Can A House Or Apartment Fire, Damage A Foundation?

October 12, 2011 by Leave a comment

Concrete is used  in many parts of a home or building. This includes the foundation, barriers, support beams and other structures. Concrete is also used as a fireproofing, due to its low thermal conductivity. In a substantial fire, concrete can weaken and sometimes must be replaced. This is the reason why insurance companies account for a foundation, when insuring a building or dwelling.

Facts of Concrete Being Exposed To Fire

Up to 300 °C(572F),  the concrete undergoes regular thermal expansion. Above that temperature, shrinkage occurs due to loss of water. Aggregate continues expanding, which causes internal stress. Up to about 500 °C, the major structural changes are carbonation and coarsening of pores. At 573 °C(1063F), quartz undergoes rapid expansion due to Phase transition, and at 900 °C(1652F) calcite starts to shrink due to decomposition. At 450-550 °C(842 to 1022F) the cement hydrate decomposes, producing calcium oxide. Calcium carbonate decomposes at about 600 °C(1112F). Rehydration of  calcium oxide on the dropping temperture of the concrete causes expansion. This can cause damage to the concrete which sustained the fire without falling apart. Concrete that has experienced a fire and left standing for several years shows extensive degree of carbonation and deteriation.

The Temperture of a house or apartment fire.

  • A House or Apartment Fire can exceed 1100F is 3 1/2 minutes.
  • The Heat from a fire can spread to any room. These temperatures can reach over 300F without an active fire in that room.

Overall if concrete of any sort is exposed long enough to fire, it could cause little or even a lot of damage. This can be a concern, due to the fact that the foundation supports the dwelling or building and supports a lot of wait. A Structural  or Civil engineer can determine if a foundation is safe or not.

Sources:

http://www.fairviewok.org/id71.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concrete#Leaching

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Halloween Parties And Your Home Insurance

October 3, 2011 by Leave a comment

Halloween is one of the most favorite times of year.  All kinds of events happen on this day, including Halloween Parties.  You will have your friend John dressing up like a giant banana and Suzie dressing up like Little Red Riding Hood.  Some people are going to have Halloween Parties this year.  Here are some things to think about before you host your Halloween Party at your home.

  • Make sure before hosting a party that you have a clear path from the street to your door.  Make sure there are no potential tripping hazards or delinquencies that could cause a slip and fall.  If you have snow on Halloween shovel your driveways, walkways and lay down salt in order to melt ice.
  • Make sure to confine your pets not only because people can trip and fall over them but you don’t want your pet to run away or get hurt.
  • Make sure all areas where people are going to be walking including dining room, living rooms, sidewalks, bathrooms and dens are well lit so people have a clear view of where they are walking.
  • Do not use open flames.  Even though this is a party killer, do not light candles because people have the tendency to knock them over and start a fire.  Use the electrical lights for your candles and your jack-o-lanterns.
  • If you are serving food, make sure that perishables don’t sit out too long.  You do not want your guests to get sick from food you serve.
  • If you are planning to serve alcohol, make sure you don’t serve your guests too much, and make sure they have a way home.  This can be a Taxi Cab or assign a designated driver.
  • Test all safety devices including fire alarms if applicable, test smoke detectors, and make sure your fire extinguisher is up to date.

In conclusion, a renter, a homeowner and a landlord can be potentially held liable for any incidents or accidents that occur on a property.  Make sure your homeowners, renters or landlord policy has enough medical payments liability coverage and premises liability coverage.  We recommend at least $5,000 Medical Payments and $300,000 liability coverage on homeowners. Also make sure that you homeowners doesn’t have an exclusion for liquor being served.  If you have any questions or would like a quote, please feel free to contact us.

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The Liability Of Halloween Trick Or Treaters On Your Property

October 3, 2011 by Leave a comment

Halloween can be a great and fun time of the year. Those little pumpkins come to the door and say “Trick or Treat” and you give them all kinds of candy. Many Moms and Dads walk along with their children in gathering those little treats, and even sometimes grandmas and grandpas. As We all know they come on your property, ring your door bell and you give out goodies. The unforeseen threat is when the “trick or treaters” come  on your property, you could potentially be held liable for anything that could happen. This is if someone slips o falls, or any other type of “accident”. This could be if you are  a renter, homeowner or landlord. There are a couple of ways to prevent and protect yourself and we are going to explain what to do.

What To Do To Your Property To Prepare For Trick Or Treaters

  • Make sure there is a clear path from the street to your door. Make sure there is enough space for people to walk.
  • Have the area’s well-lit with light. This is so people can see clearly where they are walking on your property.
  • If its snows, shovel your driveway and walkways, and lay down salt. This is to prevent slip and falls.
  • Don’t have any hazards in the way or attractive nuisance’s.  This could be a hole you are digging in your lawn, or a pile of lumber or rocks in your yard.

Check Your Home Insurance Policy

Make sure your homeowners or renters policy has enough liability and medical coverage. We at least recommend having $5,000 in Medical Payments Coverage and having at least a $300,000 liability. Increasing these coverages will at most cost you an extra $50 dollars per year.  If someone sues you or there is a monetary judgement held against you due to an incident, your home insurance policy protects you.

If you take these basic steps it will assure a lot safer Halloween for you as a homeowner, and for your trick or treaters. Happy Halloween. If you have any questions or would like a quote, please contact us. Thanks for reading!

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We Are Your Local Travelers Insurance Agents

October 1, 2011 by Leave a comment

Looking for a Travelers Insurance Agent? You are at the right place. We are appointed and represent Travelers Insurance and their products. Our agent code is 06×753. We are a full service National insurance agency. Here is a line up of products that we write-through Travelers.

  • Auto/Car Insurance
  • Home Insurance
  • Condo Insurance
  • Renter’s Insurance
  • Landlord Dwelling Insurance
  • Landlord Condo Insurance
  • Personal Umbrella Insurance
  • Commercial & Business Insurance
  • And More!

We service the following area’s in Colorado:

Aurora, Arvada, Colorado Springs, Commerce City, Castle Rock, Denver, , Centennial, Englewood, Greenwood Village, Littleton, Northglenn, Thornton, Westminster, Wheatridge and more. Please visit this link for our map.

If you would like a quote, please contact us during normal business hours, or shoot us an email. Thanks for visiting our site!

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We Are Your Local Safeco Insurance Agents

September 30, 2011 by Leave a comment

Looking for a Safeco Insurance Agent? You are at the right place. We are appointed and represent Safeco Insurance and their products. Our agent code is 05-3429. We are a full service National insurance agency. Here is a line up of products that we write-through Safeco.                Click here to see our Agent listing on the Official Safeco Insurance Website.

  • Auto/Car Insurance
  • Collector Car Insurance
  • Home Insurance
  • Condo Insurance
  • Renter’s Insurance
  • Landlord Dwelling Insurance
  • Landlord Condo Insurance
  • Personal Umbrella Insurance
  • Commercial & Business Insurance
  • And More!

We service the following area’s in Colorado:

Aurora, Arvada, Colorado Springs, Commerce City, Castle Rock, Denver, , Centennial, Englewood, Greenwood Village, Littleton, Northglenn, Thornton, Westminster, Wheatridge and more. Please visit this link for our map.

If you would like a quote, please contact us during normal business hours, or shoot us an email. Thanks for visiting our site!

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Will The Insurance Company Inspect My Home?

September 25, 2011 by Leave a comment

When purchasing home insurance, there are some steps involved. One of them being inspecting your home after purchase of  the policy. When you buy a homeowners policy, the insurance company has the right for inspection. This can be at the beginning, or in the middle of the term. There are a couple of reasons why insurance companies does this.

  1. The insurance companies checks the assessor report, square footage, build and other factors to make sure that the home is insured to 100 percent of its value. This is to assure that property’s don’t go under insured.
  2. The inspector looks for pride of ownership. In other woods is the home being taken care and maintained. From there the inspector will note in his/her report their findings. This could be that the house is in good shape, or needs work.
  3. Liabilities are noted and sent back to the under writer. This could be a pool, trampoline, or any other liability.
  4. There are other steps that the inspector might through, such as an interior inspection, but for the most part, the first 3 steps, are the main steps.

After the inspection is done, the inspector will send his report back to the insurance company. From here, it will go through under writing, and if there are no flags, the policy gets issued. The insurance company may also require further steps, such as fixing a condition in the house. They could also completely deny issuance of a policy, but this only happens a small percentage of the time, usually due to a serious factor. (An Example is telling an insurance company that you own a Golden Retriever, but they find out you have a Pit bull).

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Why A Trampoline In Your Backyard Is A Bad Idea

September 23, 2011 by Leave a comment

Trampolines are fun and good for exercise. They are also sometimes considered and attractive nuisance and are excluded on most home insurance policies.  By attractive nuisance, you as the homeowner are one hundred percent liable for any potential incidents or lawsuits. So for example, if little Johnny next door, sneaks over and injures himself on your trampoline, you are fully responsible. Even if you weren’t home and didn’t give him permission to be on your property.

According to a CBS News article, 98,000 people were treated in emergency rooms in 2009, due to a trampoline injury. The injuries have also doubled over the past decade, compared to the previous.

These injuries are not going to pay for themselves, and since your home owners insurance most likely has a trampoline exclusion, the homeowner is going to have to pay out-of-pocket.  Insurance companies use to cover trampolines on their policies. After injuries started staggering up, and personal injury lawyers started suing anyone and anybody, insurance companies got out of the business of insuring trampolines.

Our advice is DO NOT OWN ONE. Were not trying bash the Trampoline Industry, were trying to protect the home owner. Trying to protect him or her from frivolous law suits.  All it takes is for a trail attorney lawyer to represent little Johnny’s injury, and for you to pay out-of-pocket over 50,000 dollars. Even if you some how have an insurance policy that covers it, get rid of it. It’s a headache to completely avoid.

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How To Know If Your Dealing With A Licensed Insurance Agent Or Company

September 23, 2011 by Leave a comment

Today is this world, it seems like some one is always out to scam or cheat someone else. We all know its very important to protect your identity and other financial information. We all need to be skeptical, and must protect ourselves as best as we can. So how do you know if your dealing with a legitimate agent or company when shopping for insurance? You have to give out a lot of information when shopping for insurance. It’s always good to double-check if that person or company is licensed before you do so.

How Do I check If a Company or Person Is Licensed?

It’s very easy to check if an agent is licensed or if a company has a certificate of authority. You can simply do this by contacting the department of insurance in your state. For example in Colorado, its DORA- Division of insurance.  From here you can see if they’re licensed and what lines they authorized to transact business in. It also shows the dates of inception and expiration of their license or Certificate Of Authority.

The division of insurance also requires agents to pass a mandatory test, and also pass a credit and background check. They require insurance companies to get a Certificate Of Authority, and to prove solvency and stability  in order to write insurance in their state.  Some companies are Surplus and Excess and do not have to got thorough the process of getting a Certificate Of Authority. These companies  write unusual risks or hard to place, and are considered non-standard markets. In most states, the commissioner has a list of Surplus and Excess companies they find the most trust worthy.

Other Ways to Verify Acknowledgement and Recognition

  • Most agents must go through the process of being appointed by an insurance company. This includes license check with the state, background check, and credit check.
  • Check the financial score of an insurance company by visiting AM Best.
  • Check with the BBB.
  • See how long a company or agent has been in business. A new or small company or agent is not necessarily negative.
  • Meeting an agent or company rep in person is always a good idea.
  • See if the agent and/or company has any past or current complaints with the division of insurance.

Most of all if its to good to be true, or you feel uncomfortable, don’t give out your personal information! Check with the State Department of Insurance first. As always if you have more questions please call us during normal business hours.

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Are You Prepared For A Loss?

September 21, 2011 by Leave a comment

So much of the time we are more concerned about how much our monthly premium is than what we have to pay in a deductible should we have a loss.  We margin our deductible at a level in order to make our insurance premium comfortable, thus, in the time of a loss, we are not prepared to make the deductible payment.

For example, Susie has a business that is a high-end clothing store.  She has taken out business insurance to cover her investment but has set her deductible at a high level because she wants to keep her premium low.  When the time comes when Susie does suffer a loss, she is not prepared to pay the $10,000 deductible that she has requested on her insurance policy.

We need to prepare ourselves by saving money each week so we are can make the deductible payment should we experience a loss.  Isn’t that what insurance is really about, taking care of the loss when we actually have one?  So, put the money aside, and take care of yourself,  your business, your home and family by always having enough money to cover your deductibles on your insurance policy.

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Colorado earthquakes and your Home Insurance

September 17, 2011 by Leave a comment

Recently in Colorado, we have been getting a lot more seismic activity. It seems like we have been getting a lot more earthquakes lately. So what does this mean for your homeowners insurance? Lets first take a look at recent incidents.

Latest notable earthquake activity

-Sept 16, 2011, located below the Colorado border.  3.8 magnitude.

-Sept 12th, 2011, location near Craig Colorado. 3.7 magnitude.

-Sept 11th, 2011, location near Kiowa Colorado. 3.9 magnitude.

-Aug 22, 2011, 9 miles outside of Trinidad, 5.3 magnitude.

Other notable older earthquakes

-1967, near Denver, Colorado. 5.3 magnitude.

-1973, northwest corner of Colorado, 5.7 magnitude.

Largest Earthquake in Colorado History

In 1882 the state experienced its largest earthquake, which occurred in now what is Rocky Mountain National Park. It read a 6.5 on the Rictor scale. By far the biggest earthquake in Colorado history.

What does this mean for your Homeowners insurance?

A standard homeowners insurance policy does not cover earthquakes. You must by a separate insurance policy, known as earthquake insurance. This policy would provide coverage for your dwelling and contents, if an earthquake were ever to occur.

Should I buy earthquake insurance with all this seismic activity lately in Colorado?

Event though we have had a lot of activity lately, I don’t think people should be out panicking about this. I believe by looking at the plates, the chances of a big enough earthquake to come along, in a high populated area is very unlikely.  My professional opinion is that buying earthquake insurance at this time is most likely unnecessary.  We have never had an earthquake that has caused a significant amount of property damage or has hurt or killed anyone in our Colorado history. This is something that could change down the road, depending on what happens.

If you are interested in purchasing Earthquake insurance, and feel there is a need for it, please contact us during or normal business hours.

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