Common Myths About Auto Insurance

Getting insurance for your car is a complicated and sometimes confusing process: you have to decide how much coverage you need, compare quotes and companies, and choose a deductible. In addition, there are myths about auto insurance that have nothing in common with reality. In order to help you, Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial serving Laurel, MD decided to break down and debunk some of them: 

Myth 1: It is enough to set your car to the state minimum

You may think that getting a minimum coverage set by the state is more than enough. In reality, setting your vehicle at the bare minimum will leave you completely unprotected. In case of an expensive accident, you might be responsible for paying a lot out of pocket because the state minimum will barely cover anything. 

Myth 2: Your credit does not affect insurance costs

The cost of your auto insurance depends on many factors, including your age, history of making claims, driving history, and your credit. People with higher credit scores tend to have fewer accidents, so insurance will be cheaper for them. 

Myth 3: The color of your car affects the insurance rates

Many people mistakenly believe it is more expensive to insure red cars. It might be because many sports cars come in red, or because red cars’ owners are believed to be fast and aggressive drivers. But whatever the case, it is just a myth, and the color of your vehicle does not have an impact on the cost of insurance.

Now that you know more facts about auto insurance, it will be easier for you to make the right and informed decision. If you need help in finding the best insurance plan based on your budget and needs, Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial serving Laurel, MD is ready to assist you. Give us a call today to get more information about the options available. 

Is Your Home Disaster Ready?

Severe weather threats like hurricanes, winter storms, and tornadoes are common to Maryland, making it important for homeowners to prepare for natural disasters. The following tips from Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial can help you protect your home and valuables from disasters.

Become Aware of Disasters Common to Your Area  

Be aware of severe weather threats and disasters that normally befall the Laurel MD area. Keep tabs on weather alerts so you’ll have time to prep your home against them. Your home prep could include boarding or shuttering windows, bracing doors, storing outdoor furniture and plants in a safe location, and anchoring down objects that can’t be brought inside. 

Stock Up on Emergency Supplies

Stock up on emergency supplies and keep these up to date in preparation for a disaster. In addition to food and water, you should have a complete first aid kit, flashlights, radio, extra batteries, tool kit, and toiletries, reliable cell phone and charger. It also helps to have extra cash on hand for emergencies in case you cannot get to an ATM.

Locate Water, Electrical & Gas Shut Offs

Make sure you know where your water, electricity, and gas shutoff valves are so you can quickly turn these off before or during a disaster to reduce the risk of fire and interior water damage.   

Secure Important Documents

Gather important documents and secure them in a safe location. This includes passports, birth certificates, insurance papers, financial records, etc.

Update Your Home Insurance

Make sure your home insurance is up to date and that you’re covered for disasters common to your area. Your dwelling and property insurance should be enough to cover the value of your Laurel, MD home and goods in case they’re totally destroyed in a disaster.

To purchase home insurance coverage for protection against disasters, contact Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial.

Protecting Your Family with Life insurance

Life insurance is one way to protect your family’s financial future.  You will have the peace of mind that your children will be protected if you or your spouse pass away.  Many people wonder if they will be able to cover the cost of a funeral and any final expenses.  Children will need money to complete their education.  Also, you may be wondering if you can designate funds for a charity that you support.  All of these things can be taken care of with a life insurance policy.  At Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial, our team works with people throughout the Laurel, MD area to understand how life insurance can safeguard their families. 

Deciding on the type and the policy amount requires some consideration.  Your agent will be able to help you with information so that you can make informed decisions.  Inflation and estate taxes will need to figure into your decision-making process.  Term life and whole life are the two types of life insurance.  Both have their own merits.  Term life insurance policies are for a predetermined time period.  They are less expensive than whole life and can be renewed.  Each renewal will cost more.  Also, term life policies do not increase in cash value over time.  As the name implies, whole life policies stay in place while the policyholder is alive.  They do have higher premiums but they build cash value.  This amount can be borrowed against if needed. 

Our team at Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial can help you decide which life insurance policy option is best for you and your family.  We work with families like yours throughout the Laurel MD area.  We’ll answer your questions so that you understand your options.  Your family is important.  Contact our agents today to start protecting their future. 

A Guide To Help Laurel MD Residents Find The Right Commercial Insurance Coverage

 Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial offers different insurance policies to residents of Laurel, MD, and many of the surrounding areas. We strive to offer solutions regardless of our clients’ situation. We understand that every person has different needs and we are determined to help our clients find the right insurance coverage.

Commercial Insurance

Commercial insurance is important for a number of different reasons. Commercial insurance helps protect businesses in the event that a catastrophe occurs. Repairing serious damages to a building may cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Having to cover the cost of large damages can have a long term impact on the future operations of a business. That’s why commercial insurance is so important. However, there are a number of different commercial insurance policies that people can purchase, which can make the process overwhelming at times. To assist Laurel, MD residents through the process here is a guide of the different commercial insurance coverages.

Liability Insurance

Liability Insurance will cover you in the event that someone gets injured. Purchasing policy will protect you against many of the common injury risks that may occur on your property.

Workers’ Compensation Insurance

Workers’ Compensation insurance covers your business in the event that one of your employees is injured on the job.

Mechanical Breakdown Coverage

Mechanical breakdown coverage protects your property in the event that the equipment starts deteriorating. You’ll receive reimbursement for the cost of repairing the property damage and all of the potential missed income while the property was closed.

Commercial Automobile Insurance

Commercial automobile insurance will cover all of your businesses’ vehicles if they are damaged or stolen.

Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial Will Help You Find The Right Policy

For over a decade, Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial has helped people find the right insurance policy at the right time. Visit our website today to get a quote.

Three things your home insurance policy needs to provide

Home insurance is a product that protects the investment you make in your home. At Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial, we provide home insurance that will cover the costs of damages to your home and protect you from liabilities as a homeowner. 

You need to have a home insurance policy in Laurel, MD that provides you with adequate coverage. The following are three things your home insurance policy needs to provide. 

Liability coverage

Many homeowners associate home insurance first with protecting financially against physical damage to their property. However, this is not the only important form of coverage that home insurance offers.

Home insurance should also include liability coverage. Coverage for liabilities will cover the expenses of a lawsuit that results from an accident or event on your property. It’s important to make sure that your home insurance includes adequate liability coverage. 

Coverage for natural disasters you’re at risk for

You need to gauge the particular risks for damage there are at your property. Think about what natural disasters are likely to occur and cause extensive damage in your area.

If your area is prone to damage from earthquakes, flooding, or hurricanes, you need to have a home insurance policy that will provide coverage in these situations. 

An affordable deductible

It’s important that you can afford to pay your deductible out of pocket in the event that you have to file a claim.

A higher deductible will mean lower monthly premiums. However, a deductible that’s too high could create problems for you. Your home insurance coverage won’t kick in until your deductible is paid. 

Learn more about our home insurance policies in Laurel, MD. Contact us at Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial with questions and inquiries regarding our insurance products. 

Understanding Uninsured Motorist Coverage with Auto Insurance

Getting into a car accident is something that no one ever looks forward to. A car accident can result in damage to your vehicle, injuries, and more. It is a miserable experience you do not wish for anyone. Thankfully, you usually will have auto insurance coverage there to help make you whole and get back to normal. What happens, though, when the at-fault driver does not have auto insurance?

The coverage that you need to be sure you have with your auto insurance policy is known as uninsured motorist coverage. The value of uninsured motorist coverage is that you are going to be able to file a claim with your insurance company where you are not at fault, but you can still recover.

Say you get into an auto insurance accident and you are not liable for the accident in any way. The first thing that happens is you file the claim and it is determined the other driver is at fault. Your insurance company will then try to recover those losses from his or her insurance company. If they do not have auto insurance, there is no other auto insurance company to recover from. This is where uninsured motorist coverage will come into play.

When your insurance company cannot get reimbursed for your losses, which you are not at fault for, they will payout for those losses to you under the uninsured motorist coverage. This can protect you in the event of this scenario. With so many folks driving without insurance in Laurel, MD, and other parts of the United States, uninsured motorist coverage is a must. Work with the Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial team today to make sure it is part of your auto insurance coverage.

Do You Really Need Commercial Insurance To Protect Personal Liability?

As a business owner, you’re looking to save money wherever you can. You know the importance of protecting your business with insurance, but it can be tough to walk the line between overpaying and not having enough coverage. You may be wondering if commercial insurance is a necessity for your personal liability within your business. At Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial, serving Laurel, MD, insurance professionals are here to explain just why commercial insurance is so important for protecting your personal liability. 

When you have a commercial insurance policy, it protects your personal liability when it comes to being sued. While it can be hard to imagine that anyone could ever sue your business, these things happen often. When your business gets sued, it can cause bankruptcy, or worse. 

Personal liability insurance is there to protect both your personal property and your business assets in the event that someone tries to accuse you of wrongdoing. If you work in a business with a high rate of liability, it’s essential that you have commercial insurance to protect your assets. 

Imagine: you own a company that takes people kayaking. On one of your trips, someone gets hurt. The attempt to sue you for all of their medical bills. In the unlikely event that you’re found liable, your personal liability insurance would go toward paying the bills, rather than having the sum come out of your own pocket. 

Call Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial, Serving Laurel, MD

If you’re in the market for a personal liability commercial insurance policy, reach out to us at Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial, serving Laurel, MD. We’re here to keep you and your assets safe. 

3 Reasons Why Single Maryland Residents Need Life Insurance

One of the things that many of our single clients living around Laurel, MD is life insurance. This is not something they seek out when they visit us at Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial. Below are the reasons why you should change your mind. 

Funeral Costs

Should you pass unexpectedly, a funeral and burial are necessary. Even without children or a spouse, you will need to have these costs covered. Life insurance policies are often used to cover the following:

  • Funeral home services 
  • Burial costs 
  • Cremation services (if necessary)

Having your remains secured is critical so that your closest relatives do not have to cover these costs while trying to mourn. Depending on the services you would like and the way in which you want to leave your remains, having enough funds for these services is essential. 

Joint Debts

Although you are single, you may still have some debt lingering that is tied with another individual. Should you pass unexpectedly, the debt that you have will not be eliminated. In fact, it will fall completely on the joined party. You want to ensure that you have enough funds in your policy to cover at least half of the debt to cover your portion. If you used a cosigner and are the primary holder of the debt, then you should have enough funds in the policy to cover the remaining debt.

Take Advantage of Good Health

Attempting to get a policy later in life could be difficult if your health begins to decline. While you have a good bill of health and eligible for health insurance, you should take advantage of it. Once your health starts to go down, your ability to get life insurance becomes harder. 

We’re Here For You!

Give our agents at Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial a call today for more information. We proudly serve the Laurel, MD area and look forward to hearing from you soon. 

How To Create A Home Inventory

Being a homeowner comes with lots of built-in stress to go along with all the pride and excitement. You are so happy to actually have a home of your very own but there are so many things that can wrong that it can keep you up at night with worry. Having good home insurance can take some of the worries out of making sure that you are protected but even the top insurance will be counting on you to do your part to make sure that filing a claim goes smoothly. At Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial in Laurel, MD we will make sure you have a good carrier and we can help you to understand how a home inventory can make your insurance experience much less stressful. 

In this day of technology, there are several ways that you can create a home inventory. Walkthrough your home, top to bottom and make a recording with your cellphone of each room. You want to especially focus on the more high priced items. If you have a video camera you can record your contents that way. You can walk through each room with a pad and paper and write down the contents of each room. All of these ways work. In addition, appraisals should be placed with the inventory as well as sales slips and detailed model number. The more information you have the easier it will be to collect in the event of a loss. The inventory needs to be stored in a safe place, the Cloud is an option or if it is a paper copy, in a safe place preferably off the home site. 

Talking with the experienced agents at Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial in Laurel, MD can help to ease your mind when it comes to how to create a home inventory. Stop by the office or give us a call for a no-obligation quote. 

Three things you didn’t know about auto insurance

A lot of consumers are unaware of some important factors regarding auto insurance. If you’re a vehicle owner in Laurel MD, you should know the basics of auto insurance to pick the best policy for you. You can learn more about auto insurance by visiting our website at Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial. 

The following are three things you didn’t know about auto insurance. 

The cost of an auto insurance policy varies significantly between different providers.

You might not be aware of just how much auto insurance policy premiums can differ between providers. You definitely want to shop around and compare costs. You might find that one provider will insure you for significantly less than another provider will charge. 

Motorists have a lot of possible auto insurance discounts available to them. 

You should definitely explore discounts to see if you can save money on auto insurance. You could qualify for discounts based on your driving record. You could bring down your premium with some insurers by taking a DMV driving safety class. You could also get a discount if you bundle your auto insurance with another type of insurance like home insurance. 

Insurers also offer discounts sometimes when vehicle owners make safety updates on their vehicles. If you get some added safety features installed in your vehicle like an anti-theft system, you might qualify for a discount for coverage. 

You have to purchase collision coverage separately. 

You generally have to purchase liability and collision coverage separately. Liability insurance is typically the only type of insurance required by law. You can decide whether you want to add collision coverage to compensate you for damages to your own vehicle. 

If you need to find the right auto insurance in Laurel, MD, we’re here to assist you. Contact us at Mid Atlantic Insurance Financial to learn about our policy options.