Fires and Floods: 2017 Year in Review

2017 wasn’t very happy for the insurance industry thanks to three nasty grinches named Harvey (in Texas), Irma (in Florida) and Maria (in Puerto Rico). Because coastal development has been so strong over recent decades, these hurricanes could result in total losses of $100 billion! Despite that massive number insurance carriers are not forecast to be overly stressed because only 18-20% Florida and Texas residents have flood insurance, and carriers have their own insurance (called reinsurance) to cover excessive loss. Continue reading “Fires and Floods: 2017 Year in Review”

Motorcycle Accidents | What You Can Do to Help Prevent Them

Did you know that 75% of all motorcycle accidents involve a car or that 67% involve a car driver who fails to see a motorcycle?  For most motorcycle accidents, it takes two.  It’s no surprise that riding a motorcycle is dangerous: fatality rate per mile driven is 35 times higher than when in a car! Only 25% of motorcycle accidents don’t involve cars, typically slide out on turn from inexperienced riders.  So if most motorcycle accidents are caused by car drivers not seeing motorcycles, what can we do?

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A Guide International Travel and Your U.S. Insurance Coverage

International travel is one of the most interesting experiences life has to offer. And although terrorism has been in the headlines recently, you are much more likely to be hit by lightning than die in a terrorist attack. In this article I talk about the real risks of international vacations, and the fact that your US insurance coverage may be of limited value overseas. If you are moving or considering buying property overseas, call me because the issues are more complicated. Continue reading “A Guide International Travel and Your U.S. Insurance Coverage”

Protecting Your Adult Children’s Future

Last spring a hummingbird built a nest outside my window so I was able to watch the whole process from egg to first flight. After the new hummingbirds leave the nest the mother spends two days showing them how to get nectar then she chases them off for good to live on their own. If only it were that easy. In this post, I’ll cover liability risk issues related to adult children and steps you can take to protect your assets and theirs. Continue reading “Protecting Your Adult Children’s Future”

Valuable Articles | Making Sure Yours are Properly Insured

As thoughts turn to gift-giving and holiday cheer, it’s a good time to talk about valuable articles, those special objects that represent an expression of love, an appreciation of beauty or a store of value. More specifically, valuable articles are jewelry, fine art, collectibles (like stamps, coins or wine), silver items and furs. Because we have an emotional attachment to our valuable articles it always hurts to lose them, but believe me it will hurt more if they are not properly insured. Continue reading “Valuable Articles | Making Sure Yours are Properly Insured”