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How to Protect a Vacant Home

When the summer season approaches, many families and couples start planning their vacations. Whether the destination is near or far, it is important to make sure the home is properly protected. Locking the door and setting the alarm is not enough. The following five tips provide useful information for making a vacant home look less attractive to criminals.

1. Make the house look occupied. Although the home will be vacant, it is important to make any unwanted visitors think twice. If criminals think someone is home, they are much less likely to break in. Purchase timers for several wall outlets. By plugging lamps into these timers, it is possible to program the lights to turn on and off randomly throughout the day. Many DVR systems turn the television screen on when they begin a scheduled recording. If this is the case, set the DVR to record random movies and shows. Another way to make the home less attractive is to set up music to play at different times.

Six Tips for Insuring Young Drivers

Now that your blood pressure has recovered from giving your teenage driver her first driving lessons, it's time to add him or her to your insurance policy. But teenage drivers and young adults are historically risky clients for insurance companies - and rates generally reflect that. What is the best way to manage the situation?

Here are some things you and your new driver can do to keep premiums affordable.

Tell Junior to Hit the Books

Insu

Understanding the Basics of Insurance Deductibles

To get the most out of a car or home insurance policy, it is important to understand the roles deductibles play. A deductible is the amount deducted from an insured loss. When a damage claim is filed, the deductible is the amount of money a policyholder must pay upfront. It may be a percentage of the policy's total or a set dollar amount. Larger deductibles are associated with smaller premiums. To find the verbiage concerning deductibles, consult the front page of the auto or homeowners policy. Deductibles are subtracted from the claim amount. For example, if a person with a $500 deductible files a claim for $10,000, that policyholder will receive a check for $9,500. However, if that individual's deductible is calculated using percentages, the amount may differ. With percentages, the variable is calculated from the total claim and then subtracted from the total.

Homeowners Insurance & Lawsuits

It is common for neighbors to disagree. For example, one person may think that their outdoor dog barking at people passing by is an asset for keeping them safer from intruders. However, a neighbor who enjoys peace and quiet would think the dog is a nuisance. Another neighbor may enjoy listening to his or her music at a loud volume, but others who live in the neighborhood will likely find it annoying. Some situations may not be about noise. People who live in neighborhoods with a uniform appearance may hassle a new homeowner who decides to paint his or her house a clashing color. Whether the source of the problem is noise or something else, disagreements between neighbors can escalate into lawsuits. Before this happens, it is important to know what types of provisions a homeowners policy provides for legal issues.

Hi Friends,

I hope you all have a happy holiday and enjoy the season with your family. But, as an insurance broker, I'd be remis if I did not share an experience we had a year or ywo ago.

Deciding on Umbrella Insurance Coverage Amounts

One million dollars is the minimum amount of coverage for an umbrella policy. However, insurance companies usually offer these types of insurance policies in one million dollar increments and often go up to five or ten million. Some companies that target high net worth individuals may offer up to fifty million or more in coverage. Most people who purchase an umbrella policy choose the one million dollar amount, but many choose two million dollars or more. A rough estimate of what it costs for the first million is about $200 to $250 a year, but can be higher if you have more than two cars, young drivers or points on your record. While each incremental amount above the first million is slightly less, increments exceeding ten million can be higher.

Protecting a Home from Mold

It's important to have a plan and routine in order to protect a home from mold. This involves constantly looking for watermarks on ceilings or walls, signs of mold growth and musty smells. If mold is caught early enough, it can be removed with a simple cleaning solution of bleach and water. However, preventing mold from growing again requires that the source of moisture be eliminated. The area where the mold started growing must also be dried properly. In some cases, the surface or area may simply need to be replaced. After cleaning the mold and attacking the source, be sure to place all rags, clothing, materials, paper and other debris affected in a plastic bag to be thrown in the garbage.

Importance of Adequate Life Insurance Coverage

Many Americans do not have adequate life insurance coverage. The number of people going without sufficient insurance is high enough that it has gained the attention of researchers. The number of Americans who don't have life insurance is more than 90 million. Researchers believe that this number is related to the lack of jobs. One interesting fact is that almost 80 percent of Americans only have group life insurance policies offered by their employers. If these individuals lose their jobs, they also lose their life insurance coverage. The solution to this problem is to decide what individual life insurance needs are and fill them.

Women who earn more than $100,000 annually are less likely than men to use group or individual insurance. Although wome

Earthquake Insurance

With the tremmers we've had in the last week, we have been getting calls asking if we carry Califonia earthquake insurnace. The answer, is yes we do.

It is important to understand that California Homeowners's policies EXCLUDE earthquake as a covered peril. So, without a separate earthquake policy, you will be resposable for repairing or rebuilding your home if damaged in an earthquake

The good news is that we are appointed with a California Admitted carrier that is not the California Earthquake Authority (CEA). Why is this good news? Because many carriers like Farmers, Allstate, and AAA don't write their own earthquake insurance. They resell the CEA plan. This plan is made available to carries by the state because in order to sell Homeowners insurance in California, you must also offer earthquake insurance. The problem is that the CEA is state run and not competitive.

Our

Cost Effective Legal Defense to Protect Your Business

It's no secret that insurance companies hire from among the best attorneys available, and those attorneys defend you when you get into a legal incident covered by a liability policy that you have secured. But you may ask these two questions: is it still cost effective to get such legal defense through an insurance policy and what policies does a business need to secure to get the best legal guns to defend themselves in a given situation?

If y

Homeowners Policies & Jewelry

After receiving valuable jewelry, it's important to contact an insurance agent immediately. It's important to keep in mind that most homeowners policies place limitations on coverage for personal valuable items. This means that owners of these valuable items may not receive the full value if any of the items are stolen or lost. As a general rule, most homeowners policies provide coverage for possessions up to 50 percent of the total coverage amount chosen. This means that a person who has a $600,000 policy would enjoy coverage as much as $300,000.

Four Common Mistakes Employers Make Regarding Workers' Compensation

Most employers look at workers' compensation as just another necessary evil and unavoidable cost of doing business. It's usually one of those out of sight, out of mind things when rates are low. It's not until an employer is hit with a rate hike that they really start to give some thought to their workers' compensation rates.

Employers need to constantly look at workers' compensation as a tool to improve their business's bottom line, and they certainly need to make an effort to keep their low rates over the long-term so that they can take advantage of some significant savings.

Here are four common mistakes made by employers that frequently deter their workers' compensation savings:

1. Assuming that lower rates equate to lower costs.

Don't

Use Technology to Make a Home Inventory

We purchase insurance to protect us from what might happen. Hopefully we go through life, never having to make a claim against our homeowner's or auto insurance policies. We know that the monthly or annual fee is in our best interest, even as we hope to never need its services. Taking home inventory should be just as important. This worthwhile task is yet another method of protecting ourselves against something that may never happen, but could. Yet few people place as much importance on taking home inventory as they do on increasing their homeowner's policy coverage. While most insurance agents inform their clients about the significance of taking home inventory, it is rarely performed. Homeowners may put the task on their to-do lists, but as time goes by, and their busy lives take priority, it simply never gets accomplished. The result can be a very expensive one indeed.

Why Earthquake Insurance Is Important Everywhere

When most people think about earthquakes in the United States, Alaska and California are the first two states they think of. However, Tuesday's earthquake in Virginia shattered this idea. The initial 5.8 magnitude quake was followed by several aftershocks, which were felt as far away as Georgia, Chicago and Toronto. Although there hasn't been extensive physical damage, the feeling of safety many people had was shaken. Many residents of the larger cities on the East Coast relocated there after experiencing tremendous earthquakes in California. One of the most important things that has become apparent from the Virginia earthquake is the need for preparedness and ample insurance coverage.

Does a Homeowners Policy Cover Your Home-Based Business?

With both technology and the internet, more and more people are running home-based businesses, either full-time or part-time. But will a homeowner's policy cover the risks of a home-based business? In nearly every case, the answer is no. The only exception to this might be if a homeowner's policy has a special endorsement, such as an endorsement to run a day care operation from your home. Yet fewer and fewer companies offer such endorsements. Additionally, some policies may give a very limited amount of coverage for business property, such as a computer. The bottom line is, nearly all homeowners policies clearly exclude business operations and not having a proper coverage in place can leave you with uninsured exposure. This is why you need separate business insurance to cover your home-based business risks.

Hi All,
Took a great 5 mile hike yesterday with a group of Boy Scouts from Troop 200 in Lafayette. We started our hike from the top of Springhill Road. If anyone has hiked from there then you know it is a long steep trail up to the ridge.

It was slow going in parts, but all the boys made it and they were still singing songs at the end of the hike. I'd say that makes it successful.

Are Your Safe Driving Skills Up to Par?

As if we didn't already have enough distractions, on-board GPS systems, portable DVD players, iPods, and Smartphones have created more driving distractions than ever before. And, it's certainly not atypical for a vehicle to simultaneously have ringing phones, cartoons blaring from the backseat, a GPS incessantly yelping orders out, and fast-food fries flying around like ninja weopons.

Why You Should Require Liability Insurance for Those You do Business With

Are the people you do business with insured? You may want to ask them.

If a vendor, contractor, cleaning crew, gardener/arborist, or other service provider does not have insurance, you may be out of luck if they cause property damage or injury. Also, people who do not carry insurance are probably less likely responsible than those who are insured. They may not be the ideal people you would want to hire. It's worth paying a little more to get someone who is insured.

Life Insurance Is Important For All, But Vital For The Self Employed