Category: Auto Insurance

The total loss of a vehicle is heartbreaking, but understanding the total loss process can help with the headache of what to do in North Carolina. A total loss is called when the repairs are more than the vehicle’s actual cash value (ACV).

Initial Assessment and Reporting

The total loss process begins with reporting the accident to your insurance company. After filing a claim, an insurance adjuster will assess the damage to your vehicle. This assessment includes a thorough inspection to determine whether the car can be repaired or is a total loss. The adjuster writes up an estimate for the repairs and compares it to the vehicle’s ACV, considering these factors: its make, model, year, mileage, and overall condition.

Determining the Actual Cash Value

The actual cash value (ACV) represents the market value of your car at the time of the accident, considering depreciation and wear and tear. Various methods are used to determine the ACV, including industry guides, recent sales of similar vehicles, and market trends.

Settlement Offer and Options

In the case of a total loss, the insurance company will offer a settlement offer where the deductible is subtracted from the ACV. You can accept the settlement and relinquish the vehicle to the insurer, who will then handle its disposal.

Retaining a Salvage Title

In some cases, you may choose to keep the totaled vehicle. If you retain the car, the salvage value is deducted from the agreed-upon amount in the settlement. You must also obtain a salvage title to declare the vehicle a total loss.

Lee Insurance Agency LLC Is There For You

Lee Insurance Agency LLC is here for you when you need insurance information. Our services are available at the North Carolina locations. Call today.

Whether you travel to see clients for a company, run an on-demand or freelance business, or use your vehicle for some other job-related reason, your personal auto insurance policy in North Carolina will most likely not cover business-related accidents and incidents. A single accident while driving for business in a personal vehicle could cost you thousands of dollars in unexpected costs.  The agents at Lee Insurance Agency LLC can guide you on protecting yourself.

Hired and Non-Owned Auto Coverage (HNOA)

Not having the proper vehicle insurance in place is a common mistake many small businesses make because they don’t have a fleet of delivery trucks, work vans or similar vehicles. Even if you only use personal vehicles for business purposes, you should consider an HNOA to protect yourself and any employees. Consider one of these policies if you do the following:

• Visiting clients
• Make small deliveries or pick up supplies
• Run business errands
• Transporting work tools or small equipment

Who Needs Additional Business Auto Insurance?

Many businesses do not provide company vehicles for their employees. If yours does not, ask whether they have insurance coverage for vehicle use while working. Freelancers and independent contractors should also consider an HNOA policy to avoid unexpected costs.

Rideshare and food delivery drivers typically are not covered under their parent company’s insurance policy. Others who may need coverage include:

• Cleaning workers
• Food service workers
• Construction workers
• Freelance journalists and writers

Remember, if you drive for business and don’t have some kind of commercial auto policy, you are essentially driving uninsured and are at risk.

The agents at Lee Insurance Agency LLC, serving North Carolina, can help you select a suitable policy to cover your business driving needs. Contact us today to get started on this essential protection.

Sometimes you may need to drive your personal vehicle for business. At Lee Insurance Agency LLC, we want you to understand when that happens occasionally, your personal auto insurance probably covers you. We want you to know when it does and when it doesn’t.

Personal Use Defined

Your personal auto insurance covers you whenever you drive in North Carolina for pleasure or household reasons. This means your trip relates in no way to business. In these cases, any policy coverages you choose, such as comprehensive or collision, protect you.

Occasional Use Defined

When you use your auto for occasional business trips, such as driving to a conference, auto insurance covers it. Occasional means on an irregular schedule, typically months apart in use. If you drive your personal vehicle to your industry’s national conference, which occurs once per year and lasts just a few days, your trip falls under occasional use.

Every Day Use Defined

If you drive it every day for business, such as delivering decorated cakes in it, you need a separate policy for commercial auto. Driving it to provide a service, such as visiting the homes or businesses of clients to repair something or deliver something, offers another example of everyday use. In these cases, personal auto insurance does not cover your driving.

Drivers for Uber and Lyft differ from most individuals using their vehicles every day for business purposes, but that’s thanks to the companies through which they drive. Uber and Lyft provide corporate commercial insurance policies to cover the liability of those who drive through their service.

Driving Your Personal Vehicle with Coverage

To remain safely covered by your auto insurance, drive your personal vehicle only for personal reasons. If you need to drive a vehicle every day for work reasons, purchase commercial auto coverage for it. If you drive your personal vehicle for work without a separate commercial auto policy and you’re in an accident, your personal auto policy will not cover it.

Drive safely in North Carolina and beyond, and contact Lee Insurance Agency LLC for auto coverage to keep your vehicle and financial security protected.

During the fall and winter months, it gets darker earlier in the day. As such, you may find yourself driving home from work in the dark. Unfortunately, when it is dark, it becomes harder to see road hazards, which can increase the number of accidents that occur. Here at Lee Insurance Agency LLC, serving the state of North Carolina, we want to help keep you safe when you are driving.

Follow these tips to help avoid an auto accident in the dark:

Familiarize Yourself With Roads You Will Be Traveling On at Dark

When possible, try to familiarize yourself with the roads that you will be traveling on in the dark, and try to stick with roads you are familiar with before the sun rises or after the sun sets. Knowing the roads well will make them easier to travel in the dark. 

Always Use Your Headlights 

Another tip to follow to help you avoid an accident when traveling in the dark is to always use your headlights. It is recommended that you turn your headlights on an hour before the sun sets and leave them on for an hour after the sun rises. Headlights not only help you to see, but they help other drivers see you on the roads. 

Slow Your Speeds When Driving in the Dark

Finally, always slow your speed when you are driving in the dark. You should always drive about five to ten miles per hour slower in the darker than you would in the daylight. 

Contact Us Today

While there are steps you can take to minimize auto accidents, you can not prevent every auto accident from happening. As such, it is extremely important that you have an auto insurance policy that fully protects both you and your vehicle in case an accident happens. Contact us at Lee Insurance Agency LLC, serving the greater North Carolina area, to obtain quotes for a new auto insurance policy. 

Lee Insurance Agency LLC provides coverage to North Carolina residents. We offer our clients a wide range of policies designed to meet their individual needs. We enjoy helping the local community, and we are confident that we can help you find the policies you need to protect what matters most.

Overlooked Auto Insurance Facts

Auto insurance gives you a layer of protection as you travel around North Carolina and beyond. Operating a vehicle is considered high risk because there are a lot of variables on the road. You have to account for the road conditions and other drivers. Auto insurance covers your vehicle if you are involved in a collision. Liability coverage protects you if you are ruled to be at fault for someone getting injured in an accident or causing property damage. As you research auto insurance policies, remember these often overlooked facts.

Possible Exclusions

 Before you choose an auto insurance policy, learn about exclusions. Exclusions are situations where you may not be protected if something happens to your vehicle. One common example is any damage that happens to your vehicle due to poor maintenance.

Commercial Coverage

If you plan to use your vehicle for business-related purposes, you will need to obtain a commercial policy. Traditional auto insurance does not cover your vehicle if it suffers damage while you are on the job.

Parking Tickets Aren’t A Major Factor

Generally, you should strive to keep a clean driving record. Perhaps you have heard that receiving a parking ticket may impact your auto insurance rates. This is not entirely true. One parking ticket will not alter your auto insurance rates, as long as you avoid getting into an accident.

Lee Insurance Agency LLC Will Help You Stay Safe On The Road

Visit our website to learn more information about auto insurance.

At Lee Insurance Agency LLC, we get asked all the time if there isn’t some kind of alternative to car insurance. Many people even wonder if specific drivers don’t have to be insured. In this state, you need to be insured…unless you’re willing to spend more money on an alternative way of keeping your car safe. Here’s what you need to know.

Insurance is Mandatory in North Carolina…Except When…

While North Carolina is one of the 48 states in the nation that requires people to buy car insurance, they are also one of a handful that allows people to purchase bonds instead of an insurance policy. How does this work? Individuals who don’t want insurance pay into a bond provided by a surety company. 

Then, when an individual crashes their car or needs any repairs, they get money directly from this bond instead of an insurance company. However, they must eventually pay back the money in this bond to keep it at a set value. In this state, the minimum amount is $85,000 for uninsured drivers. 

So, while this is a valid and legal option for drivers in this state, it is expensive. And it can affect a person’s credit score. For example, drivers without car insurance may find their score declines, even if they have a surety bond that helps pay for any damage that their car may experience. 

It Is Best to Stay Insured 

While surety bonds may be a good choice for some people, we at Lee Insurance Agency LLC believe that insurance makes more sense. So if you want a policy and would rather not invest in a surety bond instead, please call us today to learn more. Our team will help set you up with a high-value policy that makes sense for your needs. 

Many occasions arise when you are driving a rental car. If you are flying to your vacation destination, you may want to see the sights, which requires renting a car. You may rent a truck to move something or your entire family. You might have a problem with your vehicle and need to get it serviced. While it’s in the shop, you need a rental. Whatever the reason, you will be faced with many questions about insurance and whether or not you want to get the insurance offered by the rental company. At Lee Insurance Agency LLC in North Carolina, we place our customers first, and we are there for you no matter what you need. 

Rental car companies offer a variety of coverages. 

• Loss/collision damage waiver
• Supplemental liability coverage
• Personal accident insurance
• Personal property coverage

The simple answer to the question, does my auto insurance cover me in a rental car is maybe. It really depends on what type of coverage you have on your auto insurance policy. Whatever you have should cover you the same way when you are in a rental car. If you have liability coverage that you feel comfortable with while driving your own vehicle, it will be just as comfortable in a rental vehicle. So you can skip the supplemental liability insurance. 

If you have full insurance coverage, you are covered for accidents and damage to the vehicle, but it may or may not extend to a rental car. You should call your insurance carrier to verify if your coverage extends to rental vehicles. When in doubt, take the collision damage waiver. 

If you have health insurance, you don’t need personal accident insurance, and if you have a home or renters insurance policy, you don’t need personal property coverage. 

Contact Lee Insurance Agency LLC in North Carolina to discuss all your insurance needs.