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Thomas/Pfeifer Insurance Agency, Inc. Newsletter Spring 2009 STATIC ELECTRICITY AT THE GAS PUMP- REAL OR MYTH? Fires caused by static electricity igniting fumes at the gasoline pump are no urban myth, but they are preventable if motorists follow safe refueling practices when they top off the tank. While this type of flash fire is rare, it is more likely to occur in cool and dry climate conditions like we experience in spring and fall in Wisconsin. The American Petroleum Institute (API) and the Petroleum Equipment Institute (PEI) are reminding drivers to avoid potential problems with static electricity at the gas pump by adhering to a few simple rules:
CHANGING PROPERTY TITLE TO A TRUST? Our agency gets many calls from homeowner’s insurance customers after they have worked with an attorney to create family trusts for estate planning services. As a part of this planning process, their home is deeded to the trust. In this situation, we highly recommend adding the trust as an additional insured on the homeowner policy. There is generally no additional charge for this and doing so protects the assets of the trust in the event of a liability claim arising from ownership of the property. Please call us with the exact name of the trust and the date it was created and we will be happy to help you.
INSURING TEENAGE DRIVERS AND KEEPING THEM SAFE As soon as your teenager receives his/her driver’s license, please notify our agency that you have an additional driver in the house. Since teenagers are inexperienced and have more accidents, this is generally reflected in higher insurance rates. (And yes, your son does increase your rates more than your daughter!) There are ways to keep the increased costs to a minimum, however, while also keeping your teenage driver safe. The Insurance Information Institute suggests the following:
INSURING THE MOST POPULAR CARS FOR 2009 What makes a vehicle cost more or less to insure? In addition to the value of the vehicle, car insurance companies also focus on the “loss history” for your particular model: Is it stolen frequently? Do they pay a lot of accident claims for your vehicle? Is it totaled more than other cars? Are there usually passenger injuries in a crash? All these factors play into your premium, along with your own driving characteristics: your age, where you live, your driving record and your annual mileage. The ten most expensive vehicles to insure among the nation’s top sellers are:
The ten least expensive 2009 vehicles to insure are:
So if you are buying a different car, whether new or used, find out the impact on your insurance bill before you buy. Even model years of the same vehicle can carry premium differences based on their loss histories. Give our office a call and get a quote for the vehicles you are considering! Source: Insure.com
“GOING GREEN” AND YOUR TRASH The Environmental Protection Agency offers consumer quiz questions on its web site and the answers may surprise you! Test your knowledge with the following: What type of trash takes up the most space in U.S. landfills? a) plastic b) metal c) paper d) yard waste The answer is c. The trash most commonly found in municipal landfills is plain old paper. On average, it accounts for more than 40 percent of a landfill’s contents. Newspapers, which can be recycled, can take up as much as 13 percent of the space in U.S. landfills and it deteriorates very slowly in a landfill. Research has shown that when excavated from a landfill, newspapers from the 1960’s can be intact and readable.
IT’S NOT COVERED A Regular Feature to Help Us Both Avoid These Dreaded Words While every insurance policy has various exclusions, there are some standard exclusions that are common to most homeowner’s policies. Knowing exactly what your homeowner’s policy covers and what is excluded is the best way to figure out if you need to purchase any additional coverages. Here are some of the most common occurrences that are NOT COVERED:
SO WHAT IS COVERED?? You will be happy to know that there are many automatic inclusions in your homeowner’s policy! Here are some common and uncommon occurrences that ARE COVERED:
If you have any questions on your homeowner’s or business insurance coverage, please call our office.
REMINDER FOR HOMEOWNERS Should you decide to rent your Door County home (primary or secondary) as a vacation rental property, please contact the Thomas/Pfeifer office. Vacation rental properties require a commercial insurance policy.
COULD WE HAVE YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS? If you are using e-mail and would like to receive Thomas/Pfeifer Agency communications and newsletters via e-mail, we would like to have your address! Please e-mail our office at: tpins@thomaspfeifer.com and we will store your address in our system. As with all of your information, this address is not released to other sources.
Jeff Pfeifer, Tricia Hoover, Nita Beyer, Shirley Hansen, Sally Hansen, Kim Gudex TWO “PFEIFERS” IN THE OFFICE NOW Sally Pfeifer recently joined the Thomas/Pfeifer Agency on a part-time basis after receiving her Property and Casualty License in Wisconsin. Sally is doing marketing and sales and other duties as assigned by her husband, Jeff!
BUSINESS OWNERS: BE SAFE WITH CREDIT CARD RECEIPTS Business owners who print card numbers and expiration dates on receipts of credit and debit card purchases could find themselves the targets of lawsuits. The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) took effect on December 4, 2004, and restricts information that can be printed on electronically generated credit card receipts. These receipts may not include more than the last five digits of card numbers or expiration dates. The law specifically states “no person that accepts credit cards for transaction of business shall print more than the last 5 digits of the card number or the expiration date upon any receipt provided to the cardholder at the point of sale or transaction.” Individuals who print receipts with expiration dates or more than the last 5 digits of a card number and do so “willfully” can be held liable to pay their customer’s damages of between $100 and $1000, plus unlimited punitive damages and attorney’s fees. Business owners should take steps to remove expiration dates and credit card numbers (other than the last five digits) that are electronically printed on credit and debit card receipts. Doing so is an easy way to avoid a costly lawsuit! Source: SECURA Prevention Connection
Recycling aluminum cans saves how much energy, compared to making new aluminum? a) 35 % b) 55 % c) 75% d) 95 % The answer is d. Recycling aluminum cans saves 95 percent of the energy required to make the same amount of aluminum from raw aluminum ore, bauxite. For other recycled products, the amount of energy saved differs by material, but almost all recycling processes achieve significant energy savings compared to production using virgin materials. Reducing or nearly eliminating the need for these processes achieves huge savings in energy.
We're Not Moving! But our address will change as of April 1st! Due to the renumbering of properties in the Village of Sister Bay, our new address will be: 10589 S Highland Road, Suite 2, Sister Bay, WI 54234.
Your Auto: Side Airbags Real Lifesavers According to research by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, side-impact airbags, particularly those that protect occupants’ heads, can have a major life-saving effect. Researchers compared real-world crash records for vehicles that, while otherwise nearly identical, had head-protecting side airbags, non-head-protecting side airbags and no airbags at all. In cars struck near the driver’s side door, regular side airbags reduced the risk for death by 26%. Head-protecting airbags, such as those that include curtain airbags that come down from the roof, reduce the risk of death by 37%. The safety benefit was even greater for occupants of SUVs. Regular side airbags reduced the risk of death in side impacts by 30% for SUV occupants while head-protecting side airbags reduced the risk by 52%. While 80% of all new car and SUV models offer head-protecting side airbags as standard or optional equipment, according to the Institute, fewer than half of pick-up trucks offer them as standard or optional equipment. If you are a consumer with safety in mind, be sure to ask what airbag options are available when purchasing a new vehicle. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is an independent, non-profit, scientific and educational organization dedicated to reducing the losses – deaths, injuries and property damage – from crashes on the nation’s highways. For more information, visit their website at: www.iihs.org.
Students At Risk A recent article in Insurance Journal stated that more than 98,200 Minnesotans between the ages of 18 and 24 were without health insurance. This is due to a state law that allows a child to be covered on a parent’s health insurance policy until age 18, or until age 25 if they are a full time student. Our Wisconsin policies are very similar. Thus, once a student graduates or drops out the health insurance stops. Apparently, Minnesota is changing the law to allow dependants to remain on their parent’s policy until they turn 25 regardless of their student status. We will be watching for Wisconsin to adopt a similar stance.
Paper Galore 85,000,000 tons of paper is used each year in the U.S. I’m sure that most of it by the insurance industry. Source: www.tealdragon.net
Identity Theft on the Rise According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) there were more than 246,000 cases of identity theft in 2006. However, the FTC estimates that as many as 10 million cases go unreported each year, perhaps as many as $100,000 in Wisconsin alone. Nationwide, incidents have been increasing by approximately 10% per year. Credit card theft is the most common followed by utility fraud and bank fraud. In recent years, most insurance companies have begun to offer Identity Theft Expense Coverage. While the loss from the theft itself is not covered, this endorsement can help to pay for the restoration of your financial identity. This usually includes the following: * Preparation and notarization of documents. * Loan reapplication fees. * Lost earnings as a result of time off of work. * Reasonable attorney fees. * Bond premiums. Most insurers charge approximately $25 for $15,000 of coverage. If you would like more information, just give us a call or stop in
Enough Already We work hard to convince our customers to carry high limits of liability on their homeowner, automobile and business policies. But we can’t tell you how much is enough! No matter how high your liability limits, your negligence can lead to a judgment that exceeds your insurance coverage. The best way to protect against this possibility is with an umbrella liability policy. This policy overrides your underlying coverage with additional limits up to one million dollars, two million dollars or even higher. For example, if we provide your automobile insurance, we can put a personal umbrella liability policy together for you. The cost usually isn’t that great, about one hundred dollars annually, and is well worth the price. Think of all the multi-million dollar judgments you hear about…could it happen to you? Even if you don’t want to buy the umbrella policy, at least be certain that the limits on your homeowner’s, auto, and business policies are as high as you can get.
Celebrate American Heart Month by Eating Red February is American Heart Month and, in addition to the ‘wear red’ promotions, nutrition experts say we should also be ‘eating red’ to protect our hearts! Why eat red? Science suggests the pigments that make up the red color in many fruits and vegetables, like tart cherries and tomatoes, are powerful disease-fighting antioxidants that may help reduce inflammation associated with atherosclerosis. Since we live in a cherry producing area, it is interesting to note that tart cherries are loaded with antioxidants, as many as blueberries, and are linked to many potential health benefits including reducing risk factors for heart disease. Cherries are also one of the few food sources of melatonin, a potent antioxidant that may help improve the body’s natural sleep patterns and aid with jet lag. So snack on some local dried cherries in February! Have a Healthy Heart Month!
IT’S NOT COVERED A Regular Feature to Help Us Both Avoid These Dreaded Words During the 2007 winter, we experienced two cases of water damage due to frozen pipes that were not covered by the homeowner’s insurance policy. In both cases the pipes were not drained and the heat was turned off and in one case the thermostat was still set on air conditioning. It came as no surprise to us that the insurance company did not pay for the damage due to the following exclusion:
Frozen Plumbing
This seems to make sense especially in a cold climate like Wisconsin. It can be a costly mistake not to properly prepare your building for the winter season. Our recommendation: contact a plumber or caretaker if you are unable to drain the piping yourself or maintain the heat at a reasonable setting throughout the winter. If possible have a caretaker or someone else check the property on a regular basis during your absence.
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