Insurance for Real Estate Agents

We understand that insurance is an important part of the home purchase process, so it is our goal to create a mutually beneficial relationship with you to help your home buyers with their purchases.

Welcome to our Insurance Success page for Realtors! At LG Insurance Agency, we pride ourselves on the value added services that we offer to our real estate agent partners. Working with us gives you a local team of experts that know the intricacies of insurance in Monmouth and Ocean counties and beyond.

Below are several resources to guide you and your client when evaluating insurance options.

» View All Our Personal Insurance Services

Homeowners Insurance

There are five primary factors we consider when quoting a client for a homeowners insurance policy:

  1. Age of the Home
  2. Age of the Updates
  3. Size of the Home
  4. Flood Zone and Distance to the Coast
  5. Credit of homeowner/buyer

These factors play in a major role in the price and coverage offered to each client, and can vary based on the type of policy. We offer 10 different homeowners insurance market options to guarantee your clients get the best possible coverage at the best possible price.

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Picking the Right Policy

When evaluating homeowner’s insurance policies, you’ll notice that no two policies are alike for each client. This can make choosing a policy difficult for those who aren’t familiar with the options.  We use our extensive local knowledge to make sure client’s don’t miss important (and oft overlooked) policy options. Too often these coverages are left off by other agents in order to save money. But short term savings can create future nightmares, especially if you don’t have the right coverage and deductibles that your client is comfortable with.

We’re here to make sure your clients completely understand their insurance options before they get locked into a policy.

We have included a few documents for download that can help you with your clients:

» Coastal Homeowners Insurance Guide

  • This document provides information related to the coastal homeowners including several insurance definitions to help you along they way. Please feel free to share this with your buyers.

» New Homeowners Checklist & Letter from Aaron Levine

Flood Insurance

Another major factor is flood insurance, especially for client’s in Monmouth and Ocean counties. Each home has a specific Flood Zone and Elevation number designated for their area.

  • If the home is in a high risk flood zone, the insurance rates can be very expensive as they continue to rise over the next few years.
  • If the home is elevated and you do have an elevation certificate we can help you get quotes and will gladly do so.
  • If the home is older and there is not a flood elevation certificate, we can quote it by way of PRE-FIRM QUOTING, which allows older homes that are not elevated to get a discount for being built before the NFIP program.

Don’t be fooled by the word discount, because it will still be pricey!

» Fema Flood Map Service

» April 1st 2016 Flood MAP UPDATE Schedule

Questions about the 2015 Flood Remapping from FEMA? Click Here

Business Insurance for Realtors

General Liability Insurance

When your business is working with people as a Realtor does, General Liability Insurance is invaluable. Each time you deal with a new person, your risk exposure increases. General Liability Insurance protects Realtors:

  • Your business damaged someone’s property. Like if you held an open house with wine and cheese – and a buyer spilled red wine all over the new carpet.
  • You caused someone physical harm. Image that a client was walking up to your office on a rainy day, slipped on the wet floor and broke a bone.
  • You caused someone personal injury. Libel, slander, copyright infringement, and privacy invasion all fit into this category.

Should a similar General Liability claim befall your real estate business, your coverage will help you pay for related expenses, like legal defense, settlements, and court-appointed judgments, including medical bills. It can also protect you whether you are in the office or out meeting with clients.

Commercial Auto Insurance

Real estate agents drive frequently on the job to meet with clients, show houses and research the market. All of this driving means Commercial Auto Insurance is a valuable asset to your business protection plan.
Commercial Auto Insurance can protect your vehicle for work-related driving. Auto accidents are one of the most common claims filed by small business owners. It can help you:

  • In the event of an auto accident (event if it’s not your fault)
  • Vehicle theft or vandalism
  • Damage due to storms and other disasters
  • Other collisions, like backing up and hitting a mailbox

Auto accidents can be costly. Sometimes a claim doesn’t just require vehicle repair, but also medical expenses and legal costs. Your Commercial Auto Policy can take care of it all, up to your policy limits.

Errors and Omissions Insurance

Errors and Omissions Insurance is an essential policy for real estate agents. E&O Insurance provides coverage in the event that a client claims you did not provide your services to an agreed upon standard. In the business of real estate, it is certainly not uncommon to have a dissatisfied client. For example:

  • After a sale, a client might feel you misled them about how much work actually needed to be done in the home and sues you for expenses
  • A client might believe you are holding back available homes and showing them to other clients
  • After a client’s home has been on the market for a while, they feel you aren’t trying your best to sell the home

Many of these claims don’t have paperwork associated with them – and verbal assertions are difficult to prove or disprove in court. Even unfounded claims cost money, energy, and time, and Errors & Omissions Insurance is designed to ease a Realtor’s burden. E&O Coverage helps you pay legal defense, settlements, judgments an other legal fees.

Worker’s Compensation Insurance

Since more than half of all real estate professionals work as independent contractors, they are often responsible for securing their own Worker’s Compensation Insurance. It might be tempting to skip over this coverage to save money, but that might not be the best long-term choice.

If your real estate business is your only source of income, an illness or injury that keeps you from working could be devastating to your finances. Worker’s Comp helps you pay employee medical bills and reimburses you for at least a portion of employees’ lost wages.