Camp Crystal Lake

He’s Back (The man behind the mask).

Liability 

If camp staff had’t been negligent, poor little Jason Voorhees never would have drowned in Crystal Lake.  This would have prevented numerous nights of sleeping with my lights on in 1980.  Friday the 13th was released in May 1980 and 12 movies later, another sequel is planned for September 2020.

Go to school to get more knowledge

Most insurance companies have used education along with about 30 other factors including age and gender to determine rates but New York state insurance department ruled that using education as a variable is not fare to people without college degrees.  “The result is that drivers with higher education and income pay less for auto insurance with no rationale evidence that they are better drivers.”

Hot for Teacher

Teachers, accountants and nurses getting education discounts from GEICO might see their policies increase at renewal due the NYS rule that education can no longer be a factor in determenig insurance rates.

WSJ Article

“New York Financial Services Superintendent’s office said that the giant insurer would comply with the state’s move late last year to ban what her department has concluded is an unfair practice”.

Big no-no!

In last month’s New York Department of Financial Services regulation, GEICO joined Liberty Mutual and Allstate in being  prohibited from using a driver’s education level as a factor in determining rates.

Read Article

See Jane

In the name of

Mary Jane, Weed, Joints, Reffa, Doobies, Bud, Herb, Ganja, Blunts - Get the picture.

It’s legal in some states but even in the states that decriminalized cannabis, police can still  arrest you for driving under the influence. Beware because driving high is still DUI.

National Weed  Day

If you’re  planning to smoke on 4/20 do the rest of us a favor, stock up on Oreos and Cheetos and stay off the roads.

The Risk is “High”

If you get charged with driving while under the influence of marijuana, you can expect the same penalties as driving drunk.  Including license suspension, mandatory alcohol and drug abuse classes, fines, probation and even jail time.  The DUI stays on your record for 7 years and most insurance companies won’t insure the risk.

Revocation

After a DUI arrest the drivers license is revoked for at least 90 days.

See Jane

See Jane
See Jane drive High
See Jane get a DUI
See Jane go to Jail
Jail sucks don’t go to Jail.

Teresa

That's LIFE

LIFE INSURANCE AWARENESS 

If you've experienced the bittersweet of being the beneficiary of LIFE insurance, you understand.   People are either big believers in LIFE insurance or they just don't think they need it and they don't want to talk about it.

Imagine

They're in their 40s with a 10 and 6 yr old.  A couple of months ago the wife had heart failure and had a Valve replaced.  The Heart rejected the Valve and she developed an infection.  Was difficult to find a Surgeon to operate until the infection cleared.  But they finally found a surgeon willing to operate.  But infection spread after the second surgery, she got worse and is now in hospice.  Misfortunes like this happen every day.  She's probably not the bread winner but her husband will have to hire help to watch the kids, cook and clean the house. -   Just imagine.

If you answer yes to any of these questions you need LIFE Insurance:

You are breathing right now
You are healthy
You have a mortgage
You have an auto loan
You have credit card debt
You have student loans
You are married
You have children

Last but not least you want to have a burial service.

Gift 

LIFE insurance is a gift of LIFE.  It's for the living, not for you.  A gift for your loved ones that stay behind to continue with a certain standard of living.  To be able to cover basic expenses like housing and putting food on the table.

A cup of Coffee

You insure your car, your house, even your phone.  If you buy a cup of coffee every day, you can afford the gift of LIFE for your loved ones.

What If...

Cathy's Story


When I married James* in 1978, I was 21 years old. I never could have imagined then that I’d be a widow by 26, or that I’d have a 9-month-old baby to take care of on my own.  As soon as we became pregnant, James started talking about Insurance, but I was hesitant. I was 24, but James was already thinking like an adult. It’s not that I wasn’t an adult; the topic of life insurance was just scary. I was pregnant with our yet-to-be-born child, and the last thing I wanted to think about was one of us dying.  James passed away on a Tuesday in March. The weekend before, we’d had an especially good time together. That Monday evening, my neighbor came over to watch a show. James sat with us but left early and was already asleep when I joined him later.  The next morning, he left for work without me seeing him. Whether he kissed me goodbye while I slept, I’ll never know. I had a hair appointment with the woman across the street. I was sitting in a chair in her basement when I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. I turned to see my brother, Paul, who, like James, was a construction worker. He looked at me and said, “Cathy, we have to go.”  I remember him pulling me out of the chair, and driving to the hospital. My first words were, “How bad?” He just squeezed my hand.

When we arrived at the ER, the other construction workers were there. It was hard for them to look at me—and that’s when I knew.  My story is a reminder that once you have a family—no matter your age—life insurance is absolutely essential.  I didn’t want to think about that at the time, but lucky for me, my husband had.  James had been in an accident on the construction site. Winds were 50 mph-plus that day, and a wall he was working on had collapsed. To avoid being hit, James had jumped off the wall and landed on his back. When the wall fell, a piece of cinder block hit him in the chest, cracking a rib and severing his aorta.  The coroner said that he died instantly.

When you're the widowed mother of a 9-month-old baby, life becomes hazy. Since James died on the job, I was able to receive workman’s comp until I remarried (Leslie was entitled to the payments until she was 18), as well as social security payments for both me and Leslie.  The combination of workman’s comp, social security and life insurance gave me options, like being able to work part-time instead of full-time at the type of jobs best suited for a single parent. As a nurse, I’d worked days and nights--sometimes 12 hours at a time. The money that we received allowed me to work part-time instead of full-time, and I could take my time finding jobs that were more flexible and better suited for a now-single parent.  In the end, it turned out that I was incredibly lucky that my husband understood the importance of providing that safety net, even though he never thought we'd need to use it. Leslie and I couldn’t be more thankful.

Mr. Frosty

They have seen an Audit or Two 

An Audit is done annually by an insurance company, usually before renewal to checks on the payroll or revenues of a business owner, to make sure  the policy reflects accurate rating information.

Mr. Frosty business owner had $500,000 in sales and the policy premium is based on this.  To save money the owner tells the insurance company sales are  $250,000.  During the audit  the insurance company finds the business did half a million in sales.  The Insurance company will adjust  last year's policy cost and the balance amount is due.  Some businesses will try to save money with a low estimated payroll or sales, but there's no way around it because insurance companies have seen this tactic once or twice before.

Defrosting 

Meteorologist Ken Weathers defrosts a windshield with rubbing alcohol and water in a spray bottle.

Clearing frost from your windshield

Stalk Santa

He's making his list ... Now you can stalk Santa and his elves with Google's Santa tracker


Santa's Village

Chicken or the Egg

What comes first Sales or Service

 

Many businesses keep sales and customer service in different departments. Sales brings in customers and service retains. But if a company has separate groups for sales and services will they have different standards and objectives?

Always be Helping

If the goal of a company is only to make money, customers will know they are not a priority.  When a company's priority is to provide a benefit by using their service, and helping customers understand the value, the result will be a positive sales experience and referrals.

Customer Experience 

When Sales and Service are the driving force the overall result will always be a  positive sales experience.  Building relationships and becoming a resource by answering questions and nurturing  customers make decisions through education will make customers feel good about not only making the purchase but becomes part of the overall customer experience.  

Customer Service always and Sales always

Promise a lot and deliver more. In other words, exceed customer expectations.

Always Be helping🌷

Teresa

11 weeks till Christmas

It's almost Christmas ...

Are you hiding your teen driver?

Coverage extends

In general coverage will extend if you lend you car to someone and they get into an accident.  And most insurance companies extend coverage to accidents caused by teen drivers who were not listed on your policy.  Companies know it's possible it "slipped" your mind to add your child to your policy.

Misrepresentation

Some companies could deny a claim if your teen passed the road test before you renewed your policy and you didn't inform the  company.  Car insurance policies normally state that "you are to notify us of any additional drivers," Some companies may have an exclusion in the policy that says, 'If you do not notify us we will not cover you".  Not adding your teen driver could be considered misrepresentation and the company could deny coverage.  And some companies will honor the claim for unlisted teen drivers but add your driver, and charge you backdated premium to recover the time that the teen was licensed but not on your policy.

Click to read full article  

Rates 

Adding a teenager to your auto insurance policy can double your premium.  Teen rates are high because of the statistics.  Car crashes are the main cause of death for drivers between the ages of 16 and 19.

Discounts

Most Insurance companies offer discounts for driver's Ed and good grades.  Some insurance companies offer safe driver programs for teens to watch videos and track trip logs to save money.   And most companies won't charge you if your teen is away at school more than 100 miles from home.