📝 If you are one of our customers, you may be receiving a survey from our corporate offices via email anytime throughout the year.
We hope that you'll be able to grade us with a "10" which means that you're "completely satisfied" with our agency's service.
If you are unable to give us a 10 grade, please contact us.
You'll be given an option to enter the $500 drawing at the completion of the survey. 💰
Here are the complete contest details. 👇
https://s.ripl.com/2xqlr5
Thank you for being the best part of our agency! 💛
☔️ Of all weather-related deaths in the U.S., flooding claims the most lives.
Why is this?
Because it's common to underestimate the power of floodwaters.
FEMA warns that 2 feet of water can sweep away most vehicles.
This includes trucks and SUVs.
Once a vehicle is caught in floodwaters, the driver has no control.
🚧 When flooding occurs, avoid low spots, canyons, dips, and washes.
It's not worth the potentially tragic consequences.
During these times of increasing attempts to clean and disinfect everything around us, the use of cleaning products has become more important than usual.
While mixing ingredients is common when cooking, it can be downright dangerous with it comes to mixing cleaning products. 🚫
⚠️ Here are some of the most dangerous combinations that people are likely to create accidentally:
❌ Bleach and ammonia - It can irritate your eyes and nose, as well as cause breathing problems.
❌ Bleach and vinegar - Mixing bleach with any type of acid, including vinegar, can cause toxic chemicals to form, which can irritate eyes, nose, and throat.
❌ Bleach and rubbing alcohol - This can impact the nervous system and heart, and it can be fatal.
❌ Bleach and Acetone - Also dangerous.
The bottom line.
Use cleaning products according to the directions on their labels and don’t mix them.
😩 There are few feelings more frustrating than realizing that you've lost something valuable, such as your wedding ring.
Yet, when it's merely hypothetical in the form of a visual brain teaser, then it may become a bit entertaining!
So here's a visual puzzle.
Find the lost diamond ring in the garden.
Hint: The ring's yellow band has a good-sized white diamond on it. 💎
True story: A Canadian woman once lost her ring, finding it 13 years later, wedged around an overgrown carrot in her garden!
When you think about it, any jewelry worn every day, such as a wedding ring, will be more susceptible to a loss.
By adding a rider or scheduling your jewelry, in most cases, you can expand coverage limits and extend protection to help cover additional risks. 💍
Have you been putting this off?
Let's talk about it!
Over the years, you may have heard the term “10 and 2 driving”. 🚙
This is regarding the position in which you should hold your hands on the steering wheel.
This is typically described in terms of how your hands' placement relates to the numbers on a clock. ⏰
But, the technique for proper hand placement on the steering wheel has changed over the years.
NHTSA now recommends the placement known as “9 and 3”.
The 10 and 2 o’clock position is no longer recommended because it can be dangerous in vehicles with smaller steering wheels equipped with airbags.
Here's a common question.❓
"If someone hits my vehicle while it is parked, what can I do to protect myself?" 🚗
Hopefully, the person responsible left a note. Or there are security cameras 🎥 or witnesses 👀 of the incident.
But if you can't locate the person who caused the damage, it's your auto policy's collision coverage, which will likely cover the loss.
A deductible would apply here.
And, collision coverage is optional, so if you chose not to buy it, you would have to pay for repairs out of pocket.
Uninsured motorist property damage coverage could also pay for damage caused by hit-and-run drivers in states where this type of coverage is available.
If your insurer locates the responsible party for the damage and recovers some or all of the repair costs, you may get a refund of your collision deductible.
Side note: Only 12 percent of all reported hit-and-runs (2016 statistics) were solved, so ensuring you have the coverage to protect yourself makes sense.
🐶 Sure, dogs are considered by many as man's best friend, but that doesn't necessarily include the mailman.📫
In one incident, when a dog bit the mailman, causing an injury...👮
It was a renters insurance policy that paid out for his medical bills.
It's sometimes easy for people to think that they don't have enough "stuff" to justify carrying a renters policy.
Yet, it can protect you from more than you might realize.
Knowing the right questions to ask will help you make informed decisions to serve your best interest in the long-term.
As urban habitats continue to merge upon rural areas, there has been an increase in deer-car collisions.
There are over half a million incidents a year, with a significant number of fatalities.
Experts say it's usually best to brake firm and stay in your lane if you encounter a deer while driving down the road.
Here are some interesting facts that you may not know:
Supermarket apples can be a year old. 🍎
Sloths can hold their breath longer than dolphins can. 🐬
It’s impossible to hum while holding your nose. 👃
And property insurance policies don't automatically include flood insurance. 💦
Since floods ARE the most common and costly natural disaster AND 20% of the time, they occur in low-risk areas; we thought you would like to know!
The good news is that there's a separate flood policy available, and we can help you put it in place!
Are you ready to talk about it?
Are you going to rent a moving truck? 🚛
Typically, credit cards and most personal insurance policies do not cover damage to rental moving trucks, even if they cover damage to rental cars.
That's why it's a good idea to purchase a damage waiver from the company who rents you the moving truck.
If you damage it, you'll be charged not only for the repair costs but also for the loss of income while the truck is out of service. 😟
Keep in mind that insurance companies do NOT insure land.
Yet, some lenders require it. 😳
Ask a lender if they will require you to insure the land that your home sits on before you start your loan approval process.
Communicate safety to your teen driver.
Make sure they know that it takes thousands of bolts to build a car...but only one nut to destroy it. 💥
There is a reason why in driver’s training they don’t teach you how to text while driving or how to steer with your knee.
Make sure they know that.
Safety is a cheap and effective insurance policy, but, it can’t be the only one.
While it may be tempting to reduce coverage limits when adding a teen driver to your auto policy to offset the costs, it's not a good idea.
Except for Arizona and Hawaii, the end of daylight-saving time for 2020 will be this Sunday at 2 a.m.
Americans will push their clocks back and rejoice that they gain an hour of sleep. 💤
Well, maybe not this year.
No matter where you live, use this as one point in the year to make sure your smoke detector's batteries are working properly.
While Halloween might seem a little different this year, it will feature a spooky spectacle of skywatching with a rare second-in-the-month full moon, known as a blue moon. 🌕
This 2020 Halloween full moon will also be visible to the entire world for the first time since 1944. 👀
Even cooler, right?
But, if you miss it, you'll have to wait until 2039 to see another global full moon. 🌐
Here's wishing you and yours a safe Halloween! 🎃
A skimmer is a card reader that is disguised to look like part of an ATM.
When you unknowingly slide your card into an ATM with a skimmer attached, it scans and stores all your information from the magnetic strip and captures your PIN from the keypad. 💳
The collected card data can be used to create a duplicate card which can then be used to make ATM cash withdrawals.
This is how a thief's ATM scanner can look.
💡Experts advise pulling on every ATM and gas station scanner you use. If the device comes off in your hands, you'll be glad you tested it!
Social host liability laws vary widely from state to state, but 43 states have them on the books.
Most of these laws also offer an injured person, such as the victim of a drunk driver, a method to sue the person who served the alcohol.
If you are hosting even a small Super Bowl party, here are some quick tips:
❇️ Encourage guests to pick a designated driver.
❇️ Limit your alcohol intake so that you will be better able to assess your guests’ sobriety.
❇️ Offer non-alcoholic beverages and serve food.
❇️ Stop serving liquor toward the end of the party. Switch to coffee, tea, and soft drinks.
❇️ If guests seem unable to drive, arrange a ride for them.
❇️ Give an intoxicated guest an all-expense paid night in your guest room or on your couch.
Whether you are cheering for the Chiefs or the Buccaneers, start with a game plan that minimizes your liability risks. 🏈
🐶 For many of us, dogs ARE an insurance policy.
However, once a dog has bitten someone, it poses an increased risk. In such a case, an insurance company may charge a higher premium or exclude the dog from coverage altogether.
The average dog bite claim is $30,000.
If a claim exceeds the limit on a property policy, the dog owner is personally responsible for all damages above that amount, including legal expenses.
To reduce the chances of dog biting, experts suggest following these steps:
🔘 Spend time with a dog before buying or adopting it.
🔘 Use caution when bringing a dog into a home with an infant or toddler.
🔘 Be sensitive to cues that a child is fearful or apprehensive about a dog.
🔘 Have your dog spayed or neutered.
🔘 Socialize your dog so that it knows how to act with other people and animals.
Do you have questions about coverage for your specific breed?
Let's talk about it. 📞
Most of us have that one drawer in our homes, the junk drawer.
It serves as a place to store random items. 🔑🔦🔓📌📎✏️
So what's the one thing you should avoid throwing into the junk drawer?
Loose and exposed, 9-volt batteries. 🔋
Why?
Because loose metal objects in the junk drawer can short out a 9-volt battery and ignite a fire. 🔥
If you do have them, it’s best to keep batteries inside of their package or keep the posts covered up with tape.
It's just a simple precaution you can take to save yourself from unnecessary grief. ✅
In many instances, the cost to rebuild a home is more than its market value. 🏠
Yet, after the 📉 housing market correction of 2008, 25 percent of people polled by the Insurance Information Network thought they should lower their home insurance coverage because market values had gone down.
This thinking can result in a homeowner having insufficient coverage if they need to rebuild after enduring a total loss. 😳
Typically, lenders only require that you have enough insurance to protect the balance of what they have loaned you.
Yet, homeowners need to have enough coverage to rebuild their home and to replace their possessions.
At least once a year, take the time to go over your property policy with your insurance agent. 📅
Chances are, we can help you create an insurance policy for the stuff you can't control.
What's on your mind?
Let's talk about it.
Would you like a second opinion on the policies you have elsewhere?
Let's make sure you have the right coverage for your current needs at the best price.
When you let us quote or re-quote the insurance policies that you currently have with other insurance carriers, you'll be entered into our upcoming drawing on March 26th.
The winner of the drawing gets $1000 in cash!
When you think about it, what have you got to lose?
