What to do after an auto accident

Posted on April 29, 2022May 12, 2022 by admin

Being involved in an accident is scary and stressful, but you’ll want to remain calm and focused to ensure that you, your loved ones, and any other involved parties are safe. If you are involved in an accident, remember to breathe and then follow these important steps. And remember, Alta Vista Insurance Agency in Vista, CA is here to help.

What to do after an auto accident

1. Focus on Safety

If the accident is minor and your vehicle is drivable, move it from traffic and to the side of the road or highway. Turn on your hazards and utilize cones or warning triangles if you have any to alert other vehicles to the accident. Once done, check for injuries on yourself before moving to any passengers in your vehicle and finally, other vehicles that are involved in the accident. If you have even the slightest doubt that someone is injured, err on the side of caution and call 9-1-1.

2. Information Gathering

It is always best to contact the police and ask that an officer be sent to the scene to produce a police report that is invaluable in the insurance claim process to determine who is at fault. If the police are not called or unavailable for a significant time, you should gather key information yourself to include the following for all parties involved:

Names and contact information
Vehicle descriptions
Driver’s license numbers
Insurance companies and policy numbers
Names and contact information for any eyewitnesses

3. File a Claim

You should contact your insurance company as soon as possible after an accident to start the claims process. Many insurance providers will let you start a claim from their mobile app to save time and hassle.

If you are shopping for car insurance, Alta Vista Insurance Agency in Vista, CA is here to help. Give us a call today to schedule a no-obligation consultation to learn more about our insurance products.

What every new parent needs to know about life insurance

Posted on March 31, 2022April 15, 2022 by admin

If you are a new parent in the Vista, CA area, you can turn to Alta Vista Insurance Agency for all of your insurance needs. We are here to answer all of your questions and help you find the insurance that will give your family the protection it needs.

Life insurance information for new parents

Welcoming a new child into the family is a very exciting event! Of course, there is also a feeling of responsibility with all of the excitement. Part of caring for one’s family is providing the protection and security they need. Life insurance is one way to plan for the future effectively. When you choose a life insurance policy to protect your family, you are helping to provide them with security, no matter what the future may hold.

Choosing the right type of insurance policy and the appropriate coverage level can seem confusing and challenging. It does not have to be a stressful experience, especially when you work with an experienced local agent. Now is a perfect time to learn more about your options.

Find out more today!

Rely on Alta Vista Insurance Agency for all of your Vista, CA area insurance needs. We understand that starting a family is an exciting time of life and one that can be filled with worry. Let us help you find the peace of mind that comes with knowing your family is protected. Give our office a call today to schedule a consultation to learn more about the available life insurance options in our area.

What New Homeowners Need to Know About Insurance

Posted on February 15, 2022April 7, 2022 by admin

Buying a home is an exciting life milestone. To make the most of homeownership, you will need to have proper homeownership in place. At Alta Vista Insurance Agency, we make it our job to provide our clients with solid insurance information so that they can make the best insurance decision. Keep reading to see how we can help you in Vista, CA and the surrounding areas.

Why Is Home Insurance Important?

If you have a mortgage on your home, your mortgage company will usually require that you have home insurance in place. Even if your mortgage company does not require this, it is always a good idea to have insurance in place. You have made a huge investment in your home. In addition to this, your home provides a huge part of your family’s security. If something happens to your home, you will be held financially responsible for repairs or replacement, and if your home is unlivable you will have nowhere to live. Home insurance removes these risks.

What Does Home Insurance Cover?

A home insurance policy can be customized to suit your particular needs. However, most home insurance will cover the following general areas.

Property damage: If your home is damaged or lost, the insurance will pay for repairs or replacement of your home. This can cover damage from fire, natural disasters and burglary.
Liability- If someone is injured at your home or on your property, you could be held liable for any medical bills or legal fees that resulted from the incident. This type of coverage will protect you from the financial vulnerability that could result from such an event.

If you would like to learn more about home insurance or any of our other insurance products, please contact us at Alta Vista Insurance Agency, serving Vista, CA and the surrounding areas.

What Is Business Interruption Insurance and Do You Need It?

Posted on January 24, 2022February 3, 2022 by admin

If you own a business, there might be a point at which you won’t be able to operate. When this occurs, it’s in your best interest to get business interruption insurance coverage. In fact, it may be ideal to have it in place depending on your type of company and risk factors associated with it. An Alta Vista Insurance Agency expert can help you determine if getting this coverage is a good idea in your situation.

What Is Business Interruption Insurance?

Business interruption insurance protects income that you may lose and helps you move to another location to allow you to open your doors up again quickly. You can use it in the event that there’s been an accident or some type of disaster. It typically is limited to your business’ net profits or projected gross income.

Be Certain You Have Adequate Insurance for Your Business

You might find that you’re under-insured if you don’t have business interruption coverage included in your contract. You can add this to a commercial property policy, a Business Owners Policy, or another type that’s offered by your provider.

What Business Interruption Insurance Tends to Cover

You can’t get business interruption insurance coverage by itself. All businesses need to bundle this endorsement with some other commercial insurance policy. Be aware that your policy only covers certain aspects of your business.

Loss of Income/Profit

When you have to close your business for any period of time due to an accident or disaster, you’ll be able to have coverage up to a specific amount that’s stated in your policy. A business owner who lives in a hurricane zone would greatly benefit from having this in place.

Relocation

If you need to move to a different location to operate your business after a windstorm, fire, or some other type of disaster, the business interruption insurance covers the costs associated with that move.

Operating Expenses

You likely have regular bills you need to pay for your business. Since you’ll probably need to continue paying them at the time you close your business, the coverage you get from business interruption insurance is ideal. Rent, lease payments, and employee wages are examples of what’s included under operating expenses.

Paying Taxes

If you are paying property taxes for a location you have no access to while closed, or you already owe taxes, use business interruption insurance to help.

Business interruption insurance is made easier with the help of professionals. Reach out to Alta Vista Insurance Agency, serving the greater Vista, CA area. We’re happy to help you make a decision about your insurance needs.

Home Inventory Lists: What You Need to Know

Posted on December 20, 2021December 18, 2021 by admin

Homeowner’s insurance offers a level of protection for all of your personal belongings, including your home. Although it may seem like a huge and unnecessary task, creating an inventory list of your assets can ensure you receive full compensation in the event a file needs to be claimed. Alta Vista Insurance Agency wants to share with Vista, CA homeowners a little bit about home inventory lists.

What Is a Home Inventory List Exactly?

A home inventory is just a list of your personal belongings. This list needs to be as detailed as possible. For instance, you should include make and model, date of purchase, amount paid, serial numbers, etc. If possible, include a purchase receipt, as this makes it easier to identify the value of your losses in the event of a monsoon or fire.

When Should You Make a Home Inventory List?

If you have yet to create a home inventory list, now is the perfect time to do so. You never know when something unexpected could occur, so having a home inventory list created and ready to go will help speed up the claims process. Ideally, you should update this list at least once annually. The best approach, though, is to simply remove and add items as you sell them and buy them.

Where Should You Keep Your Home Inventory List?

You have to keep in mind that an event that could potentially damage your personal belongings could also damage your home inventory list. While there is nothing wrong with keeping a copy of the list at home and/or with you, it is a good idea to keep a copy of the list in the cloud and/or in a safe deposit box.

Whether you have recently purchased a home or have been living in your Vista, CA home for some time, let Alta Vista Insurance Agency ensure you have sufficient homeowner’s insurance coverage for your needs.

Do home-based businesses need commercial insurance?

Posted on November 15, 2021October 11, 2021 by admin

Home-based businesses are growing in popularity. Half of all businesses in the US are home-based and if you count businesses that don’t have employees, it goes over 60%. This brings with it many new challenges for businesses and it is more important than ever that you understand how commercial insurance can protect your business and how inadequate non-commercial insurance is. At Alta Vista Insurance Agency in Vista, CA, we understand business risk and how it can be mitigated with commercial insurance.

Property insurance

If your business is located in your home, you may think your home insurance offers you the coverage you need. It will supply some very basic coverage but not for anything that is particular to your business. While it might cover a computer, desk, and copier, it won’t cover any specialized tools or machinery relating to your specialized business. You also won’t have the coverage for the inventory and raw materials your business requires.

Commercial liability insurance

If you are meeting with clients or customers in your home and they are injured, your home insurance won’t cover them. If vendors come to your home, you also won’t be covered for any injury they sustain. Home liability insurance won’t cover any people who visit for business reasons, only personal reasons. An injury can lead to a legal suit and a judgment against you and it could be enough to torpedo your business for good without the right insurance.

Commercial auto insurance

If you are using your personal vehicle for business, you will not be covered if you have an accident where you are at fault. It is important to get commercial auto insurance for any vehicle you use for business purposes.

Contact Alta Vista Insurance Agency in Vista, CA when you are ready to discuss your commercial insurance needs.

Property Insurance FAQs

Posted on October 15, 2021October 11, 2021 by admin

If you own properties, you know how much time and resources it has taken you to accumulate your assets. With this in mind, you may not want anything to happen to your valuables. As such, investing in property insurance from Alta Vista Insurance Agency in Vista, CA, is the best decision you can make.

Do you have questions about property insurance? Worry not. We have put together a property insurance FAQs section to help you understand this coverage in detail.

What does property insurance cover?

This coverage protects your assets against loss or damage from perils like fire, theft, vandalism, and other risks included in your policy. Property insurance shields your buildings, equipment, inventories, and other assets from damages or losses that can inflict significant financial losses on your business.

Do you want peace of mind? Do you want to keep financial disturbances away from your assets? Investing in property insurance should be your number one priority. While property insurance doesn’t prevent risks from happening, it ensures you are not alone when catastrophes strike.

What does property insurance exclude?

Like other insurance coverages, property insurance doesn’t cover you against all risks — it has exceptions and exclusions. Typical property insurance doesn’t cover damage or loss from:

Floods and earthquakes
Employee theft
Intentional acts
Damage from neglect
Product defects due to manufacturing errors
Equipment breakdowns

Who needs property insurance?

Like general liability insurance, property insurance isn’t mandatory, but you must invest in it to protect your assets. Whether online or physical, all businesses should invest in property insurance to ensure they don’t start from scratch when the unthinkable strikes.

Invest in property insurance today!

Would you like to invest in property insurance in Vista, CA, and its environs? Look no further than Alta Vista Insurance Agency. Since we understand that the asset portfolio of one policyholder differs from the other, we provide personalized property insurance coverage to fit your individual needs.

How Does Renters’ Insurance Work?

Posted on September 30, 2021October 11, 2021 by admin

When you are renting a home, you always need to keep renters’ insurance in order to protect yourself and your wallet. If you rent and don’t yet have renters’ insurance, give us a call now at Alta Vista Insurance Agency in Vista, CA.

Coverage for Your Belongings

If you have a home full of items, you aren’t alone. We all like to have our things around us, and it can be upsetting not to. If there were an incident that harmed your belongings, ruining or destroying them, your renters’ insurance policy would help you to pay for replacements for everything lost. This can help you significantly by getting you back on your feet financially after a disaster or other incident.

Coverage for Your Liability

If you rent a home, you don’t own it, so there are certain things that you don’t have to insure, such as the dwelling itself. However, since you are living in it, you can be held liable for someone else’s injuries if they should have an accident in your home. This can be unlimited amounts of medical bills, even if the accident wasn’t that bad. With your renters’ insurance, these bills get paid by the policy up to the maximum amount on the policy.

Protection for Yourself

If something major like a disaster happened that caused serious damage to your rented home, you don’t have to live in it while it’s being fixed. A home that is uninhabitable may be your only option if you can’t afford to pay to live somewhere else while the repairs are being completed. However, your renters’ insurance policy will pay for you to do so.

Protect Your Home

If you rent and don’t have a renters’ policy yet, contact us right away at Alta Vista Insurance Agency in Vista, CA to speak to an agent.

How Does Umbrella Insurance Work?

Posted on August 16, 2021August 8, 2021 by admin

Umbrella insurance is a unique type of insurance that is helpful in a number of situations. To find out more about how it works, call us today at Alta Vista Insurance Agency in Vista, CA and talk with an agent.

Home Insurance

If you already have a home insurance policy, you may know some of the coverage types it includes as well as some of the amounts. However, many people don’t pay much attention to the amount of liability coverage they have. The typical home insurance policy has a small amount of liability coverage, but it often isn’t enough to pay the bills if there were a serious accident that occurred for the third party inside your home. To get more of this coverage, you can get an umbrella policy. It adds more liability coverage to the coverage you already have through your home insurance policy.

Auto Insurance

Just as an umbrella policy adds to the liability of your home insurance, it also adds liability coverage to your auto policy. Serious auto accidents can cause enormous amounts in medical and property damage bills. If you don’t have much coverage, you are simply responsible for the overage. But with umbrella insurance, you get a higher amount of liability coverage.

An Umbrella Insurance Policy

Once an accident happens, your home or auto policy, depending on where the accident happens, will pay for the resulting bills that you are liable for. Once your home or auto policy is maxed out, the rest of the amount you owe is paid for by your umbrella insurance. This can save you financially after an accident that results in serious injuries.

Get Your Umbrella Coverage

If you already have an auto and home policy and need more liability coverage, consider getting an umbrella policy. Contact us at Alta Vista Insurance Agency in Vista, CA to find out more.

Flood Insurance Explained

Posted on July 30, 2021August 8, 2021 by admin

You might think that your home is safe from floods because you have never seen anything more than a puddle in your yard. Unfortunately, every home is at risk of floods. Floods are unpredictable and can happen near the coast and in dry areas. According to FEMA, about 99% of all American counties have been ravaged by floods since 1996!

And here is another problem. When floods strike in Vista, CA, your home insurance doesn’t protect your home. Unfortunately, no amount of sandbags can hold back flooding. For this reason, you need a stand-alone flood insurance policy from Alta Vista Insurance Agency for optimal protection.

Is flood insurance mandatory?

Although no law in Texas requires flood insurance, if your home or business is mortgage-financed, your lender may require you to purchase flood insurance if you live in a flood-risk zone. In contrast, persons living in low-risk areas may see flood insurance as an unnecessary expense, but flood insurance cushions you from dipping into your savings when floods strike.

What does flood insurance cover?

Whether it’s flash flooding or hurricane flooding, water causes extensive damage to your home. To put this in perspective, a one-inch rise in water levels results in repairs to the tune of $25,000 and above!

When you buy flood insurance, it protects the below:

Building: This covers electrical and plumbing systems, furnaces, carpets, detached garages, and other fixed appliances.
Contents: Covers personal items like furniture, electronics, curtains, ovens, and so forth.

Where to buy flood insurance

You can buy flood insurance from NFIP. This coverage has a 30-day waiting period and covers your building up to $250,000 and contents up to $100,000. Besides, you can purchase flood insurance from private carriers. And the beauty of private flood insurance is that it provides better coverage than NFIP.

Buy flood insurance today!

Are you in Vista, CA, looking for flood insurance? Please get in touch with Alta Vista Insurance Agency for an affordable quote.