Extended Dwelling Coverage on a Homeowner

Many moons ago all insurance companies used to have guaranteed replacement cost endorsement you could put on your homeowner policy. This endorsement would guarantee that the insurance company would rebuild your house exactly as it was prior to the claim even if your limit of insurance on the house was lower than the cost to rebuild. Today many insurance companies limit that endorsement to only homes that are considered high value (homes valued at $500,000 or more). The endorsements also require that the insurance companies send out professional reconstruction appraisers to figure out as best they can what it would cost to rebuild your home.

For those homeowner clients who have a house valued at less than $500,000 the endorsement that needs to be added to the homeowner policy is Extended Dwelling Coverage. What this endorsement does is give a percentage of the homeowner limit as extra coverage in case of a total loss on the home. For example, if you have 25% Extended Dwelling Coverage and your house is insured for $200,000 then you would actually have $250,000 if your home suffered a total loss ($200,000 X 1.25 = $250,000).

We feel this coverage is important for two reasons. One reason is we do not send out professional reconstruction appraisers to every house. Instead, insurance companies use in house software that helps determine reconstruction cost on your house using things like square footage, construction type, location, year built, etc. to come up with a value. These programs are usually very accurate but nothing replaces the accuracy of an in home visit with measuring tape and details of the type of amenities in the house. The Extended Dwelling Coverage endorsement helps make sure that if for some reason the calculations on the house are a little off, there is still enough insurance there to replace the house to its original state.

The second reason we encourage this endorsement is for catastrophe situations. Let’s say a tornado wipes out not only your house but two other neighborhoods worth of homes. Every builder and building supplier in town will be in demand. Economics 101 will tell you that if demand goes up and supply is the same, then prices are going to rise. That home that only cost $200,000 to rebuild just got a lot more expensive but if you have the Extended Dwelling Coverage on your homeowner you would be in a much better situation.

One thing to note about this endorsement, you can’t use it to underinsure your home. In our example above, you can’t insure the house for only $160,000 and add the 25% Extended Dwelling Coverage (which would put your total insurance at $200,000). That is not the intent of the coverage. The insure companies will use their software to figure out a good estimate of the cost to rebuild your house and you would have to have it insured for that amount in order to add the coverage.

Child Under 13 in Your Car? Washington Law Requires They Ride in Back Seat

A recent poll by PEMCO Insurance has found that, although a vast majority of Washington drivers understand that the safest place to have a child passenger is in the back seat, just 43 percent say they see other drivers in compliance.

Children's car seat, properly used.

Washington is one of 14 states that require a child under the age of 13 be seated in the rear of a vehicle "where it is practical to do so", according to the Revised Code of Washington.

Not only are front-end crashes the most prevalent type of auto accident, the added threat posed by air bags, which are designed for adult passengers, makes the front seat a dangerous place for youngsters. Air bags can severely injure or even kill small children seated in the front seat, even in an approved car seat.

This is a disparity of opinion among drivers as to what should determine when a child can ride in the front seat. Nearly half the poll respondents said height should be the primary criteria, and another 21 percent believed that weight should be the determining factor. Only 25% of respondents agreed with the state age requirement   that the age of 13 was the key factor.

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), placing kids in back instead of in front reduces injury risk by 64 percent for infants and kids up to age 8, and 31 percent for children 9 to 12.

While age is the determining factor in where children should ride, height and weight are more important in deciding when a youngster is ready to move from a child safety seat to a booster seat, or just be restrained with a seat belt.

The general rule of thumb is that children under 40 pounds should be in a car seat. As kids outgrow the height and weight requirements of a car seat, the recommendation is that they first graduate to a booster seat that allows cross-body seat belts, then eventually to just using an adult seat belt.

Although car seats and booster seats can be inconvenient and expensive, the protection they provide for small children is vital. Besides, it's the law.

To learn more about the PEMCO Insurance Northwest Poll and view a summary of the results, visit www.pemco.com/poll, where the public is invited to participate in an informal version of the poll to see how their own responses compare with those collected by FBK Research of Seattle.

Child in booster seat.

About the PEMCO Insurance Northwest Poll
PEMCO Insurance commissioned this independent survey that asked Washington drivers several questions about driving habits and attitudes toward current Northwest issues. The sample size, 826 respondents in Washington, yields an accuracy of +/- 3.5 percent at the 95 percent confidence level. In other words, if this study were conducted 100 times, in 95 instances the data will not vary by more than +/- 3.5 percent.

Safe Travels this Holiday!

The Holidays are in full swing and with Christmas just a couple of days away; many have already started their Holiday travels. Being the insurance people that we are, here are a few tips for a safe and secure season of travel.

1) Make your home seem like someone is still there. You can do this several ways. Leave your front and back porch lights on so that at night your house is lit up. Ask a neighbor to collect your mail while you are gone so it doesn’t stack up. You can also ask the post office to hold if for you until you get back. Another way to make it look like you are home is to ask a neighbor to pull in and out of your driveway at some point if it snows giving the appearance that you have been in and out of your house.

2) Don’t show off to the Facebook world that you are on vacation. I know this can be tough for some but letting everyone know you are out of town on Facebook can be dangerous. We recommend waiting until you get home from your trip before you post vacation pictures.

3) Car travelers should be prepared for heavy snow at all times. The best way to do this is to make sure you have extra blankest, windshield washer fluid, ice scrapers and even a small shovel. You never know when you might need any of those things. Also, be sure to have your phone charged during the trip so that you have it in case of an emergency.
4) Don’t skimp on heat in your home: This time last year our big recommendation in our “Traveling Over the Holiday” blog article was to keep the heat in your house at a reasonable level so your pipes don’t freeze. Again, we recommend this.

Those are just a few simple tips. We here at Fey Insurance hope you have a wonderful Holiday and Merry Christmas

Feds urge states to ban texting and talking on the roads

Tuesday, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced that in their opinion texting, emailing or chatting while driving is simply too dangerous to be allowed anywhere in the United States. They are urging all states to impose a total ban except for emergincies. Presently, 35 states plus the District of Columbia ban texting while driving, and thirty states ban all cellphone use for beginning drivers. Enforcement is sketchy and no states ban the use of hands-free devices for all drivers. The NTSB says they are seeing increasing texting, cellphone calls and other distractions by drivers in accidents involving all kinds of transportation. It is common for law enforcement officers to immediately request the preservation of cell phone and texting records when an accident investigation begins. While no states ban hands-free use, the NTSB's recommendation that hands-free use of cell phones be banned, too, will carry much weight with federal regulators, Congress and state law makers.

Tips for Driving in the Rain

Western Washington in the winter is a pretty rainy climate, and combined with occasional freezing or near-freezing temperatures, this can make for hazardous driving conditions.

There are a number of things you can do to reduce your chances of having an accident in the inclement winter weather.

Tires: Where the rubber hits the road

First, you should check your tire treads for wear. Even though you didn’t notice a difference this summer, now that wet weather is here worn tires may suddenly lose their grip on the road, and you could go sailing into another car or the ditch! Have your local tire center check to see if the tread is adequate.

Tires that are overinflated not only wear out faster, but can’t hold the road as well in wet or snowy weather. Reducing the air pressure in your tires will help you keep your car under control in treacherous conditions. By slightly reducing the pressure from 32 psi to 28 psi, you will make your tire have a little more rubber on the road surface, providing additional stability. Of course, when winter is over you will need to inflate your tires to the proper levels to avoid excessive tire wear.

Limited Visibility

Now is the time to make sure your windshield wipers are in good working condition, your windshield is clean and you have washer fluid in the reservoir. When it rains, worn wipers will streak your windshield, making it difficult to see, especially at night. Headlights of approaching vehicles will reflect this residue and make visibility even worse. Also, it is important to keep your windshield clean. Mud or leaves that get on your windshield can be smeared by your wipers, making it very difficult to see clearly, and if you get spattered by a passing car or truck, your windshield washer fluid can get it cleared off quickly.

If, for any reason, your windshield will not clear, leave the roadway as soon as safely possible and use a cloth and some clear water to thoroughly clean the window. Do the same for your other windows and side view mirrors, too.

Driving in a downpour

Usually, Seattle rain is fairly light, but occasionally a weather front will come in and dump rain in buckets. It’s best to avoid driving until it tapers off, but if you are caught in a deluge, here’s something that may help -- put on your sunglasses! Even at night, putting on your sunglasses in the pouring rain will help you see much more clearly. You will see drops on the windshield, but not the rain that's pouring down in front of your car. It also helps eliminate the sudden blindness from getting sprayed with a wall of water by a passing semi truck.

Don’t use cruise control in the rain

When you’re driving in rain, turn your cruise control off. The problem is when your tires begin to hydroplane in slippery conditions and lose contact with the road, cruise control can suddenly cause your car to accelerate to a higher rate of speed, and cause you to lose control of your car! Some cars are designed to shut cruise control down in wet or icy conditions, but yours may not be one of these.

Finally, slow down!

The speed limit may read 60 mph, but that is only applicable in optimum driving conditions. If it’s wet or icy, slow down. If you are involved in an accident in bad weather conditions, and it is found that you were going within the speed limit, that won’t help you in court if the conditions warranted slowing down. When weather conditions make driving hazardous, posted speed limits are not in effect, and motorists must drive at a safe speed or be liable for damages that they cause.

Churches to Be Kicked Out of NYC School Buildings January 1

Having spent 9 years in the church insurance business, which included providing coverage for dozens of churches that met in schools, this could start a troubling trend across the country:

The Supreme Court has rejected an evangelical church’s plea to overturn New York City’s ban on renting public schools for religious worship services. That means the city now has a green light to begin evicting congregations who pay rent to use public school buildings for church services.

The Supreme Court’s decision not to hear the case leaves in place a federal appeals court ruling that upheld the city’s policy.

The court case involved the Bronx Household of Faith – a church that paid weekly rent to hold worship services at a public school since 2002. The church, along with five dozen other congregations, was allowed to continue worshipping at public schools pending the outcome of the lawsuit.

It’s a sad day for religious liberty,” said Jordan Lorence, the church’s attorney and senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund. “Churches and religious other groups should be allowed to meet in public buildings on the same terms as other community groups and they’re being denied that in New York City.”

Look at the twisted reasoning that went into this decision:

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals determined that allowing churches to use schools resulted in an “unintended bias in favor of Christian religions” – since most Christian churches worship on Sunday.

“Jews and Muslims generally cannot use school facilities for their services because the facilities are often unavailable on the days that their religions principally prescribe for services,” Judge Pierre Leval declared. “At least one request(ed) to hold Jewish services (in a school building used for Christian services on Sundays) was denied because the building was unavailable on Saturdays. This contributes to a perception of public schools as Christian churches, but not synagogues or mosques.”

Judge Leval also took issue with the evangelical church’s membership. “Bronx Household acknowledges that it excludes persons not baptized, as well as persons who have been excommunicated or who advocate the Islamic religion, from full participation in its services.” Leval wrote.

But it all boiled down to a key point, the judges decided. “In the end, we think the board could have reasonably concluded that what the public would see, were the Board not to exclude religious worship services, is public schools, which serve on Sundays as state-sponsored Christian churches,” Leval wrote.

This is stupid on so many levels. Although I believe a city or school district should have the right to determine who uses their facilities and when, schools are being hammered all across the country with budget cuts. These churches provide much needed revenue to the districts, and they're generally very good tenants, careful not to mess up teacher's rooms or in any way do damage to the school facility. This is easy money for the districts, but the anti-religious zealots just can't stand the idea that something that values God can have any contact with a public facility.

During my insurance days I insured all kinds of denominations that met in public schools.  Never once did a school district apply any sort of standard as far as the type of church they allowed, nor did they provide any kind of support that could be misconstrued as "state sponsoring".  The judge's ruling is nonsense.

Churches that meet in schools in other parts of the country should take note and have contingency plans at the ready. The anti-religious activists will be emboldened by this decision and will seek to spread their bias nationwide.

Host Liquor Liability (Repost)

Over the next several months there will be many reasons for businesses and individuals to host events and parties where alcohol may be served. Businesses will have parties and happy hours to celebrate the holiday season where they will be providing alcohol for employees or customers. Individuals may use the same reason to have friends and family over to celebrate and consume alcohol. Taking my party hat off for just a moment and putting my risk management/insurance hat on, let me discuss something called Host Liquor Liability.

This is a coverage that often is part of a Commercial General Liability (CGL) policy and also included in homeowner policies as long as the individual and/or businesses are not in the occupation of making, selling or distributing of alcohol for money (meaning bars, distilleries, wineries, restaurants, etc. would have a different coverage simply called Liquor Liability). Host Liquor Liability is a coverage to help protect in cases where injuries happen because of alcohol incidents. One common example would be a participant is driving drunk and as a result crashes and injures people in an auto accident. Wherever the drunk driver last consumed alcohol could find themselves facing a lawsuit for injuries that were caused by the driver. They could be pulled into the situation because it was at their event and under their supervision that this driver consumed alcohol and then got behind the wheel intoxicated and drove off.

So here is one key thing about host liquor liability that all your employees, customers and/or friends and family will like to hear: if you are going to have an event with alcohol you are best to give it away. If at your event money changes hands and people are then able to consume alcohol you would have violated the no making, selling or distributing of alcohol for money rule. If you are having alcohol at a charity event the alcohol would have to be donated for the event or have a very good paper trail showing that none of the moneys collected to get in the event went toward the purchase of alcohol. Now, if your event is going to have a cash bar you will need to look into purchasing two items. The first is a temporary liquor license from the state and the second is a Liquor Liability insurance policy. Both of those can be costly and time consuming to acquire so your best bet is to just give it away… and be more popular with your employees, customers, friends and family.