Tag: Garland independent insurance agents

Home Insurance and Soil Movement

There are 20 homes in Carrollton, Texas on Barclay Drive which back up to Dudley Branch Creek. The retaining wall behind the homes is failing causing the lots to sink as the soil begins to move downhill toward the creek. Some of the residents have filed a lawsuit against the city of Carrollton saying it’s responsible for repairing the retaining wall while the city contends it’s the homeowners’ responsibility to repair the wall. The estimated cost to repair the wall is $3 million. Home insurance won’t help the homeowners either.

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Car Insurance and Hit or Miss an Animal?

I’ve never hit a deer or other large animal, but I have come close, usually when heading out to or home from a backpacking trip. I’ve seen them walk in front of an oncoming car and just miss getting hit. Luckily for the drivers of the car, and the deer, they were able stop the car or SUV safely without a loss of control and give the deer another day. Not everyone is so fortunate, as the amount car insurance companies and the Federal Highway Administration reports.

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Car Weight, CAFÉ Standards, and Car Insurance

Have you heard about the new Ford F-150? It would be hard to miss the press on its predominate aluminum body. Ford shaved 700 pounds off last year’s model by switching from steel to aluminum for 97% of the outside of the truck’s body. Doing so helped improve theF-150’s fuel economy from 5% to 29% depending on which engine is installed.

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Earthquakes in Texas and Home Insurance

Thirteen earthquakes struck north Texas in a 24 hour period last week hitting near the former site of Texas stadium in Irving. North Texans began asking, “Where were you when the quakes struck?” The top three quakes measured 3.1, 3.5, and 3.6 on the Richter scale, with the remaining tremors measuring between 1.6 and 2.9. Many north Texans were shaken up. Calls began to pour in to city offices, fire and police departments, as well as offices of homeowners’ insurance agents.

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Texas Car Inspection Changes for 2015

In case you missed it, House Bill 2305 was passed by the Texas Legislation on June 14, 2013. It goes into effect on March 1, 2015 and it does away with the familiar inspection sticker most Texas drivers are accustomed to receiving when we have our cars and trucks inspected each year. The goal, starting March 1st is to combine inspection sticker with our vehicle registration sticker.

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Social Media Do’s and Don’ts

Did you watch the Sugar Bowl on January 1st? In between the game played by Alabama and Ohio State, was an entertaining series of commercials from Allstate. Mayhem, the trouble making character, discovers a couple, Matt and Shannon, has posted on their Facebook page they are out of town and attending the Sugar Bowl game in New Orleans. Mayhem takes the opportunity to break into the couple’s home and proceeds to sell all their earthly belongings.

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Hail, Roofs, and Texas Home Insurance Changes

The Bob Dylan song, The Times They Are A-Changing, has never been more appropriate than now when it comes to Texas home insurance. This is especially true with insurance companies and how they are grappling with home insurance rates, hail claims, and how to cover roofs.

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Follow Up On Airbag Recalls and Auto Privacy Rights

There are two blog posts I’ve written in the past several months on car related topics. One involved the airbag recall fracas between the auto makers, the air bag manufacturer, Takata, and Congress (see http://50.87.248.161/~wiseinsu/air-bags-recalls-mysteries-driving-changes/). The other involved our privacy rights from the auto makers (see http://50.87.248.161/~wiseinsu/privacy-rights-and-your-car/). I felt it was time to revisit and update these posts due to the movement in both of these stories.

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