The mission of Gila Insurance Group LLC when it comes to investors is to be the insurance team member of choice for real estate investors that invest in single family homes as rental properties or seasonal homes, to educate real estate investors on how to protect their investments and cash flow properly in order to avoid catastrophic effects on their business and investments, to protect these investments with the best insurance coverage available, while offering value as defined by quality coverage and affordable prices, to act in the best interest our clients by being honest, accountable, and service oriented, and most importantly to have fun and creating lasting friendships while helping people be Covered Investors!

Why start with our Mission Statement? Partly because we feel it explains why we exist and what we are passionate about. Real estate is one of the single greatest investments known to man providing an amazing mix of asset appreciation with consistent return on investment through monthly cash flow. Many of us have stumbled into real estate investment and have become landlords by accident, others of us are investors; the difference is purpose and education. While we don’t claim nor desire to be the place for information on real estate investment, we do aspire to educate investors and landlords alike on the risks that they face as real estate investors and how to best protect their assets and cash flow. Many times this is through insurance, although there are some risks that are uninsurable and the best risk mitigation method is through education. Regardless having an insurance professional as a part of your investment team is invaluable to ensure you don’t lose your investment.

For those risks that are insurable we strive to provide the best insurance value by representing multiple insurance companies to ensure you get the best coverage at the best price possible. We only represent insurance companies that carry an A-rating with an independent auditor such as A.M. Best Company so as to make sure our partners are financially able to keep their promise to you.

While we would love to tell you that everything will always go off without a hitch, we live in a real world where stuff happens. But we are committed to being honest in all situations, accountable for our actions in our dealings with you, and we will be service orientated. You matter, let us show you.

Finally we’re not robots, we like people, we know if we trudge into work it shows. We do work that matters, we protect your investment, we enjoy it and it’s always more enjoyable with we can work with friends.

If you have had a claim, being proactive can help your claim to get settled more quickly. Here are a few tips of how to be proactive with your claim.

  1. Get help – Contact the authorities. This can include the fire department, emergency medical personnel or the police depending on the nature of the claim.
  2. Take Precautions – This could mean moving a vehicle out of traffic, putting a tarp over a damaged roof, or making things as safe as they can be to prevent others from getting injured. Don’t put yourself in harms way to take these precautions.
  3. Gather information – Take video or pictures of the damage, make notes about what was damaged, and how.
  4. Obtain Contact Information – Depending on the nature of the claim you will want to get the insurance information from other driver’s, contact information of witnesses.
  5. Report the claim – Don’t wait report the claim as soon as possible.
  6. Cooperate with the adjuster – This might sound funny, but isn’t as common as you might think.

Also, avoid oversharing and trying to settle things yourself. This means don’t sign documents, don’t discuss the claim with someone other than your insurance agent or company assigned adjuster. In your policy there are a number of conditions that you must meet in order to have your claim settled. Trying to operate outside of the standard process can slow the process down, and cause all sorts of problems, but being proactive inside of the rules can help your claim be settled more quickly.

RV Insurance Motorized Units Safford, AZWhen it comes to RV Insurance, there are several different types of insurable RVs including “Motorized” and “Non-Motorized” units. When it comes to “Motorized” units there are several different shapes and sizes, but most the most common types are motorhomes. However, even motor homes come in all different shapes and sizes. Below is a summary of the most common types of Motorhome insurance the RV Insurance Professionals at Gila Insurance Group provide:

Class A Motorhome Insurance – When it comes to Motorhomes or RVs, most people immediately think of the traditional Class A Motorhome. These beautiful machines are amazing in terms of luxury and amenities. Typically they are anywhere from 20-40 feet long, and can sleep anywhere from 6 to 10 people. Class A motorhomes are built on specially designed motor home chassis, which are built to handle the heavy load of a home on wheels. Class A motor homes are unique in their living space, and usually have at least two slide outs. The Maximum value we can insure for these units is $2,000,000.

Professional Bus Conversions Insurance – The key words here are professional conversion. These units are buses that have been modified to provide temporary living quarters. These units can be incredible, but again we are only able to insure those that have been modified professionally.

Class B Motorhome Insurance –These are also known as conversion or camper vans, because they are built on a Van Chassis. Two to four people can sleep in this set up, although it can be tight quarters. Despite the similarities to vans, these units are very different, and include some combinations of sleeping, kitchen and toilet facilities. Moreover they must include electric power and a water hookup. Despite the amenities, usually these are very basic due to space restrictions, so while you will probably be able to stand up inside of a Class B motorhome, don’t expect the luxurious amenities of a class A–they will be basic.

Class C Motorhome Insurance – Somewhere between the luxurious large Class A and the minimum utility of a Class B sits the Class C. These are also known as Mini-Motorhomes. Distinguished by their cab-over sleeping quarters, these units are typically built on a van or truck chassis.

Toterhome Insurance – Similar to the Class C variety are toterhomes. However, rather than being built on a Van or Truck chassis, a toterhome is built on a semi chassis. Meaning toterhomes are typically modified freightliner or Peterbuilt semi-trucks that include the equipment that make them eligible for RV insurance.

Medium Duty Tow Vehicle Insurance – This is an odd addition to the “motorized” unit list. Not because it is not motorized, but because it typically has no living quarters. Medium duty tow vehicles are large trucks–such as Peterbuilt, Freightliner, Ford F450s, GMC 4500–or others that have been modified to tow fifth wheel trailers.

Regardless of the class, or type of motorhome or motorized unit you have, the Team at Gila Insurance Group can provide motorhome insurance for most types of Motorhomes. Even if we haven’t listed the exact name or class (like a super C or a B Plus) we can probably still insure it.

For more information, call us at 877-784-6787, we are ready and willing to help you.

Homeowners Insurance policies, whether for your own home or a rental property, are very specific about what they cover, but oddly enough they throw in a couple of “extras” or additional coverage. What are those? Let’s take a look!

Home insurance Safford, AZADDITIONAL COVERAGE

There’s free stuff in my insurance policy? Yes.

So, great news there are only four Homeowners Insurance Coverage parts, so that part was simple, but next comes the complicated part; additional coverage (s). Yeah! Now for any of you that might be catching the sarcasm in that last comment, there are actually some good things in here. Every policy is different so here are some of the most common and important:

  1. Debris Removal – Have you ever seen a fire? Walls may still be standing but completely destroyed. What knocks those crumbling walls down and hauls them away? Debris Removal! See, good stuff.
  2. Trees, plants, shrubs – Not a lot here, but you can usually get coverage up to $250-$500 or so per tree. Obviously there will be limits, but landscaping can be expensive.
  3. Fire Department Service Charge – Sweet, nice that you don’t have extra stuff, like cost of fire department services coming your way.
  4. Collapse – This is an odd place to have this coverage, but it’s nice that they add it.
  5. Glass – Sweet.

Again, there is more to each of these, but nice that they add them and make them available as additions for your homeowners insurance. Start your quote online or call us for an immediate quote 1-877-784-6787.

Seriously, have you ever compared a manufactured home insurance policy with that of a “stick built” home insurance policy? The cost can be crazy. Why? Insurance rates are based on the expected losses, and in short the expected losses from a manufactured home are higher than a traditional home. Let’s look at a couple of examples.

Fire – So while, there is not more of a likelihood that your manufactured home policy catches on fire and the “stick built” home, the damage a fire would cause is much greater on a manufactured home. Remember, if there is significant damage to a manufactured home, you can’t tear down part of the home and rebuild that part, you are looking at replacing the entire home. So the expected losses increase.

Wind – Most companies that insure manufactured homes will ask if the home is “tied down.” This is a big difference between manufactured homes and stick built homes, the foundation. Because of the relative light weight of a manufactured home, it is more likely to sustain wind damage. Rather than the loss of a few shingles, you could lose the whole roof.

Also, with manufactured homes if there are “attached structures” like “Arizona Rooms,” awnings, carports, etc. these can cause significant damage to a manufactured home. Check out the study and Video American Modern did regarding the effects of High Winds on Manufactured Housing. In fact, there are several large insurance companies that will insure manufactured homes, unless you have an attached structure, once they find out you have one of these, you are no longer “eligible” for their program. Fortunately, we have several partners that offer coverage for manufactured homes with or without attached structures.

There are other examples, the point is the higher the possible losses, the higher the insurance costs. Fair or not, insurance is about the numbers.

Successful real estate investors understand the concept of Rinse and Repeat. That is, finding a real estate investing method that works for them, implementing it successfully, and doing it again and again–increasing cash flow and building a legitimate business. For those of us that believe the buy and hold rental model is best and hold 10 or more rentals, insurance can flat out be a pain in the butt. Multiple policies, managing renewals, is just not a great way to spend time when you have a business to run. Imagine a SINGLE policy with all your properties listed, ONE payment, ONE renewal, less paperwork, fewer headaches and better prices on insurance. That’s the 10+ program. It has great coverage options including coverage for:

  • Your home and other structure
  • Your business personal property such as appliances and other landlord furnishings
  • Business Income that protects the loss of your rents if you have a covered loss
  • Liability and Medical Payments
  • Service Line Coverage (protection for the utility lines that run to the house)
  • Breakdown Coverage Option (Coverage that can help replace a broken furnace or repair a washing machine)
  • Flexible deductible options for high cash flowing investment businesses

The program is designed for single to six family dwellings that have no more than two stories. While the bulk of the properties need to be these one to six family dwellings, we can also include condos, manufactured homes, and vacant dwellings (for that occasional fix and flip investment) as long as they are not vacant for 24 months. It is easy to see why investors with multiple properties choose to go with this program. It saves money, increasing your cash flow. It saves time, by eliminating paperwork, and provides great protection for your investments! Start simplifying your insurance life with our 10+ program. To get a quote call us to start the process at 1-877-784-8767 today!

When many investors look at insurance, they simply see it as an expense item, something to drive down cash flow. While we are all looking to maximize cash flow, insurance protects the cash flow that can be obtained during the time you hold the investment.

The first thing insurance protects is the house itself, the dwelling as it is often referred. What is covered? The truth is that it varies based on what you buy. In short there are several levels of coverage. The most commonly purchased coverage for rental investment properties is the DP-3. This policy is similar to an owner occupied HO-3 policy in that it is a special form which means unless the loss was excluded, it will be covered. It is the broadest coverage you can purchase for your investment property. Typical losses like fire, theft, wind and explosion are covered under this policy. There are always some exclusions, and some of the more worrisome exclusions include flood, earthquake and landslide. In most cases, this coverage can be procured, but with a separate policy.

So you have the primary cash producing asset covered. Next are the adjacent structures. These include detached garages, sheds, fences, retaining walls, pools and anything that is that attached to the structure itself. For a lot of rental properties, your desire to insure these items may be limited; however, most DP-3 policies include a limit equal to 10% of the value of the dwelling as coverage for adjacent or “other” structures.

The next piece of coverage for landlord properties is the landlord furnishings. This includes appliances such as refrigerators, washers, dryers, microwaves, ranges or ovens, dishwashers, etc. It also includes any furniture provided to the tenants such as couches, beds, etc.

One of the most important coverage for investors is the fair rental value. If your investment property burns to the ground and you then build a new house, you are out the cash flow that you would have had otherwise received while the home is being built. Yet you are still on the hook for the mortgage. How do you protect yourself? With coverage for the fair rental value, this will pay you as if you had a renter occupying the property.

Liability coverage is a must in today’s society. As an investor you have assets you must protect. Many have learned that separating properties from personal assets in the form of LLCs is a great risk management tactic, but it’s not enough. When sued you will want liability coverage that will not only pay for damages you are legally held liable for, but will also pay for your defense costs. Both the damages and defense costs can be extremely high. As such, it is always a good idea to purchase an umbrella policy, which not only increases your limits of coverage, but also provides coverage in situations where the primary policy will not.

Finally there is medical payments coverage. What happens when someone gets hurt and incurs medical bills? Oftentimes the insurance company will actually pay for the medical damages, so as to say, “we have taken care of you, don’t sue us.”” When it comes down to it, insurance is an expense item, but an important one.

When done right it can ensure you can enjoy the cash flow from your investment for a long time to come, regardless of what mishaps occur.

Gila Insurance Group has put together a landlord insurance checklist of things you should discuss with your insurance agent. While it’s nice to have the list, the question is why are these so important? Here we will break this down, and explain piece by piece why you need to have these conversations.

Investment Property  ______
Proper Property Valuation  ______
The Form – DP3- What’s Covered  ______
Loss Settlement Option for Home  ______
Deductible  ______
Water Backup of Sewer or Drains Coverage  ______
Earthquake  ______
Flood  ______
Ordinance and Law/Building Code Upgrade Coverage  ______

Proper Property Valuation – Did you know that there are penalties for under-insuring your investment property? There are, and if you have under-insured your home you could be getting a lower payout if you have a claim. On the other hand, over insuring your home costs you money that you don’t need to spend. So how do you get it right? There are cost estimator tools, you can speak with a contractor, appraisals sometimes make sense, but mostly they focus on the market value. What we are looking for here is the cost to rebuild the home. That means we take out the value of the land, and focus on the cost to rebuild the home.

The Form – We have spoken about this at great lengths, and have even put together a form comparison chart, but when it comes to landlord insurance policies, these things matter, and investors tend to try to save money anywhere they can to bolster revenue. Don’t mess up your policy by not getting the “special form.”

Loss Settlement – We talked about valuation and replacement cost already, but there is a second piece to this puzzle. If you don’t have the home insured at replacement cost you could be in for a big surprise if you have a claim. Look the bottom-line on a landlord insurance policy is that if there is a claim you want things replaced, right? So you want to purchase replacement cost. In some cases, that might not be available, so make sure you get a stated value or full repair cost option on your policy, but ensure you understand what is being covered.

Deductible – If you want to save money raise your deductible. How high? How much cash do you normally keep on hand? The deductible is the part of the claim you are responsible for paying. It’s the part you pay first. The question is, if you are handy and unlikely to file a claim, then why have a really low deductible?

Water back up of sewers and drains
 – water backs up in toilets, showers, and sinks. It happens. And when it happens the damage can be great. However, in most situations the damage caused by the backup of sewers and drains isn’t covered, but it can be added. Your tenants aren’t you, and are likely to not treat the house the same way you would, so this becomes a very important coverage for landlords.

Earthquake – This is always an excluded coverage, but it can be purchased. Even in California. It can be expensive, but it worth discussing so that you can make an informed decision.

Flood – Again, always excluded, but can be purchased. The truth is that every house, investment property or otherwise, is in a flood zone, some are just in a “high risk” zone. That said, MANY floods that cause damage every year are not in a “high risk” zone. Ask! It might be more affordable than you think.

Ordinance and Law – Look our politicians do crazy stuff. I have even seen green, rather than golden arches. Crazy! So what does ordinance and law or building code upgrade coverage do? If you have a loss at one of your investment properties, and the municipality requires you to make some upgrades due to an ordinance or law that has been passed in the area, this coverage will pay for the increased cost of to repair or replace the damage/home that occur in order to comply with the ordinance or law.

To get a quote on your landlord insurance property start your quote online, and let us shop for you.