Wickert Insurance

Congratulations to our own Carmella Zigler for earning a 4.0 GPA at Sauk Valley Community College and named to the Dean's List! Great job!! 🥳🎓

For the safety of our employees, both offices will be closed today. Please use caution when driving today.

Great information if you have to be on the road today, but hopefully you can stay home!

404 In the ongoing effort to support our local, county, and state partners, IEMA will provide information and specifics to coordinate current information:

Again today, both of our offices will be closed due to the weather. Please stay safe out there!

In anticiparion of today's weather, we will be closed today. Please drive safe if you have to go anywhere.

Stop in to our "Free" Hot Chocolate Bar at the Rock Falls Eagles Club 321 W 2nd St, Rock Falls tomorrow night from 5 to 8 and sign up for a chance to win this awesome Blackstone Griddle and accessories from Wickert Insurance. Share this post and we will give you a "FREE" cup of hot chocolate tomorrow night at Hometown Holidays!!!

Here is our menu for our "FREE" Hot Chocolate Bar!!! We have a brand new flavor this year! English Toffee! We will be at the Rock Falls Eagles Club at 321 W 2nd St, Rock Falls. Stop by and grab a cup and a ticket for the $1,000 drawing. Also, sign up for our Blackstone giveaway. We will be giving away a 17" Blackstone Griddle with a griddle accessory kit!

We will be having our famous free hot chocolate bar at Hometown Holidays again this year!!! We have a new location at the Rock Falls Eagles Club 321 W 2nd St, Rock Falls. Stop by and grab a cup and a ticket for the $1,000 giveaway sponsored by Wickert Insurance and IMT Insurance. Allen Wickert will be drawing the ticket and announcing the winner for the giveaway Friday Night.

Come check out the creations by Just Sew Cute by Laura in our Dixon office! These will make perfect stocking stuffers! She takes special orders too!

If you get this in the mail, just bring it to your agent and they can help you take care of it!

⚠️Please Disseminate:⚠️
Recently we have stopped numerous vehicles whose registration is showing "Suspended For Mandatory Insurance Violation" and the owners are showing us on the subsequent traffic stops that they in fact have had valid insurance.

The Illinois Secretary Of State (SOS) randomly mails out Insurance Verification Letters (see photo) throughout the state. Do Not Throw These Away! The SOS utilizes a 3rd party vendor to verify your insurance electronically with your insurance company at www.ILIVS.com It seems that numerous people are not getting "verified" and their registration is being suspended.

The SOS will mail these letters to whatever address is current on your driver's license. If you have moved, PLEASE UPDATE YOUR LICENSE to reflect your correct address so these letters will make it to you! If you receive one of these letters, contact your insurance company so they can login and verify your insurance.

If you are questioning whether or not you have or have not been sent one of these, your insurance agent can log in and verify that your vehicle is showing that it is or isn't covered.

I hope that you find the below information useful, and I hope that it helps explain what is happening in the insurance world today. It won’t matter what carrier you are with, this is an industry issue.

The insurance marketplace is tightening up and it's happening fast. It’s happening especially fast for home and auto insurance companies. This is regardless of what state you are in, however California, Florida, Louisiana and Texas are being hit especially hard. Carriers are pulling a full hard stop on issuing any new policies across the country, and carriers that have NOT put a moratorium on binding new coverage, are actually just leaving the market or they are selling to other carriers/merging. They simply can't operate profitably in this inflationary market. *EVERY DAY* we are hearing about a pause on new business, or a carrier putting a full stop on writing new policies. Some carriers are requiring *full premium payment* up front for new business or requiring a 20 to 30 day hold on new applications. Carriers may shift underwriting guidelines, so they *only* want preferred business… no claims within 5 years (not 3 anymore), home and auto bundles, etc. Some carriers will NOT reinstate coverage if it lapses, no matter the reason.
The market is disrupted and it WILL affect you. If it hasn’t yet, it will. I have personally seen premiums double and triple what they were the year before.

The cost of claims has risen exponentially in the past 2 years, thus resulting in the carriers having to raise premiums or pull out of some markets. In some states, carriers have applied for rate increases, but have not been able to get them approved, so they simply shut down for new business.

If you have an auto or home insurance policy, your rates have gone up, and if they haven’t, they will. This isn't personal, it’s not based on a claim you may or may have not had, it’s simply the cost of doing business. If you have *not* gotten a rate increase, be prepared for one at your next renewal, if you get renewal terms at all.

➡️The cost to rebuild your home is up dramatically due to the rising cost of materials and labor. Supply chain for materials continues to be an issue. We can all agree that everything has gone up in price. Carriers simply can’t survive paying these higher prices without charging more themselves.

➡️The cost to repair your car is up dramatically due to the rising cost of auto parts and labor to fix your car. In addition, parts in vehicles now include some technology features. Replacing a side mirror or windshield used to be $500 - now it’s more than triple that.

➡️The cost of medical care continues to skyrocket. Bodily injury on auto accidents is off the charts.

➡️Litigation is expensive and settlements are rising at an unprecedented rate.

➡️Both the frequency and severity of auto accidents are WAY up post COVID along with the rising frequency of auto fatalities.

➡️ReInsurance (the insurance your insurance carrier buys to help cushion catastrophic loss) is at or approaching capacity in many markets, and rising rates are unsustainable.

This is a significant issue affecting the property & casualty industry, and pricing correction is anticipated at least through 2024. It won’t be for forever, but it is here now.

There are some things you can do to help get through this current insurance market:

✅ Consider Higher Deductibles. This will help save some money on your policy.
✅ Safe Driving Telematic Programs. Telematics can reward you by giving you a discount for good driving.
✅ Discount Reviews - make sure you're getting everything you're entitled to. Every carrier has different discount opportunities. Make sure you go over those with your agent.
✅ DO NOT let your policy cancel or lapse *for any reason*. Carriers are not reinstating coverage as easily as they once did. If it does cancel, they may require premium in full before reinstating. This is across the board for every line of coverage.
✅ Bundle your Auto and Home for more discounts and more stable pricing. Bundled/Packaged policies most always include better coverage and benefits and the cost savings is usually 10-15% (or more) on each policy. Many business risks can also bundle options.
✅ Consider tenure - jumping companies too often will hurt you in the long run. In addition, some carriers won’t take you as a new client if you have less than two years with a carrier. And more importantly, carriers are getting off of some risks if a claim happens in the new business term or for the number of claims in a 3-5 year window. Tenure matters with a carrier.
✅ Follow the laws so you don’t get any tickets. Those tickets really add rate to your policy and stay on your record 3-5 years, depending on the carrier.
✅ Absorb small claims when you're able, and save coverage for catastrophic losses. Talk with your agent and let them claims counsel you should a loss happen. Stop using your towing or roadside assistance as a maintenance policy. Frequency of claims REALLY matters. A lot.
Lastly, please remember that we are agents for the carriers. We don’t make the rules, we don’t have control over the rates and we don’t make the decision if your policy is cancelled by the carriers. We are here to help educate, make sure you have the best insurance for your situation, manage your account with the carrier, and claims counsel when needed. We are doing our best to manage carrier changes with client needs.

I hope this message explains a little bit of what is going on in the marketplace. As an agent we are also taking the same increases, navigating carrier changes and doing their best to help you through this.

*Thank you to some really smart agents that helped put this together and is being shared widely.

Join us in welcoming Brandy Leopard to our Rock Falls office. Brandy can assist you with Auto, SR-22, Home, Mobile Home, Motorcycle, Boat, RV, ATV, and Snowmobile coverage. Give her a call so she can save you money.

25 years ago today we opened our doors. It has been a great 25 years in business serving the wonderful people of the Sauk Valley area. Thank you to all of our customers for your support throughout the years. We are proud to be a part of this great community. Please see us in Rock Falls or Dixon if we can help with your insurance needs.

Happy Easter from our family to yours!

Our offices will be closed today. We will open again on Monday. Have a Happy Easter!

If a contractor comes to your house to give you an estimate for storm damage and you didn't call them DON'T SIGN ANYTHING!!! Get a local contractor to give you an estimate. We have seen storm chasers that will do the work and then leave the area. If you have a problem you will probably never see them again. Get a reputable local contractor and work with your insurance agent to get the claim started. Again, DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING!!!

Hello everyone! We are looking for someone to join our Rock Falls team. We need someone that either has their insurance license or would be willing to get their license. They would be working with customers, quoting insurance policies, making changes to policies, and more. If you are outgoing, like to talk to people and want to be part of a small family business or know someone that is, please bring in a resume to either of our locations, in Rock Falls or Dixon, and we will look forward to talking with you. Pay will be hourly plus commission with benefits and will be based off of experience.

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!

How to Clean Gutters: The 5 Best Ways to Get the Job Done Keep your rain gutters clear of debris and dirt with these tried-and-true methods, some of which you can do without climbing a ladder...

Our Dixon office parking lot is being sealed this week. We will be closed on Tuesday to let the lot dry. Please see us in Rock Falls or give us a call at 815-626-0086.

Don't forget to stop by and see us tonight at Hometown Holidays in Rock Falls. We will be having our famous hot chocolate bar again for Hometown Holidays from 5pm to 7pm Friday Nov 19th!!! We will be at the Blackhawk Hills Regional Council building at 309 1st Ave, Rock Falls. We will have Snickerdoodle, Caramel, Peppermint and regular hot chocolate. We will also have tickets for the big drawing as well. See you tonight!!!

Don't forget to stop by this Friday to see us. We will be having a ribbon cutting for our new location at 4pm. We will have prize drawings and giveaways! Please share.

Don't forget to stop by our Dixon location for food, giveaways and prizes! See you Friday!

Come check out our new Dixon location and newly opened Plum Creek Club!

We would like to welcome our new neighbor at our Dixon location, Ink on the Left! Located at 643 Palmyra Rd!

We would like to welcome Lisa Buckingham to our Rock Falls office. Lisa is our newest personal lines CSR. Call Lisa and she can help you with your home and auto insurance or any toys you may need insurance for. Welcome Lisa.