STUDY REVEALS AUTO INSURANCE PREFERENCE FOR U.S. HISPANICS

(TMC News)      In a study published by Geoscape, several revealing facts about the auto insurance market came to light. The publication of this 2009 auto insurance syndicated survey database, called “BehaviorBase(TM) Auto Insurance”, draws upon 1,400 carefully sampled survey respondents across demographic and economic segments nationwide. The first of its kind, this database provides a multi-dimensional view of the large and fast growing Latino population and their adoption of auto insurance as well as their impressions of the underwriting companies and coverage options.

 

With the steady-resident U.S. Hispanic population reaching 48.6 million this year, insurance companies are looking more closely at where to find policyholder revenue growth. With multiple wage earners and drivers per household along with increasing adoption rates, Hispanics are now an attractive target for insurance companies (particularly auto insurance).

“BehaviorBase Auto has validated some of our hunches and has shed light on behaviors that can help us hone the strategies and tactics within our Latino initiatives…the competitive intelligence was a big eye-opener, as we drilled down on language segments,” states Luisa Acosta-Franco, Vice President of Multicultural Marketing for Farmers Insurance.

 

Among the insights borne within the study is the finding that unacculturated (assimilated) Hispanics focus more heavily on customer service than price, relative to more acculturated Hispanics. Both aided and unaided brand awareness reveals which companies have managed to gain mindshare within the Hispanic community and switching behavior data provides insights to avoiding policy churn.

 

“BehaviorBase Auto Insurance is first in a series of industry-specific consumer behavior resources that Geoscape will develop to provide actionable insights to our clients,” according to Cesar M Melgoza, President of Geoscape.

An executive summary of the database will be available at no charge from the company’s website and the full database along with tabular and graphical information and interpretation of results is available by subscription. During the summer of ’09, BehaviorBase Auto will be available within the Geoscape Intelligence System (GIS) which offers a suite of databases and analytic modules within an online software-as-a-service platform.

 

About Geoscape Geoscape serves its clients by providing business strategy, analytics, databases and automated intelligence systems. The online Geoscape Intelligence System (GIS), the DirecTarget database enrichment system and a variety of geo-demographic, consumer, business and media databases enable actionable insights that lead our clients to gain significant business advantages. Geoscape is a portfolio company of Goldman Sachs, Inc. with principal offices in Miami. Geoscape is pleased to have served most of the Fortune 500 corporations over the last several years.

 

 

Insuring your home-based business success

Tamsyn Burgmann
SPECIAL TO THE STAR

It wasn’t until a valued customer called, freaked out by a rogue bumble bee she found resting dead in her loose leaf tea, that the risks of running a home-based business dawned on Hatem Jahshan.By then, Jahshan and his wife Tonia had been operating their tea party consultancy, Steeped Tea, out of the converted basement and two-car garage of their Hamilton home for a full year.

Though he also runs a fast-food restaurant, Jahshan knew zilch about protecting his home-based business.

“In fact, it felt like you didn’t even have to worry about insurance when you start your home business. As a business person, I like to hang out with business people, and nobody’s got insurance. It’s a very, very quiet issue that nobody talks about,” he said. “Usually, you start thinking about insurance when bad things happen.”

Facing added premiums can be daunting for the small business owner, but insurance shouldn’t be a dirty word, say the experts. No matter whether you’re running a full-scale taxidermy outfit or typing data into a single laptop, protection is integral to a savvy business plan.

“The worst case scenario is that you could be financially ruined if you don’t have insurance,” said Peter Warner of the Insurance Bureau of Canada.

“A policy will cover anything pertaining to running your business.”

As soon as doing business from home enters your mind, set up a meeting with your insurance broker, agent, or the company that insures your home, he said.

They’ll listen to the particulars, asses whether you’re underinsured and offer options to ease the nerves.

In many cases, the company providing your home or “property” insurance can add an extension to your homeowner’s policy, protecting you against common business risks.

Standard property insurance rarely protects anything business-related. Should fire rip through your home, compensation won’t be offered to replace computers, printers, fax machines, samples and paper records. And it won’t protect you from a lawsuit.

Generally, “home-based business” or “home business” insurance provides three areas of coverage: business property; business interruption; and legal liability.

The first protects property kept on or off the home premises, including inventory, samples, supplies, tools, filing cabinets, computer equipment and software.

If disaster strikes the home, rendering office space unfit for use, business interruption coverage pays the cost of your temporary office relocation, thus insuring your products and services are delivered to customers.

Legal liability coverage – usually set at $1- or $2-million – becomes a lifesaver if your company’s products or services cause harm to a customer. If Steeped Tea’s frazzled caller had alleged trauma or an allergic reaction to the pesky bee (which likely slipped into the mix when the tea was being dried in India’s fields before export) this coverage would have paid for legal defence or compensation ordered by the courts.

A classic example of legal liability involves a delivery person who slips on a piece of ice while carrying a package up your front steps; falls and breaks a leg; then sues.

“The liability portion of your home insurance doesn’t protect you, because the activity was directly related to your business,” Warner said.

Insurance providers calculate premiums based on exposure to risks – the possibility of loss – receipts and how much income you’re making from the business. The lower both are, the lower the premium. Knitting sweaters and selling them online is likely to be considered less risky than running a massage clinic that brings clients into the home.

Premiums are likely to run several hundred dollars a year – usually not more than $500, according to the Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario. But if your business liability is higher than that for your property policy, it will probably be boosted to the same level, potentially costing you more.

Most insurers keep lists spelling out what is or isn’t likely to fall under their home business insurance. The tricky part of the equation arises with vastly increased exposure. The line blurs between where home business insurance ends and commercial insurance begins.

To assess whether obtaining a heftier policy might be wise, look at how often clients, or consumers, visit your home and also, whether you run the risk of “professional” exposure. The latter occurs when a business person provides advice or expertise to a client who later might theoretically allege it caused them financial or other harm – for instance, an accountant.

There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to navigating home-based insurance coverage. When in doubt, call a broker – who represents multiple insurers rather than a single provider – suggests Bryan Yetman, IBAO president-elect.

“You can have a candid, honest conversation with your broker. They’ll give you a true evaluation and then you decide,” he said.

“Shop around,” agreed Catherine Swift, chair of advocacy organization Canadian Federation of Independent Business, adding the biggest complaint mounted by members is around insurance costs and short notice of cost increases.

Every business presents risks, but someone who buries his head in the sand could be making the riskiest move of all, the experts agreed.

“(Insurance) brings me peace of mind now,” Jahshan said. “Once you have insurance you can remove fear out of the way and you can actually focus on bettering your business.”

Auto thefts in Valley drop; insurance rates could, too

Valley residents are more likely to see something in their driveways this morning: their cars.

In 2008, 25,794 cars were stolen in the metro area, according to National Insurance Crime Bureau data released this week. That’s a decline from 2007, when the number was 34,182. In 2006: 39,535.

The car-theft rate is one factor insurance companies use to set rates, which could mean lower costs for drivers, according to the Arizona Insurance Information Association.

The bureau’s Frank Scafidi says the drop in car thefts is the result of law enforcement, legislators and prosecutors taking the issue more seriously.

In 2003, the Arizona Automobile Theft Authority began funding bait-vehicle programs.

Bait cars, donated by insurance companies, are placed in high-theft areas and equipped with tracking devices and video cameras.

“Bait cars work,” Scafidi said. “They get the most prolific thieves off the street because there is audio and video (of the crooks).”

Phoenix / The Arizona Republic.          

Arizona’s Wildfires Risk for Homeowners

Phoenix , AZ , – As the drought in the Southwest worsens, the wildfire season in Arizona grows longer, burning more acreage and threatening private property in forested areas.

“The Arizona State Forestry Division estimates more than 4,000 homes, businesses, and other structures were threatened by wildland fires in the past three years,” says Ron Williams, executive director for Arizona Insurance Council (AIC). “Including autos, boats and other personal property, the economic losses in 2009 could be in the millions of dollars.”

Now, Arizona property owners can access wildfire safety and property saving tips online at the AIC website at www.azinsurance.org/WFLinks.html.

Arizona Firewise, a cooperative effort of state and federal forest, wildfire and wildlife organizations, has published a booklet – “Living With Wildfire: Homeowner’s Firewise Guide for Arizona.” It is a comprehensive review of wildfire behavior, survivable space and Firewise techniques, checklists for various landscaping and housing materials, and emergency guidelines.

In addition, the property and casualty insurers of Arizona , represented by AIC, suggest thoroughly reviewing your homeowner’s policy.

An annual insurance policy check-up is an essential factor in protecting your home and belongings any time of year. Home and business owners should contact their agent or insurance company to make certain they have the proper level of coverage.

Key points to go over with your insurance company or agent include:

• Does the policy cover the current costs of rebuilding your house? The increases in cost for lumber, steel, concrete and copper have significantly outpaced other products. Those price increases affect what insurers pay to repair and rebuild homes and the costs of satisfying those claims is shared by all homeowner insurance consumers.
• Does your policy provide coverage for additional living expenses, such as hotel bills and restaurant meals for the time you are evacuated from your home and/or while your home is being rebuilt?
• Is your insurance company or agent aware of any improvements you have made on your home or business? Updating a kitchen, new carpeting or installing a swimming pool adds to the value of your home. The same applies to business improvements.
• Have you upgraded your home electrical system or plumbing system, or installed anti-theft alarms or fire sprinklers? These improvements could help reduce your insurance premium, depending on your insurance company’s business practices.

These and other insurance tips are available at AIC’s website at www.azinsurance.org.

DROWSY DRIVERS: A WAKE-UP CALL

SLEEP DEPRIVATION CARRIES RISKS SIMILAR TO DRUNKEN DRIVING’S

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that drowsy driving is a factor in over 100,000 crashes a year, resulting in at least 1,550 deaths and 40,000 injuries. Darrel Drobnich, chief program officer of the National Sleep Foundation, estimates that the figures are considerably higher: 5,500 deaths and 71,000 injuries a year. Efforts are underway to make people more aware of the problem, which, unlike drunk driving, cannot be easily tested. Carol Ash, medical director of a sleep program at Somerset Medical Center, said, “Years ago, we didn’t think anything of getting in a car after having a few drinks. Sleep deprivation has the same impact. Your judgment becomes impaired, whether you realize it or not. We’re starting to understand that drowsy driving is the same as driving intoxicated.” According to a poll conducted by the National Sleep Foundation, 54 percent of adult drivers said they had driven while drowsy and 28 percent said they had fallen asleep at the wheel during the past year.

Larry Copeland. USA Today. 2009/04/02. Page A3.