Do I need collision and comprehensive coverage after my auto loan is paid

In Napa, CA like most of the United States, people count on their vehicles to get around. More than that, vehicles are an expression of personal taste and style and it is not unheard of for cars to have names and be almost a member of the family. Whether your car is just transportation or you have a love affair with it,  it important to know what auto insurance is mandatory in the state of California. At Wine Valley Insurance Services we have a team who is prepared to make sure that you understand all there is to know about auto insurance. 

Once you have paid off your auto loan, you are not required to carry comprehensive or collision insurance. Just because you don’t need to carry this valuable insurance doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t opt to carry it. Collision protects your vehicle in the event of an accident where you are at fault and will pay for repairs or replacement up to the limit of your policy. It can also protect you from an uninsured/underinsured motorist or a hit and run. 

Comprehensive coverage is also known as non-collision insurance. It covers you for lots of things that can damage your car but are beyond your control. Who hasn’t had a stone fly up and crack their windshield? It also offers protection from the theft of your vehicle or vandalism. Weather events can damage your car, wind, hail, and flooding just to name a few. All of these can cause major damage to your vehicle. 

If you opt-out of carrying collision and comprehensive, the cost of damage or replacement of your vehicle will fall to you. Talking to one of the knowledgeable agents at Wine Valley Insurance Services in Napa, CA can help to answer your auto insurance questions. Give our office a call or stop by for a no-obligation quote. 

Protecting Valuable Personal Items and Collections with Home Insurance

Your new home is probably the biggest investment that you will ever make.  It’s one that needs to be protected with the right home insurance.  Your home insurance policy protects the physical structure if there is a fire or severe weather but it protects more than the structure of the house.  At Wine Valley Insurance Services in Napa, CA, our agents can help you protect everything on your property financially. 

Most homeowners don’t’ realize the extensive protection that their home policy provides.  Sure, it provides funds to repair storm damage and fires when they happen but they also cover all of your personal possessions in the home.  This includes your clothing, furniture, and electronics.  When you have valuable collections, furs or jewelry, it’s important that you talk with your agent to ensure that you have enough coverage to protect these items.  Most policies will also cover items should they be stolen or damaged when you are away from home. 

While your home insurance policy provides protection for any valuables, it also gives you liability coverage.  This will cover the medical bills of anyone that is injured on the property.  It will take care of their medical expenses if you are deemed negligent and legal expenses if they should sue you. 

Home insurance is a valuable financial tool for you and your family.  It can cover valuables, your home and any outbuildings on the property.  It offers liability protection which is invaluable. 

Our agents at Wine Valley Insurance Services in Napa, CA are ready to help you care for your home and any valuables that you own.  Visit our website.  When you are ready, call or come in and visit with our agents.  The best time to start protecting your investment is today!

Does Renter’s Insurance Protect You While You Travel?

Renter’s insurance has much to offer individuals who are renting a home, condo or apartment. Through renter’s insurance coverage, you can protect your goods against theft or damage from fire, vandalism or other disasters. Renter’s insurance also protects you against liability claims if someone is hurt on your property. But did you know that a renter’s policy from Wine Valley Insurance Services in Napa, CA can also protect you while you travel? Here’s what you can expect from your coverage as you travel for the holidays.

Liability Protection When Traveling

Renter’s liability coverage protects you as you travel, whether you’re on vacation or visiting relatives for the holidays. If you accidentally hurt someone during a friendly game of sports at Aunt May’s house or your kids break a glass coffee table at the hotel you’re staying in during holiday travels, your renter’s liability protection will help pay for medical costs or damages.  

Personal Property Protection When Traveling

Renter’s insurance protects your goods while you’re traveling against theft or loss. If your laptop is stolen at the airport during holiday travels, renter’s property coverage will help cover replacement costs. If your goods are damaged or stolen from your hotel room while on vacation, renter’s property insurance has your back, saving you hundreds or thousands of dollars out-of-pocket.   

If a fire breaks out in your rental home while you’re traveling for the holidays and destroys all that you own, renter’s insurance will help reimburse you for your loss. Talk to your Wine Valley Insurance agent about replacement cost coverage or an insurance rider to fully protect pricey items against damage or loss.

As you can see, there’s more to renter’s insurance than meets the eye. To learn more about coverage options and costs, call or visit us at Wine Valley Insurance Services in Napa, CA.

Reevaluating Your Auto Insurance Needs In Wine Country

Fires are becoming a regular problem in Wine Country, of late. As recently as October, drivers have had to flee the area, packing up what belongings they valued and heading for safer areas. Some people had to abandon their cars and get to safety on foot. This new threat might lead you to reevaluate your auto insurance coverage. Wine Valley Insurance Services serving Napa, CA understands and wants to help.

Beef Up Your Liability Coverage 

From wildfires to floods, natural events occur suddenly and unexpectedly. You want to have auto insurance coverage that will help protect your vehicle against these and other dangers. Liability insurance is the state-required minimum, but it will only protect you in the event of an auto accident where you’re determined to be at fault.

Comprehensive and Collision Coverage Can Help

If we’ve learned anything over the last couple of years, it’s that minimal coverage is rarely enough to help during a crisis. That’s why you should consider adding comprehensive and collision coverage to your policy.

Fire and water damage are costly expenses that you don’ t want to have to deal with along with the trauma of facing a life-threatening environmental disaster. Supplemental coverages can help manage the financial burden incurred by these events.

Prepare for the Unexpected

You can’t always control the events happening around you, but you can control how you prepare for the unexpected. It’s a good idea to review your auto insurance policy to reevaluate your coverage.

At Wine Valley Insurance Services serving Napa, CA we want to help you feel secure knowing that we have you covered during times of crisis. Contact us today to discuss your auto insurance needs and learn where you can fill in coverage gaps.

Why you should get an umbrella insurance policy

Living in the Napa, CA area is an amazing experience. Similar to any other area, residents of Napa need to make sure that they have proper insurance in place at all times. One type of insurance that you should consider getting is umbrella insurance. This is a type of personal liability insurance that will protect you against many forms of liabiltiy. There are many reasons why you need to have an umbrella insurance policy. 

Gives You Extra Coverage

Most people in the Napa area will have some level of liability insurance through their car or home policies. These types of policies will come with some type of liabiltiy coverage. While this could cover many different accidents, some more significant accidents could result in damages that are in excess of your base limits. Your umbrella policy will protect you in these situations. 

Covers More Situations

Having umbrella insurance is also very important and valuable because it will cover more situations than your base policies. An umbrella insurance policy will give you liability coverage for virtually any situation in which you could be found liable. This ensures that you will have much more inclusive coverage than when compared to a base home or auto insurance policy that has more limited forms of consumer liability insurance coverage. 

For those that are in the Napa, CA area, having umbrella insurance is very important. Due to this, you need to make sure that you have the right coverage at all times. The insurance team at Wine Valley Insurance Services can help you do just that. Because of this, you should call Wine Valley Insurance Services today to make sure that you have the right type and level of coverage to ensure you are properly covered by liability. 

Ask Your Agent About Home Insurance Changes

Your Napa, CA home is a big investment, and it’s one that Wine Valley Insurance Services wants to help you protect. We have dedicated agents who are interested in making sure you get the policy and protection you need. We also want to make sure any policy you have gets updated anytime you need or want to make changes to it. Some policies will work for your needs for years, but that’s not always the case. There are adjustments that might be required, especially if you make big changes to your home. A large remodel, for example, could mean you need more coverage.

Additionally, if you install something that might not be covered, such as an in-ground swimming pool, your policy could need to be changed. The same is true if you have something in your home most people don’t have, such as antique jewelry or a grand piano. While policies cover your home’s contents, they typically have limits that cover standard items. If you have things in your house that aren’t typical at all, asking your agent about changing the policy to specifically include and cover those items is an important way to protect yourself against loss in the event of a claim.

When you work with us at Wine Valley Insurance Services, we can protect your Napa, CA area home the right way. We’ll talk to you about the policy you need, or the one you already have. If there are changes you need to make, we’ll address those, as well. You might not realize your home or life has changed a lot since you got your insurance policy. We can help you see if there are adjustments that should be made, so you can make an informed decision about your coverage needs.

Do You Need Renter’s Insurance?

Renter’s insurance protects people who rent homes or apartments. It helps cover their property in the event it’s damaged. Wine Valley Insurance Services, serving Napa, CA and the surrounding region, helps people determine if they need renter’s insurance and how much of it they need. 

Landlord Might Require It 
Some landlords may require you to have renter’s insurance. Although landlords have insurance that protects their home’s structure and the property, their insurance does nothing to protect your belongings if something should happen. Landlords require it, so they don’t have any obligations to you. In some cases, a landlord’s insurance company may require any tenants of the building to have renter’s insurance. 

Affording the Replacement of Your Stuff

Assess how much your stuff costs. Now, you have to think about how much you have in savings to replace your belongings. If you don’t have enough to cover everything you need, you could find yourself not having furniture and other items until you can save up for it.

Discuss Liability Insurance  

You have to take into consideration if someone gets hurt on your property. Although you don’t own it, you do have to make sure it’s safe for other people to venture on. Therefore, you should discuss with an agent if renter’s insurance covers liability for you as well as people who visit your residence. 

Extras

Although insurance policies aren’t all the same, they often include added insurance benefits outside of covering your property and for liability. It’s important to inquire because some policies will cover your belongings when you travel with them.  

Get a quote for renter’s insurance and discover if you could benefit from it by contacting Wine Valley Insurance Services, serving Napa, CA and the surrounding region, by calling us at 707-226-8604. 

 

Does Auto Insurance Cover the Cost of a Rental Car?

Following an accident, many drivers need to get a rental car to help get them to and from work. Rental cars can be expensive however and most people do not have a ton of money sitting around to get a rental car. For those in the Napa, CA area, the agents with Wine Valley Insurance Services can help you to get the policy that is right for you.

An auto policy covers a great deal and many auto policies do help cover the cost of rental cars after an accident. For those that are dealing with the aftermath of a car accident, many auto insurance policies are going to help cover the cost of renting a car until your car is repaired or until you get a new car. this is to help make sure that you are going to be able to get to and from work, your doctor visits and more. This means that your policy is going to help cover the cost of getting a rental car from an authorized dealer so that you can get to work and so that you can get back to normal life after your accident.

Rental cars after an accident are a fantastic thing that can help make the process of recovering after an accident far easier and far more care free than they might be in other cases. Recovering from an accident it never easy but having a rental car can help make the process a bit less troubling and can help you get your car back sooner and get back to normal life sooner as well. For those that live in the Napa, CA area, the agents with Wine Valley Insurance Services can help you find the policy that works for you.  

Does Umbrella Insurance Cover Vehicle’s On The Property?

If you have assets that exceed the face value amount of either auto or home insurance, you can choose to make an umbrella insurance policy purchase to eliminate the gaps in coverage and give adequate protection in each situation. Learn how umbrella insurance can give you the flexible coverage you need to ensure your asset’s protection from hazards. 

Umbrella Coverage For Automobiles

People may purchase umbrella insurance for their property or their automobile, but it provides liability coverage only. This type of insurance is ideal for people who have a situation that may put them at excessive risk for liability issues. If you are considering purchasing umbrella insurance, or aren’t sure if your situation warrants securing this type of coverage, you should consult with an agent with extensive experience with umbrella coverage. 

Discover Options

You must first determine if your situation warrants the necessity of umbrella coverage, and then you need to find the right policy to fit your specific situation. The assistance of an insurance professional will give you the answers you need and the options that provide coverage without gaps. If you live in or around Napa, CA, you should consult with Wine Valley Insurance Services to get the information you need to make wise insurance decisions.

Don’t risk having excess liability that can mean personal loss. Get the experience and know-how from the experts at Wine Valley Insurance Services serving the residents of Napa, CA. Call or stop by the office today to speak with an agent or schedule an appointment for a consultation where you can ask questions and find out more about what umbrella insurance has to offer. 

Some motorcycle safety tips

A motorcycle can be one of the most fun rides around. No experience is quite like riding on the open road with the wind on your face, and all of that power humming beneath you. However, as Wine Valley Insurance Services, serving Napa, CA explains, you should be especially conscious about your safety when riding a motorcycle.

The first thing you should do is to take a motorcycle safety course. You’ll learn about traffic laws that apply to motorcyclists and what to do in an emergency. You will also get to practice your riding skills in a controlled environment.

You should keep your motorcycle properly inspected and make sure before every ride that your lights, horns, and signals are working properly. Keep your brakes and tires well maintained.

You should also wear the right gear before going out on the open road. A helmet is necessary, to keep you from suffering a severe brain injury if you have an accident. Wear long, heavy pants and sturdy shoes or boots. Also, while leather or heavy denim jacket looks pretty cool, it will also provide some protection if you suffer a mishap. Wear gloves, as well.

Drive defensively, good advice when in any motor vehicle, and certainly so when you’re on a motorcycle. Always be aware of your situation, especially where other vehicles and road hazards are concerned. In a car accident the vehicle body, seat belts, and airbags provide considerable protection that is not available on a motorcycle. Maintain proper speed, and obey all of the traffic laws. Do not try any stupid stunts.

For any questions regarding motorcycle insurance feel free to contact Wine Valley Insurance Services, serving Napa, CA.