“Insurance is really unlike any other product out there, it’s intangible, and people hope that they never have to use it. Our agents cater to every customer’s individual need, tactfully searching for ways to save them money while alleviating many of the concerns they experience” explained Justin Eggar, Agency Owner. When asked how long he had been aiming for the title of a Premier Service Agency, Eggar stated that he greatly appreciates the honor, but his mantra has always been to offer customers service like no one else had before. “We want to have Saturday hours, we want to do fundraisers, and we thrive on community interaction. This is our home too, and we would want the same respect and involvement from any of the other residents that live in the tri-cities, or Illinois for that matter.”

Allstate is holding the annual Honor Ring ceremony for all new Premier Service Agents at the Drake Hotel in Chicago on May 17th.

April 19th at 5:30-9pm, Katlyn Eggar will be a celebrity cook for the 30 Men Vs. 30 Women Who Cook at the Kane County Fairgrounds. Chefs will cook and serve 150 samples of delicious appetizers, side dishes, main dishes or desserts and encourage people to vote for their favorite dishes with their dollars. The largest amount of money collected will be the winning dish in each category – will the winner be a woman or man? For more information, please click here. Last year, Justin made his “Sexy Stuffed Mushrooms”. You can see a video of last year’s event here.

Last Saturday, we celebrated Matt, our Licensed Insurance Producer’s goal of quoting 50 people for the month of April. About 25 clients came to celebrate at Houlihans in Geneva with our signature “Mayhem” cupcakes provided by The Sugar Path. For every quote Matt gives his clients, Eggar Allstate donates 50 meals to a family through the Northern Illinois Foodbank. If you’re interested in helping a family in need, please contact us at 630-225-9325. Check out our Facebook for more pictures of the awesome event!

“Just as we thought we were going to hang up our dancing shoes, the Association for Individual Development contacted us to be on their 2013 Telethon”, noted Justin Eggar. “Katlyn and I love volunteering together, so being able to lend a hand to help bring in a couple more donations was a fun way to spend our Saturday evening.”

Justin and Katlyn participated in the AID 2013 Telethon this past Saturday at Waubonsee Community College and were televised live on channel 17 in the Tri-Cities area. AID serves over 5000 clients with physical or developmental disabilities in Kane and Kendall counties as well as portions of Dekalb County and Hanover Township. From ventriloquists to impersonators, there were about 10 hours of entertainment to help raise funds for AID. In total, $90,000 was raised and if you click here, you can still donate any amount that you wish!

Pictures to come!

Although we are saddened that Dancing with the Geneva Stars has ended, we are excited to have more time to do other community events! Luckily, we have big plans for the rest of February and March. On Tuesday, February 26th, we partnered with the Geneva Chamber of Commerce and will be hosting an after-hours networking event from 5-7pm. All existing Chamber Members are encouraged to come and socialize. Snacks and refreshments will be served and we will also be having a raffle drawing on-location towards the end! If you have time to stop by and say hello, we would love to meet you and introduce you to the rest of the staff here at Eggar Insurance.

We’re at 402 East State Street in Geneva. Again, feel free to stop by any time between 5 and 7pm on Tuesday, February 26th. Check out the map below for directions!

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Exactly a month from now, Justin and Katlyn Eggar will be hitting the dance floor to perform on behalf of the annual Dancing with the Geneva Stars! The benefit supports the Geneva Cultural Arts Commission and the Geneva Academic Foundation. “We are honored to be able to do business in and around Geneva and this seemed like a great opportunity to give back. At the end of 2012, Geneva was honored with an award such as the best town to raise a family in Illinois. We want to uphold those standards by supporting the organizations that help make that possible” noted Justin. “I was so excited for the challenge”, expressed Katlyn. “When Justin and I were nominated for this year’s benefit, we were so honored to be a part of such an anticipated event. Luckily we were provided with a very talented dance instructor named Alex who has been assisting us, and with practice 5 days a week since mid-December, we are both confident and excited to dance!”

Justin and Katlyn will be performing a swing dance on February 9th, 2013 at Eagle Brook Country Club at 7pm. You can vote for the Eggars by donating on the Dancing with the Geneva Stars website. You can also join the fun and watch the local stars boogie on the dance floor by purchasing tickets to the event for $40 including hors d’oeuvres, dessert and a cash bar.

Want a taste of the music you’ll hear on February 9th? Check out this sassy song that Justin and Katlyn will use to accompany their swing-dancing performance!

“That’s a great way to help stabilize your finances, but it’s also important that you have a financial safety net in place in case something were to happen to you,” says Justin Eggar, Owner of Eggar Insurance Agency in Geneva, IL. “Life insurance is one of the few guarantees your family could rely on to maintain their quality of life if you were no longer there to provide for them.”

There are 95 million adult Americans without life insurance, according to LIMRA, an insurance industry research group. “The fact is, the vast majority of Americans need life insurance and, sadly, most people either have none or not enough,” says Eggar“If someone depends on you financially, you need life insurance. It’s that simple.”
September is Life Insurance Awareness Month, making it the perfect time to take stock of your life insurance needs. Eggar offers three additional reasons why now is the best time to look into getting life insurance.

You’ll never be younger than you are now. While that may sound obvious, youth is on your side when it comes to life insurance. It makes good financial sense to get coverage when you’re young and healthy, as premiums are based on your age and health. For most policies, your premiums will be locked in at that rate over the life of the policy, and can’t be raised due to a change in your health status.

It’s affordable, with rates near historic lows. People overestimate the cost of life insurance by nearly three times, according to a recent study conducted by LIMRA and the LIFE Foundation, a nonprofit insurance education organization. In fact, life insurance rates remain near historic lows; the cost of basic term life insurance has fallen by nearly 50 percent over the past decade. For example, a healthy 30-year-old can buy a 20-year, $250,000 level-term policy for about $13 per month.

Life happens. One day life is going along smoothly, and the next, you’re thrown a curve ball. No one knows what the future holds. None of us expect to die prematurely, but the truth is roughly 600,000 people die each year in the prime of their lives. That’s why today is always the best day to take care of your life insurance needs.

“Life Insurance Awareness Month is the ideal time for a life insurance review,” says Eggar. “I urge everyone to take a few minutes out of their busy schedules this month to make sure they have adequate life insurance protection.”

According to Justin Eggar, consumers can get a general sense of their life insurance needs by going to www.lifehappens.org/lifecalculator and using the online calculator offered by the LIFE Foundation. The next step, suggests Eggar, should be to contact a local insurance professional, who can conduct a more comprehensive needs analysis and help you find the right products to fit your specific needs and budget.

About Life Insurance Awareness Month
Held each September, Life Insurance Awareness Month is an industry-wide effort that is coordinated by the nonprofit LIFE Foundation. The campaign was created in response to growing concern about the large number of Americans who lack adequate life insurance protection. Roughly 95 million adult Americans have no life insurance, and most with coverage have less than most insurance experts recommend. For more information on life insurance, visit LIFE’s website at www.lifehappens.org.

The day has arrived and your child has hit a huge milestone in their young life – the trip to the Secretary of State.  Emerging with a shiny, new driver’s license, they immediately want to exercise their new found freedom and drive away to pick up their best friend.   Besides handing over the keys and gulping as you watch your child back out of the driveway alone for the first time, parents are often shocked at the increased cost of their auto insurance policy when they add their new driver.  Here are some answers to basic questions you may have about your teen driver.

Do I need to obtain insurance for my teen before he/she is officially licensed?

It is not necessary to add your teen onto your policy as a driver until they have their drivers license. However, when your teen picks up their permit do give your agent a call and touch base so that they can review your coverage and discuss specifics that pertain to their insurance company.

How much is insurance for a new teen driver?

It really depends. Rates are determined by a number of factors including, the state you live in, the car you drive, and if you are male or female.

What can I do to help lower my insurance rates?

There are several factors you have control over. Here are a few:

• Drive Safely: Families with accidents will typically pay quite a bit more when adding a child to their insurance policy than those with few or no accidents.
• Good Student Discount: This is when all those years of paying your children for their A’s and B’s pays off. A young adult that has good grades can qualify for a good student discount with many insurance companies. This discount can be substantial!
• Vehicle model: With many insurance companies, a cheaper car isn’t necessarily cheaper to insure than a nicer car with safety features such as anti lock brakes, air bags and a car alarm. Talk to your agent to discuss the specifics of premium for vehicles you are considering.
• Increase your Deductible: Increasing your deductible can reduce a portion of your up front premium expense. Make sure that you weigh the savings versus your actual risk though.  If your child has an at-fault accident or two, raising your deductible by $500 likely wasn’t something that saved you money in the long term.
• Teen Driver Programs: Check with your insurer to see if they have any programs that can help you reduce premium. Allstate for example works with the company Adept Driver and offers a discount for students that take the TeenSMART program. While these programs might have a small up front cost, they can save you considerably over the following 3 or 4 years.
• Additional Discount Programs: In your yearly review with your agent, make sure that they are discussing all discount programs that the company offers that might save you. For instance, Allstate has discounts for police officers/firemen/nurses, they have a safe driving program called DriveWise, and they even have discounts for retired customers. These discounts can save you a good amount of money, you just need to know about them!

What Should I NOT Do to Save Money?

Two of the big issues that I would recommend against when you are trying to save money are:

1. Reducing your liability coverage (your teen is more likely to be in an accident!)

2. Taking full coverage off of your vehicle before it makes financial sense.

Am I covered if I drive someone else’s car?

In most states, you would be covered through the vehicle owner’s policy – if he or she gave you permission to use the car. Your own policy may also cover you once the vehicle owner’s coverage is exhausted.

When should I buy my own auto insurance?

It depends. If you are buying a car, you should arrange for auto insurance before you take possession. Also, if you are covered on your parent’s policy but are planning to buy your own insurance, be sure to get it before you are removed from your parent’s policy. You’ll need to call the company well in advance to assure that you do not have any gap in coverage. A gap in coverage for even a week can increase your liability exposure as well as force you into a high risk auto insurance line that is several times more expensive than a standard auto insurance line.

Although laws may vary in each state, some background information will go a long way to make sure a young driver is properly insured.  “It is important for parents to discuss the specifics of their auto insurance policy with their young drivers,” says Allstate Agent Justin Eggar.  “Insurance coverage may vary by state so parents should contact their insurance agent if they have coverage questions about a child who attends school in a different state.”

The Eggar Allstate Good Hands Canvas

With Swedish Days in our rear view for the year we are blessed with a moment to stop and catch our breath. June is typically a little crazy between the festivales that we like to participate in locally… but we do enjoy time in the community. Prior to an event we sit down with all of our employee and do a little brainstorming about we think would be fun to do at our booth. If you saw us at RiverFest, you possibly stopped by and made Fairy Wands with us (*cough* superhero wands for the boys). At Swedish Days we typically do free face painting for attendees, and we try and have a few crafts through out.

In addition to the fun things this year though, one of my employee, Chanel Rogers, had a fantastic idea. Essentially, the idea was to collect painted hand prints on a canvas (Good Hands!) and then donate money to the Northern Illinois Food Bank for every hand print that we received. The beauty of the idea is:

1. We get to do something fun.

2. I was able to get a memorable piece of art for the office here in Geneva.

3. We were able to draw a little more attention to a vital issue in the community.

4. We were given a nice excuse to make a little donation that in the end will provide around 1,500 meals to locals in need.

What I really like about this is that it wasn’t my idea. One of my employees had a vision to do something positive in the community and in the end it was great for everybody. With that in mind, thanks Chanel for the great idea and for being a part of our team here at Eggar Allstate!

Justin