Drivewise By Allstate Insurance

Are you a safe driver? Would you like to save more money on your car insurance? Sign up for Allstate Drivewise and get 10% off your premium just for enrolling, save up to 30% at renewal and view your driving performance online.

Drivewise

How Does Drivewise Work?

1. Sign up. Get an immediate 10% off your premium just for enrolling. 2. Plug in. Allstate will send you a small device that easily plus into your car’s OBD-II port under your dashboard. 3. Drive Safely. 4. Save. Drivewise collects your car’s driving data. You can track your data and savings online.

Safety Pays

The Drivewise device collects data on four driving behaviors to determine your performance discount at renewal of up to 30%.

1. Low Mileage – Drivers who average around 35-40 miles per day or les are more likely to save. 2. Safe Speed – Performance is improved by avoiding high speeds. 3. Safe Hours – Avoid driving on weekdays between 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. and weekends 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. 4. Safe Stops – Save even more by maintaining a safe distance from the car in front of you and avoiding hard stops.

More Details

Existing customers can enroll at renewal. You have to have an active email address and be in Allstate’s AFCIC auto policy, which is our most current policy as of this writing. Not all cars are eligible. If your vehicle is a hybrid, electric, diesel, or if you use the On-Star monthly performance review, you would not be able to install this device. Your performance rating and discount, if any, will apply per vehicle, rather than by driver. Even if your driving performance doesn’t help you earn a discount, the data we collect will not increase your premium.

Want to learn more? Watch our Drivewise installation video.

If you have questions or would like to enroll, please contact us at 360-452-9200.

Want more information? Please visit Matt Elwood - Allstate Insurance to get more information on the Allstate products and services I can offer in Port Angeles, Sequim or anywhere Washington State. 

 

Three Great Benefits of Permanent Life Insurance

Permanent Life Insurance

Permanent life insurance tends to get some bad press, mainly because it is misunderstood by “experts” who don’t how these policies work. I will be the first to admit that there are some bad performing whole life and universal life policies out there, but the opposite is true as well. That’s the way it is with most products. There are positives and negatives associated with most everything. Since permanent life insurance gets so much negative press, here are three positive features that often get over-looked.

Tax Free Death Benefit

As it stands now, death benefit proceeds payable to beneficiaries are income tax-free. Well, so is term insurance, but only permanent life insurance is guaranteed to be there when you die as long as required premium payments are made. The vast majority of term policies never pay out a death benefit because most people outlive the term. Actuaries know this and so do the insurance companies.

Tax-deferred Growth

The cash value build-up inside a life insurance policy grows on a tax-deferred basis. That means you do not pay taxes each year on the growth of the guaranteed and non-guaranteed cash values.

Living Benefits

A permanent life insurance policy allows you to take out loans or withdrawals from your cash value. Often called Living Benefits, you have easy access to cash which can be used for anything from supplementing retirement income, helping with a down payment for a house or just creating an emergency fund. There are different strategies for accessing the cash value with different implications, but if done correctly, it can be withdrawn tax-free.

The Future

Obviously, everything is subject to change in the tax law, but this is why you should be working with an experienced, licensed agent. If you would like to learn more about the ways permanent life insurance may benefit your financial situation, please give me a call at 360-452-9200.

Want more information? Please visit Matt Elwood - Allstate Insurance to get more information on the Allstate products and services I can offer in Port Angeles, Sequim or anywhere Washington State. 

Allstate's Good Hands Roadside Assistance

Have you ever been stranded on the side of the road or locked out with no one to call? Now there’s an answer, with all the benefits of AAA without an annual premium or any membership fees.

Allstate's Good Hands Roadside Assistance

Introducing Good Hands Roadside from Allstate. It’s free and available to all people, not just Allstate customers. You can be a lifetime member, only paying if you ever use it. We only dispatch reputable service providers, and you pay Allstate the fee via a secure credit card transaction. No more giving your credit card to the shady stranger on the side of the road.

Services and Costs

If you need a tow, it is $75.00 for the first 10 miles of towing; $3.00 per additional mile. It is $50.00 for lockouts, jump-starts, tire changes, and fuel delivery up to 3 gallons.

Register Now

Register now at Matt Elwood's Allstate site. Registering allows us to get you the help you need more quickly because we’ll have your key information on file. It takes less than two minutes to register and you’ll receive a free welcome package by mail.

Want more information? Please visit Matt Elwood - Allstate Insurance to get more information on the Allstate products and services I can offer in Port Angeles, Sequim or anywhere Washington State. 

Port Angeles Ambassadors

Port Angeles Ambassadors

I would like to highlight a group I recently joined, The Port Angeles Ambassadors. The Ambassadors are a committee of the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce. Our mission is to celebrate and promote businesses in Port Angeles.

Ambassadors

Founded in 1997, the group has now grown to 22 active members. While membership in the Port Angeles Region C.O.C. is required to be an ambassador, businesses who want a ribbon cutting do not have the same requirement. The Ambassadors are active several times a month performing ribbon cuttings, ground-breaking ceremonies, grand or re-openings and other business milestones. Pictured here is a recent ribbon cutting for ACTI Composites done in January 2012.

ACTI Composite Building Jan 2012

Other Ambassador activities include greeting members at the weekly chamber meeting, held every Monday at Noon at the Crab House, assisting at the monthly Business Spotlight Night and even doing Cruise Ship greetings in conjunction with the Chamber and the Port Angeles Downtown Association. The Ambassadors are a positive group of people who are enthusiastic about business in Port Angeles. I am proud to be a part of the group and look forward to future events promoting P.A. businesses.

Donna Pacheco

I would like to thank current Ambassador Chair, Donna Pacheco, for all her efforts with the group. Donna maintains the Ambassador’s Facebook page, organizes our events and runs our monthly lunch. In addition to her Ambassador efforts, Donna is Advertising and Promotions Coordinator for Lumber Traders Inc, a local employee-owned company which operates two well-known stores Angeles Mill Work and Hartnagels . If you would like more information on joining the Ambassadors or having them attend one of your events, please call the Chamber at 360-452-2363.

Knowledge is power

Sign up for Matt's monthly insurance newsletter and he will share with you how to better protect your family, save more money and achieve financial security.

Holiday Gift Idea: A New Car From Michele Robbins Of Wilder Auto

December is the time for holidays and what a better gift to give than a new car? Your loving spouse has been driving that old beat up car for long enough. It is time to visit Wilder Auto in Port Angeles and have Michele Robbins show you what they have in stock.

Michele Robbins

Wilder Auto Group

Michele is a great person to buy a car from because she has a ton of experience and she truly cares about her clients. She has helped several happy customers buy new cars this year. Michele is constantly being recognized on Wilder’s Twitter feed for her recent sales, along with the other members of the Wilder team.

Wilder Auto

Wilder is a well-known auto dealer in Port Angeles, WA and has served the community for decades. Wilder’s lineup includes Honda, Toyota, Scion, Nissan, Jeep, Volkswagen and they even sell RV’s. That old clunker you have been driving around may be worth a little more in trade-in value than you think. Special deals and financing are going on right now. Even Santa can’t compete with a new car so head over the Wilder Auto and see what kind of deal Michele can make!

What About Insurance?

Want an estimate on what this new car will do to your car insurance? Give us a call at the number below and we can help you out.

Knowledge is power

Sign up for Matt's monthly insurance newsletter and he will share with you how to better protect your family, save more money and achieve financial security.

How to Get Insurance When Moving to Port Angeles, Washington

Matt Elwood, Agency Owner

You have finally decided to leave the rat race and move to the beautiful Olympic Peninsula. One of the many things on your to-do list may be to get new home and auto insurance, especially if you are coming from out of state. How do you go about doing that?

When changing insurance agents, there are some important things to remember. These apply if you are moving from a different state, a different insurance company, or you just want to go through a different agent in the company you are currently with. If you follow these tips, it will make the process of changing agents much easier.

First of all, contact your new agent before your current policy expires. A lapse of even one day can drastically impact your new rates and might even prevent you from being able to have a new policy. This is especially true for car insurance.

It is also helpful to have your current insurance in front of you so you know what coverages you have. It makes it easier to get an accurate quote if you know what you want.

Keep in mind that if you’re moving from one state to another, your insurance will probably be different. Even if you stay with the same company. Every state is different regarding premiums and discounts. There are also certain coverages that differ from state to state. And required state minimums also vary.

If you are relocating to the Olympic Peninsula area and need a new insurance agent, please contact Matt Elwood of Elwood Benefits at 360-452-9200.

Knowledge is power

Sign up for Matt's monthly insurance newsletter and he will share with you how to better protect your family, save more money and achieve financial security.