condition/depreciation of contents. Ask yourself: When was the last time you took photos or video of your personal property or business inventory?

Photos may be a priceless tool for you to avoid a claims dispute with an adjuster who needs to assess your loss accurately. If damage is widespread, the adjuster may also be dealing with a backlog associated with limited supply and vendor availability.

Photos are not necessarily required by every insurance company as a prerequisite to obtaining insurance. They do, however, play an important role in the proper valuation of damaged property, as well as in satisfying a policy condition that requires that you do everything in your power to assist the company in adjusting your claim.

Furthermore, a home inventory is an essential part of ensuring that any potential claim is settled quickly and properly. The Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) has made free software available on its website,

www.iii.org, that allows homeowners to keep records of belongings in room-by-room files. For more information about how to protect yourself, give our office a call today.