November 2011 Archives

Are you one of those people who goes to extremes for your holiday decorating?

You certainly aren't alone. Below, we've posted some of our favorite video clips featuring extreme holiday home light shows -- but first, we'd be remiss in our role as insurance advisors if we didn't offer a few words about the importance of safety. In Deck the Halls But Do It Safely When Working with Electrical Lights, EHS Today notes that, "during the 2 months surrounding the holiday season, more than 14,000 people are treated in hospital emergency rooms due to injuries related to holiday decorating. In 2010, the National Fire Protection Association stated that holiday lights were involved in an average of 150 reported home structure fires per year during 2004-2008. Those fires caused an average of eight civilian deaths, 16 civilian injuries, and $8.9 million in direct property damage per year."

If you are doing decorating outside your house, their article offers the following handy tips on safety from SafeElectricity.org:

• Never throw holiday lights or other decorations into trees near power lines
• Be especially careful when working near power lines attached to your house. Keep ladders, equipment, and yourself at least 10 feet from all power lines
• Use only lights, cords, animated displays and decorations rated for outdoor use. Follow the manufacturer's instructions on how to use them
• Cords should be plugged into outlets equipped with ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs)
• Use a portable GFCI if your outdoor outlets are not equipped with them
• Do not staple or nail through light strings or electrical cords, and do not attach cords to utility poles
• Outdoor holiday lights are for seasonal use, up to 90 days. Bring them inside after the holidays
• Avoid decorating outside on windy or wet days. Choose to decorate in favorable weather conditions and during daylight hours.

Later this week, watch for indoor decorating safety tips.

With any luck and proper planning, you won't find Thanksgiving as perilous as the turkeys in our video clip do, but be aware that Thanksgving is the leading day for residential fires (PDF), averaging about 2,000 for the day, double or more the number that would occur on an ordinary day.

See our tips for preventing kitchen fires and our past post on the dangers of deep fried turkeys.

What should you do if a fire breaks out? According to the National Fire Protection Association:

• Just get out! When you leave, close the door behind you to help contain the fire


• Call 9-1-1 or the local emergency number after you leave.


• If you try to fight the fire, be sure others are getting out and you have a clear way out.


• Keep a lid nearby when you're cooking to smother small grease fires. Smother the fire by sliding the lid over the pan and turn off the stovetop. Leave the pan covered until it is completely cooled.


• For an oven fire turn off the heat and keep the door closed.

We'd add a final step if damage occurs: File a report with your insurer or your local insurance agent.

Be safe and enjoy the holiday!

If you plan to hit the stores or the websites to shop this Thanksgiving weekend, you should give a few minutes to thinking about your safety before you do. People can get wacky over a baragain, particularly in these tough economic times. Plus, thieves love crowds - it's a perfect time for snatching purses or wallets, or stealing sensitive info that can lead to identity hijacking. Crime prevention experts suggest that You Need A Personal Safety Plan for Black Friday

Here's a few more things to watch out for and tips to stay safe:

Crowd tramplings, mobs, incidents of rage

Purse and wallet snatchings

Prevent Identify Theft & Fraud - online & off

10 tips to prevent ID theft when shopping online

If you should have a theft or an accident, report it to the police, and be sure to call your insurer or your local independent insurance agent to file a claim.

Tomorrow is the Great American Smokeout Day. Tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the US, yet more than 46 million Americans still smoke.

In addition to the toll that smoking takes on health, there are financial costs to smoking, too. There's the cost of the cigarettes, of course - which adds up to serious money over a year or a few years. Smokers also pay more for life insurance. Plus, many employers are beginning to charge smokers higher rates for health insurance. Some employers have a smokers need not apply policy.

There are other, less obvious costs. Smoking is bad for your computers, it can hurt the resale value of your car, and it can cause serious damage to your home, even making it harder to sell.

If you are still smoking, why not try quitting - at least for one day? The American Cancer Society offers a Guide to Quitting Smoking. There are also several excellent free quitting help lines - call 1-800-QUITNOW.

Insurers are still tallying up storm-related losses for the Halloween storm that has been called the freakiest ever. It's thought that when the final price tag comes in, losses will fall between $1 and $3 billion.

If you remained unscathed from this storm then you are one of the lucky ones, but don't count on your luck holding out in the future. Winter storms cause more than one billion dollars in damage annually and are the third largest cause of catastrophe losses. The Farmer's Almanac predicts the following about New England weather: "...the upcoming winter will be the equivalent of a cold slap in the face, as we forecast much colder-than-normal temperatures."

All this should serve as a reminder that it's important to take the necessary precautions to prevent unnecessary damage to your home. The Insurance Information Institute has posted a list of helpful tips to Winter-Proof Your House. We've reprinted a summary of their recommended preventative measures here:

Outside Your Home

• Clean out gutters
• Install gutter guards
• Trim trees and remove dead branches
• Repair steps and handrails
• Seal cracks in holes in outside walls and foundations.

Inside Your Home

• Keep the house warm.
• Add extra insulation to attics, basements and crawl spaces.
• Have the heating system serviced.
• Check pipes.
• Install an emergency pressure release valve in your plumbing system.
• Make sure that smoke and fire alarms are working properly.
• Consider installing a carbon monoxide detector.
• Learn how to shut the water off and know where your pipes are located.
• Hire a licensed contractor to look for structural damage.

While all these tips are helpful the most important thing is to review your insurance coverage to make sure you are adequately covered. Remember, flood insurance is not included in standard homeowners or renters insurance policies. Don't wait to learn your coverage limits until after something happens -- it may make for unpleasant surprises -- talk to your insurance agent today!

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has weighed in on the safety risks of driving hybrid and electric vehicles. Their conclusion was that hybrid and electric vehicles are more hazardous to pedestrians and cyclists. Electric engines are near silent compared to combustion engines and don't give the same audible warning as previous cars, especially when traveling at low speeds. Children and the visually impaired are often cited as being the most at risk, and the low noise engines are reported to be putting many pedestrians at higher risk of an automobile collision.

Although new technologies can usher in new risks, moving vehicles have always posed dangers to pedestrians. In 1899, Henry Bliss was run over by an electric cab, giving him the dubious distinction of being the first US auto fatality. But in the same era, horse drawn carriages were taking quite a toll: In New York in1900, 200 pedestrians were killed by horse drawn carriages.

Car manufacturers are reacting to the new threat by adding artificial sounds to hybrid vehicles to warn pedestrians. The Nissan Leaf EV now makes "wooshing" sounds despite its near silent engine, and Ford held a Facebook poll for users to vote on which artificial engine noise their new car should make, having posted a series of potential noises on YouTube. The noises ranged from more traditional engine sounds to futuristic spaceship noises. These fake engine noises are still being rolled out so they may not stick around since reactions appear to be mixed.

While the ostensible danger of silent vehicles is to pedestrians, drivers can also be at risk of not hearing a hybrid, increasing the potential for collisions. Plus, responsible drivers need to be hyper vigilant about the safety implications for pedestrians. Striking a pedestrian is a highly traumatic event that can result in injury or death. Depending on fault, it can also result in criminal charges or lawsuits. The liability portion of your auto insurance offers some financial protection should you strike a pedestrian. According to the Insurance Information Institute, liability insurance is compulsory in 49 states and the District of Columbia. Only New Hampshire does not have a compulsory auto insurance liability law. The chart on this page offers a breakdown of minimal liability limits for auto insurance by state.

If you live in New England and have questions about your auto insurance coverage, why not connect with a Renaissance Alliance insurance agent near you?