Month: January 2020

Super Bowl LIV Party Planning: Snacks, safety & more

This Sunday, Super Bowl LIV returns to South Florida for a record 11th time. The game will kick off at approximately 6:30 p.m. ET at the Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens. This year’s contenders are the San Francisco 49ers who haven’t won in 25 years vs the Kansas City Chiefs, who haven’t won in 50 years – so it should be a great game with a lot of fan excitement and passion on both sides. We’ve got some ideas for your Super Bowl party ranging from party foods to guest safety … and a few fun odds and ends.

Here’s a pre-game preview:

To follow before, during and after the game on Social Media:

Party Snacks:  If you’re are planning a party but haven’t set your menu yet, we have some ideas. Here’s a how-to on building a Super Bowl snack stadium, and here are 12 football-shaped foods. For a few other menu planning ideas, check out 80 touchdown-worthy party foods and Big Game Bash party recipes.

Party Safety: If you are attending a party, make sure you have a designated driver or alternate transportation planned in advance. Keep an eye on your friends and don’t let them drive under the influence either. If you are the host, you need to plan for more than just the menu – it’s important to look after guest safety to avoid any host liability. The Insurance Information Institute explains:

Social host liability, also known as “Dram Shop Liability” laws vary widely from state to state, but 43 states have them on the books. Most of these laws also offer an injured person, such as the victim of a drunk driver, a method to sue the person who served the alcohol. There are circumstances under these laws where criminal charges may also apply.

Here are some hosting safety tips:

  • Make sure all of your guests designate their sober drivers in advance, or help arrange alternate transportation.
  • Serve lots of food and include lots of non-alcoholic beverages at the party.
  • Stop serving alcohol at the end of the third quarter of the game and begin serving coffee and dessert.
  • Keep the numbers for local cab companies handy, and take the keys away from anyone who has had too much to drink.

It’s a little late for this year’s Super Bowl, but if you are a homeowner who likes to host parties, you might want to talk to your independent insurance agent about umbrella liability insurance, which increases your protection.

Something for everyone

If you’re into the Super Bowl more for the party and less for the sport, you might find Puppy Bowl 2020 more to your style. Meet the stars Puppy Bowl stars and starting lineup. See the preview below.

Some people are only it for the halftime show or the ads. Here’s everything you need to know about the halftime show, featuring Jennifer Lopez and Shakira. NBC sports has an overview of Super Bowl ads including the cost of the ads and spots to watch or preview: Check out the Super Bowl Commercials for 2020.

Every year, we also wait for the hilarious annual posting of the NFL Bad Lip Reading – it’s usually posted sometime near the Super Bowl. As of this today, it isn’t up yet, but here’s the 2019 version to get you in the mood.

Reprinted from Renaissance Alliance – no usage without permission.

Buying a new home? Add your insurance agent and an inspector to your advisory team

Thinking about buying a new home this spring? Do your homework now because home buying is likely to be the single biggest purchase you’ll ever make.

If you’re in the market for a new home, you’ll probably work with a professional realtor and a mortgage lender. You should also add a private home inspector to your advisory team – we make the case with some rather alarming “what can go wrong” video clips below. And here’s another professional that you might not think to add to your team but that you should: your independent insurance agent.

The Hanover offers a great post on five ways your insurance agent can help in the home-buying process. Insurance agents are local experts who know the neighborhoods, school systems and community safety. As you narrow down choices, they can give you insurance cost estimates. Hanover notes that “the neighborhood, the size of the home, the presence of a pool or trampoline, and the distance from a fire hydrant and fire station are just a few of the things that can impact your home insurance premium.” We’d add checking to see if your home is in a flood zone.

Once you pick out the home you want, The Hanover says there is another important role your agent can play:

Insurance claims filed by previous owners can impact your home insurance premiums. Your independent insurance agent should be able to access this information using the Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange (CLUE). If several claims have been made on the property, insurance carriers may be concerned that the house may have long-term problems, resulting in higher premiums. It is particularly important to pay attention to water damage claims that have been filed.

Whether you’re contemplating new home construction or buying an older home, hiring a private inspector can help you avoid winding up with a lemon. Make sure the inspector you hire is licensed and credentialed.

An inspection usually occurs after you’ve made an offer on a home but prior to the close. An inspector will provide a report that will allow you to identify any problems and make remedial requests of the seller. You can also share the report with your agent to highlight any red flags.

Hiring an inspector isn’t a step you should skip. Sometimes, buyers who are looking at newly constructed homes have the misconception that because the home is new, they don’t need to hire an inspector before buying. That can be a big mistake learned the hard way.

The clips below make this case. They were compiled by Reuben Saltzman, who has a blog called The Home Inspector in the (Minnesota) Star Tribune. Saltzman has an annual tradition of compiling his top 20 funny/scary inspection photos, along with video compilations. We’ve included clips for this year and last, but you can find more of his annual top 20 inspection pics at this company website and also on his Facebook page. His pics and videos are amusing – but they are also an insurance agent’s nightmare, graphically illustrating problems that run the gamut: roofs, cellars, decks, plumbing, attic leaks, deck issues, water management and more. Chances are your own home walk through would spot many of these blatant problems – it’s what you don’t see but that a trained inspector would that could trip you up!

 

 

 

 

 

Reprinted from Renaissance Alliance – no usage without permission.

Home & yard safety: Deterring coyotes

Over the last day or two, headlines are filled with the story of a New Hampshire hero Dad who killed a coyote with his bare hands after it attacked his 2-year old son. There had been reports of coyote attacks in the area for a few days. Authorities caught and killed the animal and testing showed that it had rabies. This is a frightening story, but the Humane Society reports that thankfully, coyote attacks on humans are relatively rare.

Coyotes live in every US state except Hawaii. They are very adaptable to almost any environment – including cities and suburbs. They are scavengers that will eat just about anything. Right now, we are in peak breeding season, which generally runs from January to March.

One of the problems with living close to humans is that coyotes start to lose their fear of people. Instead of hiding, they can become bolder. Many pet owners have heartbreaking stories about having small pets grabbed from their yard by a coyote – or even snatched  right off a leash in front of a horrified pet owner. While coyotes tend to be nocturnal, they can also roam around during the day. They are often spotted at daylight and dusk.

The Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services offer steps you can take to reduce the chance of human-coyote conflicts:

  • Do not feed coyotes!
  • Eliminate sources of water, particularly in dry climates.
  • Bird feeders should be positioned so that coyotes cannot get feed.
  • Do not discard edible garbage where coyotes can get to it.
  • Secure garbage containers and eliminate garbage odors.
  • Feed pets indoors whenever possible. Pick up any leftovers and store pet and livestock feed where it is inaccessible to wildlife.
  • Trim and clean, near ground level, any shrubbery that provides hiding cover for coyotes or prey
  • Fencing your yard could deter coyotes. The fence should be at least 6 feet high with the bottom extending at least 6 inches below ground level for best results.
  • Don’t leave small children unattended outside if coyotes have been frequenting the area.
  • Don’t allow pets to run free. Keep them safely confined and provide secure nighttime housing for them. Walk your dog on a leash and accompany your pet outside, especially at night.
  • Discourage coyotes from frequenting your area. If you start seeing coyotes around your home or property, chase them away by shouting, making loud noises, or throwing rocks.

This last tip is commonly referred to as “coyote hazing”. The Humane Society has great resources on this topic – see Coyote hazing: Guidelines for discouraging neighborhood coyotes that focus on steps to change coyote behavior. Hazing is method that makes use of deterrents to move an animal out of an area or discourage an undesirable behavior or activity. Hazing can help maintain a coyote’s fear of humans and deter them from backyards and play spaces. The article suggests dog-walking tools and ways to keep them out of your yard.

Prior wildlife posts:

 

Reprinted from Renaissance Alliance – no usage without permission.

Do you fly in the U.S.? You might need REAL ID by October 1, 2020

Do you fly on commercial airplanes for work or for pleasure in the U.S.? Do you regularly visit military bases or secure federal facilities? If so, this is the year you will need to have either a REAL ID-compliant license or a valid US passport to take commercial flights within the US or gain access to secure federal facilities. The law goes into effect on October 1, 2020 so there is still plenty of time to assess whether this is something you need or not and, if so, time to get the required documents.

Here’s the scoop. After 9/11, federal legislators and security officials established consistent, minimum security standards that would be enforced in all states and territories. Beginning on October 1 of this year, federal agencies, including DHS and TSA, will only accept compliant documentation at TSA airport security checkpoints and some federal facilities, such as military bases and nuclear power plants. The most common forms of documents are REAL ID-compliant licenses or US passports or passport cards. A handful of states (Michigan, Vermont, Minnesota, New York and Washington) issue enhanced driver’s licenses, which are also acceptable.

You do NOT need a REAL ID if:

  • you have a valid U.S. passport or passport card
  • you don’t use commercial airplanes to travel domestically
  • you don’t visit military bases
  • you don’t visit secure federal facilities
  • you are under 18 years of age

You can use a passport if you have one, but you have to remember to bring it with you in instances where it wasn’t required previously.

What is a Real ID and how do you get one?

It’s possible that if you renewed your license in recent years, you have a Real ID-compliant license because states have been phasing them in. Homeland Security says that “REAL ID-compliant cards will have of one of the following markings on the upper top portion of the card. If the card does not have one of these markings, it is not REAL ID-compliant and won’t be accepted as proof of identity in order to board commercial aircraft.”

REAL ID symbols

And here is a sample of a Massachusetts REAL ID-compliant license vs a noncompliant one. The designation in the upper right-hand corner varies by state.

Massachusetts REAl-ID compliant license sample

Homeland Security has many resources to learn more, including

You can also check with your state’s registry of motor vehicles to see if your license is REAL ID compliant. Here are links to REAL ID info for state RMVs in the New England region

 

Reprinted from Renaissance Alliance – no usage without permission.

Quick best practice tip for your 2020 financial and legal documents

It’s a new year – time to get in the habit of changing the year that you use when you write a quick check or date documents. But there’s another habit you should alter this year, according to police and other crime experts: write out the full year of 2020 in your handwritten dated documents, not just the abbreviated ’20. Failing to write the full year of 2020 might open you to costly fraud.

While it’s common to date documents in this format – 1/7/20 – the unique nature of this year’s date makes it too easy for a fraudster to change the year by simply adding more digits on the end. So your check or contract dated 1/7/20 could easily be altered to backdate it to 1/7/2019 or date it into the future as 1/7/2021.

Elizabeth Whitman of Whitman Legal Solutions talks about this in her article Will Abbreviating 2020 on Legal Documents Make You Vulnerable to Fraud?

She talks about why someone might do this, using an example of vintage violins with label changes that made the instruments older and consequently more valuable than they were. While labeling fraud on vintage musical instruments may not be something you have to worry about, she offers examples of why it might be worth your attention:

“Those who warn against abbreviating 2020 theorize that a scammer could backdate a document, such as a promissory note, to 2019. After that, the scammer could try to collect an extra year’s interest on the loan.

Commentators express similar concerns about postdating–that someone could change the date to try to cash a stale check. Or, they could try to force performance of an expired contract by make it appear that the contract was signed later than it was.”

Some say this fear might be overblown, that in prior years scammers might have altered dates on any two-digit year — but that just reinforces the importance of using a 4-digit year on written legal and financial documents – why take the risk? Whitman notes that while a consumer may be able to ultimately prove the fraud, that might entail an expenditure of time and money. Whitman says that although the risk of using an abbreviated date might be minimal, “it also doesn’t hurt to use the full year in a document signed in 2020–or in any other year.”

Her article also offers an handy list of document signature best practices, such as using a digital signature when possible, signing in blue ink, maintaining time-stamped paper copies and using dated cover letters – read more about these suggestions in her post.

Forged, altered or fake paperwork is a real thing – see our prior post on title washing scams that occur in used car purchases – a crime that costs $30 billion a year! Thieves and scammers are very creative in separating you from your money – a small step like using a 4-digit year in financial and legal documents that would make their job harder seems worth it.

Reprinted from Renaissance Alliance – no usage without permission.