H.B. Cantrell & Co
It's not just insurance....it's protection. 
 
In this issue....
        • Ways to reduce your insurance costs
        • Taking a home inventory
        • How to determine the value of a used vehicle
        • How to "think" in scary times
October 2008 
Ways to Reduce Your Insurance Costs
 
Many people have been asking me about ways to try to reduce their costs for their policies.  Below please find a few ways to do this for your business and personal policies.
 
Personal Auto and Home
  • Increase your deductibles - We rarely recommend any deductible lower than $1000 today. Check your policy and see what your deductible is on your policy. It is rare that we would advise someone to file a claim less than $2500. With that being the case, wouldn't it make sense to take advantage of the credit?
  • Make sure you have your auto and homeowner's with the same carrier. You can receive as much as a 10% credit for the auto/home discount.
  • Review your auto policy for older vehicles that may justify deleting the comprehensive and collision coverage. Just be aware, by eliminating that coverage, you are self-insuring that risk.

Business Policies

  • Review the payroll and sales amounts on your policies. Most policies are rated by sales and payroll, and if they are down, the cost of the insurance will be down.
  • Review your deductibles. Just like with your homeowners, a $1000 or $2500 deductible can help to reduce the costs.
  • Evaluate contracts that may have required high limits in the past. Many companies have done work that required as much as $5,000,000 in unbrella coverage.  If those jobs are complete, you may find that coverage amount is too much for today's environment.
 
Taking a Home Inventory
Having valuables documented makes the claims process smoother 
 
When Kirsten called Wednesday morning, she had just come back from her morning walk. Kirsten found her home had been burglarized.  The television was gone.  And her jewelry box was missing.  This could have been disastrous except that Kirsten had taken the time to document all her high value jewelry and it was covered on her homeowner's insurance.  She had taken pictures, had appraisals done, and added a schedule to cover these items in case they were lost or stolen.  
 
Take the time to know your stuff.  Do a home inventory and get your valuables covered.  Have your jewelry appraised and then keep those appraisals current as the price of gold and silver fluctuates on the market. Add an itemized schedule to your coverage so that you can recoup your loss.
 
Do a home inventory and keep the information off-site.  This documentation will help make your claim process smooth and prompt.  For more information about taking a home inventory, visit www.iii.org.
 
How to Determine the Value of a Vehicle
If you are trying to determine how much your vehicle is worth, whether it is to sell it or trade it in, I suggest you visit these sites:  Kelly Blue Book which has been used for many years.  The other more recent resource is Edmunds.  Both sites will provide good information about the value of your vehicle.
 
Kelly Blue Book   www.kbb.com
Edmunds           www.edmunds.com
 
Scary Times Success Manual
Excerpt from "Strategic Coach"
 
I participate in an ongoing growth program called Strategic Coach.  Their founder, Dan Sullivan, has published some thoughts on how to "think" in these economic times.  Below are the 10 items he writes about.  I have also provided a link to the complete article that can be read via .pdf or downloaded as a .wav audio file for listening.
 
1.  Forget about yourself, focus on others.
2.  Forget about your commodity, focus on your relationships.
3.  Forget about the sale, focus on creating value.
4.  Forget about your losses, focus on your opportunities.
5.  Forget about your difficulties, focus on your progress.
6.  Forget about the "future", focus on today.
7.  Forget about who you were, focus on who you can be.
8.  Forget about events, focus on your responses.
9.  Forget about what's missing, focus on what's available.
10.  Forget about your complaints, focus on your gratitude.
 
Below is the web address to redirect you to his site for the complete article: 
 
 
John Cantrell
H.B. Cantrell & Co
704-954-9000
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