By now, you’ve probably seen or heard scooters zooming around streets and sidewalks downtown. The most visible e-scooter startup, Bird, is now valued at close to a billion dollars and is expanding into major metro areas across the entire United States. Scooter rental companies are especially popular on college campuses.
Despite their popularity, e-scooters are not without controversy among motorists, pedestrians, insurance agencies, and attorneys. There are very few statewide regulations in place for e-scooters. Instead, at the local level, cities are grappling with how to handle scooter rental providers. Some have even banned the service and ordered scooter rideshare operators to cease and desist!
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Agency is Authorized to Sell Mercury Insurance as an Independent Agent
We are pleased to announce HIA is able to quote Mercury Insurance in Texas for all drivers. This brings our total number of carriers to eight including Progressive, Safeco, Travelers and more!
As an independent agency, Hettler allows for comparison shopping for auto insurance. Why settle for a single policy from one carrier, when you can receive multiple quotes?
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When Lakitu counts down the start of every Mario Kart race, players don’t know if they’re in for rainbows, banana peels or haunted planks. Driving in real life is just as unpredictable as Mario Kart, although with bigger consequences.
Whether you’re a student about to get your driver’s license or a parent that remembers the original Super Mario Kart on SNES, let us guide you on auto insurance with multiple references to the iconic game.
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Wildfire Risk & Getting Insurance
Texas is second only to California as the state most at risk for wildfire, according to analytics company CoreLogic. At least 715,300 Texas residences are at high or extreme risk of wildfire.
A dry environment goes hand in hand with wildfire. West Texas and the Panhandle are receiving less rainfall each year, earning long term drought status. There is a high risk of wildfire affecting Lubbock and surrounding communities during certain months of the year.
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When you’re buying a house to flip or completely do a gut job, you have different insurance concerns than a house you buy to live in long-term. Many investors forget about the insurance component of a deal when they’re in the heat of the moment and focused on the potential of the property. Whoa, slow down. When is the best time to call your insurer? Before you sign the paperwork!
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TV shows make flipping houses look fun and easy. Can you really make a lot of money doing this? Yes, it is possible. But only if you have the right skills, knowledge and timing. Choose the wrong fixer upper, and you could lose your entire investment.
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Everyone knows you need to insure your house and car, but what about other things you rely upon? With bicycle commuting becoming more common, more people are adding two-wheeled vehicles to their list of covered items.
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Twenty years ago, insurers could never have predicted today’s landscape. The rise of the internet, adoption of electric cars and the prospect of more and more data are becoming a reality. How will changes under the hood and technology affect auto insurance in the future?
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Building a Better Insurance Agency
A quarter-century is a long time in the insurance world. Ron Hettler, owner of Hettler Insurance Agency in Lubbock, has weathered many changes.
“What is most remarkable is a realization that we’ve insured individuals born in three different centuries,” Hettler said. “Generations of families and businesses have counted on HIA. It’s what keeps us motivated for the future.”
As the company celebrates 25 years in business, Mr. Hettler is both proud and grateful that his family and staff, have been able to consistently serve their community.
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No one, not Congress, the president or even your insurance agent knows definitively what will happen to health insurance. However, this much we know, the Affordable Care Act was not repealed for 2018. After several attempts, it is still the law, although it has changed significantly.
What happens next? How will open enrollment affect Texans and Lubbock residents? What does a death spiral of the health insurance marketplace look like? These are all questions we hope to answer in a moment of severe uncertainty in America.
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