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Umbrella Insurance 101 Umbrella insurance goes beyond your normal limits of liability to protect you and your family in the event of a sudden and serious situation. Relatively cheap, umbrella policies can offer additional coverage for things like injuries to others, legal fees and litigation, excessive property damage, and other personal liability situations. How does an umbrella policy work? Just like an actual umbrella that provides protection against rainy days, an umbrella policy is designed to provide additional coverage for large liability claims that your underlying insurance policies (home, auto, boat, motorcycle, etc.) won’t cover. It sits on top of all of the things you insure as an added layer of protection, like an umbrella. Before you can qualify for an umbrella policy, insurance carriers usually require a certain level of underlying coverage on your primary policies. Typically, homeowners should maintain a minimum of $300,000 in liability coverage on their home insurance ...
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  HIGHLIGHTING THE NEED FOR NATURAL DISASTER PREPAREDNESS Today I had the honor of meeting U.S. Senator Andy Kim at his Town Hall meeting in Westfield New Jersey. This week, Senator Kim appeared on The Brian Lehrer Show on WYNC, a New York Public Radio station, and spoke about  Homeland Security Secretary Kristi  Noem's policy that will delay aid, risk lives, and make our communities unsafe when it comes to responding to natural disasters. New Jersey knows all too well how hard it is to recover from devastating storms, hurricanes, and other weather crises, and we deserve leadership that will advocate for us. I've written and spoken extensively on flood risk and the importance of The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) which is  administered by the  Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) under the Department of Homeland Security . Unfortunately, most Americans are unaware of the wider roles that the NFIP and FEMA play in disaster preparedness and respon...
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How to Navigate Rising Insurance Costs

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Whether you’re experiencing increased insurance premiums firsthand or crossing your fingers and hoping things change before your renewal date, rising insurance costs are top of mind for many. While you may have heard about the state of the insurance market and the perfect storm of factors causing the market to tighten, it can be difficult to understand the big picture. But it’s not personal—it’s simply the cost of doing business. Understanding the insurance market cycle  ​​​Policy restrictions present themselves to consumers in a variety of ways, and when your current home and auto policies renew, you’re likely to see an increase in premiums. In the past you may have been able to shop around and find lower premiums, but there are fewer options available today than there were a couple month ago. This is called a hard market, and we’ve seen it before. The insurance industry is cyclical and goes through periods of expansion (“soft market’) and contraction (“hard market”). However, wha...
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Real Estate Flood Risk Disclosure Requirements in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania

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New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania have laws regarding flood risk disclosure which goes beyond whether or not flood insurance is going to be required by a lender. Realtors, Lenders, Attorneys, Home Buyers, Sellers, Landlords, and Renters all need to know what is required.  As the frequency and severity of major flooding events continues to rise across the country, and across the world, the importance of understanding flood risk will continue to dramatically increase. Flood risk must be disclosed when selling or renting real estate in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.  New York: In New York, if you're buying or selling a property, the seller is required to disclose whether the property is located in a high risk or a medium risk flood zone. This includes information about whether the property is in a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA), which is a high-risk zone for flooding. The seller needs to provide this information to the buyer, typically through a disclosure form ...
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