Safe Travels this Holiday!

The Holidays are in full swing and with Christmas just a couple of days away; many have already started their Holiday travels. Being the insurance people that we are, here are a few tips for a safe and secure season of travel.

1) Make your home seem like someone is still there. You can do this several ways. Leave your front and back porch lights on so that at night your house is lit up. Ask a neighbor to collect your mail while you are gone so it doesn’t stack up. You can also ask the post office to hold if for you until you get back. Another way to make it look like you are home is to ask a neighbor to pull in and out of your driveway at some point if it snows giving the appearance that you have been in and out of your house.

 

2) Don’t show off to the Facebook world that you are on vacation. I know this can be tough for some but letting everyone know you are out of town on Facebook can be dangerous. We recommend waiting until you get home from your trip before you post vacation pictures.

 

3) Car travelers should be prepared for heavy snow at all times. The best way to do this is to make sure you have extra blankest, windshield washer fluid, ice scrapers and even a small shovel. You never know when you might need any of those things. Also, be sure to have your phone charged during the trip so that you have it in case of an emergency.

 4) Don’t skimp on heat in your home: This time last year our big recommendation in our “Traveling Over the Holiday” blog article was to keep the heat in your house at a reasonable level so your pipes don’t freeze. Again, we recommend this.

Those are just a few simple tips. We here at Fey Insurance hope you have a wonderful Holiday and Merry Christmas

Thanksgiving Safety Tips from NFPA

Here is an article from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) on Thanksgiving Safety Tips.  From our family here at Fey Insurance Services to yours, have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving! 

THANKSGIVING SAFETY TIPS
The kitchen is the heart of the home, especially at Thanksgiving. Kids love to be involved in holiday preparations. Safety in the kitchen is important, especially on Thanksgiving Day when there is a lot of activity and people at home.

Safety tips:


•Stay in the kitchen when you are cooking on the stovetop so you can keep an eye on the food.

•Stay in the home when cooking your turkey and check on it frequently.

•Keep children away from the stove. The stove will be hot and kids should stay 3 feet away.

•Make sure kids stay away from hot food and liquids. The steam or splash from vegetables, gravy or coffee could cause serious burns.

•Keep the floor clear so you don’t trip over kids, toys, pocketbooks or bags.

•Keep knives out of the reach of children.

•Be sure electric cords from an electric knife, coffee maker, plate warmer or mixer are not dangling off the counter within easy reach of a child.

•Keep matches and utility lighters out of the reach of children — up high in a locked cabinet.

•Never leave children alone in room with a lit a candle.

•Make sure your smoke alarms are working. Test them by pushing the test button

Flue season: Have your fireplace and chimney inspected

-Cincinnati Insurance Company (Paul Thibault)

Home heating fires are the second leading cause of home fire deaths after cooking fires, according to the National Fire Protection Association. Fireplaces, chimneys and flues account for a significant number of home heating fires.
Homeowners with a wood-burning fireplace or solid fuel stove or insert can protect your property and your family by having a qualified professional inspect and clean your chimney at least annually to prevent a buildup of creosote.
Creosote is a tarry residue or solid organic compound caused by incomplete combustion of wood that can build up in chimneys and ignite a chimney fire. A heavily used fireplace or stove may require periodic cleaning throughout the heating season. NFPA statistics show that failure to clean creosote from chimneys was the leading factor in 28 percent of the home heating equipment fires between 2007 and 2011.
The U.S. Fire Administration offers a series of videos showing how to safely build and tend a fire. Additional tips for safe fireplace and wood stove use:
-Equip your fireplace with a sturdy glass or metal screen to stop sparks from flying into the room.

-Inspect your fireplace’s flue prior to use for any obstructions or blockage by using a flashlight and looking up the flue. This also assures that the flue’s damper control is open prior to lighting the fire.

-Keep anything that can burn at least three feet away from the fireplace or wood stove. NFPA statistics show 53 percent of fires resulting in home heating fire deaths were caused by having heating equipment too close to things that can burn, such as upholstered furniture, clothing, mattresses or bedding.

-Only adults should build and tend a fire; enforce a three-foot “kid-free zone” around fireplaces and wood stoves.

-Always use the right kind of fuel, specified by the manufacturer, for inserts. For fireplaces and wood stoves, use only seasoned wood. Green wood increases creosote buildup.

-Do not burn cardboard, wrapping paper or other rubbish in the fireplace or wood stove.

-Never use lighter fluid or any flammable or combustible liquids to start the fire.

-Make sure a fully charged fire extinguisher is nearby and accessible.

-Install smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors as recommended, change the batteries twice a year, and test them according to manufacturer’s recommendations, usually monthly.

-Put out fireplace fires before going to sleep or leaving your home.

-Allow ashes to cool prior to cleaning out a fireplace or wood stove. Ashes that seem cool may contain concealed hot embers for several days after your last fire. Place the ashes in a covered metal container and keep the container outdoors a safe distance away from your home or any buildings.Have fireplace inserts or wood stoves installed by a qualified professional who can meet the established NFPA 211 standard. Never attempt to install them yourself. According to the NFPA, 10 percent of fires involving heating appliances actually involve the ignition of structural members where flues or chimneys pass through a building’s wall.

Business Tips: Controlling Risk For Property Owners

-Cincinnati Ins. Co (Kevin Oleckniche)

Losses that occur on property you own can affect your livelihood and that of your tenants. They also can affect your insurance rates and eligibility. Without the proper controls in place, you could be saddled with the responsibility of owing for injury or damages that you did not cause.

RECOGNIZE THE RISKS

When you understand the risks you face as a property owner and lessor, you can better manage them. Consider these scenarios:
Natural perils – A tornado sweeps through town, damaging your building and your tenants’ contents.
Fire – A grease fire starts in a restaurant at one end of your building. Before it is extinguished, fire damages multiple units and tenant contents.
Third-party injury or illness – A patron slips and falls in the parking lot, spraining her ankle.
Change in occupancy – A restaurant replaces a retail store in one of your units. As a property owner, you want to determine if the current sprinkler system is able to handle the demands of a restaurant.
Change in tenant operations – A retail craft store expands its operations to include pottery making. With this expansion, your tenant adds kilns to heat-treat ceramic projects.
Vacancy – Your unoccupied building is vandalized, resulting in damaged property.

REVIEW THE RESPONSIBILITIES

A well-designed lease agreement can assist owners in transferring responsibility for payment due to bodily injury or property damage to the legally responsible party.  Consult with legal counsel when evaluating your current lease or other formal contract.  When consulting with your attorney, consider whether your agreement:

-is signed by all tenants
-contains appropriate anti-subrogation wording and indemnification–hold harmless provisions favorable to you and acceptable under your state’s laws
-authorizes you to develop, change and enforce rules and regulations for the premises
-defines which areas you control and which the tenant controls
-defines the maintenance obligations of all parties while specifying the scope of the operations and the steps you will take if the tenant defaults on these obligations
-grants you the right to inspect the leased premises for conformance with the lease provisions concerning maintenance and to point out to the tenant any obvious hazards
-requires the tenant to obtain permission before performing any building alterations
-contains provisions regarding use of hazardous substances, dispensing of liquor and other activities that increase the risk of loss
-requires service contractors who come on your premises to provide certificates of insurance verifying adequate limits of insurance and appropriate state licenses, where applicable
-requires tenants to obtain specified liability insurance on behalf of the owner, with you listed as an additional insured on a primary basis. Make sure you obtain proof that the tenant has acquired and maintains all required insurance.

Consult with legal counsel to familiarize yourself with state laws before you lease space to bars, restaurants or stores that sell liquor.
While it is your duty to live up to your obligations as a property owner, it is also wise to make your tenants take responsibility for their actions and premises upkeep.
Your local independent insurance agent is there to help you maneuver around the challenges you face as a property owner. Contact your agent whenever a new tenant moves into the building, a current tenant changes its operations or part of the building becomes vacant for 30 days.

Homeowner Policy: Section 1

A homeowner policy is made up of two sections, Section 1 Property and Section 2 Liability.  This blog post will focus on Section 1 which outlines the four property coverages provided by a homeowner policy.  Those four coverages are as follows:

 

-Coverage A Dwelling:  This coverage pertains to the actual house itself.  The limit shown on the policy in this section is the amount of insurance the policy will pay out if the house was totally damaged.  It Is important to understand that this limit of insurance should be based on Reconstruction Costs (the amount it would take to rebuild the house) instead of Market Value (the amount you can buy or sell the house on the real estate market).  For more details on this check out our Reconstruction Cost vs Market Value article.  The dwelling limit of insurance will drive the other three parts of Section 1 Property so for example purposes let's say our Coverage A Dwelling limit is $200,000.

 

-Coverage B Other Structures:  Other Structures are property located on your land that are not permanently attached to your home.  This would be things like detached garages, fences, sheds, barns and pools to name a few.  Back in the 50's this was a much more common concern to have Other Structures coverage because the norm was to have a detached garage.  Today many garages are part of the house so this coverage is not as much of a focus on new homes.  The homeowner policy, however, automatically includes this coverage in most cases so even if you do not have a need for it, still it is there.  The limit for this coverage is usually 10% of the dwelling limit so if our Coverage A is limit is $200,000 then our Other Structures limit is $20,000.  

-Coverage C Personal Property:  This section covers your contents, your personal belongings inside the house, such as TVs, clothes, furniture, pictures, etc get its coverage.  The important thing is to be sure that you have replacement cost coverage for you Personal Property and not actual cash value.  If you have actual cash value it means they will take into account how old your stuff is and not give you enough money to go out and replace your items without having to go buy used.  If you have replacement cost coverage you can go replace your furniture with new furniture from a store and the policy will reimburse you the full amount.  Coverage C Personal Property is also derived from the Coverage A Dwelling and usually is 70% or 75% of the amount.  This means that if our Dwelling limit is $200,000 then our Personal Property limit would normally be $140,000 or $150,000.

-Coverage D Loss of Use:  Loss of Use means that if you have a claim on your house that makes it so that you can not live in the house for a period of time, the homeowner policy under this section will help pay for your lodging expenses and some of your eating out expenses (usually 1/3rd of your meal expenses).  This loss of use might be for a few days or a few months depending on the extend of your homes damage.  The limit of coverage given under this section can very from company to company.  Some companies give a time period they will cover it for (example 2 years) or they will just pay what ever the amount of loss is (actual loss sustained).  Some companies, similar to how they do it on the Other Structures and Personal Property section, give a percent (usually 10%-20%).

Catastrophe Liability Protection

How much liability protection do I need to carry to protect me and my family? Unfortunately there is no simple formula which you can use to calculate how much liability insurance you really need. With your home or a commercial property, there are computer programs which will help determine the construction replacement Please contact us, and we will prepare a quotation for your review on this very important catastrophe liability protection.
cost of the building, but there is no such program in the area of third party liability claims. Some insurance companies claim they make you “legal” for less, but in Ohio, for example, that means bodily injury limits of $25,500 per person/$50,000 per accident and property damage limits of $25,000. Any kind of serious accident will wipe out those limits in a heartbeat. As a bare minimum, we recommend no less than $500,000 in Personal Liability and $250,000/500,000/100,000 in Automobile Liability, but higher limits are available and recommended. This is where the Umbrella Liability Policy comes into play. These policies are written in increments of $1,000,000 with $1,000,000 being the lowest limit you can purchase. Limits of $1,000,000 to $5,000,000 are usually available, and higher limits are also available depending on the circumstances.

Insurance Things to Consider on Rental Properties

Over the last few years many homeowners have turned into landlords.  With the real estate market drop, those that decided to purchase a new house also decided to not sell their prior home for fear of a financial loss on the property.  Instead, they have turned their prior house into a rental.  The trend still continues today even after the real estate market has rebounded some because landlords are seeing great cash flows from renting.

Here at Fey Insurance Services we insure a number of these properties and on occasion we are asked by clients if we have any insurance tips in renting a property.  When asked we always mention these five things:

1.  Temperature Requirement in the Lease:  It is a good idea to include a clause in your lease that requires the tenant to keep the heat no colder than 59 degrees.  This is important because around the Holidays many tenants will travel and if they want to try and save a buck they may turn off the heat.  Pipes do not enjoy this especially with a polar vortex threatening again this year.  This way, if they do turn the heat off and pipes break you can pass that damage on to the tenant.

 

2.  Renters Insurance for Tenants:  Since you may have passed on the risk of pipe freezing damage to your tenant you then want to make sure they have insurance in place to pay for such damages.  Requiring tenants to have renters insurance is a good idea.  Not only does it protect their contents (which is excluded under your policy), it protects your property if they are negligent in causing damage to your property.  I would recommend they have liability limits at least the value of your property.

3.  Dogs:  Know your states laws on dog attacks.  For example, in Kentucky there was a law recently passed that could drag landlords into dog attack claims.  This may make it difficult to get insurance for a property that has a dog.  If you are going to allow dogs to live on your premises it is best to limit which kinds as some insurance policies exclude coverage for "vicious dogs".

4.  Loss of Rents Coverage.  Make sure your rental property insurance policy includes coverage for loss of rents.  If you sign a year's lease with someone and then have a fire a month later, you are going to be out 11 months of rent or at least however many months it takes to rebuild the house.  You can recoup this loss with loss of rent coverage.  Also, make sure that you have enough loss of rent coverage.  Many polices give  you 10% of your dwelling limit or give you a flat $25,000.  Add up your annual rents and make sure you have enough coverage.

5.  Certificates of Insurance from Contractors:  Unless you yourself are handy, you may be employing contractors to do fixes around your rental property.  We strongly recommend you ask these contractors for proof that they have insurance.  If they were ever to cause damage to your tenants contents or to your tenants person, you would want to make sure they have insurance to cover such things.

Ohio Teen Driver Changes

Effective July 1, 2015 there have been some changes to the laws for drivers under the age of 18 in the state of Ohio that all teens and parents of teens should be aware of.  The changes are as follows:

-No driving between midnight and 6 a.m., unless a parent or guardian accompanies the youthful driver. Those with valid documentation from work, school or church allowing for travel for activities between these hours are exempt.
-No driving with more than one non-family member in the car
-All passengers must wear safety belts at all times
-Prohibits the use of mobile communication while driving

For more details about this change check out this article from the Ohio Insurance Institute. 

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Tornado Truths That Can Help You Stay Safe

Tornadoes have caused severe and irreparable damage to tens of thousands of Americans and their property in recent years. On top of the physical and emotional fallout, many have also lost their lives as a direct result of a tornado.

Although you can never control the weather or the outcome of a destructive storm, there are steps you can take to help you and your family remain protected in the event of a tornado. Those steps of action begin with knowing fact from myth.

Here are a few tornado truths that could help keep you and those you love safe:

 

When indoors, shut all windows and doors. Do not leave them open in an attempt to follow the mythical need to “pressurize” your home because the result would more likely be debris flying through the window and causing severe harm, or wind pressure working to lift the roof off the house from the inside.

 

If you are inside your home or other structure, retreat to the lowest level (a basement is ideal) or the room closest to the middle of the home or farthest from windows and doors. Do not seek a “corner” of the structure for your retreat; instead, go to the center-most point, away from windows and anything heavy that could fall on your head.

If you’re outdoors, find the lowest spot, such as a ditch or dry river bed, and lie flat on your stomach, covering the back of your head with your hands.  Do not follow the myth of seeking shelter underneath a bridge or overpass because it could collapse on top of you or large debris and winds could come rushing underneath and potentially sweep you up into the tornado itself.

If you are in a vehicle, abandon the vehicle and try to find shelter in a structure or outdoors in a low place where you should lay stomach-down and cover the back of your head with your hands. Most importantly, do not attempt to drive away from the storm unless it’s very obviously far away and moving in the opposite direction. 

Do not take shelter near a road or foothill and expect the tornado to miss you. Some myths say that tornadoes will reverse their directions when nearing a road or foothill, but a tornado doesn’t discriminate and will keep on its path.

Keep head gear handy. Head protection can be the number-one most important factor in remaining protected from flying debris—indoors or outdoors—so know where bike, football, batting, boxing and other helmets are in the house, and make them easily accessible.

 

At Fey Insurance we want to help you know the tornado truths that will help keep you and your family safe. For more tornado safety tips, visit the Storm Prediction Center’s comprehensive guide at http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/safety.html.

After-School Safety Tips for Parents and Kids

Parents, weather is starting to warm up in southwest Ohio, so you’ve likely already reviewed the basic safety tips for kids who walk or bus to and from school.

Those tips, of course, are:

• Walk with a buddy
• Stay in well-lit areas
• Never accept a ride with strangers
• Once home, lock the door and don’t let anyone in

However, Dr. Michele Borba, author of The Big Book of Parenting Solutions, urges you not to overestimate your kids’ safety smarts. Kids under 10, for example, may not grasp the concept of crossing a street safely, she says.

She suggests teaching them: “Stop. Left. Right. Left.” Meaning that children should, “stop at the curb, look left, right, then left again before crossing, and keep looking as they cross.”

Another thing kids need to know, says Borba, is how to ask for help. Have kids practice saying, “I need help,” out loud and instruct them to “find a uniformed employee, a police officer or a woman, preferably with a child,” when they need assistance, she says.

Once home, kids will likely use the Internet, so be sure to discuss digital safety too.

Staying Safe Online

Intrnet safety advocate Sue Scheff, author of Wit's End and Google Bomb, says that, “we need to put parental controls/security measures on computers and cell phones. Unfortunately, these aren’t guarantees, so having a cyber-smart child is your best defense.” 

Teach kids about the dangers of sharing personal information, such as their home address and phone number, online. And about using social media responsibly.

While online, it’s best for kids – and adults – to converse and connect only with people they truly know and trust, to keep their social accounts private and to still be cautious even then. After all, photos and information that go online today will still be there years later, when kids apply for college scholarships and jobs.

Above all, stay involved in your kids’ digital lives. Let them know you’re there for them, always – to talk, not to judge or punish, says Scheff. “Many kids fear having their Internet removed if they tell their parents they are being bullied online,” she says.

So keep the lines of communication open to help keep everyone safe, both in and outside of your home.

-Safeco Insurance Article

Prevent Water From Going Where it Shouldn’t

One of the most disheartening experiences is to find flooding or extreme water damage to your treasured home in Oxford or Cincinnati, OH.

 
At Fey Insurance we know you want to protect what’s important. That’s why we’re offering these tips to help you prevent many of the most common causes of water damage.

Just a little time and some effort can prevent a lot of heartache and hassle.

Ø  Make sure your water pressure is not set too high. For just $6 or so, you can purchase a gauge that will help you test your pressure for the appropriate level, which should be set between 60 and 80 PSI.

Ø  Standard hoses on new appliances are not as durable as they used to be. So check your appliances. If they’re rubber, either replace them with longer lasting stainless steel braided hoses or replace them every three years.

Ø  Keep water from leaking into the walls or floor of your bathroom by replacing cracked tiles and re-grouting when it’s needed.

Ø  Examine the shingles on your roof. Worn, curled or missing shingles allow water in, so replace them as soon as noticed.

Ø  Consider buying a water alarm, which can help you find leaks, or automatic shut-off mechanisms, which can help avoid bursts.

Ø  A lot of water damage occurs when you and your family are away from home.  Make a practice to avoid running the washing machine or dishwasher while you’re out.

Ø  When you leave for vacations, turn off the water supply to appliances.

Ø  Keep up maintenance on all appliance hoses, because slow leaks from worn out hoses can cause major damage (and they are not covered under Homeowners insurance).

At Fey Insurance we hope these pointers will ensure your house stays nice and dry this year! 

 

-Safeco Insurance Article

Why your privately held business needs Directors & Officers Insurance

by Tom Kelly, Cincinnati Insurance Company

Every corporation relies on the guidance of its board of directors for success. Although lawsuits against larger, publicly traded companies receive the lion’s share of media attention, privately held corporations are also vulnerable to lawsuits by competitors, government agencies, creditors and employees. You can protect your hard-earned success by purchasing directors and officers insurance (D&O) coverage for your company.

Having directors and officers insurance coverage in place can help you attract the talent you need for your board. Directors or officers of privately held companies who do not insist that the company purchase D&O insurance are putting themselves, their spouses and their estates at financial risk. D&O insurance minimizes risk to their personal assets.
Not having D&O coverage can have a serious impact on a company’s viability. Even a financially sound business may have insufficient funds to defend officers and directors in the event of a lawsuit. A D&O policy will take care of defense costs and settlement, even if t
he company ends up in bankruptcy.
States impose statutory duties on corporate directors. D&O coverage protects the company and its directors from claims arising from alleged or actual failure to uphold those duties. Directors are under legal obligation to govern their corporation and carry out their responsibilities of office:

• in good faith
• in the best interest of the corporation
• with the care that an ordinary prudent person in a like position would exercise under similar circumstances

Similar duties are imposed on officers of a corporation who may or may not serve on the board. Both directors and officers share the duty to:

• grow the company by prudently managing the affairs of the business
• exercise due diligence that is standard for operating the business
• maintain loyalty to the corporation to avoid conflicts of interest
• obey the corporate charter and state corporate statutes

Policy limits and other factors can vary. Your legal advisers and local independent insurance agent can help you determine how much coverage you need. Premiums are based on the coverage limit requested and other factors such as type of business, financial strength, claims history and deductibles.
Additional coverages, such as employment practices liability, fiduciary liability and cyber liability insurance, may also be available to eligible companies for an additional premium.

To Shovel or Not to Shovel? Here's the Law in Ohio

As far as Ohio law goes, homeowners don’t have a legal obligation to shovel sidewalks due to a natural accumulation of snow and ice, but this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t at least try to maintain them.
In December 1993 the Ohio Supreme Court upheld this law when a guest attempted to sue a homeowner in Franklin County for a slip and fall outside of the homeowner’s house.
In the case Brinkman v. Ross, the court ruled that you are walking at your own risk when Mother Nature calls. The case stemmed from a visit by the Brinkman’s to the home of the Ross’ in February 1989. Ms. Brinkman slipped outside the Ross home breaking her ankle. She sued her hosts in Franklin County Court of Common Pleas. The court threw out the complaint, indicating that it had long been established that Ohio homeowners are not obligated to remove natural accumulations of snow and ice.
The decision was reversed in the court of appeals, saying that if a homeowner knows of a hazardous condition and invites guests to visit, there is an obligation to at least warn them. The case then went to the Ohio Supreme Court where the judgment was overturned.
It’s up to your guests and other pedestrians to assume that due to the nature of Ohio winters, there’s always a risk of a slip or fall due to the natural accumulation of ice and snow.

Local snow removal ordinances
Local municipalities may invoke snow removal ordinances. If your city or township has an ordinance that requires residents to keep walkways free of snow and ice, then you have a responsibility to maintain your sidewalks. Some Ohio cities with snow removal ordinances levy fines for not removing snow in a timely manner while others issue warnings.
However, a local ordinance does not automatically implicate a homeowner if someone slips and falls on their uncleared property.

Examples of local snow removal ordinances/requirements
Below are links to information and/or snow removal ordinances for several Ohio cities and communities. The Ohio Insurance Institute suggests checking with your local municipality on any snow removal policies or requirements. Many provide this information online. Use the key word search “snow removal ordinance” along with your city or local municipality’s name.

•  Cincinnati
•  Fairfield
•  Centerville
•  Columbus