Thanksgiving Saftey Tip from Red Cross

Thanksgiving is only a few days away.  By now many families are preparing for the big day by plotting out the cooking of the traditional Thanksgiving Turkey.  Whether you are deep frying the turkey or just baking it in the oven there is always risk in doing something that is not a daily routine.  I recently came across a great article written by the Oregon Chapter of the Red Cross.  They give these seven tips for safe cooking:

• Keep potholders and food wrappers at least three feet away from heat sources while cooking  
• Wear tighter fitting clothing with shorter sleeves when cooking
• Make sure all stoves, ovens, and ranges have been turned off when you leave the kitchen
• Set timers to keep track of turkeys and other food items that require extended cooking times
• Turn handles of pots and pans on the stove inward to avoid accidents
• Follow all manufacturer guidelines regarding the appropriate use of appliances
• After guests leave, designate a responsible adult to walk around the home making sure that all candles and smoking materials are extinguished

To read the entire article please click this link:  Thanksgiving Safety Tips

 

Market Value vs. Replacement Cost

Here is our first attempt at catering our insurance education to the visual learner.  We at Fey Insurance are not artist so please keep that in mind.  Enjoy this video that talks about the difference between market value and replacement cost.

Alternate Source of Home Heating

The high cost of home heating and the current recession have led many Americans to search for alternate sources of home heating. Many of these sources of heating may be acceptable if appropriate safeguards are used. However, be aware these supplemental heating devices are responsible for thousands of home fires each year.

Wood Stoves

Wood stoves cause more than 4000 residential fires each year. Carefully follow the manufacturer’s installation and maintenance instructions. Look for solid construction, such as plate steel or cast iron metal. Check for cracks and inspect legs, hinges and door seals for smooth joints and seams. Use only seasoned wood for fuel, not green wood, artificial logs or trash. Inspect and clean your pipes and chimney annually and check monthly for damage or obstructions. Cleaning more often may be necessary. Be sure to keep combustible objects at least three feet away from your wood stove.

Electric Space HeatersBuy only heaters with the Underwriter’s Laboratory (UL) safety listing. Check to make sure it has a thermostat control mechanism, and will switch off automatically if the heater falls over. Space heaters need space; keep combustibles at least three feet away from the heater. Always unplug your electric space heater when not in use.

Kerosene HeatersBuy only UP-approved heaters and check with your local fire department on the legality of kerosene heater use in your community. Never fill your heater with gasoline or camp stove fuel; both flare up easily. Only use crystal clear K-1 kerosene. Never overfill any portable heater and never fuel the heater when it is hot. Use the kerosene heater in a well-ventilated room. Kerosene heaters pose perhaps the worst exposure largely due to improper use and the fact they contain a highly flammable liquid- not to mention potentially dangerous fumes.

FireplacesFireplaces and wood stoves regularly build up creosote in their chimneys. They need to be cleaned frequently and chimneys should be inspected for obstructions and cracks to prevent deadly chimney and roof fires. Check to make sure the damper is open before starting any fire. Never burn trash, paper or green wood in your fireplace. These materials cause heavy creosote buildup and are difficult to control. Use a screen heavy enough to stop rolling logs and big enough to cover the entire opening of the fireplace to catch flying sparks. Do not wear loose fitting clothes near any open flame. Make sure the fire is completely out before leaving the house or going to bed. Store cooled ashes in a tightly sealed metal container outside the home.
Finally, having a working smoke alarm dramatically increased your chances of surviving a fire. Always remember to practice a hoe escape plan frequently with your family.
Source: US Fire Association

Home Security Alarm (re post)

On a daily basis you see ads on TV for home security systems. We at Fey Insurance highly recommend the installation of a Home Security System to add additional protection for you and your family. Insurance will work to put your property back in place after a fire or burglary, but a Home Security System will work to prevent or minimize the effects of that fire or burglary. If you are interested in such a Home Security System, please call us and we will tell you our opinion of the various manufacturers and what features to consider. For example battery backups are usually included in Home Security Systems, but we would also recommend cellular backups for your system in the event your normal phone service goes down or even disabled by a potential burglar. We would include carbon monoxide detectors in your system especially if you have a natural gas furnace or hot water heater. Central station monitoring is preferable to systems that go directly into a police or fire dispatch. Both are considered superior to a system that only sounds a local alarm in your home. There are discounts on your Homeowner policy for the installation of a Home Security System. Please call us to review those discounts. But the most important reason, in our opinion, to install such a system is for additional security for your family and peace of mind that you are doing everything to protect your family and your property.

Professional Liability & the Claims-Made Policy

Occupations or business practices involving specialized care or advice often need professional liability insurance. Typical business classifications that need this coverage would be notary publics, real estate agents or managers, attorneys, doctors and consultants. The typical commercial general liability policy will only respond to bodily injury, property damage, personal injury or advertising injury claim.

The professional liability policy often is written on a claims-made form. The claims-made form requires the claim to be reported during the policy period, and the incident causing the claim must have occurred after the retro date for a claim to be covered. A retro date is a date prior to the start of the claims-made policy. The retro date could be years prior to the start date of the policy based on the underwriter’s discretion, after considering the applicants past exposures and loss history.

By comparison, the typical occurrence-based policy used in most commercial policies responds to claims that occur during the policy period, regardless of when reported subject to the statutes of limitations. The occurrence-based policy handles when the claim happens, and the claims-made policy considers when the claim is reported. In some cases, it is possible to purchase a claims-made policy with full prior acts coverage that essentially does away with a retro date. Coverage classes for this option are limited, and again, depend on the underwriter’s discretion.

When canceling an existing claims-made policy, it is usually advisable to purchase and extended reporting period. This is commonly referred to as tail coverage. Various lengths of time are available. Tail coverage extends the claim reporting period under the claims-made policy to cover claims that have occurred during the coverage period, and not yet reported by the cancellation date.
While most occurrence-based policies are somewhat similar, claims-made policies are usually specific to each company issuing the policy. The insurance agent must d o a careful review of these differences to determine applicability to a particular operation.

Northwest Drivers Think They Can Exceed the Freeway Speed Limits Without Getting a Ticket

A recent PEMCO Insurance poll found that drivers in both Washington and Oregon believe a driver can exceed the speed limit and not get stopped by the state patrol, but Oregon drivers are considerably bolder when it comes to how far over the limit they think they can go without getting ticketed.

As many as two out of every three Northwest drivers think that they can go a few miles per hour over the posted speed limit -- even if witnessed by the patrol -- and get away with it. But drivers in Oregon are convinced that they can go as much as nine miles-per-hour over the legal limit and not get pulled over.

That’s significantly higher than Washington, where about half the drivers think there’s some lenience on freeway speed the state patrol will allow before they turn on the blue lights. The survey found that about 60 percent of Washington drivers think the threshold is four miles-per-hour, less than half what Oregon drivers believe is allowable.

“Oregon’s lower freeway speed limit, set at 65, may explain why Oregon drivers think there’s a higher tolerance for speeding,” said PEMCO spokesperson Jon Osterberg. "Regardless, data shows that speeding causes more crashes and fatalities."

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that nearly one-half of all fatal speeding-related crashes in 2009 occurred on roads with posted speed limits of 55 mph or more.

According to the Washington State Patrol, speeding is one of three areas where data shows motorists are most likely to be killed or injured when drivers violate posted speed limits. Other fatal behavior includes driving while impaired and failure to wear a seatbelt.

Despite the State Patrol’s emphasis on catching speeders, nine out of 10 Washington drivers admit they’ve exceeded the speed limit at least once, and half of all Washington drivers say they speed at least some of the time. The same holds true for Oregon drivers, according to the PEMCO poll.

Oregonians, however, are more likely to push speed limits, with 61 percent saying they should be quick to slow down before reaching 9 mph above the posted speed. That compares with 71 percent of Washington drivers who slow down before hitting 9 mph over the speed limit.

In either state, of those who admit to speeding, a majority say they’re simply keeping up with the flow of traffic, and a smaller fraction say they speed without realizing they’re exceeding the limit.

What’s also true for both states is the more you earn, the more likely you’ll speed. Nearly 60 percent of drivers with incomes of more than $50,000 per year admit to sometimes speeding.

Younger drivers also demonstrate less caution for slowing down. About two-thirds of drivers under age 35 admit to speeding at least some of the time, while less than half of drivers over age 35 say they sometimes speed.

"Although most of us speed at least once in a while, the major takeaway here is to remember that increased speed equals increased danger of physical harm, whether the police catch you or not," Osterberg said.

To learn more about the PEMCO Insurance Northwest Poll and to 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 in April 2011 and July 2011.

Source: PEMCO Insurance

Fire Prevention Week

This week is the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) Fire Prevention Week.  This is a great chance for you and your family to discuss the danger of fire, the best ways to prevent fires in the home and create an escape plan if fire were to occur in your home.  The National Fire Protection Association has teamed up with Scholastic, Inc. and have made great educational programs for families.  Click the below hyper link and be directed to the NFPA’s website that focus on the educational materials.  The materials are free.

National Fire Protection Website