Guaranty Association Benefits Company

Learn how to prevent pipes freezing and avoid a request for burst pipe!

For many of us across the United States, the first blast of the cold winter weather hit us this past weekend. Love it or hate it, it's here!

We often Let's view tips on our Facebook page and our website on preparing for cold weather prevent some of the damage that comes with is (as frozen pipes as shown in our video at left). But if, despite all your efforts to follow those guidelines and reduce your risk, you end up with damage of winter? Are you covered? Traverse some very likely scenarios and determine what coverage you may have under the policy of a basic, non endorsed owner

Scenario 1 :. Have you experienced several days of temperatures in the single digits and cold weather caused a pipe to burst into your home. What is covered

Answer: As long as you have not left your house unoccupied and cold, most homeowners policies provide coverage for the broken pipe and damage to water resulting from your home and your furniture covered

Scenario 2 :. significant snow fell, causing damage to a part of your roof and allowing water to flow into your home. What is covered

Answer: Damage to your roof caused by the weight of snow or ice damage to ceilings and walls of water leakage and damage to water to your home or your furniture will be covered.

Scenario 3: a winter storm blows through causing a tree to fall. Depending on where he was and where he fell, which is covered

Answer:

• If the tree is on your property and damages your roof, most homeowner's policies cover the cost to remove the tree and repair damage to your home.
• If the tree is on your property and damage of the house of your neighbor, your neighbor must file a claim under their insurance policy.
• If the shaft of a neighbor falls on your property and damages your home, your policy owner must pay for damages and reimburse you up to a certain amount for the costs of removal of 'tree.
• If the tree falls on your property, but causes no damage to anything described in your owner policy (which usually means your house, garage, shed), you not not have coverage for the removal of the tree, unless it blocks a driveway to your home or preventing blocking a ramp or other device designed to help a disabled person to enter or leave your home

to learn more about tree damage, see our blog tree damage -. Are you covered [

Scenario 4: A huge chunk of ice falls off your roof and lands on your car (believe me - strange things have happened!) . What is covered

Answer:. If your auto insurance policy includes full coverage on the car damaged, the damage would be covered

For more information on the prevention of damage caused by ice, see our blog The Cold Truth About Ice

As shown above, the man winter can cause severe damage. - Do not wait until something happens whether you are covered. Be proactive and take steps to reduce the risk of freezing weather damage and discuss your concerns with you coverage independent agent. Have you ever had the winter weather damage? Tell me if it was covered!

Not only is he responsible for hiring safe drivers, protecting your employees other drivers on the road is important as well. Watch our video to learn more about uninsured motorists (UM) and Undersinsured motorists (UIM) coverage.

Most car accidents are caused by driver error, either following too closely, speeding, distracted driving, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or any other variety of reasons. As a business owner, you have control over which is the operation of your vehicle and you should take that responsibility seriously. Do not underestimate the importance of ensuring that you hire a safe driver before allowing them to operate one of your fleet. Always an applicant signs a waiver for obtaining a motor vehicle record (MVR) before making a hiring decision. If in doubt about the acceptability of the file, send it to your agent or insurance company for approval or disapproval before allowing the applicant to drive.

If you have a fleet (five or more power units) and a good experience loss, you may experience credit on your policy. You may also be in a less expensive company (level) because of your good experience. The reality is, simply a dangerous driver to ruin all your good experience and drive your car insurance costs up. Because experience credit may involve up to four years of data, it could take years to get a credit back after a bad accident at fault.

Although not always the case, many accidents involve drivers with multiple moving violations before and / or fault accidents. Exercise your right to choose someone with a clean record before allowing them to use your assets. Would you allow someone with little or no experience operating a piece of machinery 100,000? If not, why would you allow someone who has several speeding tickets and a couple at fault accidents during the past three years to drive your new $ 80,000 truck in heavy urban traffic?

Pay attention to the age of the drivers as well. Statistically, drivers under 25 are more likely to be involved in accidents to defects. Most insurance companies will be reluctant to allow anyone under the age of 25 years to be a pilot on a commercial policy. This will be especially true if a truck weighs more than 10,000 pounds. This, too, play the question of personal vehicles being insured on a commercial policy and driven by the younger members of the family. This is obviously not the intention of a commercial auto insurance policy and should be avoided. As I mentioned earlier, just a waste of ruin that experience and jeopardize the favorable pricing on your trade policy. The family vehicles being driven by your 17 year old son or daughter should be on a personal policy.

One last point is that when the name and logo of your company is on the vehicle, it is basically a rolling billboard. If one of your vehicles cut someone out of traffic, tailgates, or hits someone, people will notice what company the vehicle belongs. It might be enough to make anyone think twice before using the services of your company. Safe drivers will help you avoid these headaches and your company will choose insurers.

The benefits described here are in the most general terms, and subject to the conditions and actual policy exclusions. For the actual wording cover, conditions and exclusions, see the policy or contact your agent.

Many of you may remember the V-8 juice business where someone forgets their daily dose of goodness flavored tomatoes, proceeds to initiate face palm, and exclaims: "Wow, I could have had a V-8" We've all done it at some point in our lives when we remember something so obvious at the time! the most inopportune. This can often happen with insurance.

most insurance customers are concerned about insurance for their buildings, homes, personal property and cars. We see the most obvious causes of the loss of these primary covers, be it in the news, social media, or through word-of-mouth. car accidents and house fires are losses that attract the attention of more customers. However, if additional insurance is offered as an umbrella policy, equipment breakdown, or the responsibility of the employer, some buyers are taking a "It will not happen to me "approach and reject these coverages in favor of saving some money.

Unfortunately there is a new bully in town in the form of cybercrime. A cyber attack is like having Scut Farkus film A Christmas Story move in your neighborhood. He's mean, he's mean, and he's just waiting for you to cross his path.

For years, our company has done a good job of keeping our personal life. The only time anyone would know nothing of us is based on information provided on a check. Now our bills are paid online, we inadvertently provide too much personal information on social media, and this once private is now an open book for all to see. We know so much about our neighbors and colleagues that not much is left to the imagination. Thus preparing the ground for the breeding of a cyber predator.

So what can we do as a society to fight against potential cybercrime? We buy some antivirus software and after spending a Saturday afternoon installing the product, we return to our book open approach to our personal lives. While software manufacturers are smart and can help protect consumers, it is a cyber predator is just as smart in search of this open door to steal information from a home or business. They troll the Internet search for the victim and law, as young Mr. Farkus, they wait for us to be caught unprepared. Before we know it, we are a victim.

Since the debacles and Sony cyber target, many consumers have had V-8 moment ... everyone can be a victim of a cyber attack. When millions of people may be deprived of their identity, their assets and their sense of security, cybercrime becomes real.

In A Christmas Story Scut Farkus met his match in Ralphie, the kid with glasses who had been bullied once too. After a barrage of punches Scut has not bothered Ralphie and his friends again. We must take the same approach with cybercrime. The threat can be minimized if consumers, if you are a homeowner or businessowner take an aggressive proactive position.

The best way everyone can protect their personal information is to use the updated software on their computers and executing regular updates on the virus. Paying bills online should be on secure Web sites, and no information should never be given to a person on the other end of the phone. Restrict what you say on social media can help protect your personal information.

Companies can protect themselves by ensuring that passwords are strong and used properly, and access to sensitive information limited to those who really need access. Employee training is essential, and monitoring employees' online activities can help signal whether someone is wrong to access the data.

The insurance industry has been flooded with information about cyberexposure. Wherever we go, there's an article on the topic, giving examples of how to better protect consumers. But knowledge is power, and knowing that a cyberattack could be hiding in every corner as Scut Farkus can help us learn to be more diligent and take precautions to avoid becoming a victim. To help protect your personal information or sensitive your business, check out these helpful blog posts:

Does your Cyber ​​insurance are entitled Guarantees

Interrupted Affairs are- you covered for a Cyber ​​attack?

costly consequences of cybercrime

Beware the malice of malware attacks

protect your clients private information

do not deny the threat of denial of service attacks

Fight against the devastation of a data breach

the Invisible Criminal

"About 0 people on average die each day - and more than 250 are injured every hour. - because of drinking and driving, not wearing a seat belt, and many other factors associated with traffic accidents "

This is a quote from David Friedman, deputy administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety administration (NHTSA). While we know of traffic accidents are the leading cause of death and injury for adults, you may find it surprising to learn that motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death in children aged 1 to 19. Perhaps the most shocking statistic to me of children 8 years and under who died in vehicle accidents in 2012, 31 percent were unrestrained. (1)

appropriate safety seat using the seat belt is as important to safe driving as putting your mobile device. According to NHTSA: (2)

• In 2012, the use of safety belts in passenger vehicles saved about 12,174 lives
• The seat belts saved nearly 63,000 lives during the 5 -Year period 08 to 2012.
• in addition, 3,031 lives could have been saved in 2012 if all unrestrained passenger vehicle occupants five and older involved in fatal crashes had worn seatbelts.

Securing children in car seats and booster or seat belts that are appropriate for their age and size can significantly reduce the risk of serious and fatal injuries. Here are some car seat safety guidelines courtesy safekids.org:

• 1-3 years: Keep your child rear facing as long as possible
• 4 - 7 years. age: Keep your child in a car seat facing forward with a harness and tether until it reaches the upper limit size or weight allowed by the manufacturer of your car seat
• 8 and more :. Keep your child in a booster seat until he or she is big enough to fit in a seat belt. For a seat belt to correctly adjust the seat belt must lie perfectly across the thighs, not the stomach. The shoulder belt should lie comfortably on the shoulder and chest and not cross the neck or face. Remember, your child should still ride in the back seat because it is safer.

Do not make the mistake, "it will not happen to me or to me." Use the consistent safety seats and follow the guidelines when considering when a child should be moved from one type to another seat Some other things to keep in mind.

• be careful about using an old or secondary seat the seats must comply. the same safety standards expected of a new headquarters.
• do some research before buying a seat. Read reviews on the product.
• make sure that you install the seat correctly and take time to make sure everything is secure. many fire stations will check your seat for free to make sure it is properly installed. you can also check safercar.org for more information.

The world is in a hurry, but your destination can wait if it means saving a life. Babies and children are counting on you to make sure they are in the correct seat and buckled in safely. Do not let them down!

(1) Fact sheet on vehicle safety (2014). safekids.org. (Updated February 2015)

(2) Traffic Safety Facts. nhtsa.gov. November 2013.

Prevent a data breach before it happens with these steps

When. Storm sirens sounded last year, I was picking up my son 4 years breakfast and headed to our "safe closet." Have you ever sat in a closet with a 4 year old with the door closed? I suggest you have a flashlight available, because he's black! And keeping a few handy toys is a good idea because even five minutes in a closet can be frightening for a child.

As you can see, my emergency response plan was missing some important elements. What about your emergency response plan for your business?

Many business owners know what they will do during severe weather or fire, but few are prepared for a violation data.

When sensitive or confidential data that is your responsibility falls into the wrong hands, your customers, employees, students, or patients are put at risk for identity theft. Any delay in the response can be harmful and increase the potential for prosecution

Here are some items you should think about before a violation occurs :.

• Have an updated list of all your customers addresses.
• know what your federal and state obligations are to your customers.
• Consider a "client / consumer" focused response rather than a "compliance-only" targeted response.
• Talk to suppliers in advance who may be able to help credit monitoring and fraud alert.
• have a computer analyst can immediately be ready to review your systems to determine the nature and extent of the violation.
• have an Plan to manage the increase in calls. small businesses may need to consider using a temporary call center.
• be prepared to answer questions from angry customers. responses should be based on what is appropriate given the extent of the violation.

There are blankets available to you and your business protect against the effects of a data breach. Contact your agent for information on these hedges and some suggestions on how you can protect your business to experience a data breach

so do not forget to put a flashlight in your "safe closet" -. Start preparing emergency response plan to a data breach immediately to your business. And if you have suggestions on how to protect customer information please share them here!

When I was a child, one of my favorite childhood activities was looking for four-leaf clover in my yard. Some people may think it is pure luck when you find a four-leaf clover, and of course there is some truth to this, but even at a young age, I understood that there were more than it. In addition to luck, he also took a bit of skill to know the best places in the yard looking. These spots were reliable, day after day, for a four-leaf clover hunt successfully.

Discovering clovers four "lucky" leaves is really no different to find a company to do your business. Think about it. We have all been "lucky" moments in life where we were able to get some kind of great service for our needs: a doctor with an incredible office staff, an insurance agent who is there for you when you need it the most, a credit card company with low interest rates, no annual fees, and protection against fraud stellar. We claim that we are "so lucky", right? But like find the four-leaf clovers coveted, it took more than luck.

We got to do business with these companies because of their impressive reputation. We heard positive affirmations word-of-mouth about their customer service, the benefits they offer to their customers, and reliability to provide care for us when we need it most. As consumers, we could clearly see the benefits in partnership with these companies and we actively sought out because we wanted to experience their outstanding level of customer service to ourselves.

It might take a little chance to get an appointment with the doctor who has amazing office staff or with very loyal insurance agent who has the ability to take on another client. But more important than that, we need the reliability and dependability of these organizations and the services they provide to their customers for that we want to be their clients. I do not know about you, but when I find a business like that I get super excited. I am the lady exclaimed to his family and friends that I am "so lucky". Think about your own experiences of customer service. I hope each of you have been "so lucky" too!

I will never be accused of being a conspiracy theorist - I believe that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, Elvis death, and Paul McCartney is alive. However, there is one thing I can say for sure: Big Brother is watching you and you are probably unintentionally allowing it

So how is this happening !? Are there spies space satellites formed over every human being on the planet? Computer chips implanted in every newborn without their knowledge? No, there is nothing as sinister as that - there is little smartphone, you are dependent both in your daily life

Just focus on the most popular platforms for smartphones there both Android and Apple! a feature called "Location Services". This functionality is built into your smartphone and enabled by default. When this option is enabled, your phone is monitoring every move (and you) did and store a history of these trips. You can then view your movement on a map through Google or Apple Maps. It even tells you how far you have traveled! See above for a sample of what it looks like on Google Maps when I log on to my online Google account.

Now if you think you just see Elvis in the grocery store yesterday, Google and Apple are you monitoring for malicious purposes, the good news is that you can disable this feature. Here are some quick instructions on how to do it and being parents might not want to share with your children:

(Please note that these might vary slightly depending the version you use).

Android

1. Go to Settings
2. Scroll down until you see and select this location
3. Select Google Location History
4. Clear the selection on. You can also delete the history of your location on this screen

Apple :.

1. Go to Settings
2. Select Privacy
3. Select Location Service
4. Select System Services
5. Slide the oN / OFF for frequent locations to the Off position

so, the next time you get this weird feeling that you 're followed, maybe you're not so crazy after all. And be sure to say "hi" to Elvis for me!

Happy Travels!