Inventory Your Contents with Evernote

One of the most difficult claims to suffer from a property stand point (meaning building and/or contents) is a total loss on a home or business. By total loss I mean that either a fire or tornado has leveled your home or business and there is nothing left but debris. One of the reasons this can be so difficult is that it is very daunting to try and remember all that was in your home or business as well as document all that was inside the building prior to the insurance loss.

There are a number of specialty software’s out there that help individuals and business inventory their belongings, and we recommend any that you find useful and user friendly. However, there is another way to help you document your personal and business belongings. I have found a very useful website called Evernote (www.evernote.com). I use it as my cyber file cabinet. The system allows you to upload documents (i.e., PDFs, Word Documents, etc), pictures, voice memos, emails and any notes you wish to directly type into their system. All of this is then securely stored over the web and can be accessed from anywhere. Where I find this website useful, when it comes to creating an inventory, is that I can take a picture of every room in my home or office and store it in a location that I can always get access to it. Prior to Evernote, we used to encourage clients to take pictures and store them at a secondary location but this way everything is digital and accessible from anywhere. So if you had a claim at your location, all you would have to do is log into Evernote from a computer and email all your pictures to the insurance adjustor. That way they will see all that they need to help replace in your home.

My advice on what to take pictures of is as follows: All rooms in the house (including basement, attic and garage), all closets and all cabinets. One thing to note, some items such as Jewelry, Guns, Furs, Stamp Collections, Coins, Money, Silverware and Baseball Cards have limitations in the policy. Be sure to schedule those items on a special insurance rider policy. By the way, any appraisals for jewelry, fine arts, etc. can also be stored on Evernote so you don’t have to worry about them being lost or destroyed.

Government Bans Texting By Truck And Bus Drivers

The Transportation Department decided January 26th that it is prohibiting truck and bus drivers from sending text messages on hand-held devices while operating commercial vehicles.

The prohibition applies to interstate buses and truckers over 10,000 pounds and is effective immediately. Truck and bus drivers who violate the new ban may be subject to civil or criminal penalties of up to $2750.

Nineteen states and the District of Columbia already prohibit all drivers from texting behind the wheel, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association. Another 10 states restrict texting by novice (i.e. teen) drivers.

Research by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration shows that drivers who send and receive text messages take their eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds out of every 6 seconds while texting, the department said. At 55 miles per hour, this means that the driver is traveling the length of a football field, including the end zones, without looking at the road, the department said.


Thank you to NPR.

Oprah Winfrey and Progressive's "No Phone Zone"

During her show today (Jan. 22), Oprah Winfrey announced that Progressive is sponsoring the No Phone Zone campaign, an awareness campaign designed to educate drivers on the dangers of cell phone use while driving. Drivers are encouraged to visit www.oprah.com/nophonezone to sign a pledge to not use cell phones while driving.

Ms. Winfrey launched the campaign January 15, and already, over 45,000 people have signed the pledge.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, close to 500,000 people are injured and 6,000 are killed each year as a result of drivers talking, texting, or e-mailing while behind the wheel.

“This sponsorship fits well with our brand. We encourage all drivers to operate their vehicles safely,” states Karen Barone, Agency Distribution leader. “In fact, we feel so strongly about this that Progressive employees are prohibited from using any electronic equipment, including cell phones, while driving on behalf of Progressive.”

For more information--or if you'e like to sign the pledge yourself--please visit www.oprah.com/nophonezone.

BMV Starts to Charge Late Fees

The Ohio Insurance Institute reminded Ohio motorists that new late fees are in place for driver’s license and vehicle plate renewals.
New Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicle (BMV) requirements call for transactions to be completed within seven days of the expiration date or be assessed $20 per transaction.
“This means that if you have two cars that require plate renewals and a driver’s license that also needs renewed, you’ll be charged an additional $60 if your plates and license aren’t renewed within seven days following your birthday, “said OII President Daniel J. Keiso.
To avoid late charges, Ohio motorists should renew plates and their driver’s licenses on or before their birthdays.
Prior law gave Ohio motorists their entire birth-date month to renew plates and licenses.
The new BMV regulation only provides a seven-day window before assessing a late charge.

A Tax Credit for Current Homeowners

With tax season coming up, are you bummed you didn't qualify for that $8000 tax credit the first-time homebuyers are receiving?

Did you know that there is a tax credit for current homeowners? Current homeowners looking for a replacement residence may qualify for a tax credit of up to $6500 ($3250 if married filing separately) under the new "long-term resident" provision. They must have lived in the same principal residence for any five-consecutive year period during the eight-year period that ended on the date the replacement home is purchased. This new provision also only applies to homes purchased after Nov. 6th 2009.

And now for the exclusions...no homes that cost more than $800,000, you must be over 18 years of age (dependants cannot claim the credit). Those who sell their new home or stop using it as their main residence within three years would have to repay the credit. You cannot claim the credit if acquired your home by gift or inheritance OR if you acquired your home from a related person.


For more information, check out the Federal Housing Tax Credit's FAQs

CarMax Launches Car Giveaway on Twitter

Prizes Include $250 Gas Cards

RICHMOND, Va. (January 4, 2010) - CarMax, Inc. (NYSE: KMX) the nation's largest retailer of used cars, has launched a contest on the social networking site Twitter, to award one lucky winner $25,000 towards the purchase of a used vehicle from CarMax's nationwide inventory. Contestants are encouraged to visit http://www.carmax.com/tweet to find the specific phrase to tweet, which will automatically enter them in the contest.

The "Tweet Yourself to a New Ride" contest will run for eight weeks and, in addition to the grand prize, will award gas cards valued at $250 each to eight separate randomly selected entries. A full list of rules and regulations, as well as frequently asked questions can be found on the contest page, www.carmax.com/tweet.

"Giving away a late-model, fully-reconditioned CarMax vehicle is an excellent way to draw attention to both our great cars and our efforts on Twitter," said Joe Kunkel, senior vice president of marketing and strategy. "This Twitter contest is a fun way to promote our brand and to share our story with car shoppers who haven't previously heard about us."

Twitter is a free, social networking website that enables its users to send and read 140 character messages known as tweets. CarMax uses Twitter to share information about CarMax, car buying tips and auto industry news.

Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage

In today’s economy where many people are looking to cut any costs they can, the number of drivers driving around without insurance has increased. Also, drivers are driving around with lower liability limits than maybe they had during good economic times. This makes the coverage of uninsured and underinsured motorist even more import. So I thought with this blog post, I would take the opportunity to explain a little bit more about what exactly that coverage does.

Uninsured motorist coverage protects you if you are hit by someone who has no insurance (up to your uninsured motorist limit) where as underinsured motorist protects you if you are hit by someone who has very low limits, limits lower than your own liability limits. Both of these coverages should be included in your typical auto insurance policy.

The best way to explain what these coverages do is to give you an example of situations where this coverage comes into play.

Say that you were to be driving down the road and an individual ran a red light and slammed into you causing you bodily injury. Say that they also didn’t have any insurance to help pay for your $30,000 of medical bills from the resulting injuries. This is where your uninsured motorists coverage on your personal auto policy steps up. Under that coverage they would pay the bills of $30,000 along with other expenses such as lost wages and pain and suffering.

Using the same example as above but lets say this time the person who ran the red light does have insurance but they have state minimum limits. The most that will pay out under a state minimum limit policy in Ohio is $12,500 per person. That means you would be left with $17,500 in medical bills plus your lost wages and pain and suffering. However, this is where underinsured motorist coverage helps. As long as your auto policy has higher limits than the individuals who hit you, it will pay the extra costs (up to your policy limits).

One last thing to note, on this type of coverage you can purchase even more coverage on an umbrella policy in increments of $1million dollars.