R&R Insurance Blog

The Insurance & Risk Management Knowledge Alliance has published a great article about children who no longer reside with their parents but still remain on their insurance policy. People wrongly assume they have coverage for their child who has moved out on their own while the parents hold the title and the child is listed on the parent's  insurance. The problem arises because the parents are the named insureds on the policy (not the child). The child becomes what's known as a "former" family member.

A child who no longer resides with their parents does not receive the same coverage as a child that lives at home.

What is covered:

• Liability while driving the parent's "covered auto"
• Medical payments while occupying the parent's "covered auto"
• Uninsured/Underinsured Motorists while occupying the parent's "covered auto"

What isn't covered:

• Liability while in an auto other than the parent’s “covered auto”
• Medical Payments while in any auto other than the parent’s “covered auto”
• Medical Payments while a pedestrian
• Uninsured Motorists while in any auto other than the parent’s “covered auto”
• Uninsured Motorists while a pedestrian

These are important coverages to have. Solution: A personal auto policy with the child as the named insured and a non-owner coverage endorsement. Too technical?  It's easy for an independent broker like R&R Insurance Services.

Also important to note: make sure that your child understands that they will need a renters policy to cover their belongings once they move out.

Wisconsin residents interested in a free insurance analysis for their personal insurance, please contact a knowledgebroker.

It’s possible not to laugh when America’s Funniest Videos runs a montage of people falling down. But when someone is hurt in a slip-and-fall accident on your property, the humor fades quickly.

Nearly 9 million people seek emergency services from slips and falls each year, millions more see a doctor within a few days, and thousands more die.

Unfortunately, there’s also a pervasive belief that you’re automatically liable if someone slips on your property, which makes slip-and-fall scams the second most common type of insurance fraud.

Winter is slip-and-fall season

Not all injuries are visible in a slip and fall. If someone reports an accident on your property, treat him or her with kindness, respect and empathy, and collect the following information for your incident report:

• Name, birth date, primary and secondary contact information
• Detailed description of the incident, including date and time
• Any physical or visual impairment
• What the person was carrying, if anything
• The type of shoes he or she was wearing
• List of witnesses
• If able, ask him or her to show you exactly where and how the accident happened
• Take pictures of the area and document the conditions
  • Rain, snow, ice, tracks
  • Weather conditions for the current day and several days leading up to it
  • Lighting
  • Any other observations

Occasionally, a blockage in a sewer main or sewer service results in backup of sanitary sewage into a home. If you have experienced a sewer backup, and have some questions, the following information should provide you with a starting point.

Indicators of an obstruction in a sewer line:

• Water does not drain out of floor drains below ground level.
• Water comes up in floor drains, showers, or toilets.
• Toilets, showers, or floor drains below ground level drain very slowly.

Clean Up

For large clean ups, you should call a cleaning service. Your insurance carrier might have suggestions on which service to use for water damage restoration or house cleaning services.

During clean up, protect yourself from contamination:

• Wear rubber boots, waterproof gloves, and protective garments.
• Wash your hands thoroughly when the job is done.
• Those persons whose resistance to infection is compromised are considered to be at greater risks, and should not attempt this type of clean up.

Chemical Disinfection:

• The process of disinfection is important to ensure the elimination of the pathogens (disease causing bacteria, viruses, and fungi) that are present in raw sewage.
• Thorough cleaning must take place before disinfection to insure the effectiveness.

Type of Disinfectant Suggested Strength:

• Household Bleach (usually 1 oz. to 1 gal. water)
• Phenolic (Lysol and other brand name disinfectant products) 0.5 to 5 percent
• Remember to follow manufacturer’s label instruction and use in areas with adequate ventilation.

Here are some helpful suggestions:

• Use outside air to dry your home.
• Open windows and doors and use an exhaust fan to remove moist air from the house.
• If available, use a room dehumidifier. Empty it often.
• If your basement is completely flooded, begin pumping the water in stages—about one-third per day. Make sure that the level of the floodwaters is below the level of the basement floor. If so, do not pump the basement all at once because the saturated soil could cause the basement walls to collapse.
• Open, clean, disinfect, and thoroughly dry cavities in walls, floors, and ceilings.
• Allow walls to dry from the inside out.
• Remove moisture and debris from all surfaces and dry surface materials within 24 to 48 hours.
• Release any water or mud that has been trapped in walls, ceilings, or floor cavities.
• Remove all interior wall finishing materials and insulation.
• Throw out any wet insulation.
• Throw out moist plaster, wallboard, and paneling.
• If any materials are still wet or moist after 24 to 48 hours, you should assume they have mold growing on them.

Record Keeping

• Take pictures of damages for your records.
• Keep all receipts for all work done.
• Write a description of the extent of damage done.
• Record date and time of occurrence and which sewer areas overflowed—floor drain, lower level toilet, laundry tub, etc.

Insurance

Often, sump/sewer back-up coverage can be added to your homeowner’s insurance. Not all policies have this coverage. Wisconsin residents, be sure check with knowledgebroker, Dan Wolfgram.

Did you know...

A Preferred Personal Umbrella insured with one house and two vehicles often pays less that $225 in annual premium for $1,000,000 of additional liability insurance coverage.

Did you know...

The frequency and cost of lawsuits has increased dramatically in the past decade. The following claims are real-life examples of lawsuits filed every day.

• Internet Blogger: The insured's daughter hated math class as well as the teacher. The daugher made several "disparaging" remarks about her teacher online. The teacher successfully sued the parents for $750,000.
• Faulty Furnace: The insured's tenant claims she became ill from carbon monoxide poisoning resulting from a faulty furnace. The tenant claimed permanent brain damage and demanded $750,000.
• Coaching circumstances: A teenager who was destined for greatness as a softball player, filed a $700,000 lawsuit against her former coach, alleging his "incorrect" teaching style ruined her chances for an athletic scholarship.

Did you know...

You family and your daily activities result in lawsuit exposures every day. You should conisder purchasing an Umbrella policy if:

• Your assests are greater than your insurance liability limits.
• You are financially responsible for your children.
• You frequently host guests on your property.
• Your residence includes a swimming pool.
• You own watercraft of off-road vehcles.
• You own rental or vacation properties.
• You paritcipate in volunteer activities.

Person Umbrella Inurance... A small price to pay for peace of mind!

Frank Staab and Faith Harrington-Staab, residents of Elkhorn, WI and an R&R customer since 2006, talk about the trauma involved with watching your home go up in flames. The concerns for their family, their belongings and what to do next were top of mind for R&R Insurance and their insuring carrier. Watch their quick story...

Wisconsin residents can have the same peace-of-mind that the Staab's experienced. Contact knowledgebroker Dan Wolfgram for more information about personal insurance options through R&R Insurance Services.

An estimated 30 million natural Christmas trees are sold anually in the United States. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) reports that there is an estimated annual average of 210 home structure fires that begin with Christmas trees. Based on data from 2002 through 2005, these fires caused an average of 24 civilian deaths, 27 civilian injuries, and $13.3 million in direct property damage per year.

Forty-nine percent of Christmas tree fires spread beyond the room of origin.

The moisture content of each tree can play a dominant role in determining the fire hazard each tree represents. Properly maintaining a cut Christmas tree is important to retaining a high moisture content in the needles of the tree to limit accidental ignition and prevent rapid flame spread. A tree which has dry needles can readily ignite with a flaming source and generate heat release rates that are capable of causing flashover in residential scale rooms. Trees that have been watered properly, and maintain pliable, green needles are harder to ignite than dry trees with needles that break easily when bent and fall from the tree when the branches are shaken.

In addition to keeping the tree extremely moist by watering daily, The American Red Cross offers these common-sense tips to avoid holiday fires:

• Decorate Christmas trees only with laboratory-approved lights
• Unplug Christmas tree lights when leaving home or going to bed
• Do not decorate metal trees with lights
• Do not decorate trees with candles
• Keep candles away from decorations and other combustible material
• Place trees away from heat sources and exits
• Make sure chimneys are inspected before the holidays and cleaned if necessary
• Keep space heaters at least three feet away from bedding, clothing, furniture, drapes and anything else combustible. Use equipment that is approved for indoor use. Turn space heaters off if you are not available to monitor this equipment. Remember, children anywhere near space heaters must be supervised at all times.

Christmas trees that glitter with lights and tinsel symbolize the joyous spirit of the holiday season, but we must not forget the potential fire hazards that can be a tragic part of this time of celebration. Wisconsin residents, contact knowledgebroker Kori Cumley for fire safety tips or a quick quote on home and auto insurance.

Tis' the season to be jolly! R&R will fill up Dan Wolfgram's van with toys to be donated to Toys for Tots per the number of fans we have on Facebook. Dan has been gracious enough to volunteer his van for this use. Dan is the Vice President of Personal Lines.

Want to help us reach our goal? Here's how it works:

• 500 fans = Front seat is filled up - DONE!
• 750 fans = Front & back seats are filled with toys
• 1,000 fans = Entire car is filled with toys

Toys will come from R&R and from employees, but donations are welcome! You can drop off toys at any of our 4 locations - Waukesha, West Bend, Menomonee Falls, & Beaver Dam!

Photos will be taken periodically and updated on our Facebook page to show the progress! Help us reach our goal by liking our Facebook page (and share it with your friends)! Be sure to check our page to see how the van is filling up!

The total 2011 weather related claim damage in the U.S. is $35 billion (not including hurricane Irene), according to a new report issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. Although Wisconsin didn’t have any hurricanes, we had another “bad claims” year due to excessive hail, water, wind and ice dams. Here are some recent headlines from the past few months:

• American Family Catastrophe Claim Losses Surpass $1 Billion.
• S&P Lowers Outlook on Allstate and Subs to Negative; Affirms Ratings
• Hartford Q3 Profit Falls on Natural Disasters
• Erie Indemnity Posts $47M Q3 Profit, Down 13% From Last Year
• State Auto Financial Reports Loss of $58.7M in Q3

I will often hear clients object about insurance companies making money. I always tell them that profitable insurance companies keep rates stable. Based on the headlines above, many people can expect to see some relatively significant rate increases in 2012 with some insurance carriers. Here’s the great news: despite the poor claims year Wisconsin had, the carriers R&R Insurance represents are NOT on this list. We expect the rates for our clients to remain relatively stable, and anticipate the average rate increase to hover around 6-8% this year. This again is excellent based on what is happening in our market and nationally.

Ideas for minimizing rate increases:

1. Knowing that you shouldn't submit smaller claims reinforces having a higher deductible - go as high as you can afford if you were to have a significant incident. You will see larger premium savings by carrying larger deductibles.
2. Make sure that R&R is insuring everything for you. Having your auto with us and your home with another agency does not get you the best rates. Plus, coverage on separate policies can be duplicated or omitted by doing this.
3. Opting for Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) to have your payments spread out over 12 months can also help with the premium cost.

More ways to save money on your home and auto insurance. If you like these money saving tips, we have a lot more in our e-newsletter, sign up for our e-newsletter today!

Wisconsin residents, if you are not a client with R&R Insurance right now, consider getting a proposal from us. We represent multiple insurance companies and can find the best program suited for you at a great price.

As always, feel free to share this with your friends, relatives and coworkers. Please contact one of our knowledgebrokers here at R&R Insurance should you have any questions at all. Thank you everyone for your business! Have a safe and happy holiday season!

It's smart to keep an emergency kit in your trunk, especially during winter months. Here are some items we'd suggest putting in your emergency kit:

• a blanket
• extra boots and gloves
• an extra set of warm clothes
• extra water and food, including hard candies (sucking on a hard candy will prevent your mouth from getting too dry)
• an ice scraper
• a small shovel
• a flashlight
• windshield washer fluid
• windshield wipers
• flares
• jumper cables
• a tool kit
• tire chains
• a tire gauge
• a spare tire with air in it
• tire-changing equipment
• a first-aid kit
• paper towels
• a bag of abrasive material such as sand, salt or non-clumping kitty litter, which can provide additional traction if a tire gets stuck in snow
• also, keep the gas tank as full as you can to prevent the gas lines from freezing

Wisconsin residents, contact knowledgebroker Kori Cumley for money-savings tips on personal insurance or a quick quote on home and auto insurance.

Even Wisconsin residents used to winter's cold and freezing temperatures can benefit from a few winterization tips. Here are 10 simple ways to get your car ready for winter and stay safe.

1. Get the right kind of oil change.
2. Replace your windshield wiper blades so you can see clearly.
3. Give your battery a little TLC. Make sure your battery’s posts and connections are corrosion-free and that your battery has all the water it needs.
4. Examine your belts and hoses for wear & tear.
5. Check your tire pressure.
6. Think about switching to snow tires.
7. Check the status of your four-wheel-drive system and be sure it’s working correctly.
8. Get the antifreeze mixture just right. It should be a 50-50 mix of antifreeze (coolant) and water inside your radiator.
9. Prepare an emergency kit and store it in your trunk during the winter months.
10. Know what to do if you get stranded. Don’t wander away from your car unless you’re completely sure about where you are and how far away help is.

Wisconsin residents, contact knowledgebroker Kori Cumley for money-savings tips on personal insurance or a quick quote on home and auto insurance.