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 Rental property insurance is one of the areas that we focus on and specialize in at the Roberts Insurance Group. We've helped many investors throughout the state insure their rental properties with the very best coverage available. A question we hear all of the time is: who has the best rental property insurance in Georgia?
Landlord Insurance Rental property insurance is very commonly referred to as landlord insurance. Landlord insurance differs from homeowners insurance in that the coverage is designed and rated specifically for rental properties. Trying to cover a rental property with a homeowners policy would be far more costly and coverage would be limited. Dwelling Coverage Similar to a homeowners policy, a landlord policy will have dwelling coverage that protects the home. It is important to make sure the home is insured at full replacement cost. Something we see in the marketplace is that many landlord policies only insure the dwelling for Actual Cash Value (ACV). ACV means that depreciation will be deducted from any claim pay out, in addition to your deductible. This is NOT the coverage you want for your investment. Personal Property One of the main things that differs between homeowners policies and landlord policies is the personal property coverage. Homeowners policies typically come with a larger amount of personal property coverage. Since you (the landlord) aren't living there, this high of coverage typically isn't needed. However, you will still want to have some coverage available for things like appliances, curtains, blinds, drapes, etc. And if you have a short term rental property (like Air BnB), then you'll want to account for the furniture as well. Liability Coverage Similar to homeowners policies, landlord policies will have liability coverage packaged in. Liability coverage will help protect you, as the property owner, from lawsuits brought against you for bodily injury on the property, among other things. If your rental property is covered as a homeowners policy, the liability coverage will not extend, which is why it is very important to have your rental property correctly insured. Loss Of Rent/Income Arguably the most important coverage for your rental property will be coverage to protect your cash flow. This is called loss of rent of loss of income coverage. If there is a claim that arises and the home is uninhabitable, then this coverage will pay for your loss of income until it is able to be rented out again. Other Things To Consider: Short Term Rental vs Long Term Rental With the rise of things like Air BnB and VRBO, many investors are starting to rent their properties out on a short term basis. It is VERY important to have your home rated for short term tenants instead of for long term tenants. Why? Because not all insurance companies like to insure short term rental properties. If a claim arises while your home is being rented out for short term rental and your policy isn't written properly, your claim will be denied and you'll be stuck paying out of pocket to fix the damage AND you won't have access to loss of rent coverage OR liability coverage if there is a lawsuit. This would be a nightmare for any investor. Commercial Policy vs Personal Policy (DP3) When it comes to landlord insurance, many landlords will choose the insure their properties on a commercial property instead of a personal policy (DP3). A commercial policy will allow insureds to insure their properties in the name of an LLC, schedule as many properties as they want, and provide uniform coverage and deductibles across all of their properties, and increased commercial general liability limits. Some carriers will allow personal policies (DP3s) to be written in the name of an LLC under certain circumstances and some will allows you to schedule properties on one policy (up to a certain limit), but there are often limitations that make it difficult for an investor or group with a big portfolio. So Which Carrier Is The Best? In addition to having your policy written and rated properly, you want to make sure you're getting a good price so that you, the investor, can get the very best value for your landlord insurance. Rates will be based on many different factors, including the location, short term vs long term rental, home characteristics, pervious claim experience, and more. It is important to work with an independent agent that has access to dozens of different carriers to make sure you're getting the very best value. Below is a list of companies we've had recent success placing rental properties with:
If you're a new investor or not happy with the coverage and service provided by. your current company, give us a call at the Roberts Insurance Group at 678-250-8133. We work with many investors throughout the state to protect their investments and their wealth. The Roberts Insurance Group is a Georgia Insurance Broker specializing in commercial and personal insurance for our clients throughout the state of Georgia. We help our clients lower their cost of insurance with our superior claim and risk management expertise and our extensive carrier access. We are in the business of building relationships with our clients to help them grow and succeed. Contact us today to see what we can do for your family or business.  If you've had a commercial auto policy in Georgia for any length of time, you've probably felt the pain involved in paying for your commercial auto insurance. It probably feels like, year after year, your premiums keep rising and it keeps cutting into your profits. Something we do at the Roberts Insurance Group is work with our clients to develop actionable plans and strategies to lower their premiums and total cost of risk, which increases your business' profit. Before we go over the Top 6 Ways to Reduce Your Commercial Auto Insurance Premiums, I want to say that 1 thing YOU SHOULD NOT DO is decrease your liability insurance. If you have an agent or broker that has recommended that, then you should run the other way because that agent just wants to sell you a policy and they do not care about the financial well being of you or your company. The Top 6 Ways To Reduce Your Commercial Auto Premiums In Georgia Company Experience Just like with personal auto insurance, your company's commercial auto experience is a major factor in what you pay for your commercial auto insurance in Georgia. If your business has recent claims on the record, then you're going to be paying much more than a similar business that is claims free. In addition, companies with lapses in coverage are going to pay significantly more than businesses that do not lapse their insurance. Driver Experience Now, more than ever, it is vital to hire and retain employees with good driving records. This will help keep your commercial auto premiums in check now and in the long term. It is a good practice for your business to run Motor Vehicle Reports and Background checks on every new driver hired. In addition, depending on the industry, it is important to run periodic MVRs on drivers. Safety Training & Regular Vehicle Maintenance Safety training, like defensive driving courses, are critical to keeping your commercial auto insurance premiums low. Even though it may seem very straightforward, research shows that simple things like periodic safety training for drivers and regular maintenance for your vehicles will reduce claim frequency by over 30%. Reducing, minimizing, and eliminating claims is the #1 way reduce your commercial auto insurance premiums and increase your company's profits. Post Accident Training This goes hand-in-hand for reducing your workers compensation premium as well. All employees need to be training on what to do after an accident and your business needs to be quick in getting claims reported to the carrier. Accidents are a part of life, which is why they are called accidents and why insurance exists. However, minimizing the claim pay outs after an accident is a major factor in reducing your commercial auto (and workers compensation) premiums long-term. Pay In Full Many carriers will offer a discount for paying your premium in full for the year. With some carriers, it is minimal. With others, it is pretty significant. Ask your broker what discounts or premium reduction is available for paying the policy in full. Work With An Independent Agent Or Broker That Has Access To Several Markets When it comes to commercial auto insurance in Georgia, it's more important now than ever to have as many options as possible. If it has been years since your policies have been reviewing or re-marketed or if your agent or broker is only checking with a couple of carriers, chances are, you've been over paying for your insurance for quite some time. We do not recommend shopping your insurance at every renewal by any means. However, having your agent or broker check the market every few years is a good practice to implement to ensure you're not overpaying in the ever-changing commercial auto insurance market in Georgia. If your agent or broker has not discussed these things with you, give us a call at The Roberts Insurance Group at 678-250-8133. We're commercial auto specialists that would love the opportunity to help your business! The Roberts Insurance Group is a Georgia Insurance Broker specializing in commercial and personal insurance for our clients throughout the state of Georgia. We help our clients lower their cost of insurance with our superior claim and risk management expertise and our extensive carrier access. We are in the business of building relationships with our clients to help them grow and succeed. Contact us today to see what we can do for your family or business.  Garagekeepers Insurance- Running An Auto Service Business In Georgia Is Never Easy
As an auto service business, having the right insurance plan in place is vital to protecting and growing your business. When your clients leave their car in your care, it is up to you and your company to ensure their vehicles issue is repaired properly and that it is returned to them in a better condition then when they dropped it off. Of course, accidents happen, which is why they are called accidents- no one plans on having them. This is why every auto services business in Georgia needs Garagekeepers liability insurance. What Does Garagekeeper's Liability Insurance Cover? Garagekeeper's Liability Insurance provides comprehensive anfd collision insurance coverage for vehicles that are left in the care of a garage or auto services business. Whether you own a dealership, service shop, body shop, or detailing facility, Garagekeepers is what you need to make sure your clients' vehicles are fully covered while in your custody and control. As an auto services business, the last thing you would want is to damage a client's vehicle and have no way to pay to repair it. This is why you need Garagekeeper's insurance. The next question is, what kind of Garagekeeper's insurance do you need? Types of Garagekeeper's Insurance There are many types of Garagekeeper's Insurance. For today, we are going to focus on the 2 most common types: Legal Liability and Direct Primary. Legal Liability This is the cheaper of the 2 most common options. Just like everything else in the world, cheaper isn't better. Why? Because legal liability Garagekeeper's insurance will only pay out if you or one of your employees is legally liable for the damage done to a client's vehicle that is in your possession. If legal liability can't be proven, then the insurance company will deny your claim and your client will be required to file the claim under their own policy OR you could pay/fix/replace the vehicle out of your own pocket. If your client has to file under their policy, pay their deductible, and have their insurance rates increase because you just cared about having cheap coverage, do you think they will do business with you again? NO. Do you think they will make negative reviews online? YES. Do you think they will tell others not to do business with you? YES. Now that we've explained the downfall of saving a few bucks to get legal liability Garagekeepers, let's discuss what your business really needs: Direct Primary Garagekeeper's. Direct Primary Direct Primary Garagekeeper's Liability pays for comprehensive and collision damage for your client's vehicle in your care, whether you are legally liable for the damage or not. Their insurance company will never get involved. This is a great way to make sure your business thrives and you build rapport with your client's and the community. Hopefully this won't happen very often with your auto services business. But when they do, you'll be glad you had Direct Primary Garagekeeper's Liability Insurance to fix your client's vehicle quickly and efficiently. Do you really want to ever be in the position of having to explain to your client that your insurance company won't pay to fix their car because you were just wanting the cheapest possible option? No and your clients don't care if you are legally liable or not. To them, they dropped their car off with you and they expect it to be returned in one piece, not with an excuse on why it isn't. The Roberts Insurance Group is a Georgia Insurance Broker specializing in commercial and personal insurance for our clients throughout the state of Georgia. We help our clients lower their cost of insurance with our superior claim and risk management expertise and our extensive carrier access. We are in the business of building relationships with our clients to help them grow and succeed. Contact us today to see what we can do for your family or business.  How Much Does Commercial Auto Insurance Cost In Georgia?
This is a tough question with a ton of different factors. In general though, it would be pretty common for a small business with small operations to pay about $1,000 per year for liability insurance on a commercial auto policy and closer to $2,000 per year for a vehicle that needed physical damage coverage like comprehensive and collision coverage. As discussed, there are so many different factors that play a role in what type of coverage your business needs and how much you will pay for the coverage. Below are some of the main factors that will impact your rates for commercial auto insurance: Driver Record and Claims History Similar to personal auto insurance, your company's claim history and the driving record for your employees will play a major role in what you end up paying for your commercial auto insurance. Company's with frequent and/or sever claims in the last few years will pay more than a similar company was 0 claims. Company's that employee drivers with moving violations will pay more than those that don't. Vehicle Type Vehicle type will play a major role in what your business pays for commercial auto insurance. It costs far less to insure a small sedan versus a semi-truck or tractor. Gross vehicle weight and the insurance company's claim history with certain vehicles are the driving forces behind the discrepancies. Company Operations and Industry Specifics How your company operates will be a major factor in how much you pay for commercial auto insurance in Georgia. For instance, a company that has a commercial vehicle to run occasional errands presents a smaller risk than one that has drivers going to 14 different job sites in a day. A company that makes several deliveries in one day presents a different risk than a company that makes infrequent deliveries or none at all. In addition, companies that use their vehicles to travel to, or haul, all across the country present more of a risk than a company that operates exclusively in a 25 mile radius. These are just a handful of the many things that go into rating your commercial auto policy in Georgia. It is important that you discuss everything with your agent, so that you can make sure your business is properly protected in the event of an accident. They are called accidents for a reason- no one plans on having them. The last thing you would want is for your business to go under due to a claim that isn't covered. If you haven't discussed these things with your agent, then give us a call right way! We would love the opportunity to provide value to your company and ensure that your business is properly protected. Call us at 678-250-8133 TODAY to see how we can help with your commercial auto policy! The Roberts Insurance Group is a Georgia Insurance Broker specializing in commercial and personal insurance for our clients throughout the state of Georgia. We help our clients lower their cost of insurance with our superior claim and risk management expertise and our extensive carrier access. We are in the business of building relationships with our clients to help them grow and succeed. Contact us today to see what we can do for your family or business.  Builders' Risk - Also Known As Construction Insurance
Builders' Risk Insurance is an insurance policy that covers a builder or contractor's property, construction materials, and equipment while a project or building is under construction. In today's world, legislation has been passed in most states that require builders or contractors to purchase a builders risk policy, especially when it relates to commercial construction and new home developments. So How Does Builders' Risk Differ From Commercial Property Insurance? The big difference between a Builders' Risk policy and a Commercial Property policy is that a Builders' Risk policy is tailored to a specific job or project and will cover the property and materials from the beginning stages of the project all the way to the project completion. A standard Commercial Property policy WILL NOT cover the risk specific to building or renovating, which is why you need a Builders' Risk policy. This includes things like damage to the construction site due to weather events or vandalism. For instance, if your company is constructing a building and half way through the construction, a tornado wipes out the building entirely, a Builder's Risk policy is THE ONLY policy that is going to pay for the loss and reconstruction. A Commercial Property policy WILL NOT cover that. How Much Should You Be Paying For Builder's Risk Insurance In Georgia? This is a difficult question because there are many factors that play a role in the rate and pricing. The cost of the policy are generally going to be 1-2% of the total construction budget but can sometimes be less depending on what kind of carrier access your broker has. Some of the other factors include:
Builders' Risk Coverage Specifics
Who Pays For The Builders' Risk Policy?
Types of Builders' Risk Policies
Things to Know Before You Purchase A Builders' Risk Policy
Builders' Risk policies are not your typical "standard" commercial insurance policies. Every project is unique and your Builders' Risk policy needs to be tailored to fit your project's needs. This is where The Roberts Insurance Group can help. We specialize in working with contractors and construction projects all around Georgia and can make sure your project is getting the very best coverage for the very best price. Give us a call at 678-250-8133 to see how we can help with your Builders' Risk policy! The Roberts Insurance Group is a Georgia Insurance Broker specializing in commercial and personal insurance for our clients throughout the state of Georgia. We help our clients lower their cost of insurance with our superior claim and risk management expertise and our extensive carrier access. We are in the business of building relationships with our clients to help them grow and succeed. Contact us today to see what we can do for your family or business.  When it comes to business insurance in Georgia, there's a few different ways you can buy insurance for your business:
1. You can buy online or direct through a carrier- DIY Insurance 2. You can buy through a captive agent 3. You can have your problem solved with an independent insurance agency Do-It-Yourself Business Insurance This is a really bad idea and the worst of your 3 options. This is when you try to buy insurance without the help of a licensed agent. It's like trying to diagnose yourself for a medical condition through WebMD. Why is it a bad idea? It is unlikely that you're aware of all of the different coverage options and how they may be able to apply to your business. In addition, you probably aren't aware with what coverage limits will be applicable to your business based on the operations. At the end of the day, if there is a claim that isn't covered and it could have or should have been, that's 100% on you and you'll be paying out of pocket. 99 out of 100 times, a licensed insurance agent is going to give you much better advice and insight into the available coverage options and help you find a plan that works best for you and your business. If they do make a mistake or give you bad advice, they're insured for that through their errors and omissions insurance policy. . Another major reason to avoid DIY business insurance is that you're probably going to end up paying way more than you have to for one of 2 reasons:
Buying Through A Captive Agency When you buy insurance through a captive agency (State Farm, Geico, Allstate, etc.) you're buying from a company that usually has just one option available for you. These agents are often very knowledgeable when it comes to the features of their products (because they only have one line of products to master) but you, as the business owner and consumer, are only getting that one option. This would be like going to dinner to a restaurant that only offered one appetizer, one entree, and one desert. With the limited options, there are many times that the captive agency may not be the best fit for a particular company both because of the price they charge and the coverage offered. We see policies from captive agencies every day that do not have vital coverage such as cyber, EPLI, professional liability, and more. Lastly, it is unlikely that one company would be the best fit for all of a businesses needs. Many businesses have complex needs that includes many different policies packaged together. If you have your liability, business property, commercial auto, and workers comp all with one company, chances are you're paying more than you need to and missing out on important coverages and features. You're losing money today and when there is a loss to the business. As businesses grow, evolve, and change, it is important to have options. Solving Your Problem With An Independent Insurance Agency The third way to buy business insurance is with the use of an independent insurance agency or broker. Independent insurance agencies, like The Roberts Insurance Group, tend to specialize more in commercial insurance and have access to hundreds of carriers and markets to best fit your business' needs and budget. An independent insurance agent will shop your coverage around to make sure your company is getting the very best price and coverage available, giving you the best overall value. This is exactly what we do for our clients at the Roberts Insurance Group. We make sure the businesses we insure have the coverage they need at the best possible price available. We're the business insurance specialists in Canton, GA and can help you navigate the market and workforce changes to guarantee you're getting the right coverage without being overcharged. Give us a call today at 678-250-8133 to see what we can do for your business! The Roberts Insurance Group is a Georgia Insurance Broker specializing in commercial and personal insurance for our clients throughout the state of Georgia. We help our clients lower their cost of insurance with our superior claim and risk management expertise and our extensive carrier access. We are in the business of building relationships with our clients to help them grow and succeed. Contact us today to see what we can do for your family or business.  Workers Compensation premiums is a hot-button topic for most business owners throughout Georgia. Not only can it be expensive, but it can be very difficult and time-consuming to fully understand. Lucky for you, we're going to break down the basics and discuss the top 3 reasons you're probably overpaying for your workers compensation insurance. Reason #1: Your Workers Compensation Experience Modification Rate Is Not Accurate If you've had workers compensation for any period of time, you may have heard of a term called an "Experience Modification Factor" or "Experience Modification Rate", often times abbreviated as "E-Mod". The E-Mod is a multiplier applied to your premium, based on your loss history (claims) relative to other businesses in your industry (your competitors). The base e-mod is 1.0, meaning your premiums are average for your line of work. Those who have been in business for a while and have not had many (or any) claims, may receive an e-mod of less than 1.0, 0.8 for instance. This means that your workers comp premium is multiplied by 0.8, which will give you a lower premium than the average business in your industry. This essentially works as a 20% discount and gives you a leg-up on your competitors. On the flip side, businesses who have had larger losses may receive a higher e-mod, like 1.5 for instance. In this scenario, the base premium is multiplied by 1.5, giving a 50% higher premium than the average business in the industry, which translates to a 50% surcharge on the policy. This puts your business at a disadvantage with your competition. So What Can You Do About Your E-Mod? The fact is, about 65% of e-mods are not accurate. There has been a miscalculation, or inaccurate reporting, that has led to the NCCI or the carrier calculating the wrong experience mod. The way we fix this is by doing an experience modification audit and presenting it to NCCI to have the rate corrected. In addition, many times we see that claims have been mismanaged. In these instances, companies have the option to pay for things out of pocket or reimburse the insurance company for claims-paid that will lower their e-mod (and save even more on their premiums). We will touch on this again in Reason #3. Reason #2: Your Company Is Bidding Out Their Workers Comp To Multiple Brokers Every Renewal On the surface, this probably seems like a good idea. In the commercial insurance world, it is not. It actually can cause your rates to go up, higher than they should, over time. Why, you ask? When underwriters receive submissions from multiple brokers every year or see in your insurance history that your business changes companies every year, your business is no longer a target account because they know you will leave to save $1 in the future. When new accounts are underwritten, their goal is to keep you as a client for several years. When you make decisions and actions that indicate otherwise, they know longer have an incentive to bring you on as a new insured. Something more practical would be finding an agent or broker that you trust, that has access to several carriers that serve your industry and serve it well. When it does come time to shop your coverage, underwriters are going to be much more willing to work with you and your broker to give you the very best value possible, so as to bring you on as a new client and keep you for years to come. Reason #3: Your Company Does Not Have a Risk Management Plan There is so much more that goes into risk management than an insurance policy. With as tricky as workers compensation premiums are nowadays, it is good to align with an agent or broker that helps you develop a sound risk management strategy outside of solely relying on your insurance. What Do I Mean By That? As a business, your company needs to have a claims management strategy, a safety training program, and a return to work program. All of these are things that you can implement to help eliminate or lower the severity or frequency of claims. Doing this will lower your premiums long term and your business will pay much less for your workers compensation and other types of insurance. For example, would you pay $3,000 today for an injury to keep your premiums from rising $30,000 over the next 3 years? Would you implement an inexpensive safety program to prevent claims so that your premiums won't rise? Would you offer your injured an employee light duty work responsibilities to get them back to earning a living if it meant it would save you $50,000 in excess workers comp premiums? Yes, of course you would. These are no-brainers. If you aren't getting this kind of advice for your commercial broker, contact us today at 678-250-8133! The Roberts Insurance Group is a Georgia Insurance Broker specializing in commercial and personal insurance for our clients throughout the state of Georgia. We help our clients lower their cost of insurance with our superior claim and risk management expertise and our extensive carrier access. We are in the business of building relationships with our clients to help them grow and succeed. Contact us today to see what we can do for your family or business.  If your business has had workers compensation insurance in the past, you're probably familiar with the end-of-term audit that comes with it. For those Georgia business owners who aren't familiar, workers compensation premiums have a required audit attached to it.
Workers Comp Premium Audit Explained: Essentially, when you start a workers comp policy, the premium is estimated based off of your company's estimated premiums and associated job roles. More or less, what you tell your agent or broker. At the end of the policy period, the insurance company will audit your payroll to ensure that you were charged the appropriate premium. If you overstated your payroll before the policy period, the insurance company will refund you the over payment. If you understated your payroll, you will get hit with an additional premium invoice for the underpayment. So How Can Pay As You Go Workers Comp Billing Help? The number one reason to take advantage of the Pay As Yo Go option is to avoid getting hit with a large additional premium bill. We see this all of the time with new businesses and contractors who underestimate their payroll or use of subcontractors at the beginning of a term. The increase in premium is usually hefty- often several thousand dollars depending on your business. With the Pay As You Go option, this is totally avoided because you report your payroll and your premium is adjusted in real time. Whether you pay your employees monthly, bi-weekly, or monthly, the Pay As You Go workers comp billing structure will accommodate changes to your payroll and you'll avoid getting hit with a big bill. As I was writing this, I received an email from a client that we switched to Pay As You Go mid-term. She said, "I'm SO glad we made this change because I owed a good bit in back pay for workers comp so I certainly would've received another large bill if we kept going as we were". What Carriers Offer This Option? Pay As You Go is still a new concept in the workers compensation world. However, most of the larger workers comp insurers have adopted this as an option. If you're interested in taking advantage of this for your business, you need to communicate this to your broker and have them place you with a company that offers it. If you don't have access to a carrier that offers this, then contact us today at 678-250-8133 and we'll get you and your business taken care of! The Roberts Insurance Group is a Georgia Insurance Broker specializing in commercial and personal insurance for our clients throughout the state of Georgia. We help our clients lower their cost of insurance with our superior claim and risk management expertise and our extensive carrier access. We are in the business of building relationships with our clients to help them grow and succeed. Contact us today to see what we can do for your family or business. |
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