During a flooding disaster, numerous homeowners are shocked to find out that their flood insurance can only cater to specific items, leaving a handful of essential assets outside of their coverage. With this comes the need to cover the remaining repair and replacement costs out of pocket, a factor that will likely cause financial constraints. If you reside within Fords, NJ, and are looking for ways to avoid this, Five Star Insurance Agency takes you through the following items covered by a flood insurance policy.

Building Property Coverage

Building property coverage protects the structure of your home, its foundation, and fixed structures within your home. Examples of permanent structures covered include essential systems like air conditioners, electrical and plumbing systems, heat pumps, and water heaters. Built-in appliances are also included, with examples of this being washing machines and refrigerators. Structures such as cabinets and bookcases are also protected, with detached garages also taken care of by this coverage.

Personal Contents Coverage

Personal contents coverage takes care of your personal belongings, helping you replace or repair them depending on the extent of the flooding. Examples of these items include clothing, electronics, and furniture. Flooding exclusions will, however, kick in when your contents are stored in your basement, since various flood policies do not protect items in this area. Certain personal valuables are also taken care of by personal content coverage, with an example being art pieces where the policy allows.

Other Coverage

Some events outside the regular flooding guidelines may also be covered and will often apply when multiple properties, yours included, suffer similar damage. Events that could lead to this include groundwater seepage or a faulty water main that causes flooding to various homes.

Whether you live in a flood-prone area or need coverage to keep your Fords, NJ property safe from any unforeseen events, consider calling Five Star Insurance Agency today. We will help you customize a flood insurance policy suited to flood emergencies.

A condo is a great way to break into the housing market. It is also a great way to own your own home without all the work freestanding homes require. Whether you’re just starting out or winding down, a condo can be a great way to have a place to call home. Protecting that home requires good condo insurance. At Five Star Insurance Agency in Fords, NJ, we have more than 35 years of insurance experience. We are local agents with more than 10 years of individual experience who place the needs of our customers first.

Is condo insurance required?

The state of New Jersey does not require condo insurance. That does not mean you can or should be without it. If you have a mortgage on your condo, your lender will require that you carry condo insurance. Your condo association may also require you to carry condo insurance. Read your covenant and follow whatever requirements they have. 

Doesn’t my condo association have insurance?

Yes, your condo association does have insurance, but it is not comprehensive when it comes to the interior of your unit. The condo association policy covers common areas and the exterior of the building. How far it actually goes into your unit depends on the policy but most likely you are responsible for the interior walls into your unit. 

What coverage does condo insurance offer?

• Contents-You have options for your personal items, you can choose replacement cost or actual value. 
• Loss of use-If your condo is damaged, this coverage will pay for a place for you to stay until your home is ready to be occupied again. 
• Liability-Getting sued is a real concern and this coverage will help with legal costs as well as a judgment against you. 

When you are ready to discuss your condo insurance needs, give Five Star Insurance Agency in Fords, NJ a call or stop by our office. 

No matter where you live, even in Fords, NJ, health insurance is complicated. How do you decide which coverage you should select when it is time for open enrollment? Your friends at Five Star Insurance Agency are here to help you make an informed decision that will protect you and your family all year long.

Your Co-Pay Gets You in the Door for Treatment

When reviewing what benefits are included in your health insurance, you may see a list of co-pays. This means that if you have a doctor’s appointment for a physical, you will pay the appropriate co-pay when you arrive at the office. The doctor will see you and give you an exam. The same applies to an ER visit–you pay the co-pay at the registration desk, and it ensures that a doctor will evaluate and treat you. However, it may not be the only cost associated with your visit.

Your Deductible or Out-of-Pocket Expenses are Part of Additional Fees

Once your visit is completed, the doctor’s office or hospital submits a bill to the insurance company for all the procedures done during the visit. Some procedures may be included with your insurance, while others may only be covered 80%, 50%, or not at all. You will receive a bill for the remainder and that becomes part of your deductible.

Most plans have a set deductible limit like $2,000 or $5,000. Once you have paid for other procedures, services, and supplies that are not covered by the co-pay and total more than your deductible limit, your health insurance will begin to pay 100% of some of those other fees.

This article may have answered one question, but you probably now have others about how to choose the right health insurance for this year. Five Star Insurance Agency serves the greater Fords, NJ area and we look forward to assisting you in this often confusing decision. Give us a call!

As a Fords, NJ resident, getting a life insurance policy could be one of the most important decisions you can make in your life. However, for a long time, it has been challenging for people to differentiate between the two types of life insurance commonly offered by insurance organizations; term and whole life insurance. Five Star Insurance Agency provides the difference between the two and highlights the benefits. 

Term Life Insurance

Term life insurance is a coverage that is only valid for a period of time, such as five years, twenty years, thirty years, or so. The whole essence of term life insurance is to provide death benefits to your beneficiaries once you pass while it’s still in force. However, if you die after term life has expired, your beneficiaries will not get death benefits. 

One of the outstanding benefits of term life insurance is that it is the cheaper of the two, which is often by a wide margin. Other possible benefits of term life insurance are that it has a finite duration and is a simple policy.

Whole Life Insurance

Unlike term life, whole life insurance does not expire after a specific duration of time. However, you must make sure that you continue to pay the necessary premiums for it to remain in effect. There are several benefits that you will be accessing if you have a whole life insurance policy. Besides the apparent death benefits that your beneficiaries will be getting, there is some cash value, which can be a source of income in the future. 

Do You Need Life Insurance in Fords, NJ?

As you can see, making a decision on the two types of life insurance available is always tricky. Five Star Insurance Agency helps individuals to make better decisions based on their income and the financial goals they want to achieve in the future.

You’ve worked hard to grow your company and you want to ensure it is protected. At Five Star Insurance Agency, we want to help you get the right level of coverage at an affordable price. Here’s what you need to know about buying a business owner’s policy (BOP) for your Fords, NJ small business.

What is a Business Owners Policy?

A business owner’s policy (BOP) is a special type of commercial insurance that combines both business property and general liability coverage. This means you’re covered against situations such as theft of equipment or a guest becoming injured while visiting your location. The benefit of buying this type of insurance is that it is much more cost-effective than purchasing each one individually.

BOPs often feature the ability to add on specific riders to customize your policy, such as extended liability for certain industries or added coverage for advertising liability. It is a great commercial insurance option if you have minimal risk and a pretty standard business model, as most small ventures do.

However, you cannot combine certain types of other insurance into a BOP. Commercial flood, worker’s compensation insurance, commercial auto, and professional liability policies still need to be purchased separately.

Protect Your Business by Having Adequate Coverage

If you’re trying to protect your business and your customers, having the right level of commercial insurance coverage is a great start. While a BOP might not be the only type of policy you need, it is definitely a good start. To find out what other types of insurance you need to carry for your location and industry, talk directly to your trusted insurance agent.

Our team at Five Star Insurance Agency in Fords, NJ wants to help you protect your small business. Please contact our team today to schedule an appointment to discuss commercial insurance coverage.

In the Fords, NJ area, the local economy can make it a great place for anyone to own a home. If you would like to purchase a property when you are here, owning a condo could be a good option. As you are shopping for a condo in this area of the state, you should also spend time assessing your condo insurance needs. 

Home Association Will Require Insurance

A reason that you will need to get a condo insurance policy is that it will be required by a home association. Anyone that would like to buy a condo will likely be part of a larger community that will be covered by association rules and documents. Most of the time, these documents are going to include rules and regulations surrounding insurance requirements. Without this coverage in place, you could be penalized.

Mortgage Lender Will Require Coverage

You will also need to get condo insurance because your mortgage lender will require that you get it. Anyone that is going to take out a mortgage when they want to purchase a condo will have to follow all of the rules and regulations that are set forth. For most mortgage borrowers, this means having proper insurance coverage at all times. It is also common for a mortgage lender to escrow your payments each month as it will ensure that you remain covered.

You will want to make sure that you get proper condo insurance when you are in the Fords, NJ area. As you are shopping for a new condo insurance policy here, it would be a good idea for you to call the Five Star Insurance Agency. Those that are going to call the Five Star Insurance Agency will get the support and guidance that is needed to build and choose a new policy. 

How to Choose a Life Insurance Beneficiary

Let’s start with the basics – what is a life insurance beneficiary? A life insurance beneficiary is a person that receives the monetary payout from the insurance company if you die while the policy is active. Consequently, choosing your beneficiary is a pivotal step in having a life insurance policy because the person receiving the money is likely one of the top reasons that you even want a life insurance policy to begin with. Keep in mind that it may not be possible to choose as many beneficiaries as you want or the exact person that you want. Generally, a life insurance beneficiary can be a spouse, multiple people like your children, an estate, a trust, a charity, or a legal entity like a business that you own. Some insurance companies may place a maximum on the number of beneficiaries that can be named so if you are planning to list your children be sure that they can all be listed. 

Additionally, many policies allow you to also name a primary and contingent beneficiary. A contingent, or secondary beneficiary, receives the life insurance payout if the primary person passes away before you do. When deciding who to choose, it is important to consider factors like does anyone rely on you financially, would you rather have the policy go to a charity then a person, and much more. At Five Star Insurance Agency in Fords, NJ, we can walk you through all your life insurance options so that you find a policy that best supports your loved ones. Whether you have questions about who to name as a beneficiary or whether term life or whole life insurance policy is better, we are the experts to ask. Give us a call today and learn more about how we can support your insurance needs. 

Commercial insurance is a type of insurance that covers business. There are some types that are required for businesses in the state of New Jersey. There are others that are smart choices for business owners to carry. If you need commercial insurance, call us at Five Star Insurance Agency in Fords, NJ to talk with an agent. 

Commercial Auto Insurance

Many businesses own vehicles that are used for business purposes. If your business owners one or more vehicles, it’s required that you get commercial auto insurance on them. Not only is it the legal way to protect your vehicles, but it also saves you from having personal insurance not pay for an accident because it’s a work vehicle. If you have a personal vehicle that you use for business but that is not owned by that business, you should get a hired and non-owned policy to cover it. Commercial auto coverage comes with its mandatory minimums of coverage, just like personal insurance does. 

Workers’ Compensation Coverage

This type of insurance pays the medical bills of workers who become sick or injured while they’re on the job. This type of insurance coverage is required by the state of New Jersey for any business that has any number of employees, even just one part-time employee. 

General Liability Insurance

This type is not required but is highly recommended for business owners. It handles a wide range of circumstances that you or your business could be liable for. It’s an extra bit of protection that can certainly come in handy someday. 

If your business needs insurance, don’t wait. Call us right away at Five Star Insurance Agency in Fords, NJ to make an appointment with an agent to talk about your insurance needs. 

Owning a business provides an exciting challenge for many individuals, but it also can cause financial uncertainty. The thriving Fords, NJ area offers many opportunities for commercial ventures and Five Star Insurance Agency wants to help you get started. We address many methods and strategies of financial planning, including the vital product, tax insurance.

Tax insurance can help you alleviate financial uncertainty by providing a risk management tool that helps businesses and corporations protect themselves from an investment or property purchase that does not qualify for the tax break for which it was intended.

Think of it as tax credit insurance, but it covers much more. It really covers you for any potential shortfall in tax liability. You may have planned for a specific tax bill based upon historical data figures or used fiscal projections based upon projected sales. These may turn out completely inaccurate if you had great sales or poor sales. A business deal’s value may change, the internal restructuring may not work out as planned, you may not qualify for an investment tax credit, or you may end up the victim of poor tax planning.

A tax insurance policy provides your business the coverage to pay the actual tax including any interest, penalties, taxes payable, the gross-up amounts on insurance proceeds, and your attorney fees and court costs if you need to defend yourself in a tax-related court case such a tax evasion case.

Policies cost relatively little in premiums, so they provide an effective and affordable means of fiscal protection. The policy applies to tax at every government level including local, state, federal plus foreign taxes.

Tax insurance falls within the realm of commercial policies of which there exist more than 40. Many of these you probably have not heard of and tax insurance might be a new term to you. The policy type has existed for many years and many Fortune 500 countries use it as a means of corporate protection of fiscal risk.

While this product traditionally has been used by large corporations, your business can use it regardless of the operation’s size. A solopreneur can use this type of policy as a risk mitigation tool just as effectively as a Fortune 500 company can.

Contact Five Star Insurance Agency serving Fords, NJ to learn more about tax insurance. You can protect your business from unexpected tax liability with this business policy.

Umbrella insurance is a personal policy that protects you and your loved ones from financial loss in case of an accident that goes beyond the normal limits in the standard policies. Many people in Fords, NJ are considering this policy because it is all around. That means that you are protected wherever you go–which includes your home. At Five Star Insurance Agency, we understand the value of your home, and that is why we work to ensure that you have enough coverage. 

Here are a few ways umbrella can save the day at home

Lawsuits

Umbrella insurance provides major coverages when it comes to lawsuits. Lawsuits in Fords NJ can be particularly expensive and mentally draining. A lot of money, time, and energy is lost, which may limit your power to earn like before. In case you are sued by your neighbor or guest for injuries sustained while at your house, umbrella insurance may help pay the rest of the amount required if your home insurance is not enough.

Property damage

Having children or pets around sometimes means dealing with constant fights with neighbors, which could easily lead to injuries, property damage, and lawsuits. Pets and kids can destroy other people’s property, such as breaking windows or damaging the garden.  When these unfortunate incidents happen, umbrella insurance can help you get things on track by providing extra coverage.

Injuries

Injuries are common in every home. It is easy to get cut, scratched, hit, or bruised at home by various things. However, the situation can quickly get messy if these injuries are severe. Medical bills can quickly go up and blow your home insurance limits.

Umbrella insurance is designed to add extra coverage when your home insurance is insufficient. At Five Star Insurance Agency, we are all about keeping your finances safe when the unfortunate happens. Feel free to contact us for more information, questions quotes for new policy discussions.