A family was referred to me last year to review their policies. They had home insurance policies on two homes, car insurance for all their vehicles, and an umbrella policy. Everything was straight forward with one exception: the second home. It was originally a barn that had been converted to a home.
November 7, 2000. This was the last day there was not a fatality on a Texas roadway, county road, farm to market road, or highway. For over 13 years, there’s been at least one traffic fatality per day. Over 45,000 people have died on our roadways during this time period …
?2013 has come to a close and 2014 is off and running. Housing in north Texas rocketed last year, however many predict it will cool a bit in 2014. The population of Texas continues to grow at a rapid pace. While the rate of growth is predicted to slow a bit in the coming years, it will still grow.
?What do you consider when buying a new or new-to-you car? Is it style, comfort, or enough room to run the kids to school or soccer practice with their friends? What about color and features? Maybe it’s pickup, handling, and how it feels when jumping on LBJ when there’s no one there? Whatever it is that moves you toward a particular vehicle, have you considered the safety of the vehicle you’re considering and its crash rating?
It’s New Year’s Eve. 2013 draws to an end tonight and tomorrow a New Year dawns. Your outfit’s picked out and reservations are made for dinner and the after dinner party. Or maybe you’re going with a group of friends to a club. Or maybe you’re hosting the party at your house. Champagne is chilled and hors d’oeuvres are ready! So what’s to worry? Plenty if you drink too much and get a DUI.
One of my clients emailed me on Saturday. She’d recently shopped at a Dallas area Target store to pick up some items for Christmas and had just read the news about the credit card breach at Target stores across the country. She was concerned and wanted to know what to do.
North Texas was hit by an ice storm about two weeks ago. Rain fell and froze then built up on trees and powers lines until weight won out and lines began to snap. The storm led to power loss for over 270,000 people with no numbers reported on the impact to small businesses.
Driving in the Dallas / Fort Worth area is always entertaining when we have an ice storm. Those of us who grew up in Texas or the southern parts of the country are just not very good at driving on ice, although I don’t know anyone who is. Aside from the normal slipping and sliding on LBJ or North Central Expressway, we learned that “cobblestone” ice can be just as challenging as sheet ice. There were also some interesting things that occurred with falling or flying ice that led to a number of car insurance claims.
North Texas spent last weekend digging out from the previous week’s ice storm. The sun finally came out and we got above freezing allowing the ice to melt. By the middle of the week, power was restored to most people, schools were in session, people were working, and the roads were clear.
Winter came early to north Texas last week when the rain turned into sleet and the temperatures plummeted 50 degrees from Wednesday’s high of 80. The ice built up on all surfaces including tree limbs and power lines. Some of the power lines snapped and others were ripped from poles when ice laden limbs broke off from trees and fell onto the already strained lines.
Subscribe to my newsletter by filling the form below.
A confirmation email will be sent to your mailbox: please read the instructions to complete the subscription.
