The Texas Department of Insurance recently released a report detailing the number of people driving without coverage. The good news is the number of Texans driving without car insurance is still lower than it was a few years ago when it was over 20% of all Dallas drivers. The current figures show 1 in 6 people on Dallas roadways don’t have car insurance and this number is even higher than it was last year.
The rain started falling in Colorado on Wednesday, September 11th. It rained, and rained, and continued to rain over the next several days. The rain on the 12th was particularly heavy when 4 to 6 inches of rain fell in less than a 12 hour period. In some places over 15 inches of rain fell during the multi-day storm. The creeks and streams rose and rivers overflowed their banks. According to the Colorado Division of Water Resources, water in many of the rivers and creeks had flows of over 1,000% than normal levels at the height of the flooding.
You are in your car, stopped at a red light patiently waiting for it to turn green so you can get to your destination. A car zooms up behind you and rear ends you. Maybe the driver wasn’t paying attention, was texting, or some other equally frustrating reason the driver didn’t stop. You know your car sustained significant damage just from the force of the impact.
Every new home insurance policy is followed by an inspection. The purpose of the inspection is to determine if the home truly meets the underwriting guidelines of the insurance company. My role as an independent insurance agent is to be the first level underwriter and confirm the home will pass the inspection so I ask questions to make sure I’m placing the home with the best carrier.
Several months ago, a friend of mine called. Tom, not his real name, and his buddy had traveled to San Antonio for a guy’s trip a couple of weekends earlier. Tom drove through a construction zone where there was a lane shift followed by a traffic light. Based on the location of the light, he mistakenly thought he was supposed to stop about 40 yards away. He ended up passing through the intersection and was struck by a car that had a green light. It was his fault.
One of my clients called me two weeks ago. She’d heard a heavy crash the previous night which startled her. She conducted a quick review of the interior of her home but did not find the source of the noise so she went on to bed curious about what she’d heard. Her question was answered the next morning when she ventured outside; a tree had been blown over onto her home.
I had coffee last week with a friend of mine in Dallas. We’ll call her Abby, not her real name. We were catching up on each other’s summer and how our businesses were doing; they’re both growing. Abby owns one of the top catering companies in Dallas handling everything from a family meal, when no one feels like cooking, to a sit down dinner for 5,000 people. She’s quite the chef! When my wife had eye surgery earlier this year, Abby gave me a batch of her tortilla soup to aid in Sheri’s recovery. It was the best soup either of us has ever had.
Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs, Colorado have experienced severe fires both last year and this year. In June of 2012, the Waldo Canyon fire ravaged almost 19,000 acres, killed two people, and destroyed 347 homes. The Black Forest fire that happened in June of this year torched over 14,200 acres, killed two people and destroyed 509 homes.
The Dallas Morning News reported earlier this year on surcharges the state of Texas assesses to Texas drivers who are convicted of offenses such as driving while intoxicated, failure to maintain car insurance, and driving without a valid license or with an invalid license. These driver surcharges were enacted as a part of The Driver Responsibility Program in 2003.
In the category where truth is stranger than fiction, news wire services reported in January of this year the account of a St. George, Utah couple whose home was struck by a boulder measuring 12 feet by 9 feet. The rock broke free from the cliff above Scot and Wanda Denhalter’s home at about 3:00 a.m. and crashed through the master bedroom wall while Wanda was sleeping alone in their bed.
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