Insure What? #2 Auto Liability

Auto Insurance Liability:

Liability: What the insurance company pays on your behalf if you are named at fault in an accident.

When you look at your insurance policy you may see something that looks like this:

Liability BI 25,000/50,000
Liability PD 25,000

If you already know what this means, just skip this post. For those of you who would like to know more...read on. The BI stands for Bodily Injury (that you cause to the people you hit) and the PD stands for Property Damage (that you cause to the people you hit). The first number in the BI category is payment per person, the second number in the BI category is per accident (more than one person injured).

If the policy above was your policy, if you had an at fault accident, your insurance company would pay up to $25,000 for bodily injury and $50,000 for bodily injury per accident. Property damage doesn't just cover the person's vehicle. It covers ALL property you damage, including fences, buildings, mailboxes, more than one vehicle etc. So you would be covered for up to $25,000 for property damage. Any bodily injury or property damage you cause beyond these limits is up to you to pay, which is the topic of my next subject.

DON'T EVER SETTLE FOR THE STATES LEGAL LIMITS. By law, Arkansas requires you, as a driver, to carry liability limits of BI25,000/BI50,000/PD25,000 (25/50/25) Now let me just say that if you have an at fault accident and you hit a new vehicle and total it, more than likely $25,000 will not pay for that vehicle. I mean most of you drive a vehicle that you paid more than $25,000 for right? You personally will be held responsible to pay anything over $25,000.

In this same accident, if you total a vehicle, more than likely there will be some type of injury. If you have ever gone to the hospital, you know how expensive things can get, and now days $25,000 may not cover the injury caused. Especially if there are some broken bones or some hospital stay involved. What if you hit a suburban with eight passengers and they are all injured? I don't think $50,000 would cover injury if it was a bad incident. So please, for me, at least carry 50/100/50 or higher. It's not much more expensive, I'm talking dollars here. This is just my opinion but if your required to carry it, why not pay a few dollars more and get coverage that can keep you out of debt??

The only reason you should ever carry state minimum limits is if you have enough money set aside to cover you, should you have a major accident. This is called self insuring. But remember, raising limits from 25/50/25 to 50/100/50 or even to 100/300/100 is only a few dollars more a month and may be worth it!
Again, this is my opinion and my opinion only :)

Insure what?

Ok so this post will educate those three of you reading my blog on Insurance . Most people hate insurance in general. I hear all the time "it's a rip off!" and "insurance people are crooks." Well I can't say that all insurance companies are wonderful and honest, because everything has it's negative sides, but not all insurance agents and insurance companies are out to get you. If you'll learn a little bit about Insurance coverages then you'll never have to worry.

Here are a few tips:

1. Pick and agent that you know and trust, or find an agent and get to know him/her. How can you trust someone you don't know?? Also, the more your Agent knows about you, the more he can help you with your insurance needs to make sure that all your bases are covered, even if you didn't know they weren't.


2. Make sure your Agent knows what he/she is talking about and has an insurance license!


3. Make sure your Agent goes over each policy that you have, and make sure you understand exactly what is and isn't covered.


4. Shop insurance companies every few years. You never know if your paying to much if you don't check around. Rates may change every few years. Independent Insurance Companies have the ability to shop your insurance through all the companies they represent and find you a better price. The good thing about this is you don't have to change agents. Captive agents (State Farm, Farm Bureau, Farmers, etc) only have one price and one option and to find a better price you have to find another Agent.


5. Make sure the Insurance company you choose is a solid company. A.M.Best's ratings is a good way to check the company out.


6. If you ever have a claim, call your Agent first, then call the company claim number. Your Agent may be able to offer you advise that will save you in the long run.


7. Ask your Agent if you are getting every discount available, sometimes there are some discounts you qualify for that you aren't getting.


8. Insuring your Home and Auto insurance with the same company often saves you a lot of money.


9. When buying a new car, ask your insurance company if they offer GAP insurance before you buy it from the dealer. Often insurance companies can sell it packaged into your auto policy for a lot cheaper.


10. Buy insurance from me!! jenna@thomasins.net

These are opinions of mine and opinions only. :) And to those of you reading that aren't related to me, and don't know, I sell insurance for Thomas Real Estate & Insurance Co. I do this on a daily basis so I do know what I'm talking about.

Little Birdie

Let's call this post, Birdie Plays in the Mud.

I don't want to be a stick in the mud....

I want to be in the mud!!

There's something in this hole!

There's a crawdad in there!

Wait I think I see something..

It's the horses!

I think I'll swim now...

Too deep! Too deep!

Now I'm tired

I'm gonna lay down for awhile...

The End

Other Things in My Backyard

Trees aren't the only thing in my back yard/pasture. This is my horse Zero. Zero is a calm gentle horse. The only kind I like. I'm a "fair weather cowgirl" so most of the time he just eats. But the weather is getting pretty so he may get some riding time in with me. My mother-in-law rides him some so he gets a little bit of exercise.



When I was a born, Mom and Dad had a stud horse named Dude and a mare named Molly. A month after I was born, Molly had a colt, and they named him Jenna's Little Dude or as we called him, "Little Dude." Dude from then on became "Big Dude." We still have both horses. Big Dude is now around 27 and recently had testicular cancer and had to be retired as a stud horse. He had his last colt last year, and he's a beauty. Little Dude just hangs out in the pasture with the other older horses. He's the same age as me...24. When I was younger I rode Little Dude a lot. I really enjoyed riding. I was a little nervous sometimes, because I'm a weenie but for the most part, I enjoyed riding. He was a slow horse, he never got in a hurry for anything and was always the horse in the back of all the riders. It's no secret that I'm scared to ride horses now, I'm around them daily but riding isn't something I'm good at. I think I'm scared because it's been so long since I've ridden and also becuase I'm around "professional" horse riders daily, and I'm a little bit intimidated. Sean's started giving me lessons last summer to help with my confidence level. Anyway, I've come to the conclusion the real reason I'm nervous around horses now is because of an accident I had when I was in Elementary school.

I was riding Little Dude and had stopped at the house to go inside for a drink because it was summer and I was hot and I needed some Ice water. I tied Little Dude's reins to our wooden fence in the back yard. After enjoying my refreshing drink, I went to get back on him Little Dude and his reins had become untied and fallen to the ground. Little Dude was munching on some grass, and you know they say, "The grass is always greener on the other side," and apparently Little Dude thought so because he had his head under the fence rail eating the grass on the other side of the fence. I was a little annoyed that my knot hadn't stayed put and that Little Dude was loose so I walked up and grabbed the reins and spooked Little Dude. Normally this wouldn't have been a big deal he would've just raised his head real fast and checked out was was going on, but because he was eating grass on the other side of the fence when he lifted his head to see who I was he hit it on the fence and knocked himself out. As he rolled to the ground he rolled on top of me and I fell against the fence so hard that my back broke the bottom fence rung, horse still on top of me. (now this fence rung was round and about 5 inches through the middle, needless to say it hurt) Little Dude quickly came back to and jumped off of me, but it was too late. The mental damage had already been done. I still have a scar on my back. Little Dude still has a scar on his face from hitting the fence. The star in the middle of his forehead doesn't grow back complete anymore. Dad says it's always been like that but I beg to differ. Little Dude is now 24, the same age as me, and isn't really young enough to be ridden anymore. That is why I have Zero here instead of Little Dude. I've started riding a little bit more since I've been married to Sean and hopefully I can conquer my nervousness around horses.