Teal Pumpkins At Halloween? What Do They Mean?

There seems to be more people effected by food allergies, especially nut allergies, these days. Peanut allergies are so bad that most if not all schools are nut free zones.  That has to be scary for parents during this time of year with Halloween and trick or treating.

In an effort to protect food allergy sensitive children, an organization called FARE or Food Allergy Research & Education came up The Teal Pumpkin Project. What they came up with is, to show homes have an alternative to candy, they place a teal pumpkin outside their homes. How cool is that? These homes have a bucket of candy and a separate bucket with stuff that’s not food like bubbles, stickers, things that glow, pencils, erasers, crayons, etc.

No one wants to feel left out, especially for something that is out of their control. I encourage you to participate and put out a teal pumpkin for those children that have food allergies. If you don’t have a teal pumpkin, have a sign saying you have nonfood items as well as candy.

Have a safe and Happy Halloween!

For more information on the Teal Pumpkin Project and a list of non-food items, go to http://www.foodallergy.org/teal-pumpkin-project. 

HELP! My Teen Will Be Driving Soon!

October 18^th through the 24^th is National Teen Driving Safety Week so let’s talk about what parents can do to help teens be a better driver and what to expect when shopping for insurance for them.

Our kids learn from us all the time. When my kids were little, I often heard, “They’re like little sponges. They pick up everything.” Isn’t that the truth? They pick up what you say and how you do things very early on in their lives. This also goes for how you handle yourself while driving. And just when you think they are completely zoned in on their phones, tablets or a movie they are watching. 

Here are a few tips to follow, especially when your kids, babies thru teenagers, are in the car:

• Be a good driver – Remember, they are watching you, even if they have their faces in their phones or tablets. Be the example by not being on your phone while you’re driving, control your road rage and obey the traffic signs. I know there are some not so safe drivers out there so drive defensively but stay calm.
• Put them in Driver’s Ed- There are people out there that are trained to teach our teens how to drive so let them. Sign them up for Driver’s Ed. Less stress for you and probably for your teen as well. OH!!! And it could very well help with a discount on your auto insurance. More on that later…
• Give them rules – You’re the boss so you get to say when they can drive and who they can have in the car. Farmers has an article, Parents of Teen Drivers that suggests even to write out a contract with them, listing what the guidelines are and what you expect of them while they are behind the wheel. As time goes, if none of the rules are broken, maybe that can mean they gain more drive time or some sort of a rewards for sticking to the rules.  
•    Be real with them about driving risks – Talk to them about the dangers of drinking and driving. Also talk to them about the dangers of distracted driving with their phones, the radio, even a passenger. Sit down with them and really dig into the dangers of drinking and driving and with distracted driving. It’s not meant to scare them but to raise awareness of the possible dangers that can happen when behind the wheel.

Have you started shopping for Auto Insurance for your teen?  Is it better to put them on your existing policy or set them up with their own policy? There are benefits to both. If you put them on your policy, although it may raise your rates, they could get the same benefits you have and get a discount. Now here’s the reason you may want to get them their own. *Car accidents for teens 16-17 are three times higher than the general population. Some families decided to go with setting them up on their own to keep their insurance clean, just in case their teen were to get in an accident.

Once you decide on whether to add your teen to your account or separately, we can look into what kind of coverage to get for them. Will the car they are driving be a used or a new car? Will they be driving with others in the car besides siblings?  Do you go with just liability if it’s an older car? Would you need to add any other coverage for your teen driver? These are all things we can look at because having the right insurance is NO accident.

With the possibility of high rates with a teen on your policy and talk of possible extra coverage, I’m sure you’re wanting to know more about any possible discounts that can help lower premiums. Well there are a few Classroom Discounts :

• Driver’s Education – Did your teen go through a state-approved drivers education course? If so, this can qualify for a discount.
• Good Student – For High School students, with at least a B average and College Students with at least a 3.0, discount! Is your student is on the Honor Roll or the Dean’s list? Discount! Are they in the top 20% of their class and/or top 20% in national standardized tests? Discount! It pays, or discounts, to be a good student. Parents are then rewarded.
• Distant Student- If your teen driver is off at school and it's +100 miles from home, discount!
• Multi-car – Putting your teen driver on your policy can also give you a discount.

It happens in the blink of an eye. One day they are little ones, getting into everything they can and then next they are getting into a car to drive themselves to and from places. The best things for us to do is be the example or as Parents of Teen Drivers says, “Think of yourself as a road role model, and drive that way.”  

"So it's simple: You burn me, you fail. You don't, you pass." -DMV Examiner, License to Drive 

*Information was taken from Car Insurance Shopping for Teens and Parents of Teen Drivers. The information taken from these articles is provided for general informational purposes only. The information is not meant as professional or expert advice, and any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk. 

**Information taken from Insurance Institute for Highway safety

Is Coverage for a Specialty Home the Same for a Primary Residence?

TRUE or FALSE:

You don’t need a whole lot of coverage on a specialty homes (vacation, seasonal, rental or vacant home) because it’s not your primary home.  Just the minimum will do just fine!

 

FALSE! The reason why is because property damage or loss does not care if it’s a primary residence or a specialty home. Neither do thieves or vandals. They are definitely not biased. The coverage won’t be exactly the same but coverage is vital for your protection in an event of any of the above.

 

It’s important to know that when you’re shopping around for Vacation and Seasonal Home Insurance that not all insurance companies will insure a secondary home unless you primary is insured with them. Some will not insure them at all.  That’s not the case with Farmers. Regardless if you have your primary coverage with another insurer, we will be happy to set you up with the coverage that best suits you. Whether you prefer to go with a prepackaged policy or we can customize one to meet your specific needs, we are happy to help.

 

Searching for Vacant Home Insurance and coming up short? Many insurers shy away from this type of insurance as well.   Why? Vacant homes are more vulnerable to break ins, vandalism and liability, just to name a few. It’s important that you have the right coverage because, for instance, if an intruder were to slip, fall and injure themselves while breaking into your vacant home, unfortunately, even though they were there without being invited to be there, you could be sued for their injuries. Most homeowner policies do not cover these type of situations. The good thing is that Farmers gives you options. The Farmers Vacant Home Program is an option that we can sit down and look through for your vacant home insurance needs.

 

If you have rental properties, we can help you there as well. There are several avenues we can explore to get you the best for your situation. Whether you have multiple properties, duplexes or even vacation rental homes, we can fit you into the best Landlord or Rental Property Insurance for your needs.

History of the Selfie

Where did this selfie phenomena come from? How did it get started? When did it get started? Curiosity struck, so I went to the best place I knew of to find out more, Wikipedia, did a little research and decided to blog about it.

Wikipedia defines a selfie as:

A selfie is a self-portrait photograph, typically taken with a digital camera or camera phone held in the hand or supported by a selfie stick.

Selfie stick… How does Wikipedia define that? I thought you’d never ask:

A monopod used to take selfie photographs by positioning a smartphone or camera beyond the normal range of the arm.

The first known “selfie” was taken way back in 1839 by an American pioneer in photography named Robert Cornelius but it was called a daguerreotype. There was a longer process back then to take a selfie so my guess is that’s why it was a longer name for it. In the 1900’s, more techniques came about with people taking “selfies” using a mirror. Wikipedia has Russian Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna as the first teenager to take a selfie using the mirror method in 1914. She took it to send to a friend through the actual mail.

As far as who coined the word “selfie” it’s not completely clear but credit is being given to an Australian man named Karl Kruszelnicki. Uploading them to social media (from a disposable camera), credit also being given to Australia sometime in 2001.

Here’s something I didn’t expect to find when looking into the history of the selfie. Did you know that death by selfie is higher than people killed by shark attacks this year? Just for 2015, USA Today lists 12 incidents were people have died while attempting to take a selfie. That’s 4 deaths higher than the number of deaths from shark attacks this year. Who would have thought we would need steps on how to take a safe selfie. Check out the illustration below for safer selfie taking steps:

Selfie Safety brought to you by The Telegraph

When I started this blog, there was a video circulating on social media about a group of sorority girls at a baseball game, eating churros and taking selfie after selfie. The announcers for that game had a play by play on the shot that was pretty funny.  It looked over exaggerated at the time but it was said to not be and was real. What better way to start off a blog, with that video! Well… Now there’s an apology from the announcers because it was indeed not real. What a buzz kill. Everything on the internet is supposed to be true, right? Turns out the girls were actually doing some sort of a team promotion that would later be aired in the broadcast. According to Fox 4 News, the girls were all offered free tickets to an upcoming game. They accepted the tickets but with October being Domestic Violence Awareness Month they wanted the tickets to be donated to an organization called A NewLeaf who is a supporter of domestic violence awareness.  

Here's the video that was circulating, just in case you missed it:

Video brought to you by Foxsports.com

Firefighters and Police Officers, This One's For You

Firefighters and Police Officers put their lives at risk every day for our safety. Their continued dedication to their line of work and to their community are greatly appreciated. What better way to show our appreciation by offering special preferred rates on their auto and homeowners insurance. Farmers goes above and beyond to make sure all our clients are provided top notch customer service, especially these brave men and women.

Choosing auto insurance can be difficult at times and having the right coverage is important as well. Making sure you have the right coverage for the best price is key. We can sit down and lay out all your options to make sure you are where you need to be at with the price that’s right for you.

Home insurance is just as, if not more, important as auto. Farmers specializes in getting you into the best policy to give you peace of mind in an event of a loss to your home and belongings. Whether it’s your home or a rented property your policy will fit your needs.

Bundling with Farmers is another good way to save. Protecting your home and auto with coverage is great but what about protecting your family in an event of a tragedy? What if the unthinkable happens to you? Life Insurance is not something that is easy to talk about, but it is definitely a necessity. Let’s look at what your options are and put you in the most beneficial policy for your needs.

Farmers offers what we call a Farmers Friendly Review®, which is exactly that. A review of your policy(s), to make sure your coverage still fits you. At least once a year is what is recommended but at any time, if there are any changes in your life and you need to change up your policies, please give us a call and we will sit down and review what you have.   

We appreciate the hard work our firefighters and police officers put in everyday and Farmers believes that they should be rewarded. Let’s put it on the calendar to sit down with some coffee, water or soda and a couple fresh baked cookies and discuss what is best for you and your family.