Protect Your Home While You Are Away

Unfortunately, no one is completely immune from theft. Whether you’re looking to protect your home while you are away on vacation or simply away at work, your first line of defense is to thwart burglars. Consider the following tips...

Home Protection Tips

• Contact your local police department to request that an officer visits your home to evaluate how secure it is and offer some improvements.
• Keep your shrubs, trees and other foliage short and well-groomed. Make sure that there is nothing blocking the views from your windows and doors.
• Lock up yard work tools (ladders and shovels) and garbage cans in your garage or shed. These   items can be used by thieves to enter your home.
• Install motion sensor lighting around your home and garage. 
• Change your locks when moving into a new home.

 

Most burglaries do not occur in the dead of night like most people think. Instead, they tend to occur between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. when people are at work. Thieves also strike when homes show obvious signs that no one is there. So, while you are at work, always keep your doors and windows locked. Also, if someone calls you and claims to be seeking information for a survey, do not provide information about your schedule or daily life. They can use this information to decipher when you will be away.

§  Place “Beware of Dog” and home alarm signs in your yard. Even if you do have a dog or an alarm, this may deter potential thieves from trying to enter.

§  Never allow strangers into your home, even if they claim to be hurt and need assistance. Instead, keep your door locked and call the police.

§  Do not place a sign on your home with your family’s name. Thieves can look you up in the phone book, call you and may break in when you do not answer.

§  Turn down the ringer on your phone when you’re away and never leave information about how long you will be gone on your answering machine.

§  Alert friends and neighbors when you will be away for an extended period of time so that they can look out for suspicious behavior.

§  Place automatic timers on your lights and set them for different times for different rooms. This will give the impression that you are home and are doing different things in different rooms. Consider also setting a radio to a timer so that thieves are deterred by voices in the home.

§  Have a neighbor shovel or mow your grass if you will be away for a few days. This will give the impression that someone is at home.

§  Put a hold on your newspaper if you go on vacation.

§  Do not leave your valuables such as jewelry, art work or electronics sitting out in plain view. Hide these items in inconspicuous places such as old laundry detergent boxes.

 

We’re here to help you protect your assets. For additional loss prevention tips for your home, contact us today!

 

What To Do At The Scene Of An Accident

Knowing what to do if you are involved in an accident can save lives and also make the claims process easier.

1.Stop your car and find out if anyone is injured. If you are on a freeway or high traffic road, or you are injured do not get out of the car until police arrive.
2.Call the police or highway patrol. Tell them how many people were hurt and the types of injuries. The police will notify the nearest medical unit.
3.Cover injured people with a blanket to keep them warm if it is safe to get out of your car.
4.Try to protect the accident scene. Take reasonable steps to protect your car from further damage, such as setting up flares, getting the car off the road and calling a tow truck.
5.Take photos of the scene and damage to your vehicle and the other vehicle involved.
6.Ask the investigating officer where you can obtain a copy of the police report. You will probably need it when you submit your claim to your insurance company.
7.If necessary, have the car towed to a repair shop. But remember, your insurance company probably will want to have an adjuster inspect it and appraise the damage before you order repair work done.
8.Make notes. Keep a pad and pencil in your glove compartment or use your smart phone to document:

The names, addresses and phone numbers of all drivers and passengers involved in the accident
License plate numbers
The make and model of each car
Driver's license numbers
Insurance identifications
The names and addresses of witnesses
The names and badge numbers of police officers or other emergency personnel.

9.If you run into an unattended vehicle or object, try to find the owner. If you can't, document the license plate number if it is a vehicle, take photos of the damage, and leave a note containing your name, and phone number. Record the details of the accident.
10.Call your insurance agent as soon as possible. It is usually best to contact your agent first as they will advocate for you whenever possible however if it is after business hours and you are in need of immediate assistance, such as being out of state with a rental vehicle, contact the insurance company directly.

Ice Dams, Freezing Pipes, Snow Overload...OH MY!

Snow-covered and slippery sidewalks and driveways aren't the only headaches we face each winter. Unfortunately, many homeowners learn too late about the damage ice dams, bursting pipes, and heavy snow on the roof can cause to ceilings, walls, floors, and furniture! Fortunately, you can avoid the aggravation and expense by taking several basic steps right now to prevent this kind of damage.

Ice Dams

An ice dam is an accumulation of ice at the lower edge of a sloped roof, usually at the gutter. When interior heat melts the snow on th eroof, the water will run down and refreeze a the roof's edge where temperatures are much cooler. Eventually the ice builds up and blocks water from draining off of the roof. This, in turn, forces the water under the roof covering and into your attic or down the inside walls of your home.

Once an ice dam forms, the potential damage can be serious. Take these steps now to avoid trouble later:

Keep the attic well ventilated. The colder the attic, the less melting and refreezing on the roof.

Keep the attic floor well insulated to minimize the amount of heat rising through the attic from within the house.

This two -step approach decreases the likelihood that ice dams will form or, at least, reduces their size.

Unfortunately, ice dams may be unavoidable if your home has recessed lighting near the roof. Heat generated from these lights melts snow, which then contributes to ice dam build-up. The only sure way to avoid this problem is to eliminate recessed light fixtures near the roof.

If you re-roof your house, installing a water repellent membrane under the roof covering is an extra precaution you can take to prevent roof leaks caused by ice dams. Talk to your local building official about minimum code requirements for ice dam protection.

Freezing Pipes

Frozen water in pipes can cause water pressure build-up between the ice blockage and the closed faucet at the end of a pipe. This leads to a pipe bursting at its weakest point. Pipes in attics, crawl spaces, and outside walls are particularly vulnerable to freezing in extremely cold weather. Holes for television, cable, or telephone lines in your home's outside walls, allow cold air to reach them.

To keep water in pipes from freezing:

Fit exposed pipes with insulation sleeves or wrapping to slow the heat transfer. The more insulation the better.

Use caulking to seal cracks and holes in outside walls and foundations near water pipes.

Keep cabinet doors open during cold spells to allow warm air to circulate around pipes (particularly in the kitchen and bathroom).

Keep a slow trickle of water flowing through faucets connected to pipes that run though an unheated or unprotected space. Or drain the water system, especially if your house will be unattended during cold periods.

Snow can Overload a Roof

A roof can collapse under the weight of a heavy snowfall. The age of the building is a major factor in the snow load risk. Light metal buildings typically have less capacity to handle a heavy snow load. On a flat roof, the step-down area between roof sections is a ptotential source of overload because of the tendency for ice and snow collection.

The best source for determining how much snow load a building can handle is the design plan. Most roof designs can handle at least 20 pounds per square foot. For safe removal that won't endanger you or damage your roof, consult a roofing contractor.

Follow these guidelines to help estimate the weight of snow on a roof:

Fresh snow: Ten to twelve inches of new snow is equal to one inch of water, or about five pounds per square foot of roof space. Anything more than four feet of new snow can put the roof at risk.

Packed snow: Three to five inches of old snow is equal to one inch of water, or about five pounds per square foot of roof space. Anything more than two feet of old snow could be dangerous.

Fresh and packed snow: The combined weight of two feet of old snow and two feet of new snow could be as high as 60 pounds per square foot of roof space. This will test the limits of even the best-designed roof.

Ice: One inch of ice equals about a foot of fresh snow, so keep this added weight in mind when calculating how much a roof design can handle.

All of the thawing and re-freezing ahead can potentially cause problems for homeowners, but can be eliminated or reduced by taking a few steps to prevent that from happening.

*Source: West Bend Mutual "Avoid Winter Perils"

Polar Vortex and Insurance Implications

Are you covered?

Insurance claims for damage from winter storms, including from ice and freezing, made up 7.1% of all insured catastrophe losses from 1993 to 2012, according to the Insurance Information Institute.

But what about your home? Are you covered?

The answer, as in much of life, is: “It depends.”

For insurance purposes, there’s water damage, which is covered by your homeowners policy, and flood damage, which is not.

Insurance claims are judged on a case-by-case basis and each is different, of course. However, a homeowners policy generally covers damage from water that began inside the home. That usually means “before the water comes in contact with the ground,” says the Insurance Information Network of California.

What’s a ‘flood’?

In case of flooding, only flood insurance, which you have to purchase separately, will compensate you for damage. (FloodSmart.gov tells how, where and when to buy a separate flood insurance policy for your home.)
You may think that a basement full of water is a “flood,” but what’s a flood to you may not be a flood to an insurance company. Water entering your home from the ground is generally considered by insurers to be a flood.

The IINC says:

The dictionary defines “flood” as a rising and overflowing of a body of water onto normally dry land. For insurance purposes, the word “rising” in this definition is the key to distinguishing flood damage from water damage. Generally, damage caused by water that has been on the ground at some point before damaging your home is considered to be flood damage.Covered

Here are a few examples of the types of problems caused by the polar vortex that are covered by homeowners insurance, provided you’ve taken reasonable care of the home by keeping it warm and maintaining gutters, pipes and drains:

• Damage from falling ice and ice-laden tree branches. Homeowners insurance may pay up to $500 to remove the tree, says the Insurance Information Institute.
• Damage from frozen gutters and ice dams. MLive explains that an ice dam is created when ice and snow trapped on a roof melts and refreezes. The melting water can leak into homes. However, cautions Insure.com, even when water damage indoors is covered, “you’re unlikely to be reimbursed for roof repairs because that’s a house maintenance issue.” Damage to furniture may be covered, depending on your policy.
• Damage from cracked pipes indoors. Bursting pipes that fill your basement with water are covered by a standard homeowners policy. But watch your language. “Many people believe their house is flooded because it’s full of water — but it’s not a ‘flood’ by the insurance definition,” insurance adjuster Allan Sabel told Insure.com. Sabel says not to use the word “flood” at all when discussing the problem with an insurer.
• Damage that starts with cracked pipes outdoors. This scenario is a bit more iffy, but you should be covered if an outside pipe bursts, causing damage indoors.

Not covered
In these cases, homeowners insurance probably won’t cover you:

• Backed-up storm drains. If the water came from the ground outdoors, the chances are not good that your homeowners policy will cover damage in your home. That includes water from overflowing storm drains backed up by snow and ice.
• Seeping water from melting snow and ice. Even if your basement or foundation is damaged, “seepage is considered a maintenance problem, not ‘sudden and accidental’ damage, and is excluded from home insurance coverage,” Insure.com says.
• Your negligence. Yes, pipes that burst from freezing are covered. But if you contributed by leaving your home unheated in cold weather, your claim might be denied.
An ounce of preventionHere are six of the best ways to prevent damage from severe cold and winter storms.
• Grab a shovel and rake. When snow piles up around storm drains, get out your shovel and clear a path for melting water to go. Clear leaves, snow and ice from gutters and downspouts. Use a roof rake to get snow off your roof.
• Have good attic insulation and ventilation. • Keep the heat on. To prevent frozen pipes, turn your home’s heat no lower than 55 degrees while you’re away.
• Let faucets drip.
• Open cabinets. Warm up pipes near outside walls during severe cold by opening cabinet doors under appliances and sinks. But make sure to remove toxic substances that could become available to children or pets.
• Do not try thawing frozen pipes with a blowtorch. Instead, shut off the water and call a plumber. And be aware of potential electric shock in and around standing water.

This post originated from Money Talk News.

Agency of the Month

We are so excited to be chosen as Acuity's Insurance Agency of the Month! Below is the article featured in September 2013 issue of InFocus.

Mid-State Insurance Agency of the Month

As he sat in a diner over 25 years ago waiting for a client, Joe LaBarbera sketched out a plan for his fledgling agency on a yellow legal pad. He's long since lost that sheet of paper, but he’s never lost the vision for what he wanted Mid-State Insurance to be.

"When I reflect back on the history of this agency, it looks a lot like the way I drew it up on paper,” says Joe, President of the agency headquartered in Mequon, where he resides with his wife of 25 years, Christine, and their three daughters.

Today the agency has a staff of I6 and writes a mix of P&C, life/health, and employee benefits coverages.

Mid-State Insurance has a significant book of commercial business in automotive, contractors, manufacturing, habitational, and distributor classes.

Growing Pains

Of course, having a vision for the future of a business doesn’t make it happen. When Joe founded the agency in 1986—fresh out of college and equipped only with, in his words, “a pen and paper and an IBM computer”—he faced a host of challenges.

“The biggest was credibility,” Joe recalls. “It was very difficult to get a contract with a carrier and to convince prospective customers that a 23-year-old agent could service their business and personal insurance needs.”

It took hard work, 16-hour days, and encouragement from both his father, Peter, and his then-girlfriend Christine to get the business off the ground. Mid-State Insurance's first P&C contract was with ACUITY. “ACUITY took a chance on me, and we’ve grown together ever since—one policy at a

time,” Joe says.

In 1989, Joe’s sister, Lucy Kolb, joined the firm. She's been with the agency ever since, managing personal lines as a Customer Service Representative and is a prime example of the longevity of the agency’s staff.

“It takes a staff of very good people to grow an agency, and that’s what we have,” Joe says.

Success Story

With the exception of one agency acquisition in the

90s, Mid-State Insurance has grown by maintaining a high customer retention rate and writing 95 percent of new clients through referrals.

“Our customers are hardworking people at small to medium sized businesses, just like we are,” says Joe, who has always believed in being involved with people and organizations outside of the office. As a past President of the local Chamber of Commerce, School Athletic Association, and Homeowners Association, as well as being a soccer and softball coach in the community, Joe has met many individuals and business owners with similar interests.

“Now that my children have grown, I am focusing more on involvement with non-profit charitable organizations to stay involved in the community while giving back to those who need us most,” he says.

Building a new headquarters in 2006 has propelled the agency’s growth in personal lines. “Previously, we were located in an office park, which limited our visibility. Being in an area now where people drive by every day has paid dividends," Joe explains.

Mid-State Insurance is also capitalizing on social media.

When Joe’s daughter, Alyssa LaBarbera, interned at the agency during college, she helped create the agency’s presence on Facebook and other social networking venues.

Although the agency’s trajectory has followed the path Joe envisioned, there has been one development he did not foresee.

"I didn't expect all the positive collateral rewards that came with growth,” Joe says. “I didn’t anticipate

how rewarding this career would be and, most importantly, the friendships I would make with customers, staff, and carrier employees.”

Small Employers! Don't Drop your Group Health Plan Yet. READ THIS FIRST!!

Under the "pay or play" federal health care reform rules, an "applicable large employer" will be subject to penalties starting in 2014 if it does not provide satisfactory health insurance coverage to full-time employees.  Generally, an applicable large employer is one that had 50 or more full-time employee equivalents during the preceding year.

In some instances, the penalties payable by applicable large employers will be smaller than the amount the employer would pay for its employees' health insurance coverage.  Consequently, there is speculation that some applicable large employers will choose to pay the penalties instead of continuing to offer group health insurance to employees.

Contrast this with the decision employers are facing in the small group market, i.e., employers with fewer than 50 FTEs.  They may see premium increases in 2014 and thereafter due to other health care reform mandates.  As a result (and because these employers generally will not be subject to the same penalties as applicable large employers), some employers in the small group market are considering whether to drop their group health insurance coverage and, if so whether to compensate former participants in the plan to help pay for insurance in the open market.

Be aware--there is more to the equation than simple arithmetic.  If you are a small employer for PPACA purposes and considering dropping your group health plan and replacing it with additional financial support for your employees, here are some issues you need to consider.

Financial and Legal Considerations:

--Income and Payroll Tax Impact.  If you drop group health insurance and choose to increase the pay of applicable employees to make up for the loss of the employer contribution for their health plan coverage.  The increased pay will be subject to federal and state income taxes.  Plus, those extra wages will be subject to Social Security taxes (both the employer and employee shares) up to the Social Security wage base and Medicare taxes (both the employer and employee shares).

--Retirement Plan Contributions.  Another important consideration is that increased pay will likely constitute "compensation" for retirement plan purposes.  Thus, if your company contributes to a retirement plan for employees—such as a matching contribution or profit sharing contribution—your contribution likely will be larger than it would have been without the increases in pay.

--Workers Compensation.  If an employee’s taxable gross earnings increase, the potential disability benefit  the employee could receive in the event of a worker’s compensation injury will increase.  Your worker’s compensation carrier will likely pass these additional risks on to you through premium increases.

Discrimination Claims.  If you offer pay--in the form of increased wages—as a complete substitute for employer-provided health insurance coverage, you could create risks of discrimination claims from employees.  In order to abate this, you may consider calculating the overall savings obtained by not offering employer-sponsored health insurance, divide that savings by the number of employees in the company, and provide this average amount as a pay increase to all employees (or just employees who participated in the discontinued plan) employed at the time of the increase.  This option would seemingly reduce the potential arguments of discrimination with regard to the wage increase, but it may lead to discontent6 in the workforce.

Intangibles—Beyond the Price Tag:

Recruiting and Retention.  Many employers view health insurance as a recruiting tool.  Will elimination of health insurance coverage make it more difficult to recruit employees?  Are your competitors keeping their coverage?

Improving Health & Reducing Absenteeism.  Elimination of health insurance may reduce your ability to affect the health of your employees.  Your ability to combine wellness programs with health benefits will be lost, and the potential for absenteeism resulting from health problems may increase.

More questions about Health Care Reform?  Contact us to attend a free informational seminar.

Lower Premium = Higher Savings

With summer in full swing there are so many fun activities planned! It would be helpful to have a little extra cash, no?

 Mid-State Insurance has a few helpful hints to keeping your premium down:

1. Choose a higher deductible
2. Buy a package policy
3. Work side-by-side with your Mid-State agent
4. Ask about specific actions you can take to prevent losses
5. Avoid losses

At Mid-State, we are here to make your life a little easier. So talk to any of our agents to find out how to save money and spare stress, hopefully making your summer a little brighter. 

As always if you have any questions a Mid-State agent would be happy to answer them! Comment here or on Facebook!