North Carolina Teen Drivers will face a new, and stiffer, law when it comes to how law enforcement officials deal with speeding.

Effective January 1st, 2012 drivers under the age of 18 (and all with provisional drivers licenses) who are caught speeding in excess of 15 miles per hour over the speed limit and/or driving in excess of 80 miles per hour can be arrested and taken to court.  At that point in time, a judge will decide whether the NC Teen Driver will have his/her license revokes for 30 days.

As any parent of a current Teen Driver will surely attest, adding a Teen (or new driver) to a North Carolina Auto Insurance Policy is anything but cheap.  As a general rule of thumb, parents of newly licensed drivers can expect a premium increase of anywhere between 1.5 to 3 times their current annual insurance premium.  If that newly licensed driver were to get a ticket…your insurance premium will SKYROCKET even further.

Over the past 3 years or so, many of Americans have watched perhaps their biggest and most valuable asset diminish.  The sad part is that there wasn’t a thing they could do about.  The “free market” has seen the need, and it appears at least one company has decided to try and address that need.

I must confess that I really don’t know a lot about this new insurance, the concept seems to be worth looking into.  Granted, I have not done much due diligence, but currently this product is only available in OH.

For More Information – Home Value Protection Insurance

As we were driving around the Costco parking lot, Cooper saw a GEICO Car.  He said, “man! that would be cool if we had an auto insurance car”.  I quickly replied, “buddy, we don’t like GEICO.  GEICO tries to take toys away from you and your sister.  That’s why daddy has to beat them all the time!”  It took a little more back and forth before both Cooper and Peyton realized that GEICO was not cool.

Flash forward to today.  We are watching college football when a GEICO commercial came on.  This commercial made some statement about going online or visiting a local agency.  Peyton turned to me a said, “you should go down to that office and punch GEICO in the face!”

That really puts things into perspective.

On a side note!  Cooper was talking to Melinda this week and the topic of car insurance & the president came up.  Melinda pointed out to Cooper that I was the President of ALLCHOICE.  To which Cooper extrapolated, “Daddy is the president of car insurance”.

Much like the quake around 2003 or 2004, this event got this Insurance Guy thinking.  If I were to take a poll around 10 AM this morning about insurance coverage for earthquakes, my guess is that 80% – 90% of those polled would assume that they have coverage under their Homeowner’s Policy.  However, once the quake hit and people let the hysteria take over, questions surely came about whether or not that would be true.

The fact is, damage caused by Earthquake is not a standard coverage under North Carolina’s Homeowner’s Forms.  The common NC Homeowner’s Form (HO-3 & HE-7) is what the insurance industry calls a “Special Form Policy”.  Basically, that means that things (the industry calls “perils”) are covered under the policy unless SPECIFICALLY EXCLUDED.  If you were to whip out your homeowner’s policy right now (if you can actually find it), you will see numerous exclusions, and yes, you would find the Earthquake Exclusion.

The last time Greensboro, NC felt the effects of an earthquake I can remember feverioushly drafting a letter to all of my clients  letting them know that they didn’t have coverage for damage caused by an Earthquake.  After getting that letter out, I received a number of phone calls inquiring about this fact.  After those many calls, one client decided add Earthquake coverage to their Homeowner’s Policy.

Times have changed!  Today, I don’t need to draft a letter like that again.  I can simply put the word, much like I am doing right now.

What hasn’t changed during that time is the fact that YOU DO NOT HAVE EARTHQUAKE COVERAGE!  The other thing that hasn’t changed is that you can add this endorsement to your homeowner’s policy.  The price of the endorsement varies depending on the amount of coverage you have on your dwelling as well as the construction type (Frame or Brick).

I suggest contacting your agent as soon as possible to inquire about this coverage.  Remember, NC sits on a major Fault Line.  By now, you have probably even heard that the East Coast actually has the propensity to have farther reaching effects of an Earthquake as our “rocks” are millions of years older than the “rocks” of our brothers & sisters on the Left Coast.

Whether you purchase the Earthquake Endorsement or not, you would be well served to at least take a moment to learn a little more.

The sponsorship is in conjunction with Newbridge Bank’s 2011 Football & Cheerleading Jamboree.

When asked about the sponsorship, Jack Wingate (Founder & President of ALLCHOICE Insurance) stated, “As the leading provider of Home, Auto, Business, and Life Insurance in NW Guilford County, we feel that it is vital to give back to the NW Guilford County community.  The fact is, NW Guilford County has shown its support to ALLCHOICE since the beginning, this sponsorship is but a small token of our appreciation.  On a personal note, as a former football player and all around sports junky…it is also really cool to get All Access Passes to the Jamboree!”

For more information about the Newbridge Bank Jamboree, please visit: www.newbridgebankjamboree.com

For more information about ALLCHOICE Insurance, please visit: www.allchoiceinsurance.com or www.nwguilfordins.com

As a way to say thank you, ALLCHOICE is will be giving away a NEW Apple IPAD 2 to one deserving customer!

ALLCHOICE BIRTHDAY IPAD 2 CONTEST DETAILS

Contest Dates – July 1st – August 31st

How To Win – Refer Someone To ALLCHOICE Insurance (1 Referral = 1 Entry)  The more people you refer, the better your chances of winning!

How To Refer – Simply call our office (336.540.0463) or email (info@allchoiceinsurance.com) your referrals

Visit the IPAD 2 Details Page on our website www.allchoiceinsurance.com

A Denton, NC family saved 13% on their auto and home insurance by switching from State Farm.

This Browns Summit family had been insured with Nationwide Insurance for a number of years before taking a look at what ALLCHOICE Insurance had to offer.  After analyzing the family’s current insurance protections, ALLCHOICE discovered that the family had been sold minimum auto liability limits.  Even worse, the family was unaware of what those coverages actually protected them from.

After speaking with the family, ALLCHOICE was able to convey what type of risk they was present given those minimum limits.  The family agreed that they should increase those liability limits in order to bring their protection more in line with their exposure.

In the end, ALLCHOICE Insurance was able to educate the family with regard to their various coverages, as well as save the family 18% on their insurance premiums.

ALLCHOICE would like to welcome another satisfied customer to the family.

This family, located in Greensboro, NC, had been a long term Allstate Insurance customer before deciding to join the ALLCHOICE Family.

In an “apples to apples” comparison, this family saved a whopping $632 a year (or approx 37%) by simply switching to ALLCHOICE!

Statistics show that there is an ever growing cause for automobile accidents over the past few years.  That cause…Cell Phone Usage (more importantly TEXTING).  In order to deter drivers from giving in to one of these dangerous distractions, many states have imposed some tough laws banning usage while driving an automobile.  As a North Carolina based Insurance Agency that focuses on providing Auto Insurance, we would like to provide you some information regarding these laws.

Below you will find information about the various laws in NC, SC, VA, and TN:

State – NC

Hand-Held Cell Phone Usage Ban – NO

Young Driver Cell Phone Ban (All Usage) – 18 Years Old & Younger

Texting Ban – ALL DRIVERS

Enforcement* – Primary

State – SC

Hand-Held Cell Phone Usage Ban – NO

Young Driver Cell Phone Ban (All Usage) – NO

Texting Ban – NO

Enforcement* – NA

State – VA

Hand-Held Cell Phone Usage Ban – NO

Young Driver Cell Phone Ban (All Usage) – 18 Years Old & Younger

Texting Ban – ALL DRIVERS

Enforcement* – Secondary

State – NC

Hand-Held Cell Phone Usage Ban – NO

Young Driver Cell Phone Ban (All Usage) – Learners Permit & Intermediate License Holder

Texting Ban – ALL DRIVERS

Enforcement* – Primary

*There are two type of “Enforcement” shown above.  ”Primary” indicates that authorities have the right to stop you for simply violating the Cell Phone / Texting Law.  ”Secondary” indicates that authorities may not stop you for for violating the Cell Phone / Texting Law, but instead must first stop you as result of another violoation (i.e. speeding).