Preparing for Winter

Wintertime and winter weather can be tremendous fun, but cold and snow can also pose danger. Slippery roads, downed power lines and limbs, and freezing cold temperatures all bring an added measure of suspense to our daily activities. There are simple steps you can take that will take the chill off your wintertime experience.

In your car. It is not enough to throw a safety kit, including emergency equipment such as blankets, candles, a shovel and traction aids into the trunk of your car and think that you are ready for operating your vehicle in inclement weather. The single most important thing we can do while driving in severe winter conditions is to slow down. A safe speed for conditions might be well under the posted speed limit. Triple the normal driving distance between you and the car in front of you. If your vehicle begins to slip, immediately take your foot off the accelerator and steer gently in the direction you want the car to go.

If your car gets stuck, clear the snow in front of and behind your tires and spread sand, kitty litter or traction mats in the front and back of your tires. Gently accelerate until you feel the tires begin to spin. Put the car in reverse and back up slowly until stopped by the snow. Rock forward again using a low, steady speed.

At home. Have your heating system inspected to make sure it is working properly. If you have an alternative heating source, it should be UL approved and inspected before using.

Good insulation will also help if power is lost. Check for possible air leaks around doors and windows. Seal electrical outlets and switches on outside walls. Stock up on easy to prepare food, first aid supplies, batteries, flashlights and a battery-operated radio.

If you do get snowed in at home and the situation isn’t dire, just relax and preserve heat by hanging blankets over windows and doors. If you use a supplemental heating device, make sure it is UL approved, in good operating condition and maintaining safe distance from flammable items.

Outside. Make sure to remove garden hoses from outside faucets. Hopefully, you remembered to clean your gutters of leaves and debris. Better yet, install gutter guards. These can help keep snow and ice from building up, which can form ice damns and damage your house. Outside heating appliances like heat pumps must be clear of snow and debris to work efficiently.

If you have to go outside, wear tight and layered clothing and sturdy watertight shoes. Make sure to cover exposed parts of the body by wearing hats, gloves and scarves. Failure to protect skin and prolonged exposure to the cold can result in frostbite. The nose, cheeks, ears, fingers and toes (your extremities) are most commonly affected.

Extended Replacement Coverage on Home Insurance

The recent devastation caused by the spring tornadoes is a sobering reminder that catastrophes can strike at any time. When a total loss occurs, homeowners coverage is designed to reconstruct a home under normal conditions. But following a catastrophe, increased demand for building materials and labor can cause these costs to rise significantly, potentially leaving policy limits inadequate.

Fortunately, many insurance companies offer extended dwelling coverage to help prevent such shortfalls.

How it works

Two coverage levels give you options: Extended dwelling coverage is available at levels of 25% or %50% of additional Coverage A amounts, allowing people to choose the level that fits their needs.
Example: A home is insured for a Dwelling Limit (Coverage A) of $100,000. Following a total loss, reconstruction cost amount to $120,000. Without extended dwelling coverage, the policy holder could incur significant out of pocket expenses or be forced to make difficult rebuilding choices to reduce the costs. With 25% or 50% in extended dwelling coverage, the home would have those extra costs covered (i.e. 25%-Dwelling is increase to $125,000 or 50%-Dwelling is increased to $150,000).

Homeowner Insurance in a Disaster

With all the devastation that is occurring in the country from tornados, home insurance has become a hot topic. More specifically, having the correct amount of insurance on your home has become a hot topic. A few weeks back we posted a blog article about a house's "Market Value" vs. "Construction Replacement Cost". Just a few days ago USA Today journalist Sandra Block posted a wonderful article in the Money section of USA Today on the same topic. Here is a link to this article:

Will Your Homeowners Insurance Cover You if Disaster Hits? by Sandra Block (June 1, 2011) USA Today

My Tree, Their Vehicle... Whose Insurance (Repost from 10/23/09)

About a year ago I received a call from my neighbor. He sounded as if something was wrong; “Where are you” he asked? I informed him that I was away from home at the moment but was there something I could help him with. “Yeah, you can come get your huge tree limb off my SUV!” I immediately turned around and headed home. Once I got there I saw what is pictured here in this blog post. Because of heavy winds my huge front yard tree had dropped a limb and totally smashed the top of my neighbor’s vehicle. He and I spent the whole next day cutting away at the tree limb so that we could eventually tow his car to a body shop.

Now my neighbor lives next door to an insurance man so he was already well versed in whose insurance takes care of the damages to his SUV but for those of you that are not as privileged to live next to an insurance man I thought I would explain. Even though it was my tree that caused the damage my homeowner policy would not be involved in paying for the damages. In order for me to be responsible I would have to be negligent in some way but since it was an “act of God” (wind) negligence could not be pointed at me. Therefore, the coverage for the damage to his vehicle would fall under his personal auto policy. More specifically it would be his comprehensive or “other than collision” coverage. Since this coverage usually has a deductible (the amount the policy holder has to pay out of pocket before the insurance company takes care of the rest) I offered to help pay the amount he would have to pay out of pocket. I was not required to do this but since I like my neighbor and it was my tree, I felt it was the right thing to do.

There is, however, one situation that could have made the tree limb fall my fault. If for some reason my neighbor felt that my tree was unhealthy and dangerous he could compose a letter and “send receipt” a letter to me (meaning upon delivery I would have to sign a document stating I had received the letter). In the letter he would have to state that he felt my tree was in danger of falling and causing damage to his property. If that had been the case and my neighbor had sent me the letter he could have had grounds that I was negligent. This in turn would cause my homeowner policy to pay out for his damages and not his personal auto policy.

By the way, my tree is very healthy so there is no need for my neighbor to write a letter.