When Do I Need Classic Car Insurance?

Classic Car Insurance provides classic car owners with prolific mitigation against spare parts, breakdown cover, legal protection, market value, and salvage retention to ensure compensation in the event of the insured peril.

In Williamsburg, VA, vintage car owners, though not mandatory, need a unique coverage that protects them against risks while out on the roads. Making the right decision in terms of a good policy is critical. Commonwealth Insurance Center offers the ideal solution for your classic car insurance needs.

As a vintage car owner, you need protection immediately after you acquire your classic vehicle, as an eventuality may occur anytime, leaving you at a cross-road. The following are factors that determine the cost and level of the cover you need:

  • The value of your car– deciding on the level and cost of the insurance cover you require will be influenced by the value of the vehicle to be insured.
  • Mileage– The distance your car has been driven affects the cost of your classic car insurance. Some policies will attract discounts when their mileage is limited.
  • Club membership– Members of an approved vintage car club can benefit from a specialist rate.
  • Storage security- it is advisable to park your car in a garage overnight.

Visit or call Commonwealth Insurance Center if you have multiple classic cars in Williamsburg, VA. They can be insured under one single coverage for your convenience.

Commonwealth Insurance center offers a wide array of options and features that you can assimilate for a perfect cover:

  • With regular reassessment, we offer a special clause to safeguard classic car insurers to ensure one gets the actual value rather than market discrimination.
  • Fitted accessories and spare parts are also an option for vintage car owners.
  • In case of an occurrence leading to complete loss of the insured vehicle, we offer a salvage retention package.
  • We can add legal protection against tracking uninsured losses and breakdown protection features for our classic car owners.

One must note what is not covered in the policy and make appropriate decisions. One is usually not protected when their vehicles are unsafe or not roadworthy, in left keys in the car resulting to theft or burglary, not parking in separate garages when around your residence and malicious damage of theft happens and kindly note no discounts on claims offered.

We will be able to provide a lifesaving cover for your classic vehicle as our policy is customized to give extras to cater to your special needs. Kindly call or visit us now at Commonwealth Insurance Center for a breathtaking insurance offer for your vintage Williamsburg, VA.

Three Tips for a Safe and Fun Apartment Party

Apartment dwellers tend to feel a bit more constrained than their counterparts who live in houses around Williamsburg, VA. That’s because there are usually fewer square feet and more neighbors to worry about. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun! Here are some Commonwealth Insurance Center tips on hosting a fantastic apartment party.

Practice Safe Drinking

This is a necessity. If you plan to have alcohol at your apartment party, taking care of your guests and yourself is essential. Never allow a guest to drive home while drunk. Always offer non-alcoholic drinks as well. Limit hard liquor and keep some non-salted snacks out for everyone.

Consider Soundproofing

If your guests are likely to get drunk or loud, having a few soundproofed rooms would probably be a good idea. Consider putting up sound-dampening blankets and curtains. Rugs on the floor will keep sound from traveling through the floor. A bonus to this is it will help keep sound from penetrating your apartment the next time a neighbor throws a party!

Be Selective About Who You Invite

If you’re hosting a large party, it can be tempting to invite everyone you know. But that can lead to a lot of confused guests and emotional outbursts. It’s better to ask a few people you know well and respect. If you’re inviting people you don’t know very well, keep the guest list small and stick to a reasonable time limit. This can help keep things less chaotic.

Bottom Line

Hosting an apartment party can be a lot of fun, especially if it goes off without a hitch. But even when you do your best, sometimes things can go wrong. That’s why you need renters insurance. If you rent an apartment in Williamsburg, VA, contact Commonwealth Insurance Center today to learn more.

What value comes with a motorcycle insurance plan in Virginia?

Anyone living in the Williamsburg, VA area will want to know that they have the proper insurance support for their most important assets. This can include having an adequate motorcycle insurance plan if you are an owner of one of these assets. A quality motorcycle insurance plan will come with various forms of coverage that can make it a valuable investment for owners here. 

Ensures Compliance

An essential reason for anyone to get a motorcycle insurance plan is so they can ensure compliance. If you are going to ride a motorcycle in this state, you must always carry liability insurance. At the same time, you will want motorcycle insurance if you have taken out a loan to finance the vehicle. You will obtain all of this necessary coverage with the right motorcycle insurance plan. 

Provides Necessary Coverage

You also will want to have motorcycle insurance to be protected appropriately. When you invest in a motorcycle, you will want to be able to enjoy it for a long time. A great way to ensure this happens is by taking out a motorcycle insurance policy that includes full collision and comprehensive support. This will provide the support you need to replace or repair your motorcycle if a loss is incurred. 

There are many great reasons to get a motorcycle insurance plan in the Williamsburg, VA area. Once you are ready to start looking for coverage here, you should call the professionals with the Commonwealth Insurance Center. If you call the Commonwealth Insurance Center, you can learn more about your insurance needs and options. From there, you can pick a plan that will cover your needs. 

How umbrella insurance can help protect your company

Do you own a business in the greater Williamsburg, VA area? If so, it’s time to get to know the folks at Commonwealth Insurance Center. We are here to help our local business owners and operators protect their companies. Our team understands how much dedication and hard work goes into starting and maintaining a successful business. Let us help you protect yours!

How an umbrella policy can help your business

When it comes to protecting your business, you may have a lot of liability concerns. This may be because of how your firm is structured, and that excess commercial liability can become a personal liability. Or, it may be because you operate in a highly litigious industry and worry that one lawsuit could destroy all of your hard work.

Whatever the reason you need increased liability protection, an umbrella policy can meet that need. An umbrella policy will provide increased liability protection and help you keep your business growing and thriving! The main way that an umbrella policy will help protect your company is the increased liability protection that it offers.

When your primary policy is exhausted, your umbrella policy will come into play and fill that need. There are also policies available that can cover losses excluded from your primary policy. Find out more today about the many benefits these policies provide.

Let’s work together to protect your business!

Commonwealth Insurance Center is proud to be the insurance agency that business owners and operators in the greater Williamsburg, VA area turn to. You can rely on us for all of your commercial insurance needs. And, if it’s time for your company to add an umbrella policy, we can help. Give us a call to schedule an appointment today.

How a commercial umbrella policy can help protect your Virginia business

Commonwealth Insurance Center is ready to serve the commercial insurance needs of the greater Williamsburg, VA business community. If you have questions about how umbrella insurance can act as a vital tool to protect your company, call us today.

Using an umbrella policy to protect your Virginia business 

Liability protection for your Virginia business is key in laying the groundwork for ongoing and future success. Several different scenarios can create a situation that spells doom for a company’s success. 

If you experience a catastrophic event that includes a lot of liability exposure, it is possible to exhaust your company’s primary commercial policy. If this should occur, a firm that only carries a primary policy could find that it’s impossible to continue operations. However, with the right insurance in place, this is a situation that can be avoided.

When a primary policy is exhausted, a company that has an umbrella policy will be able to tap into additional insurance coverage. This can mean the difference between being able to regroup after a significant covered loss and having to close the doors. Obviously, everyone wants to avoid the latter situation, and it is possible to do so with an umbrella policy. Reviewing umbrella insurance options is a great way to get started.

Now is the time to learn how an umbrella policy can help protect your company

Williamsburg, VA area business people can count on the team at Commonwealth Insurance Center for all of their commercial insurance needs. Finding out more about umbrella insurance can help you make an informed decision regarding protecting your firm. Give us a call today and set up an appointment to learn more.

What does flood insurance cover?

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) provides coverage for physical losses to your home or dwelling and your personal belongings. Our team at Commonwealth Insurance Center is happy to provide information and guidance for Williamsburg, VA residents. Our team will walk you through how flood insurance works as well as what’s covered. Although flood insurance isn’t always necessary if you live in a flood zone or high-risk area, flood insurance may be a good option.  

Is flood cover necessary?

If you live near a body of water or in a high-risk flooding zone, then the chances are you’ll need flood cover. But the catch is, being in an area that requires flood cover means you’ll have to pay a higher premium or could not be covered altogether.

What is Flood  Insurance?

Flood insurance is designed to cover your home, car, and personal possessions from damage caused by a rainwater runoff, overflow, or buildup of water that covers dry land under normal circumstances. It should be noted that this type of coverage isn’t always included in a homeowner’s policy. However, some policies may include flood insurance as an extra option. If not, you can purchase a separate flood insurance policy.

What Does Flood Insurance Cover?

Flood insurance provides coverage for your home and your possessions as well as your car. Flood insurance has two categories that include building coverage and contents coverage. Typically, flood insurance covers:

  • Foundation/Walls
  • Anchorage systems
  • Staircases
  • Electrical/Plumbing systems
  • Furnaces/Water heaters
  • Refrigerators/Stoves 
  • Built-in appliances
  • Carpeting
  • Cabinets/Paneling/Bookcases
  • Window blinds

Flood insurance also covers detached garages, fuel, well-water tanks, pumps, and solar equipment. 

If you are considering investing in flood insurance, give us a call. We’d be happy to discuss your options with you. Our team at Commonwealth Insurance Center would be happy to answer your questions. We’re standing by.

How does the liability component of my condo insurance work?

How does the liability component of my condo insurance work?

When you buy a condo in Williamsburg, VA, you’ll need a specific type of home insurance known as condo insurance. The condo policies that Commonwealth Insurance Center offers contain the same type of liability policy as homeowners’ insurance and so does your condo complex’s master policy.

Your condo complex buys a master policy that covers all of the public areas of the complex for property damage and liability. Your condo policy covers your specific domicile for property damage and liability.

So, if both carry liability, who pays what? This blog explains what the condo policy covers versus what the condo complex’s policy covers.

The master policy covers everything that is walls out from your condo and other people’s condos. Your condo policy covers what happens inside your condo – the walls-in coverage.

With respect to liability coverage, the condo complex’s policy covers liability in all public places, whether the hallways outside the front doors to the condos or the swimming pool or condo’s clubhouse. If you have a friend visit and they fall down the steps leading into the complex’s entry, the complex’s liability coverage handles it. If your friend falls getting out of your shower, your condo insurance policy’s liability coverage handles it.

You will have to purchase condo insurance when you buy your condo. The owner’s association of the complex will require the coverage, typically, as a part of its covenants.

When you buy a condo in Williamsburg, VA, let Commonwealth Insurance Center help you find the coverage you need. Call us today to get your condo covered.

Why Young Parents Should Review Life Insurance

When you’re young, it can seem like there is an endless road of life ahead of you. Having insurance for when it passes is a problem for a much later version of you. A child brings reality sharply into focus, and you are likely to consider all of the potential futures that lie ahead of their young life. Commonwealth Insurance Center would like new parents in Williamsburg, VA or around the nation to reevaluate their life insurance for the following reasons.

Your Financial Needs Have Increased

A life insurance policy is a safety net against the financial responsibilities left behind by your death. When you are young and more likely to have a partner with their own career, those expected costs are lower. With the addition of a child, you now have to worry about how both your partner and your offspring will manage after you pass.

Life Insurance Costs Trend Upwards

Whether you’re 19, 39, or 59, getting a life insurance policy or improving an existing one is going to be cheaper for you now than it will be in a few years. Getting into a policy earlier may allow you to lock in a lower rate, saving you quite a bit over the length of any life insurance contract.

Life Insurance Benefits Can Improve Over Time

There are life insurance policy options that might accumulate a cash value over time. Depending on the insurer, you might earn interest on this value and be able to take out a loan against its value. Most will allow you to cash out the accumulated value if you cancel the policy, and the cost is usually tax-deferred. Other insurers might increase your liability limits or provide other incentives if you stick with them for a long time.

You Have More Time to Consider Your Options

Acting early is the best way to improve the results of any insurance coverage. Commonwealth Insurance Center is standing ready to answer any questions that Williamsburg, VA parents have about their life insurance options.

Virginia Auto Insurance: Does Your Car Insurance Cover Another Driver?

When you have a car and someone else wants to borrow it, it is a responsible question to ask about whose car insurance will cover damages in the event of a problem. In Virginia, like elsewhere in the nation, car insurance will cover the vehicle and not the driver of the car. Still, the minimum requirements for auto insurance in Virginia may not be enough when you add other drivers to the mix.

At Commonwealth Insurance Center, we want all Williamsburg, VA drivers to have enough coverage to protect them financially from any problem on Virginia roads.

When an Accident Happens

When an accident happens and someone else is driving the car, liability coverage will go into effect if that driver is found to be at fault for the accident. Unfortunately, that will be your liability coverage. 

That means that when another person drives your vehicle and is found at fault in an accident, you are going to be responsible for the damage through your own insurance coverage. Your insurance premiums will see an increase in the following year.

It won’t go on your driving record, it will go on your insurance record.

Your Insurance Coverage

Virginia is an at-fault state when it comes to car insurance. When someone driving your vehicle gets into an accident, your insurance coverage will cover injuries and damages if that person is at-fault for the accident.

Your liability coverage will pay for medical bills and property damages to the other party. If you have medical payments coverage then the driver will also have their medical bills covered.

If you also have collision coverage, your vehicle repairs and replacement will be handled by your insurance company.

If this driver will be using your car a lot, you will want to add them as a secondary driver. That will make the insurance question a lot easier in the event of an accident. The alternative is to make sure that you have comprehensive and collision coverage in addition to medical payments coverage when you are updating your policy.

With that, you will be covered in every way in the event of an accident, regardless of who is driving your vehicle.

Get a Quote

It is among the most common questions in car insurance. The car insurance follows the car, not the driver. At Commonwealth Insurance Center, we want Williamsburg, VA drivers to have every coverage they need for every driving scenario. Call us for a quote and talk to us about this today.

Can Creditors Claim Life Insurance Benefits in Virginia?

With relatively recent changes to which benefits are exempt from the grasp of creditors, Commonwealth Insurance Center can help get you updated on what you need to know.

Most of Your Life Insurance Benefits Should Be Protected

In most cases, your life insurance beneficiary will not have to pay off any of your debt with the proceeds. The laws protecting these benefits are covered by Virginia law §38.2-3122. Given it’s just a few years old, Williamsburg, VA residents who purchased a policy several years ago may be unaware of the change.

Exemptions Are Likely to Exist

There are few definitive answers when it comes to insurance policies, and life insurance is no exception. A spouse who receives the benefit could see creditors come after the payment if the two of you had any joint accounts with a debt. Even though most life insurance is paid out to a beneficiary, some are placed into a trust that is linked to your name.

A later section of the law does allow creditors to make a claim, but only before the payment of the claim. Creditors use this option when a life insurance policy is used as a way to defraud creditors, so it shouldn’t be an issue as long as you are a law-abiding citizen.

These are not the only ways that your policy might be vulnerable to creditors or other factors that limit its payout, but they should paint a picture of the complexity.

Update Your Policy and Your Knowledge

Despite the slow pace that the law can move, it’s still a changing body of work. If you have any questions or want to look at options for updating your insurance portfolio, Commonwealth Insurance Center has offices in Williamsburg, VA and several surrounding cities that are on hand to help you.