You may be surprised that the answer is “yes!”  Although most propety insurance policies exclude flood losses (a tsunami would be classified as a flood loss), auto insurance policies do not have a flood exclusion.  So, if a tsunami damaged your car, your auto insurance would cover the damages.  You would have to carry the comprehensive (also known as “other than collision” ) coverage for the damages to be covered.

In the wake of the devastating Japanese earthquake and tsunami on March 11, many might question if there is insurance available to cover earthquake and/or tsunami losses.  The answer is “yes.” 

For earthquake losses, a homeowner’s insurance policy can be modified to add this coverage to the policy.  However, not many insurance carriers offer this additional coverage.

For tsunami losses, a flood insurance policy would cover this exposure.  Flood insurance is written through the National Flood Insurance Program, a federal program.

For more on flood insurance, please see the following link:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_insurance

Do you own a pet?  Perhaps you have a Fido (dog) or a Whiskers (cat).  If you do, you probably noticed that vet costs have been increasing.  Personally, we took one of our dogs for an annual check-up last week and the vet bill was over $200!

With the increase in vet costs has come the introduction of pet insurance.  You can purchase pet insurance that will help to defray the vet bills. 

Is pet insurance right for you?  Check out the following article for some insight:

Do You Need Pet Insurance for Buddy?

Veterinary bills are increasing much faster than the overall rate of inflation. Part of this reason lies in the advancements of medical techniques and the increasing number of veterinarian specialists. These trends, however, come at a price. For example, performing a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exam on the spine of a cat can cost upwards of $2,000. Removing a tumor on a dog can cost $4,000, and implanting a pacemaker can cost over $7,500. Even dealing with a dislocated ankle can run you around $5,000.

As a result, pet insurance sales are increasing rapidly. Is this a wise purchase? Much of the decision depends on how you view your pet. If you are emotionally close to your pet and see it as a loving family member who is nearly irreplaceable, then consider the following questions. If the answer to any of the questions below is yes, you should look into purchasing this coverage.

• Are you willing to go into debt to provide health care for your pet?
• Are you on a fixed or limited income?
• Would you be willing to spend over $5,000 to save your pet in a life-threatening situation?

If you decide to purchase this protection, you should carefully compare the rates and policy provisions of at least three well-established pet insurers.

Get more personal lines insurance and risk management tips and ideas from IRMI.

Copyright 2011
International Risk Management Institute, Inc.

A lot of people check around periodically to see if they can lower their auto insurance costs. After all, we are inundated with commercials to “Save money on your car insurance.” But the homeowner’s insurance policy is often overlooked. Review the article below to see if you can lower your homeowner’s insurance costs.

Lower Your HO Insurance Costs

Homeowners insurance premiums often take a substantial bite out of a family’s budget. You may, however, be paying too much for this coverage. The following are some approaches you can use to reduce your homeowners insurance costs.

Try to increase your deductible to the highest one you can afford, even if the premium savings do not appear to justify it. This will decrease your premium and increase the likelihood that your loss history will be excellent, since minor losses will be paid by you and not your insurance company. A loss-free record over time saves premium dollars. For example, if you currently have a $250 deductible on your homeowners policy, consider increasing it to $500 or $1,000.

Consider purchasing a monitored burglar alarm. Alarms have proven successful in reducing burglary rates. In addition, most insurers provide premium discounts to consumers with these alarms, some as high as 20 percent.

Maintain your home in optimum condition. If a repair is needed, perform it as soon as possible. For example, loose or missing roof shingles should be repaired or replaced immediately. A home in excellent condition is much less likely to experience a loss.

Buy your home insurance and your auto insurance from the same company. Discounts normally apply when you do.

Get more personal lines insurance and risk management tips and ideas from IRMI.

Copyright 2011

International Risk Management Institute, Inc.

You hate to think about it, but accidents happen.  Are you prepared if you are involved in an auto accident?  What should you do?  Who should you call?  What kind of information should you be getting from the other driver?

These are all good questions.  Unfortunately, most of us are not prepared to answer these questions.

Of all the question that you may ask yourself, calling the police might be the most important question.  No matter how small the accident, you should ALWAYS call the police.  It’s always good to have a third party opinion, and there’s none better than a police officer. 

Click on the link below and check out the video.  It helps answer these questions just in case you are involved in a car crash.

http://www.libertymutualimages.com/ProfDave/#crash-advice

Do you have a teenager who drives your vehicles?  Teenagers’ highest risk of death is from an automobile accident.  And teenagers have the highest rate of accidents compared to any other age group.

With today’s technology, you can monitor your teen’s driving habits.  There is a “black box” available that you can install in your car that will monitor your teen’s driving habits.  Is this too much oversight of our teen drivers?  Or, is it worth it since your teen’s life is at stake?

My daughters aren’t old enough to drive yet, so I don’t have to make the decision right now.  But, I’m sure it will be a hard decision when the time comes.  See details about this topic below:

Monitor Your Teen’s Driving

Automobile accidents are easily the leading cause of death for teenagers across America, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). For both genders, drivers between the ages of 16 and 19 have the highest average annual crash and traffic violation rates of any other age group. NHTSA data also show that unaccompanied 16- and 17-year-olds crash nine times more often than adults.

Research indicates that young novice drivers tend to underestimate the crash risk in hazardous situations. Teen drivers also tend to take more risks while driving, partly due to their overconfidence in their driving abilities. One way for parents to reduce their teen’s chances of being involved in an auto accident is to use technology to monitor their driving characteristics and provide appropriate feedback.

A number of “black box” products are now available on the marketplace to facilitate monitoring drivers. These small devices (often the size of a pager and starting at around $280) can be simply installed into the auto your teen drives by plugging them into the Vehicle Data Link Connector (on 1996 and new vehicles). They can detect and record your teen’s speed, aggressive driving such as “jack-rabbit” takeoffs, failure to wear a seat belt, unsafe backing techniques, driving locations, monthly mileage, and driving times. Thus, if your teen’s curfew is at midnight and they get home at 1:00 a.m., you will know it.

With some of these products, you can simply pop the memory card out of the “black box” and plug it into your PC to display the reports and graphs. You can then review the results with your teenager, providing a great educational opportunity based on solid, technology-driven evidence. Research indicates that this type of monitoring and coaching pays off big dividends in the form of safer teen driving. Numerous companies offer these products in the marketplace, with some of the more sophisticated ones costing upwards of $1,000. A few insurers offer discounts for families who utilize these devices.

Get more personal lines insurance and risk management tips and ideas from IRMI.

Copyright 2010
International Risk Management Institute, Inc.

Have you ever filed an insurance claim?  Many of us who purchase an auto or homeowner’s insurance policy may never ever file a claim.  But for most people, there’s some type of accident or event that can be covered by insurance.  That’s why we have insurance – for the unexpected events in our lives.  Most claims are small – minor fender benders for auto insurance and minor weather related claims for homeowner’s insurance.  Some claims are serious like a motor vehicle accident where someone dies or a total loss to a residence by fire.  Again, that’s what insurance is for.  And some claims are just plain wacky.  They may be big or small, but they’re all quite unusual.  Take a look at the following article for some wacky claims:

Wacky Insurance Claims

Posted 18. Sep, 2010 by Forest in General Articles, Opinion

Insurance is something we all don’t want to pay but can come in handy in situations that we never planned for. In many cases (like home and car insurance) it’s a necessary evil and although I hate extra monthly expenses it has saved my butt a few times!

Most insurance claims are straight up damage claims of the most common nature. Minor car crash, small storm damage, stolen cell phone and similar. However insurance can cover a wide gamut of situations and sometimes some trulelu wacky insurance claims are filed. Not all get paid but believe it or not some do manage to.

List of Wacky Insurance Claims

The wackiest thing I ever claimed for was falling through a loft and landing on top of the fridge in the kitchen! The fridge probably saved me a hospital visit but it’s not that uncommon to fall through roofs (Ok that statement is a huge assumption, maybe it’s just me that is so clumsy!).

This is a list of the funniest and wackiest insurance claims that I could find from an article on Yahoo (wackiest insurance claims), An article on eList Mania (10 bizarre insurance claims) and and article on Barrington Insurance Brokers (funny insurance claims).

• A farmers herd of cows got into his games room and went nuts causing $3000 (AUD) worth of damage. The claim was paid!
• A pet poodle swallowed it’s owners false teeth resulting in a $1500 (AUD) claim that again was paid.
• A wasp flew up a drivers trousers and got in his underwear causing him to panic and put his foot in the accelerator at a stop light, causing a traffic accident!
• A grandmother took off her opal ring whilst babysitting her grand daughter. The grand daughter decided the ring matched the cats eyes and tied it to the cats collar. The cat ran off into some nearby forest and the ring was never seen again!
• A closed bus station toilet was claimed as the cause of a man soiling his underwear and claiming for a new pair of trousers! I think this claim was likely refused.
• A man pulled out of his drive and hit a bus. He claimed that the bus was 5 minutes early and that was why it wasn’t his fault!
• Voodoo was claimed as a possible cause of a broken windscreen.
• Hitting a pedestrian was justified by someone as they said they had to to avoid hitting the bumper of the car infront of them.
• Power steering was blamed by someone knew to it for doing a small turn that ended with their vehicle facing the wrong way!
• Another person claimed that the pedestrian they had hit admitted it was their fault because they had been hit before.

Some of these are hilarious but I bet they are no where near the weirdest. I am sure insurance companies process some unbelievable claims.

The homeowner’s insurance policy covers your home and personal property for many types of losses – theft, wind and water damage just to name a few.  But the most common type of loss is fire.  Fire losses can be devastating and costly.  Homeowners should be prepared by installing smoke detectors and fire extinguishers.  For more on fire extinguishers, please read the following article:

Purchase and Maintain Your Fire Extinguishers

According to a National Fire Protection Association study, there are approximately 400,000 house fires each year in the United States, which account for 75 percent of all structure fires. This study also indicated that residential fires result in over 3,700 deaths per year. Indeed, fires typically kill more Americans than all other natural disasters combined.

Having properly placed fire extinguishers in your home is an excellent loss control measure that targets the most common cause of property loss.

Before purchasing fire extinguishers, learn about the different types of fire extinguishers. There are four basic types, as follows.

• Class A extinguishers put out fires in ordinary combustibles, such as wood and paper.
• Class B extinguishers should be used on fires involving flammable liquids, such as grease, gasoline, and oil.
• Class C extinguishers are suitable for electrically energized fires.
• Class D extinguishers should be used on flammable metals and are typically specific for the type of metal in question.

The following are some tips concerning this important fire protection device.

• Most home fire safety experts recommend medium size, multipurpose fire extinguishers that are labeled as suitable for use on class A, class B, and class C fires.
• A fire extinguisher should be kept in your garage, kitchen, and on each floor of your home.
• You and other potential users in your household should thoroughly read the extinguisher’s instructions on a periodic basis.
• A professional fire equipment supplier should inspect each extinguisher annually.

Note that prices on fire extinguishers start at around $20. Many insurers offer modest premium credits to encourage homeowners to purchase and maintain extinguishers.

Get more personal lines insurance and risk management tips and ideas from IRMI.

Copyright 2010
International Risk Management Institute, Inc.

Do you own a home with a yard?  If the answer is yes, did you spend some time and money landscaping your yard?  Many homeowners including myself have spent a lot of time tending to their yards.  Many spent a lot of money as well.  Does your homeowner’s insurance policy cover landscaping?  The answer is very little if any.  Check out the following article for details.

Protect Your Landscape Investment

One of the more common complaints heard from insureds after a major property loss is a lack of homeowners coverage for valuable trees and landscaping. Most homeowners policies provide only limited coverage (with restricted perils) for this loss exposure—usually 5 percent of the dwelling limit subject to a maximum of $500 per tree or shrub. Peril restrictions may also preclude coverage; for example, there is no landscaping coverage for a loss to landscape arising out of windstorm. Unfortunately, many trees, in particular, can be valued in the thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars. To protect this investment, consider the following risk management tips.

• If you have valuable mature trees, consider asking a licensed or certified arborist to appraise their value. Trained arborists use guidelines to value these trees, and such guidelines are recognized by insurance companies, the courts, and, in most cases, the Internal Revenue Service.
• Once you have the valuation, consider asking for an endorsement to provide higher limits and enhanced coverage for your valuable trees and other landscaping.
• Practice sound loss control for your trees. For example, topping of trees should be avoided. (Topping is the indiscriminate cutting of trees to stubs or lateral branches that are not large enough to sustain the remaining branch.)
• Hire a tree specialist to properly prune and thin out your mature trees. This action makes your trees less susceptible to disease and insects. For extremely valuable trees, consider hiring an arborist for this work. When selecting an arborist, check for his or her membership in professional organizations such as the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA), or the Tree Care Industry Association (TCIA).
• Recognize tree hazards to avoid injuries and damage to property. For examples, dead or dying trees are more likely to fall into utility lines, which could cause power outages, surges, and fires. Dead or dying trees are also likely to damage homes and could even injure people should they fall. Hiring a reputable tree specialist to remove dead or dying trees is a smart move. Get copies of the contractor’s certificates of insurance for workers compensation and general liability before work begins.

Get more personal lines insurance and risk management tips and ideas from IRMI.

Copyright 2010
International Risk Management Institute, Inc.

New flood insurance rate maps have recently been developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for Oahu and Kauai.  Homeowners on these islands with federally backed mortgages may now need to obtain flood insurance.  And homeowners who currently carry flood insurance may see a dramatic increase in their flood insurance premiums.  Check out the Honolulu Star Advertiser article below.  In one example, the flood insurance premium for a homeowner could increase from $350 annually to $5,700 annually!!

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20100805_New_maps_could_hike_insura nce_cost.html