by California Casualty | Homeowners Insurance Info |
Spring is here. As we look forward to longer, warmer days, it’s a good time to look around your home or apartment and identify the elements that might pose a danger to you or others. You might also eliminate conditions that could cause unnecessary damage.
Here are five simple things that can make your home or apartment safer.
1. Prevent break-ins.
Did you know break-ins increase in the spring and summer? The Justice Department says a home in the U.S. is burglarized every 20 seconds. Many of these are crimes of opportunity from thieves looking for an easy target. Simply locking doors and windows, not leaving garage doors open and installing extra lighting and a security system can reduce the risk. Trimming back bushes from around the home, having a dog and joining a neighborhood watch group are also good ways to deter a burglar.
2. Fire-proof your home.
Many of us may not know that fires burn hotter and faster than in the past. New tests show the open floor plans of modern homes, synthetic furniture and tons of electronics can cause a spark or a flame to flash into a major blaze in just three to five minutes. It’s important that we eliminate clutter, install smoke detectors on all levels of the home and in all bedrooms, have fire extinguishers available, and have an escape plan. It’s also essential to create defensible space around your home in case of a wildfire. Remember, too, that smoking materials are the leading cause of fire deaths.
3. Eliminate trips and falls.
While you can’t prevent all of them, you can make certain that stairs are in good repair with firm handrails, toys, newspapers and other clutter are picked up, rugs have a non-skid backing and bathrooms and showers have safety handles and no-slip bathmats. Adequate lighting inside and outside also helps. Not only will these actions protect your family, but they help prevent you from being sued if someone hurt themselves at your home or apartment.
4. Prepare for natural disasters.
This is the beginning of storm season. Do you have a safe area in case there is a tornado or earthquake? Do you know your risk for flood, fire or weather events? Now is the time to make certain your home is as disaster proof as possible, that you have an evacuation and communications plan, and prepare an emergency kit with extra food, water, medicines, etc.
5. Check appliances, pipes and wires.
Water from broken pipes, loose fittings and clogged drains can cause serious damage to your home. Inspect the backs of refrigerators, washers and other water sources for cracked pipes or rusted connectors. Frayed wires and clogged vents can cause fires, as can fireplaces and heaters that haven’t been cleaned and checked.
No matter how well you plan, you need home or renters insurance to protect your most valuable asset and your possessions. Homeowners and renters insurance also provide temporary housing and additional living costs while your home is repaired, as well as liability protection in case you get sued. Don’t forget that earthquakes and floods are not covered under your homeowner or renters insurance. You need separate policies for those.
by California Casualty | Auto Insurance Info |
What’s your dream car? Maybe it’s a 69 Camaro Z28, a 70 Chevelle SS 454 , an old GTO, or possibly a Shelby Cobra. If you’re lucky, it’s more than a dream and it’s parked in your garage. You call her your baby and you bring her out on special occasions or for a sweet cruise in the summertime. Driving it brings back memories of simpler times and you love the looks of others as the gleaming chrome catches their eyes as you pass by. In fact, investors are paying a pretty penny for the cars from our or our parent’s youth.
Owners of classic and collector vehicles know their vehicles require lots of tender loving care. They need special maintenance, they need to be washed and waxed, and they have to be stored in a safe, dry location. But many may not know they also need special insurance coverage to protect their full value.
While standard auto insurance is based on actual cash value and depreciation, collector policies are based on the stated or agreed value of the vehicle (between you and the insurance company) and what it would cost to replace or repair it. This protects your investment, especially since the worth of many collector cars continues to go. Collector auto insurance policies offer the same coverage options as standard auto policies: liability, collision and comprehensive and medical pay.
If the insurance is better, you’d think it would cost a lot more. However, collector car insurance typically costs less than standard auto insurance because classic and collector vehicles are usually driven less and are considered a better risk. However, these policies often come with restrictions:
- That the vehicle must be stored in a locked, safe garage or storage facility
- The vehicle is at least 15 or 25 years old
- Limits on the miles it can be driven
- It is not used as a regular commute vehicle
- That all drivers have a clean driving record
Many people don’t insure their collector vehicle because they store it or drive it so seldom, but that could be a big mistake. Classic car auto insurance pays the agreed value if the vehicle is damaged in a fire or flood, during transportation or if it is stolen. It also covers the higher cost of repairs if someone scratches the paint or chrome, or steals a specialty part.
There are many choices to insure your classic vehicle. California Casualty provides collector vehicle insurance through our partner Condon Skelly. Unlike most classic insurance providers, Condon Skelly does not limit mileage or require seasonal coverage, while still offering competitive rates.
by California Casualty | Homeowners Insurance Info |
By Carrie Mitchell, Owner & Founder
TWS Home Inventory
Knowing the despair that follows a major loss, Carrie Mitchell founded TWS Home Inventory in 2012 after helping victims of the devastation caused by Colorado’s Waldo Canyon fire in. It was in the aftermath that Carrie realized how much heartache and stress could be avoided with a professionally detailed home inventory. TWS Home Inventory is now available in California and the East Coast.
Carrie and TWS Home Inventory have been featured in Colorado media, FOX News National, FOX News Business, the Insurance Journal and the Huffington Post. Carrie will be providing us with important content about the need for a home inventory and the many ways not having one could hurt you.
California Casualty proudly insures a sector of society that knows all too well the importance of being proactive instead of reactive in our everyday lives. As educators, health care providers, fire fighters, first responders, and peace officers you see the devastating aftermath of situations outside of our control.
TWS Home Inventory and Asset Management Group was founded in 2012 as a direct result of the plight of affected homeowners in the aftermath of Colorado’s Waldo Canyon Fire. As a homeowner personally affected by this natural disaster that devastated the Colorado Springs area in 2012, I saw first-hand the trail of destruction left behind: over 350 homes destroyed and countless numbers severely damaged, 18,247 acres of forest blackened, firefighting costs alone were over $15 million, home losses and insurance claims were estimated at over $356 million two years after the fire, and many claims remain in dispute even after three years.
Although most homes were insured, the financial recovery for contents was much less than the insured structure amount and for valuables such as jewelry, guns, paintings, family heirlooms and antiques. Many of these precious possessions were simply lost forever. The simple reason for this fact is that most homeowners had no physical record or documentation of their valued possessions, let alone were even able to remember a fraction of the items lost. Now, three years later, many homeowners are still struggling to itemize their possessions leaving them with a feeling of being victimized a second time.
As a volunteer assisting these homeowners, the idea for a professionally documented home inventory service was born and TWS Home Inventory and Asset Management Group was formed. In 2013, the Black Forest Wildfire brought even greater devastation to the Colorado Springs area with over 511 homes destroyed and it was followed by the Waldo Canyon Flood.
The Root of the Problem
Once insured, a homeowner assumes that everything is covered and is totally unaware of the serious need for a documented inventory, much less the value that it adds to their insurance coverage. In my experience, most homeowners never read their policy to see what actually is and is not covered until they are in the claims process. Any loss, partial or total, requires some form of proof of ownership of contents, especially when it comes to specific valuable articles. Working with victims of loss, one thing seems to always be evident; homeowners tend to want to blame the insurance company for insufficient compensation. Unfortunately, few realize until after the fact that it is the homeowner’s responsibility prior to that loss to inform the insurance carrier of what they own to ensure proper coverage.
In the coming months we look forward to sharing with you the invaluable information learned over the past three years from homeowners affected by some of the worst natural disasters in recent years. Our goal in this series is to help educate proactive policyholders on the specific personal items you may own which need to have appraisals, floaters, riders, and endorsements not covered in a typical homeowner’s policy, because
When it’s too late….It’s too late!
You can learn more about Carrie Mitchell and free home inspection resources at
www.twshomeinventory.com.
by California Casualty | Homeowners Insurance Info |
You and your home have ridden out one of the coldest nights of the year; the weather is warming when suddenly you hear water running inside a room. It’s a burst pipe, which can lead to substantial damage in your home.
How much damage can a broken pipe cause? The Federal Emergency Management Agency estimates that just two inches of water can cause more than $10,000 for repairs and replacement of flooded items. Six inches of water can add up to more than $30,000.
While frozen pipes are most common in northern and mountainous areas of the country, they can occur anywhere when a major polar front hits. Homes from California to Florida have suffered water damage from broken pipes after spells of severe cold.
So before the thermometer plunges, here are things the American Red Cross advises you do to prevent pipes from freezing:
- Disconnect outside hoses from faucets
- Insulate water pipes, especially along exterior walls and unheated areas
- Add insulation to walls and attics where pipes may run
Once the sub-zero weather hits you should:
- Let faucets drip to prevent freezing
- Keep the thermostat above 55 degrees
- Make sure garage doors are closed
- Open kitchen and bathroom cabinets to allow warm air to circulate around plumbing
So you’ve prepared and kept as much heat as possible going to cold areas, but the cold air still froze a pipe; what now? Stay calm but act as quickly as possible to:
- Locate where the pipe is frozen
- Open the nearest faucet to relieve pressure when the ice thaws
- Slowly warm the pipe with a heating pad, hair dryer, space heater or wrapping it with hot towels – never use a blow torch or open flame
If the pipe has cracked or broken, immediately turn off water at the main water valve and call a plumber. Shutting off the water will prevent further damage.
Once a pipe freezes, odds are it will happen again. Here are some tips to prevent it in the future:
- Hire a plumber to relocate to a warmer area
- Add more insulation in walls, attics and crawl spaces
- Wrap the pipe with electric heat tape, when temperatures drop, plug it in
Remember, if a burst pipe sends water into your home, contact a California Casualty Claims advisor as soon as possible; we can help get you started on the clean-up.
And before the next cold front hits, call a California Casualty advisor for a free auto or home insurance policy comparison and review to make sure you are protected against winter’s fury, 1.800.800.9410.
Sources for this article:
https://home.costhelper.com/water-leak.html
https://www.floodsmart.gov/floodsmart/pages/flooding_flood_risks/the_cost_of_flooding.jsp
https://www.redcross.org/prepare/disaster/winter-storm/preventing-thawing-frozen-pipes
This article is furnished by California Casualty, providing auto and home insurance to teachers, law enforcement officers, firefighters and nurses. Get a quote at 1.800.800.9410 or www.calcas.com.
by California Casualty | Safety |
Today is America’s PrepareAthon, the culmination of FEMA’s National Preparedness Month. The idea is for individuals, communities and organizations to be prepared for six specific hazards:
The message is that families, businesses and neighborhoods should know their risks, have a plan of action and prepare survival kits.
It got us thinking; “How prepared is California Casualty?”
First, client and employee safety is paramount at California Casualty. Security systems are in place at all our service centers. The company conducts drills for fires and other possible occurrences – complete with trained safety personnel who help with evacuations and account for employees when safety zones are reached. These evacuation assistants are trained in first aid, CPR and the use of automatic electronic defibrillators (AED).
California Casualty has implemented a business continuity and recovery plan should an earthquake, flood, fire, tornado, power outage or winter storm adversely affect operations at one or more of our service centers. Managers carry contact information for every employee so they can be reached in an emergency. Systems are in place so that key personnel can operate remotely and phone and data systems can be shifted to service centers that have not been impacted. This minimizes inconvenience and potential disruption to policy holders.
Yearly table-top disaster scenarios are run to make sure managers know the procedures and backup systems they can utilize. In worse case scenarios, staff can be temporarily relocated to other services centers to maintain the continuity of service to clients. With service centers in Kansas, Colorado, Arizona and California, California Casualty has the redundancies and virtual call routing to maintain operations even if a service center is completely down.
California Casualty also has an emergency outreach plan for clients who may be affected by a disaster. Calls are made to areas that have been hit by flood, fire, tornado, hurricane or flood to make sure our insureds are okay and to expedite help with claims. Our Field Managers and Claims personnel respond to disaster areas to make contact with those insured with California Casualty and aid in their safety, relocation and recovery.
California Casualty works very hard to keep client information and data protected with numerous advanced data security protocols and monitoring. As an added layer of safety, every auto and home insurance policy includes free 911 ID Theft Protection.
Preventing tragedies is also a main concern. California Casualty strives to help our policy holders prepare for various disaster scenarios with many links and preparedness tips at our website’s Resources page.
Are you prepared? Today is the day to make sure with America’s PrepareAthon.
