Tag: Texas

Home Insurance vs. Home Warranties

Last week, I helped a family in Allen, Texas change their home and car insurance from the carrier they were with to one of the insurance companies we work with. The wife and I were reviewing what the new home insurance policy covered and she asked an excellent question: does the new policy cover the air conditioning unit? Instead of simply answering her question, I wanted to confirm what she meant by the policy covering the air conditioning unit. It turns out, she wanted to know if the home insurance policy will replace their A/C unit when it wears out.

Read More »

How Much Commercial Liability Insurance Do You Need?

On the afternoon of April 17, 2013 a fire broke out at the West Fertilizer Company in West, Texas, a town located a little more than an hour’s drive south of Dallas and Fort Worth on Interstate 35. The first responders to the fire included 10 members of the West Volunteer Fire Department, along with 2 other people who pitched in to help. At 7:50 that evening, an explosion rocked the West Fertilizer Company killing 15 people including the 12 people who responded to the fire and injuring about 200 people in town.

Read More »

Flying Ice and Car Insurance Claims

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.

Read More »

Where are The Worst Drivers in Texas?

Allstate Insurance Company recently released their annual list of cities with the best and worst drivers. Sadly, no city in Texas was included in the top 10 list for best or safest drivers. The only good news is no city in Texas made it in the top 10 of worst drivers either.

Read More »

How Your Home Insurance Value is Determined

I received a call on Friday from a woman in Frisco, Texas on Friday who wanted me to review her home and car insurance. The family’s rates are going up on their upcoming renewal in August, and like most people she doesn’t want to spend more on her insurance than she has to. I don’t blame her!

Read More »

D Magazine Best Award for 2013

On a cloudy day in March, I went by the post office to drop off some items and pick up my mail. There was the normal mail, a bill or two, a movie and a large envelope from D Magazine. I almost threw the D Magazine envelope away thinking it was a solicitation for a new subscription but didn’t. I was pretty amazed to learn I’d been selected as one of the Best Home and Auto Insurance Agents in Dallas 2013.

Read More »

17 Steps You Can Take To Prevent Identity Theft

Identity theft, and the fraud associated with it, is a growing problem in the US and across the globe. Out of 2.06 million complaints reported to the Federal Trade Commission, 370,800 were identity theft related. In Texas, the rate of identity theft complaints rose 17% from 2011 to 2012, or 28, 299 up from 24,162.

Read More »

Hurricane Preparation in 3 Steps

Hurricane season runs from June 1 through the end of November. Hurricane forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are predicting a busy hurricane season. If you’re not prepared, now’s a great time to prepare instead of waiting until a storm is bearing down on your section of the Texas Gulf Coast, or where ever you happen to live.

Read More »

Commercial Insurance Implications from West, Texas

ast week we looked at the insurance lessons we could learn from the fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas on April 17th. The explosion destroyed the plant, killed 15 people, injured 200 and damaged or destroyed 350 homes, a school, an apartment building and a nursing home. Preliminary estimates of the damage and destruction were pegged at $100 million.

Read More »