What Can I Do to Avoid Identity Theft

Minimize your risk of identity theft by:

• Ordering a free credit report every year at www.annualcreditreport.com, reviewing it carefully and notifying the credit bureau of any errors you find
• Buying, and using, a shredder for charge receipts, insurance forms, checks, bank statements and expired charge cards, etc.
• Putting passwords on your credit card, bank and phone accounts
• Using hard-to-guess passwords.  Make sure your passwords include at least 8 characters and mix it up with upper and lower case letters, numbers and special symbols
• Avoiding giving any personal information, including bank account info over the phone, through mail or the internet unless you initiate the contact
• Calling back customer service to confirm the legitimacy of any incoming calls
• Bringing outgoing mail to the post office rather than placing it in your home mailbox for pick-up
• Asking the post office to hold your mail while on vacation.

Life Insurance Reality Check

Do you have enough?  Most Americans don't.  More than a third don't have any life insurance at all, and those who do don't have enough.  Most experts believe that coverage equal to 10 times one's annual income is a reasonable rule of thumb.

There are many types of life insurance, but for all of them, the bottom line is the same:  they pay cash to your family after you die, allowing loved ones to remain financially secure.  Life insurance payments can be used to cover daily living expenses, mortgage payments, outstanding loans, college tuition and other essential expenses.

There are plenty of resources you can turn to for life insurance answers.  For a general sense of your life insurance needs, you can go to a Needs Calculator like the one at www.lifehappens.org/lifecalculator.  Call your insurance agent for professional advice.

Reminder: Oil heating leak coverage available in Massachusetts

Effective September 30, 2011, a law was enacted that required homeowners to bring their heating oil systems into compliance with leak prevention requirements.  As a part of this law, insurance companies providing Homeowners Insurance in the state of Massachusetts must offer coverage for leaks from heating systems that use oil. 

All companies handle this differently.  Some include it automatically in the homeowners premium.  Others charge between $50 and $90 for various levels of insurance. 

To add the coverage, the customer must provide a copy of the permit provided by the fire department or by a licensed oil burner technician that certifies that the oil heating system complies with the regulations.  The insurance company may also require that you sign a supplemental application.  Finally, the oil leak coverage can only be added at policy renewal.  Call us at 508-347-9343 if you would like more information about this important issue.

If You Gotta Eat a Frog

If You Gotta Eat a Frog Don’t Look at it too Long

If you have to eat a frog don’t look at it too long. As long as you live you will have to eat, deal with FROGS. There is no getting around it. It is part of life. The longer you wait the scarier and more painful it can be or seem to be. Why? Because the more you think about eating FROGS the more pain and anxiety you create in your mind or you allow yourself to feel. So the best thing is

 Eat ’em fast….and move on. What are FROGS ?

Fears

Rejection

Obstacles

Glitches

Stumbling Blocks

I have no doubt there are more varieties of FROGS.

What you need to do is not blame or fall into victim mode. You are not a victim. Look those FROGS in the eye and bite. Grrrrrrrr!

Successful people step on frogs. Don’t get squeamish it’s only a metaphor; I don’t mean the little green kind.

Keep  FROGS from getting in the way of  living the life you want. Take Action!

What's on your Frog List Today?

A big proposal

Making that sales call

A problem with a customer

Kid stuff (saying no)

Family issues

Issue with a colleague

Making that sales call

Making the decision to change

Relationship problems

Investing in you

Making changes to improve YOU

Ahhh making that sales call (didn’t I say that?)

Promoting yourself

Standing up for yourself

Whatever it is “Do it NOW.” The longer you look at FROGS the bigger they get…

The longer you wait the harder they are to swallow.

What are the next Three FROGS you need to eat?

1. _______________________

2. _______________________

3. _______________________

If you gotta eat a frog don’t look at it to long… eat it now!

Find A Way

Dennis

Hurricane Season is here. Do you have Flood Insurance?

The busiest period of the Atlantic hurricane season is getting underway, so if you have not yet considered buying flood insurance, now is the time.  Flood insurance covers your property against hurricane-caused storm surges as well as flooding generated by the torrential rains, according to the Insurance Information Institute.  There is a 30-day waiting period before the coverage takes effect, so it is important not to wait until the last minute to buy a flood policy.

Standard homeowners and renters insurance policies do not cover flood damage.  However, flood coverage is available in the form of a separate policy from the National Flood Insurance Program and a few private insurers.You need flood coverage if you live in a designated flood zone, but you should also keep in mind that flooding can also occur in inland areas and at a distance from major rivers.  You may want to consider buying a flood insurance policy if your house could be flooded by an overflowing creek or pond or water running down a hill.  Contact us at 508-347-9343 if you are interested in flood insurance.

Important Homeowners Insurance Question - Who is living in the house?

In order to have a homeowners insurance policy on a house, the homeowner must be living in the home during the course of the year. The named insured on the insurance policy should match the name(s) on the deed. If the adult children of the owner - or the parents of the owner - (or any other individuals who are not the legal owners) are the people living in the house, a dwelling fire policy must be written on the house, and the residents should have renter’s insurance (HO4) for their personal property. It’s not unusual for a homeowner to allow relatives to live in one of their properties; what’s important is to make sure that the correct insurance is in place.

Winter Driving

We haven't had a lot of practice driving in the snow this winter, so with the possibility of some significant snowfall over the next 24 hours, here are a few tips:

• Drive slowly because accelerating, stopping and turning all take longer on snow-covered roads.
• Leave more distance between your vehicle and the one ahead of you, giving yourself at least 10 seconds to come to a complete stop.
• Avoid sudden stops and quick direction changes.
• Do not activate your cruise control when driving on a slippery surface.
• Be careful when driving over bridges, as well as roadways rarely exposed to sunlight - they are often icy when other areas are not.
• Monitor the weather conditions at your destination before beginning your trip. If conditions look as though they are going to be too hazardous, just stay home.