At Dexter & Company, we know insurance can be confusing. That is why we took the time to answer some of the most frequently asked insurance questions. We hope you’ll take advantage of this information when you have a specific need.
What does it mean to be a producer at an insurance agency?
My name is Steve Bivins and I’m a producer at Dexter and Company Insurance in Dallas, Texas. Basically, what I do is produce business. I am an Insurance agent, so I help other people by finding and providing coverage through multiple carriers and multiple options by assessing their risk.
When you’re insuring someone personally, how do you go about assessing what they need?
It’s a series of questions and it’s almost like an interview process. We really just have a genuine conversation with our client. Oftentimes, we uncover more than we thought and they realize they had more than they thought.
And again, it’s just ongoing conversation to try and assess the risk and see what their appetite is, if they want to self-insure some of those pieces, if they can take on just a little bit more in terms of higher deductibles, lower premiums, we kind of walk through those steps and see what it might look like.
At Dexter & Company, do we work with individuals or businesses, or both?
We work with both! So both individuals on their personal side, as well as companies ranging in size from small to medium to large.
What defines a small business? How big is a business before it moves into the medium range?
A small business typically has one location. A medium sized business typically has multiple locations. And, when you have multiple locations across many states, it’s considered to be a large business.
Do we insure artwork and furniture? What types of things can be insured…?
We insure artwork and furniture too. Collectibles? You name it! So, it could be anything from musical instruments to fine wine collections, to art pieces, to sculpture and antique furniture. There’re companies that will go into a residence and actually catalog some of the finer things. So, whether it be a painting or an antique clock or something along those lines, we can insure almost anything.
So if someone comes to us and they have an extensive jewelry collection, what does that look like?
For starters, there are quite a few pretty amazing collections. It really starts with some of the key pieces and then we can build it from there. So the key pieces would be the itemized jewelry pieces.
Sometimes they’re $15,000 a piece, sometimes they’re $50 or$100,000 or even more. We like to schedule those pieces just because they’re specific and have higher value. All the other pieces that could go along with a collection, we use something called blanket coverage. And that would be a smaller piece typically under $10,000.
What do you have to do to insure wine?
Insuring wine is all about documentation. You can even insure wine where you purchase it and then where it travels to, to get to your house. There’s a lot of different aspects to insuring wine and sometimes it’s best to have an expert be involved with the process. Overall, in order to protect your fine wine collection, you should consider purchasing wine collection insurance.
So, can people purchase wine and have it insured before it’s shipped?
That’s right! The same goes for fine art. If someone buys a piece of fine art overseas and they purchase the insurance through UPS, well really, some of our high net worth carriers will insure it for better production and better cost. And then it’s flown over to the US and then we insure it when it either hangs on the wall or wherever they display it.
Is there some kind of checklist or some series of questions a person like me should ask themselves if they get into a car accident?
Yes. And we have that on our website! Check it out:
https://dextercompany.com/car-accident-checklist/
Ultimately, sharing of information is the most important thing to do. Make sure you get photos at the time of the wreck of not only the damage to your car, but also the other driver’s car. Other important information to receive includes: driver’s license and insurance card (hopefully it’s a valid insurance card, meaning that the coverage is current). Keep in mind, if a police report was filed, if there was any kind of bodily injury, be sure to take as much mental note as you can.
If someone’s house was caught on fire and they had a quite extensive wine collection, what happens when that person calls you?
Firstly, we would file a claim. Remember, it’s all about the communication and the documentation. If it’s a schedule of wine with individual pieces, it’s going to be much easier to assess the damage and the value upon a claim. If it’s a blanket, we just need to have a little bit more documentation on what all is purchased, when it was purchased, etc. What could have been in the collection.
Dexter & Company is here to help!
Understanding insurance may not always be the easiest thing. But no worries, we’re here to help you get the answers to any questions or concerns you may have.
Also, feel free to check out our blog page to read more about insurance.
