Dalessandro Agency Inc

1500 44th St SE
Kentwood, MI 49508

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Three steps to selecting a recreational insurance policy

Purchasing a recreational insurance policy is essential for both protecting your assets and your finances from liability expenses. We provide recreational insurance to consumers in Grand Rapids, MI at Dalessandro Agency Inc.

If you need recreational insurance, you should go through the following three steps as part of the process of selecting a recreational insurance policy. 

Determine your RV type

When you purchase recreational insurance for your RV, you need to designate which type of RV it is.

There are many different types of vehicles or trailers that are classified as recreational vehicles. These include sport utility RVs, motorhomes, travel trailers, and more. Motorhomes are classified as either Class A, Class B, or Class C motorhomes.

The type of vehicle you’re insuring is an important consideration regarding your policy. That’s why you need to determine and be aware of your RV type as a step in finding the right insurance solution. 

Consider feature options for recreational insurance policies.

There are numerous feature options when it comes to recreational insurance. These include total loss replacement coverage, vacation coverage, emergency expense coverage, and roadside assistance. Be aware of these options and decide which ones you want or need. 

Comparing costs

One essential step in choosing a policy is comparing the costs of various policies available to you. To do this, you can get quotes from different providers out there. 

When comparing costs, you shouldn’t evaluate the cost alone. Choosing the cheapest policy is never a good idea. Instead, you should compare the value provided by each policy. Please make sure you know exactly what types of coverage a policy is offering before deciding on purchasing it or passing it over. 

Get started finding your recreational insurance solution today. We’re standing by to answer all your questions at Dalessandro Agency Inc. Let us help you find your recreational insurance solution in Grand Rapids, MI!

What You Need to Know When Updating Your Motorcycle Insurance Policy

If you have a motorcycle, you probably already have insurance on it. But have you updated your policy lately? If you haven’t, now may be a perfect time. If you’re in the Grand Rapids, MI area, see us at Dalessandro Agency Inc. and let us look over your motorcycle insurance policy. We can help you make adjustments that will be right for your needs and lifestyle, so you have the right type and level of coverage. You don’t have to settle for less than quality coverage and peace of mind when you’re out enjoying warm days on your bike. We’re here to address what you need to know so that you can feel confident and secure with your insurance policy.

What should I know?

The biggest thing you need to know when you update your policy is that the coverage that worked for you in the past might not be right for you now. If you’ve purchased a different bike, you travel on it more or differently than you used to, or you’ve taken a safe riding class, for example, your policy may no longer fit. But that’s not a problem when you work with a trusted and knowledgeable agent who can help you make the right changes and feel good about your coverage for the future.

See us today at Dalessandro Agency Inc., and ask our friendly agents about your motorcycle insurance needs. We want to help all our clients in the Grand Rapids, MI area are able to protect themselves and their bikes with proper insurance. If you have questions or concerns, we’re also happy to help with those, so you aren’t left wondering whether your coverage is going to be adequate. You can update your policy at any time, and we’ll be here to make sure the changes you make are the right ones. Contact us for more information.

What does boat insurance cover?

Your boat is more than likely one of your most prized possessions and a financial investment for you and your family. To protect it, you will need to obtain boat insurance.

A boat insurance policy can cover your motorboat, personal watercraft, or sailboat if it is stolen, vandalized, or damaged by a fire, lightning, or other disasters. Boat insurance can also protect you if an accident occurs, and it is deemed to be your fault. It will cover injuries sustained in the accident by your passengers or people in another boat, along with damage to other people’s boats or property.

Your boat insurance policy can cover more specific parts of your beloved boat too, such as the boat’s machinery, equipment that is permanently attached to the boat, the fittings of the boat, furnishings inside your boat, and your boat’s hull.

Property insurance coverage

This is the part of your policy that will repair or replace your boat if it is damaged in an accident, it is stolen, it is vandalized, or if it is damaged in a fire or natural disaster. This type of coverage protects your boat while it is in the water or on land.

To protect your boat or watercraft from various risks, you need to obtain a boat insurance policy. For example, if you accidentally hit another boat while out on the water and damage is caused, the property damage portion of your policy will pay for the other person’s boat to be repaired or replaced. This insurance will also replace your boat if someone steals it. This part of your policy will protect your boat, whether it is docked in the water or parked in your driveway at home. When you obtain property insurance for your boat, you may be able to choose between two coverage types: actual cash value coverage or agreed amount coverage.

Liability Boat Insurance Coverage

In the event you cause an accident to happen that results in the damage of someone’s property or injuries to someone, liability coverage will pay the expenses incurred.

Medical payments coverage

This part of your boat insurance policy covers anyone who is injured in an accident you are involved in with your boat. This coverage will help pay for medical expenses, hospital bills, medications, or X-Rays.

Uninsured or Underinsured Watercraft Coverage

This type of boat insurance covers damages to your boat that are caused by someone who does not have any boat insurance at all or not enough.

To create the best policy for you and your boat, you need to enlist the assistance of a boat insurance agent like the trusted agents at the Dalessandro Agency Inc. in Grand Rapids, MI. Contact our office to have your questions answered and learn more about your options.

Reasons Why Umbrella Insurance Is Important

For most of us, protecting our family and our belongings is the number one priority, and the best way to do it is to have insurance. However, sometimes your coverage might not be enough, and you need an extra level of security. That is where umbrella insurance steps in. Umbrella insurance offers additional liability protection above the limits of your other insurance policies. Since it is not a mandatory type of coverage, you might think of skipping it. However, before you decide to do it, Dalessandro Agency Inc., serving Grand Rapids, MI, urges you to check the list of reasons why umbrella insurance is worth getting.

You Entertain Guests At Your Home

If you invite people to your house, getting umbrella insurance is important because anything can happen. Your guest can injure themselves in your swimming pool, be bitten by your dog, or simply trip on a sidewalk leading to the porch of your house. These unfortunate events might result in serious injuries, liability claims, and high medical bills that you will have to pay. If you have an umbrella insurance policy, you have nothing to worry about because it will cover all the expenses. 

You Are Active On Social Media

If you actively use any type of social media and communicate with other people, you should consider getting umbrella insurance that covers slander and libel (written and spoken defamation). For example, if you post a review about the restaurant and complain about their unhygienic kitchen, the restaurant might sue you for libel. 

You Are A Parent

If you have dependent children, umbrella insurance will protect them if they cause an accident. For example, let’s say that your teenager caused an accident by damaging somebody else’s car or property. Umbrella insurance will kick in and cover the damage inflicted by your child.  Another example is when your younger kid is playing outside with a ball and breaks your neighbor’s window by accident. Your umbrella insurance policy will provide additional liability coverage in this case. 

If you are a resident of Kentwood or Grand Rapids, MI and you are searching for a way to protect yourself and your family, Dalessandro Agency Inc. is ready to assist you. Give us a call to learn more about umbrella insurance and find the policy you need. 

An Introduction to Life Insurance

When you begin shopping for life insurance, you will find a plethora of terms specific to its policies. While there exist only two major types of life insurance – whole and term – more than ten policy types exist within those two categories. Here’s a short primer on the significant terms and policies.

Whole Life

This insurance policy provides a death benefit during your whole life so long as you pay the premiums. It also gets referred to as permanent insurance. Many of its policy types combine the death benefit with an investment fund component. 

Term Life

Juxtapose that with term life, which insures your life for a finite period, typically 10, 20, or 30 years. If you die within that time, so long as you have paid your premiums, your beneficiary will receive the death benefit.

Policy Types Within the Categories

Life insurance companies like Dalessandro Agency Inc. provide a vast number of choices. You can purchase more than one policy so that you can mix and match. Choose from the following:

  • universal life
  • variable life
  • variable universal life
  • survivorship life
  • increasing and decreasing term life

Whole life insurance policies like universal life, variable life, and variable universal life provide permanent insurance options. Each offers both a death benefit and a cash value account that lets you save money in a tax-deferred account. Universal policies invest this cash value in a money market account that earns or losses depending on the market performance. Variable life and variable universal life provide a death benefit and a cash value investment fund linked to a mutual fund with stock and bonds.

With term life, you only receive the death benefit. You show evidence of good health when purchasing the policy initially. You renew it year-to-year, but do not need to renew your proof of good health.

A survivorship life insurance policy covers more than one person. It typically pays out when the first person on the policy dies, but you can also obtain a joint and survivor policy, also known as a last to die policy. You can obtain these as a whole or a term policy.
A final expense or burial policy pays for the funeral and related expenses like the headstone and services. These small policies of about $10,000 of coverage can be permanent or term. Most life insurance policies require a medical exam, but you can find no exam policies.

A decreasing benefit policy proves popular with those who have a large mortgage to pay and want the family to be able to cover the payments. As time passes and the mortgage gets paid off, the policy benefit decreases until it reaches zero. At that time, the policy expires. An increasing benefit policy lets a young professional provide a more significant income for their family commensurate with their increased earnings.

Corporations often obtain key man life policies to protect the corporation from the effects of the loss of an executive officer, a superior salesperson, or a specialized skill player.

The variety of life insurance possibilities remains vast. Contact Dalessandro Agency Inc. of Grand Rapids, MI to learn more about your life insurance options and how we can help you provide for your family’s future now.

Tips to Avoid an Accident in Michigan

A bad driving record can negatively impact your insurance premiums in Michigan. However, there are things you can do to reduce your chances of getting into an accident. Contact Dalessandro Agency Inc. in Grand Rapids, MI for information on your car insurance and follow the tips below to avoid an accident.

Tips to Avoid an Accident (and Insurance Claim)

These tips can keep you and your passengers safe and help you avoid an accident.

Drive Defensively not Offensively

Teens and adults alike are usually in a hurry to get where they’re going. Rather than driving aggressively, try to follow traffic rules and stay under the speed limit. In short, focus on arriving alive and pay attention to what’s going on around you.

Wear Your Seatbelt

Wear a safety belt and ensure your passengers do too. This may not prevent an accident, but it’s an essential habit for responsible drivers. 

Stay Sober

Whatever you do in your own life is your business. However, when you get behind the wheel after a few drinks or taking drugs, it puts others at risk. It may also impact the viability of an insurance claim you file after driving under the influence. 

Limit Your Passengers

New drivers should limit their passengers to avoid distractions.

Train for Driving in Bad Weather

Practice slowly on local roads or an empty parking lot during a light rain shower. This helps you understand how driving conditions change in poor weather and may prevent an accident.

Pull Over to Answer Texts and Calls

If you can’t turn your phone off, pull off to the side of the road to answer texts, or take emergency calls.

These tips and tricks may be obvious, but it’s very easy to set them aside when they aren’t convenient. Follow up with your Dalessandro Agency Inc. representative to make an appointment to get a car insurance quote in Grand Rapids, MI today.

How commercial insurance can save your business

As a business owner in Grand Rapids, MI and the surrounding area, you know that there are things that can happen that can harm your business. You have a lot of work to do between your customers and staff. You have records to keep and bills to pay, and it can be a little overwhelming. Having someone to help you navigate the complicated world of commercial insurance can take one worry off your plate. The agents at Dalessandro Agency Inc. can tailor a policy to fit your particular needs. 

Commercial insurance is not one size fits all. Not every business will need every type of commercial coverage. Depending on the type of business that you are conducting and the location of your business, your needs may not be the same as any other customers.  

Liability coverage is something that just about every business will need at one point or another. It covers a variety of things that you can be sued for. It could be that someone is hurt on your premises or by one of your products. It could be something you said that someone took offense to, or it could be a disgruntled former employee. No matter what, this coverage will keep you in business. 

In Michigan, most employers need to carry worker’s compensation for their employees. The agents at Dalessandro Agency Inc. know the rules and will help to make sure that you comply with the law. 

Commercial property insurance protects the building where you do business, whether it is Grand Rapids, MI or another area city. But there is more to your business than the building. There is the inventory, the machinery, the office equipment, and supplies. You can’t do business without these. 

Commercial insurance can save your business. Come in and sit down with the agents at Dalessandro Agency Inc. and let us talk to you about the perfect coverage for your business. 

Do I have enough home insurance coverage

Buying a home is the most significant investment most people will ever make. Protecting that investment is essential, and home insurance is how you do that. If you have a mortgage, the lender will require that you keep enough coverage to protect their investment, but the amount of your mortgage is likely a lot less than the actual value of your home. When was the last time you took a good look at your home insurance policy to see the amount of coverage that you have? If you are like many people, it has been a while. If you live in the Grand Rapids, MI area, Dalessandro Agency Inc. has the knowledgeable staff to help you evaluate your policy and determine if you have enough home insurance coverage. 

Home insurance has several different coverages. It offers a dollar value for the replacement of the actual structure of your home. It has a sperate amount for other structures on your property, such as a detached garage, casita, or shed. Your personal possessions have another value, and then there is important liability coverage. How do you know if the coverage you have is enough? 

You need to ask yourself some questions

  • What is the actual value of my home? Keep in mind that if you check the value online, it includes your lot as well as your home.
  • Have you made any significant upgrades that your insurance agent isn’t aware of that would increase the value of your home?
  • Do you own expensive items that may need additional coverage? 
  • Is your liability coverage adequate to protect the assets that you have? 

After you have answered these questions, why not call the office of Dalessandro Agency Inc. and set up an appointment to discuss your home policy. The team knows about values in Grand Rapids, MI, and can help make sure you have enough home insurance.