Austin TX

How Do I know If I Have Enough Homeowner’s Insurance Coverage?

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If you are like most homeowners, your home is your biggest investment and largest asset. As a first-time home buyer, it can be difficult to understand your homeowner’s insurance coverage needs. How much coverage is enough? If you are under-insured you can be left dangerously exposed in the event of a fire, theft or personal injury. Here are some questions to ask that will help you determine how much coverage you need.

Do I Need Flood Insurance?

Flood insurance protects your home and property against damage caused by water. Does your house sit next to a storm drain channel or creek? Is it at the bottom of a hill or at the low point of a road?. This indicates that getting flood insurance is a good idea because homeowners insurance doesn’t offer protection for water-related events. If your home is located in a flood zone, your mortgage lender will typically require you to carry flood insurance.

Do I Have Enough Coverage For All My Personal Property?

When you get homeowners insurance for your Austin, TX home, it will not only provide financial reimbursement for any damage or loss to your home, it also protects the value of your personal property, including clothing, electronics, furnishings, and collectibles. More coverage may be needed for jewelry, art or antiques. If you are unsure of the value of your household belongings, an appraisal will help you determine how much insurance you will need.

Am I Covered For Liability?

If someone is hurt or suffers an injury while inside your home or yard, you may be liable for damages such as medical expenses and lost income, even if the injury didn’t involve purposeful negligence on your part. Make sure you are fully covered against liabilities to ensure you don’t have to worry about having people on your property.

How Do I Determine How Much Coverage I Need?

Every homeowner’s insurance policy is different and may have different events and incidents that are covered or not covered by that policy. To figure out how much coverage you require, and to learn what types of incidents you can insure, contact our office today. At Southwest Insurance Center, we’ll customize your homeowner’s insurance to your individual needs.

Top Homeowners Insurance Claims in Austin and Texas

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Are you an Austin, TX homeowner with full homeowners insurance coverage? If you haven’t visited a firm like the Southwest Insurance Center and established your homeowners insurance policy, you may be placing your home and your finances at great risk. Without good homeowners insurance, many homeowners in Austin would be, so to speak, up a creek without a paddle.

The most common homeowners insurance claims in Austin, TX remain common at the national level as well. However, it’s important to see what affects the homes near you so you see why you need insurance. A home is an investment and one that can easily be taken away from you in a disaster if you’re not careful.

Nationwide, the most common type of homeowners insurance claim is wind damage on the outside of the house. Wind damage largely occurs during storms like tornadoes, but less violent storms can carry straight line winds and or winds at high enough speeds to rip off shingles. Other high-frequency claims include hail damage and theft.

In Austin, claims aren’t that much different from the rest of the country. Roof damage is the most common insurance claim for homes in Texas, often caused by high winds. Roof damage can also be caused by hail or water. Other common claims made by Texas homeowners include dog bites, water damage (like burst pipes), and fire damage. If you own a home in Austin or elsewhere in Texas, it’s important to ensure you have complete home insurance coverage by visiting a firm like Southwest Insurance Center. You never know when rainfall, which happens most often in the spring and fall in Austin, is going to add up to enough damage that you need some insurance coverage. 

How to Get Insurance After You Are Convicted of Drunk Driving?

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In a perfect world, no one would drink and drive. However, we are humans and make mistakes. Maybe you thought you were fine to drive or did not realize how much you had to drink. Regardless, once you are charged with and convicted of a DUI, your life changes. You may lose your license, be forced to pay fines, take driving education and DUI courses and then obtain SR-22 insurance, rather than standard auto insurance. After you have been convicted of drunk driving, here are the steps you will want to follow in order to get insurance again.

Get Proof You Can Drive Again

In order to get insurance after a DUI, you will need to have proof from the court that you can drive again. Some courts will let you have a conditional license, that allows you to drive to and from work. Others will suspend your license for a period of time and only reinstate it after your fines have been paid and you have participated in the required classes. Getting a paper from the courts that states whether you can drive is the first step to getting insurance.

Get SR-22 Insurance

After you have been convicted of a DUI, you will need to get SR-22 auto insurance. This is basically high risk insurance and is required for those convicted of a DUI, those who may have had their license suspended for some time because of unsafe driving or those who were in an accident without having insurance in the past. Not every insurance company offers this type of insurance policy, so you have to find one that does.

If you were convicted of a DUI and now need SR-22 auto insurance, let Southwest Insurance Center, serving the greater Austin, TX area help. Not every company will insure drivers with a DUI on their record, but we realize everyone deserves a second chance. Stop by our office today for a price quote or to get started on signing up for a new policy.

Why get coverage from the Southwest Insurance Centre, Austin TX?

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Just like there are many reasons make you stick with a given clothes designer, so are the reasons that make a business entity or a person stick with a certain insurance company. In Texas City, the local government expects car owners to meet a certain minimum insurance coverage to be allowed to drive on the public roads. Southwest Insurance Center is one of the insurance companies that serves a considerable number of people in Austin, Tx. Some of the reasons why people in the city love the company is:

Affordability
Going through the customer review, one of the common things that all of them say is how affordable the services at Southwest Insurance Centre are. Regardless of what your cover is, the price is always within the client’s limits.

Availability of many covers
Finding an insurance company that covers all your personal and business demand saves you the time that would have been spent hopping from one company to another. Very many customers at Southwest Insurance Centre are very pleased with the fact that you can find car insurance cover, home insurance cover, boat insurance and Austin life insurance covers among others. Commercial insurance also covers a lot of business people providing them with cover from unforeseen lawsuits and catastrophes that may affect the normal business operations.

Good customer service
Besides offering you the best rates, you will also be served by a team of very professional and attentive customer care representatives and agents who handle each problem at a time and offers you the best solution possible. The agency will also ensure that you are well acquitted with Texas insurance requirements to ensure that your decisions are well informed.

It is not enough to get cover for your property or business, get the cover from an honest, professional and affordable agency.

 

 

Should You Add More Home Insurance Coverage During the Spring Storm Season?

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Storms are inevitable, and most homes can take the abuse of a storm without incurring any real damage. For other homes and other storm situations and locations, the storms might be high enough and frequent enough that you should adjust coverage each spring. For those that live in the Austin, TX area, the agents with Southwest Insurance Center can help you find the right coverage for you.

In most cases, the storm season is not so terribly strong or long that you need to alter coverage. For areas where tornado, frequent wind storms, or adamant storm seasons are the norm, however, you may want more coverage in the spring storm season just to be sure that you are covered. There is something to keep in mind, however. Most basic policies do not cover hurricane or flooding so you may need supplemental policies if this is the type of storm you are dealing with.

No matter what storms you might come across, adjusting coverage to suit the weather, the seasons and the storm patterns of your geographical location might be a good idea. Another instance in which adjustment might be necessary is if your area does experience lots of snow and ice each year. Though adjusting coverage might seem like a hassle, it also can save you money if you do have a claim that needs to be made.

Storm patterns and seasons vary from state to state and location to location, so it is important that you take note of your particular area and your particular situation when it comes to adjusting coverage. For those in the Austin, TX area, the agents with Southwest Insurance Center can help you to find the perfect spring storm season coverage.  

Moving Beyond Liability Coverage, Why You May Need More Auto Coverage in Austin, TX

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In Texas, as in most states, drivers are required to pay for accidents they cause.  Drivers must demonstrate financial responsibility.  The basic coverage is defined as 30/60/25.  This means that every driver needs a minimum of $30,000 if someone is injured.  Additionally, drivers must cover for $60,000 for an accident and $25,000 for property damage.   Often, people purchase minimum liability insurance.  While this provides protection for an accident and covers any medical costs if someone else is injured, it does not provide for the medical expenses of the policy holder if they are injured. 

Following an accident, your will have to repair your car.  Also, if you are injured, you will have medical expenses.  Further, if the policy does not provide sufficient funds to cover the medical expenses, they can sue the driver for the additional money.  These are things that may not be covered by a minimum liability insurance policy in Austin, TX. 

A more comprehensive insurance policy from Southwest Insurance Center, serving the Austin TX area, can provide drivers with better coverage.  Policies that provide coverage for uninsured/underinsured motorists, personal injury, comprehensive and collision can give you peace of mind.  If the automobile is financed, many lenders will require drivers to maintain either comprehensive or collision coverage to protect their investment.  If there is an accident, the driver will be able to repair or replace the car.  If destroyed, collision coverage policies provide for the value of the car less depreciation.  A comprehensive policy is broader in that it will pay for the repair or replacement in more situations such as theft or damage. 

The team at Southwest Insurance Center is ready to help you get the coverage you need.  Compare quotes online then visit with a knowledgeable agent today!