Monthly Archives: February 2012

Putting a new roof on your home is a big, expensive job. Educating yourself on roofing materials, warranties, and roofing contractors can save you money and headaches down the road.

Avoid using your workmanship warranty by choosing the right roofing contractor. Get a recommendation for an established, licensed or bonded roofer. Just as you have proof of your Long Island Home insurance you must verify their references, as well as certificates of insurance associated with their business insurance. Insist on a detailed, written estimate. The estimate should include all material and labor charges, as well as start date and estimated completion date. Payment schedules should be specifically enumerated. If you have doubts about the contractor, consult your local Better Business Bureau or check with the chamber of commerce.

Your roof’s materials will defend your home from wind, rain, hail, and possibly fire. Costs of a new roof vary greatly depending on the type of product used, and certain products are more common in different parts of the country. In fact, your homeowner’s association may even dictate the type of material required. To compare prices, it is important to know how roofing materials are measured. A roof is measured in “squares,” and a square is 100 square feet of area, or a 10-foot-by-10-foot section. If your roof has a steep pitch, you can expect increased costs due to the greater safety concern and installation time.

Check the ratings on the roofing material you want to install. Standards exist to measure the products resistance to wind and fire. A test designed by Underwriters’ Laboratories, UL 2218 testing, measures a roofing products resistance to hail. Under that test, Class 4 roofing is anticipated to provide the greatest impact resistance to hail.

Roofing products receive a  Class A ratings which indicate the roofing material is effective against severe fire exposure, Class B ratings are effective against moderate fire exposure, and Class C ratings are effective against light fire exposure. Use your common sense to determine the basic fire resistance of a given type of shingle; i.e., a wood shake shingle will afford less protection than a clay shingle.

As with any consumer product, read the warranty’s fine print carefully! Save one wrapper from a bundle of shingles to keep on hand in case you have to consult the warranty. Different types of warranties include:

·         Pro-rated – claims paid based on the age of the roof.

·         First owner – subsequent owners of the roof are not covered.

·         Flat roof warranty fee – a warranty for a flat roof may not be cost-effective. Check with your contractor for other options.

·         Wind – applies only to roof damage caused by wind.

·         Hail – applies only to damage caused by hail.

·         Materials and defects – if your contractor installs the product incorrectly, you can bet the manufacturer will not cover resulting damage.

·         Workmanship – the terms of your workmanship warranty should be written into the contract for service and will vary depending what the parties negotiate.

By educating yourself and following a few suggestions, you can choose the right roofing materials for your home avoid any resulting problems and negotiate a contract with a reputable contractor, all the while ensuring your home is protected from the elements for years to come. Always protect your home with Long Island Home insurance.

With mortgage loans harder than ever to obtain, many homeowners are opting to remodel their existing homes rather than move to a new home. This may be especially true in high cost real estate areas, such as Long Island. Home insurance costs are often affected by a remodel, so there are many things to consider before starting your project.

While building structures from wood may be cheaper, they also result in higher insurance rates due to their increased flammability. Conversely, structures built from cement and steel may help lower your rates. Consider the durability and maintenance requirements and the susceptibility of the materials to weather damage when deciding what materials to use.

Those who live in a coastal region or flood zone should carefully determine if any home additions could increase their home’s risk of flooding. These risks can greatly affect your insurance costs and should be avoided if at all possible.

Taking out a loan for your remodeling project may also increase your home’s insurance premium, particularly if your original mortgage is paid off. Insurers typically lower the rates for homeowners who own their home outright due to the simple philosophy that you take better care of items that fully belong to you.

Now could be a great time to remodel your home, providing you plan ahead to avoid spending more money in the future on your home. Long Island home insurance for you property may need to be increased if you’ve made substantial changes. So be sure to contact an agent to learn more about how your renovations might affect your coverage!

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A living trust may seem necessary only for the wealthy or those with complicated estates. But a living trust can be advantageous for many people:

Know what it is.

A living trust is an arrangement under which one person — a trustee — holds legal title to property for another person — the beneficiary. You can even be the trustee of your own living trust

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Know the advantages.

A living trust averts the delay and additional expense of probate (a very public legal process that examines someone’s estate after the person dies.)

A living trust allows for suitable control of assets should a person become unable to make his or her own decisions.

Terms of the trust and information concerning income and assets are generally not public in states that don’t require court supervision of trust administration. “Court files for probate proceedings can generally be reviewed by anyone who cares to take the trouble to go to the court house and look through the file,” says Chicago attorney Gregory Norwell.

Last, living trusts are generally no more expensive to draw up than a conventional will. There are also software programs and books that can walk you through a do-it-yourself process.

You may have purchased New York homeowners insurance as financial protection for the loss of the possessions inside your home, and fitted strong locks on windows and doors to keep out burglars, but how safe are the possessions you store in your garage or shed?

Burglars are attracted to valuable portable items that can be sold quickly. Of course jewelry, laptop computers and smart phones that are stored in your home fall into that category – but so do the power tools, sporting equipment and bicycles that you store in outbuildings.

Your garage or shed may be less secure from burglars than your residence.  Make sure that doors and door frames are strong enough to withstand attack by a burglar, and are secured by strong locks or padlocks. Pay attention to window security, too: consider replacing glass panels with shatterproof material, fitting strong window locks and window grills. As secondary security within outbuildings, make sure that ladders and bicycles are padlocked.

Items stored in your shed or garage are likely to be expensive to replace if they are stolen. Read the terms of your New York home owners insurance policy if you are not sure whether items stored in outbuildings are covered by insurance, and talk to your agent or insurer if you need to increase coverage or take out separate insurance for property that is stored outside your home.

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For the 9^th year, Bethpage Federal Credit Union, Long Island’s largest community financial institution, will help low to moderate-income households on Long Island prepare their tax returns for free, by offering the government’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program at 12 of its branch locations.

Bethpage’s Farmingdale branch has started offering VITA, and will continue through April 11, 2012.  One hundred and fifty IRS certified volunteers, including bilingual tax assistors, will be available to meet with eligible taxpayers with 2011 incomes of $49,000 and below.  One need not be a Bethpage member to qualify.  VITA services will be available on Wednesday evenings and Saturday afternoons in 12 Bethpage branches including Freeport, Hempstead, Massapequa, Elmont, Westbury, Roosevelt, Bay Shore, Farmingdale, Central Islip, Patchogue, West Babylon and Riverhead branches.

For specific times and branch addresses, go to www.lovebethpage.com  or call (800) 628-7070.

Householders who automatically renew New York homeowners insurance or auto insurance coverage every year may be missing opportunities to reduce their insurance costs. Rather than simply writing a check for insurance premiums and then forgetting the matter for another year, consult our insurance agency; we’ll be happy to obtain a variety of insurance quotes for you and help you to compare offers and find ways of reducing insurance premiums.

Shopping around for insurance is the best way to ensure that you get good value. For example, some groups of policy holders are considered to be low risk by different insurers and may be offered incentives that can reduce insurance costs.

• Retired homeowners who spend a lot of time at home are considered to be at lower risk of burglary than people who leave their homes empty when they go to work.
• Motorists with flawless driving records are considered to be safe drivers and may qualify for discounted auto insurance premiums. 
• Homes that have modern electrical wiring are considered to be less likely than older homes to suffer fire damage as a result of electrical faults.
• Purchasing homeowner’s coverage from the same insurer that provides your auto insurance may qualify you for a multi-policy discount.

We can help you by identifying opportunities for credits, discounts and other incentives that could reduce the cost of New York homeowners insurance and auto insurance. Call us today, and we can start working with you to get the best homeowners and auto insurance deals!

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Every policyholder can include one or more properties in their Business Insurance NY policy. There are three types of property that the named insured can select and add to the insuring declarations, depending on the business owner’s specific insurance needs:

·         Building – this refers to the buildings specified in the policy’s declarations and all finished adjacent structures, indoor and outdoor fixtures, equipment and machinery on the premises.

·         Business Personal Property of the insured business owner inside the insured building, on its premises or in close proximity to the premises. Commercial building insurance covers all kinds of personal property used for the purposes of the business, such as fixtures, computers, furniture, different appliances and machinery, etc. In addition, any improvements made to the building or part of the building, are also covered under commercial building insurance.

·         Personal Property belonging to others, which the insured is in control or care of, is also covered.

·         A number of extra coverages are also included in a commercial building insurance policy. Examples of situations covered under commercial building insurance, include removal of debris expenses, the cost of restoring electronic data, removal of pollutants expenses, property preservation and increased construction costs.

The commercial building insurance coverage can also include other property provided that the policy declarations include a coinsurance provision of at least 80 percent. The following types of property extensions can be additionally applied:

·         Outdoor property;

·         Property located off the main premises;

·         Property that has been constructed or acquired after the policy has come into effect;

·         Recovering of valuable records and data, etc.