With the start of boating season upon us, it is important to remember all of the recreational boating safety rules. Several of them are mentioned here. Some are more than obvious BUT ALWAYS worth mentioning. This applies to all types of vessels you navigate, from dingy to yachts and everything in between.
- Always wear a life vest - the water may be calm but always expect the unexpected.
- Know the area you are navigating – rocks, shallow areas, changing currents, tide changes, etc can be challenging.
- Check your emergency equipment BEFORE you put your boat in gear or hoist the sail – check your supply of life vests, emergency lighting & flares, radio equipment, cell phone, life ring, gas supply & any navigational instruments and equipment.
- Obey the rules of the water – keep to the right, keep your distance from other boaters & swimmers, calm wake when close to other boats. Sailboats have the right of way.
- Drinking & driving don’t mix, neither does drinking & boating.
- Be proficient with boat maneuvers such as docking. Interesting fact: most boat-to-boat collisions happen at marina fuel docks.*
- Advise your passengers on emergency procedures
- Take boating courses appropriate for your size & type vessel
Have fun, be safe! For boating and other insurance needs, visit us at www.agordon.com.
*Safety Rules for Boating
By Will Carpenter, eHow Contributor
Who has forgotten to renew a license?? Get the inspection on the car done on time? Not been aware that the a registration was not renewed because of a forgotten parking ticket?
In these days, with everybody so busy, it is easy to forget something that happens once a year (inspection sticker) or once every five years (license renewal). The registration plate renewal comes in the form of a bill that needs to be paid, so that is harder to miss. However, if you have an outstanding parking ticket your registration could be non-renewed and you would not even realize that.
Well, there is an easy solution to this so that you do not get stuck and possibly surcharged or have your vehicle towed. One of our insurance carriers (Plymouth Rock Assurance Corp) offers a service to all of our customers, whether you have your insurance with them or not. They will email you reminders for your license, inspection, and registration renewals.
All you have to do is go to https://mylesreminders.prac.com/ to sign in. You will get an email reminder telling you what needs to be done – simple!
If you have any questions at all, of course feel free to give us a call and we can check on the status of any of these items.
Liability issues and claims are proving to be more costly than actual physical damage for homeowner policies.
According to the Center for Disease Control, there were 4.7 million dog bites this past year and 50% occurred on the residence premises. These accounted for approximately 1/3 of all homeowner claims. Carriers often decline writing coverage if there are particular breeds within the household, such as Pitbulls, German Shepherds, Akitas, Rottweilers, Doberman Pinschers, Siberian Huskies, and others that may exhibit aggressive behavior or have previously had a biting history. Some companies may accept such a breed if they are provided evidence of the dog’s participation in an obedience training course.
Another major issue of concern for homeowner carriers are swimming pools since drowning is the leading cause of fatal injury to children between the ages of 1 and 4. Customers are required to comply with local regulations regarding the pool such as fencing and locked gates. It is worthwhile to note that customers can also be held liable for injuries to strangers using their pool without permission.
Trampolines account for over 100,000 emergency room visits per year according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Companies can refuse to provide coverage for homes that have trampolines on the premises or may place exclusion clauses or require safety measures, such as nets surrounding the apparatus.
The National Safety Council has reported that falls account for 26% of injuries and deaths in the home. Approximately 2.8 million children were treated in the emergency room last year for fall injuries. Treehouses have been the cause for many of these injuries due to the height of these structures. Carriers may exclude or decline providing coverage or apply a surcharge for these risks.
Homes with guns on the premises increase the risk of homicide by 40% according to the New England Journal of Medicine. Companies require that these remain properly secured with safety locks and kept out of the reach of children.
Heating fires account for approximately 36% of home fires. Since many insurance customers use wood stoves as a secondary source of heat, companies now require proof that these were properly installed, adhere to town building codes, and have been inspected.
Other causes of potential declination of coverage are the presence of zip-lines and exotic pets at the home.
Insurance customers should make it a point to discuss with their agents if any of the above situations apply to them. It is not worth jeopardizing coverage or having a liability claim denied if the carrier was never made aware of the presence of any of the above. Contact us at www.agordon.com for any questions.
The smell of wood smoke in the air in spring is a time honored tradition in most suburbs and rural areas throughout Massachusetts. Getting rid of yard brush on a sunny day or on a rainy day, with leather gloves, a garden hose and a metal rake is relaxing and productive. If your fire draws a neighbor to chew the fat while poking the fire, even better. This year’s surfeit of brush and broken trees from last spring’s storms, Hurricane Irene, and the Halloween snow storm left plenty of fuel. This winter’s dry and relatively warm climate means fire danger is high.
This spring, fires that got out of control in Brimfield , Pembroke, and other towns around eastern Massachusetts remind us of the awful destructive power of fire. There are some simple common sense hints on keeping your fire under control.
Preparing for your brush fire:
- Check with your local Fire Department on permits, burning hours, and so forth. The Fire Department will make a judgment call whether there is too much wind and not enough moisture on any given day.
- Have a garden hose the reaches well past your fire, turned on, before you light your fire.
- Douse the area with water around the fire area before lighting. It’s a good idea to rake loose leaves and other tinder into the brush pile before ignition too.
- Only after all your fire precautions have been set up do you want to unleash the beast.
- Stay at the fire; when you’re ready to leave, douse and stir until all steam and smoke has stopped.
On a wet day or in a winter thaw, just getting the fire started can be challenging. I use crumpled newspaper down as low and as deep into the pile as I can get, and stack a little dry kindling over the newspaper. This year (2012), with little snow and not much rain, the ignition required only a match to the leaves near the bottom. The ease of starting our fire demonstrated quickly that this would be hot and fast burning.
The picture below shows how having done all the right things makes a difference. This particular fire has a long length of hose, and was available when embers landed on the grass near the pile. That spread quickly, but was quickly checked, because the tender was tending, and he was able to extinguish the spreading fire quickly. Two important lessons: if the garden hose had not been on (#3) and ready to go, the grass could have run quickly up to the house. Or, if the tender hadn’t been tending, the fire could have spread to “out of control” before he could react.
Fires spread in unpredictable directions (though pay particular attention to what’s downwind), and can spread very quickly. Out of control is no way deal with fire.
When the fire is truly out, and thoroughly doused, stirred, and even a couple days old, go ahead and add next year’s brush.
If there’s a fire in your home and only one room is damaged, insurance should pay for its repair or replacement. What happens when the local electrical inspector comes in after the fire, and requires full replacement of an old and obsolete electrical system – none of which was actually damaged by the fire? The owner has no choice: fix it to get back in the house. While fixing undamaged (but outdated) parts of the house aren’t insured under a standard property policy, there is a solution.
The Ordinance or Law endorsement provides additional funds, commonly up to 10% of your dwelling limit, for costs you incur due to the enforcement of any ordinance or law which requires or regulates:
1) The construction, demolition, remodeling, renovation or repair of that part of a covered building or other structure otherwise damaged and insured;
2) The demolition and reconstruction of the undamaged part of a covered building or other structure, when that building or other structure must be demolished because of insured damage to another part of that covered building or other structure; or
3) The remodeling, removal or replacement of the portion of the undamaged part of a covered building or other structure necessary to complete the remodeling, repair or replacement of that part of the covered building or other structure damaged by a ‘Peril Insured Against’.
What does this mean for you, a home owner?
Simply put, sometimes the enforcement of a regulation or law means taking down or removing “undamaged” stuff: like old wiring. Recall that a homeowners (and other property) policy provides coverage when something is damaged, but doesn’t provide coverage to undamaged parts. If your town building inspector requires you to replace undamaged (but outdated, possibly dangerous) parts by enforcing existing building codes, you’ll incur additional costs. Since these are not included in the standard homeowner policy, the Ordinance or Law endorsement is designed to fill that gap by providing coverage for these additional costs.
Although the standard policy only provides 10% of the dwelling limit for Ordinance or Law coverage, higher limits, up to the full dwelling limit, may be added for an additional cost.
For more information about this important coverage, please contact us at www.agordon.com.
Summer for most Americans means “busting out the grill” and hosting some barbeques in the warm weather, whether it be with friends, family, or both. According to the Insurance Information Institute, Americans enjoy more than three billion barbeques each year. By my calculations that’s enough chicken and steak to reach around the circumference of the Earth four times! (I just made that up, but still, there’s a lot of grilling going on). As you prepare a succulent host of BBQ food this year, remember to keep grilling safety in mind!
Some things to remember:
- Wear a protective fire-resistant apron or similar garb, and mitts that reach up to your forearms to avoid burns.
- Keep you grill’s gas cylinder AWAY from your house or flammable structures.
- Check for leaks often by sprinkling soapy water around the gas valve; if there’s a leak, bubbles will form. Never check for a gas leak by using a match. This can happen.
- Make sure the gas is off whenever the grill is not in use.
- If using a charcoal grill, only use lighter fluid specified for charcoal grills. NEVER USE GASOLINE. Also never add more lighter fluid once a fire has already started; if needed, add small sticks or other tinder to augment the flame.
- When finished, douse coals with water before disposing of them in the trash.
- Our specialized outdoor flame/fire consultant advises you to take extra caution when grilling in the woods. Only you can prevent forest fires.
- Check grill hoses for cracks or leaks; make sure the hose doesn’t kink.
- Keep additional open flames away from the grill.
- Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions.
- Never attempt to repair a grill yourself.
- Remember that grills can remain hot long after the fire is out.
- Be safe and have fun!
Posted by
Val Feeney on Tue, Apr 10, 2012 @ 04:24 PM
There are many scenarios in which a home becomes vacant for more than just a weekend or week or two vacation. I speak to people all the time who believe that their vacant home is fully covered under the existing policy, not knowing that in reality, the vacant home most likely has severely limited coverage. The most common examples of this are:
- Family has purchased and moved into a new home. The old home is now vacant and for sale.
- An elderly parent has moved into a nursing home permanently, leaving the house behind for the adult children to decide what to do with it. It sits vacant.
- A couple moves abroad for 6+ months for a job opportunity, leaving their home in Massachusetts vacant. One of their parents checks on the house once a week.
The worse time to discover that the home is not covered by the existing policy is during a claim. And the “fine print” details in the homeowners policy language has an exclusion for
…”Vandalism and malicious mischief, and any ensuing loss caused by any intentional and wrongful act committed in the course of the vandalism or malicious mischief, if the dwelling has been vacant for more than 60 consecutive days immediately before the loss.
There are similar exclusions for glass and other specific limitations. The point is, the coverage isn’t what consumers might expect.
If your home is going to be vacant for any period of time over 30-60 days (varies by insurance company and policies used), a specialized Vacant Dwelling Policy can be put into place. A Vacant Dwelling Policy differs from a standard homeowners policy in that it covers “Named Perils” instead of “Open-Perils” like a homeowers policy. See our Open vs. Named Perils for details.
The Vacant Dwelling Policy will not have the bells & whistles that a standard homeonwers policy has. The main parts of a Vacant Dwelling Policy are:
- Dwelling Coverage will provide a specified amount of money to rebuild the house if it is ever destroyed by a named peril (fire, wind, explosion, riot, aircraft, vehicle, smoke, theft, vandalism).
- Personal Liability will provide protection for chosen amounts: most common are $500,000 or $1M if you are named a defendant in a lawsuit from an event occurring at the vacant dwelling.
Do not get caught with the incorrect insurance policy. Speak with an independent insurance agent today to determine the proper insurance for you.
In the final week of my sophomore year, I achieved my yearlong dream of receiving a license. I was going to use my father’s old 1999 Chevrolet S-10 pick-up truck. This car had all the amenities a teenager could want: it wouldn’t start in the rain, the seat would only adjust with the help of pliers, and solid chunks of black foam would fly out when the air conditioning was turned on. Although I was just thrilled to have something to drive, there was one serious flaw I did not notice until my 4th day of driving alone.
After the last day of school, I was following my friend to his house on the other side of town. About half way there we passed the center of Norwell and turned on to Central Street. Everything was going fine until we started going downhill. I hit the brakes to slow down… nothing happened. Not entirely true; actually, the brake light came on. Excellent timing, huh?
Despite my fears of crashing or getting pulled over, I made it to my friend’s house. I was able to pump my brakes and get some slowing down from that. It helped that there were no intersections and the way to his house was all right turns.
When I was finally able to park on my friend's hill, my Dad came and brought the truck to a repair shop, Bruce’s Auto. I apparently had 2 popped brake lines. Thankfully, I did not crash and my car turned out fine. A few months later, we did sell the truck. Sometimes I take a break (pun intended) and I stop (pun still intended) to think about the old S-10.
Anything can happen on the road, especially when you’re least expecting it. Check us out at www.agordon.com for new driver auto insurance resources such as our teen driver kit. It never hurts to be prepared.
With spring right around the corner and outdoor activities on the rise, it is important that homeowners be aware of the potential for backyard accidents to occur. Keeping in mind the millions of people that are injured annually in household mishaps, below is a list of recommendations pertaining to equipment utilized daily by all of us. Keep these tips in mind when enjoying the warmer weather:
Ladders:
Whether cleaning the gutters or doing some painting touch-ups, make sure the ladder base is not too close to the supporting object; the ladder’s stability will be compromised. Most ladder injuries occur from overreaching or standing on a rung that’s too high, so if it’s out of reach, reposition the ladder and try again.
Grills:
Although it seems unlikely that anything unpleasant could come from a device that gives us hot dogs, remember that a grill is a fire hazard that should be kept at least 3 feet from the house. Smokey the Bear, a fire and woodland damage consultant for A. G. Gordon, would also suggest that you NEVER leave your grill unattended.
Lawn Mowers:
Before you begin the time-honored battle of nature vs. machine known to most as “mowing the lawn”, take a walk around your yard and clear any debris. Lawn ornaments deep in the recesses of unkempt grass are a lot less cute when they are ejected from a lawnmower at dangerous speeds. Some other good practices include: shutting the lawnmower off when reaching down anywhere near the ground and keeping children away while mowing.
Playground Sets:
Monitor children at all times. Make sure equipment is not too high for their ages. The rule of thumb: no higher than 6 feet for ages under 5, 8 feet for school age children.
Trampolines:
Do not let the trampoline become overcrowded. Trampolines have weight limits, and any activity where one has to avoid the flying bodies of others is generally a hazardous environment for kids. Somersaults and tricks should be discouraged, especially with other children on the trampoline.
Pools:
If you have a gate, make sure it’s locked when the pool isn’t in use. NEVER let young kids go in the pool unattended.
Pets (not equipment, but still important):
Watch out for dangers from the pesticides and fertilizers used in yards and gardens as well as being poisoned by eating certain plants, such as oleander, azaleas, and lilies.
After your spring activities, check us out at www.agordon.com. We have excellent insurance resources like our whiteboard videos if you’re in the market; or even if you’re just curious.
Posted by
Sue Bird on Mon, Mar 26, 2012 @ 03:26 PM
It’s a scene reminiscent of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Our cat was behind the Christmas Tree several years ago and bit into the Christmas Tree lights. There was a loud screetch and lights went out on the tree. Suddenly, our cat is now a big puff of fur and goes running. Luckily, she did not have the same result as the cat in the movie; she never bit into a wire again. However, we have found recently that the younger cat has a propensity for chewing the wires behind the entertainment center. Luckily no fires.
How can I prevent my pet from chewing the wires?
We have since purchased large quantities of electrical loom to protect the new wires. You can purchase the basic loom at a reasonable price from Home Depot. There are nicer applications too but at a higher cost. Another option, although temporary, is Bitter Apple Spray that you have to apply with a cloth to the cords or whatever you want the pet to stay away from.
Should Fido or Fluffy cause a fire and damage the structure, there is coverage for the dwelling (subject to your deductible) – unfortunately, not for the pet.
