by Downey Insurance Group | Jun 16, 2011 | Blog
According to FEMA: There may be some relief on the way for the Massachusetts residents affected by the storms that raged through New England on June 1st, 2011. Federal Disaster aid will be made available to homeowners and businesses in Hamden and Worcester county. Grants will be available to assist with temporary housing and repairs to damaged homes.
In addition to grants there will be low cost loans to cover un-insured losses. Other programs have been set to be released in the near future to help the community get back on it’s feet. Tornado damage is generally covered under a standard Massachusetts Homeowners Policy, if you have any questions regarding your coverage for Tornadoes we would be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Federal funding is also being provided to state and local governments for emergency work and facilities repair. Federal funding is being made available state wide for hazard mitigation on a cost-sharing basis.
James Russo will be acting as the Federal Coordinating Officer for the recovery operations for the Massachusetts area. Residents and business owners can begin to apply for assistance starting today at : www.disasterassistance.gov or by calling 1-800-621-3362.
by Downey Insurance Group | Jun 8, 2011 | Blog
A message from our friends at In Control Crash Prevention Training: $100 Off a Gift Certificate purchased before June 15th, 2011! Crash Prevention Training is the best way to learn how to handle your vehicle in an emergency situation. Give the gift of safety to your grad or student, it also may save you $$$ on your MA Insurance!
Buy a Gift Certificate Today and SAVE BIG!!
Gift certificates make great graduation gifts for both high school and college grads.
Thanks to support from our sponsors, we are offering $100 off* our full course gift certificates purchased by June 15, 2011.
To take advantage of this offer, use coupon code 2011GRAD when purchasing a full course gift certificate. These gift certificates are valid for seven years (per Massachusetts law) and may be used at any of our training locations.
$50, $75, and $100 gift certificates are also available.
**Discount cannot be combined with any other offer. Purchase must be made by June 15, 2011. Classes subject to availability. Gift Certificate discount applies only to full course purchase and cannot be applied to previous purchases.
by Downey Insurance Group | Dec 31, 1969 | Blog
What would you do if your home or business were hit by a flood? Are you covered for this type of loss? Would you be able to financially recover?
Most people know that Flood is not covered by their standard Homeowners Insurance policy or their Commercial Property Insurance policy. Flood Insurance can be very affordable whether you live in a low to moderate flood zone or a high-risk zone. According to FEMA, anyone can be at risk for flood damage. Generally, 20% to 30% of flood claims come from low to moderate flood risk zones. Disaster relief may offer some financial support after a large flood event, but may need to be repaid back overtime.
Over the past 10 years, the average flood claim has reached a dollar amount of $48,000. This is a substantial amount of money for a homeowner or business owner to shoulder on their own. The dollar amount will increase exponentially based on the height of the flood, although even a small flood can cause substantial damage to a building and its contents.
Flood Insurance is written with two separate limits and deductibles so a policy can be customized to fit everyone’s needs. You can have only building coverage or only contents coverage for your personal property if you are renting, or both. There is generally a 30-day waiting period for any new Flood policy, so the time to buy is now! Call us today to speak with one of our professional customer service representatives about protecting yourself with a Flood Insurance policy. 508-485-0130
by Downey Insurance Group | Dec 31, 1969 | Blog
Here are a few road rage statistics for your reading pleasure:
1. Miami Florida has the most aggressive drivers.
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2. A recent Gallup poll reported that motorists were more worried about road rage (42%) than about drunk driving (35%). – NY Times
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3. According to insightempire.com , the most courteous cities are Minneapolis, Nashville and St. Louis. Least courteous: Miami, Phoenix and New York.
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4. In the U.S., more than 300 cases of road rage annually have ended with serious injuries or even fatalities- Wikipedia
- What ever happened to road respect? Or following the rules of the road? Where people would just let you go by, not block entrances & exits and be kind and considerate? It seems that more and more drivers are in a rush, breaking road rules/laws, which in turn is causing many more accidents, causing our insurance rates to increase. We all just need to take a moment to breathe, and SLOW DOWN!. Road respect not only would help you get to your destination in a better mood but would also prevent “Road Rage”, which in turn would prevent some accidents & in some cases even injuries & deaths. Less accidents mean that our MA Auto Insurance rate will not continue to increase.
In the news a few weeks ago there was an incident where two young men had some road rage issues going on where one gentlemen actually stopped & got out of his car to attack the other, and one ended up getting stabbed multiple times in the head. Ouch, how scary is that? Fortunately it did not end in tragedy; he had some injuries, but lived to tell about it. What was all this for? Because one guy was driving too close behind the other (probably because he wanted him to move so he could go faster) and the other guy kept slamming on his breaks to scare the other guy off his rear/tail. Things like that can be prevented.
Posted by: Michelle Keene
by Downey Insurance Group | Dec 31, 1969 | Blog
There are many different kinds of house fires which include electrical, cooking/grease, smoke, candles left on, kids playing with matches/lighters, etc. They are ALL preventable. Grease fires are not only dangerous and scary, (as they all are) but also very common. Cooking is the leading cause of residential fires and fire injuries (according to CDC; Ahrens 2010) Most cooking fires are caused by people, and not appliance failures. The main causes of cooking fires include: leaving burners or ovens on after cooking, leaving food cooking on the stovetop unattended; often causing a grease fire, placing combustible materials too close to heat sources, and so forth. You get the picture. I was reading about house & grease fires on the CDC website and it stated that on average in the United States in 2009, someone died in a fire every 175 minutes, and someone was injured every 31 minutes. (Karter 2010) That’s crazy when you think about it. Some people don’t know what to do when there is a grease fire; they just react based on what most people think of when they see fire… water! As most of us know, not all fires can be put out with water; or at least not small amounts of water. We need to be extra careful when frying or deep frying foods or when cooking with oils, butter or other grease products. If a grease fire does occur in your home,
Here are some things to consider:
-Turn off the burner, if it’s safe to do so
-Put a lid on the pan or toss some baking soda on the flames
-If you can’t put out the grease fire quickly & safely, leave the house & call 911
-Do NOT pour water on the fire, and do not try to grab the burning pan.
Note that using a fire extinguisher or water on a grease fire could cause the hot oil to splatter and spread the fire; which in many cases causes serious injury/burns.
If there are children in the house, or elderly, don’t spend too much time trying to put out the fire. Get everyone out of the house & call 911. Stuff can be replaced, people can’t. What about when a fire starts up in your home while you’re sleeping? What do you depend on to alert you and your loved ones that there is a fire in your home? I’m sure you all know… a working smoke detector!! This is so important!! No matter how prepared we think we might be; we really never are. A good example, you’re neighbor’s house could be on fire, and if you have a working smoke detector, as soon as that smoke gets into your home, your detectors will go off and warn you in time; that can save your life & your home. So check your batteries regularly.
So in conclusion, just make sure you are really careful in the kitchen, and everywhere in the home. Don’t use damaged appliances, remember that water & electricity don’t mix, don’t leave irons, hair dryers, etc plugged in, don’t leave matches or lights anywhere that a child can reach or get into, do not leave candles burning while you sleep or out of the house, don’t leave combustible materials close to any type of heat source, don’t leave anything on the stove unattended, wear short or tight-fitting sleeves while cooking. You get the picture! Let me just tell you, that the people I know that have experienced house fires, never thought it would happen to them, but it did. It was very sad and in some cases physically painful & expensive.
Someone once said to me, “oh well, if it happens, I have massachusetts homeowners insurance”. My response to that was, “Insurance does not pay for everything, there is always a deductible, and insurance can’t replace pictures, memories, time, and many other things; and they can’t prevent injuries or death” so the best thing to do is not to depend on insurance but to just try the best you can to prevent a fire from even happening”. If anyone was to have the misfortune of experiencing a fire loss, insurance does help, but it does not change what happened.
-Posted by Personal Lines Representative: Elis Colon
