Bicycling Can Be Good for You and the Environment, But Remember to Properly Insure Your Ride. May Is National Bike Month; I.I.I. Offers Insurance, Crime Prevention and Safety Tips

Throughout the country, many cyclists are taking advantage of bike month programs from car-free bike tours and classes on basic bike mechanics to racing clinics and group riding programs. Regardless of whether you plan to train for a century ride or simply like to cycle around the block with your children, it is important to understand the rules of the road and protect your financial investment with the proper insurance, according to the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I).

 According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 183,028 bicycles were stolen in 2009 (average value $318). Bicycles are stolen most often in densely populated areas such as cities and suburbs, but university and college towns are another hot spot; in fact bicycle thefts represent over half of property crimes on campuses.

• Actual Cash Value
  Actual cash value reimburses you for what the bicycle is actually worth given its age. A 10-year-old bicycle, for example, would be valued at the cost of a comparable bicycle minus 10 years depreciation. 

• Replacement Cost Coverage
  Replacement cost coverage reimburses you for what it would cost to replace your 10-year-old bicycle with one of like kind and quality at current cost. Replacement cost coverage costs about 10 percent more than actual cash value, but it is a good investment.  

A recent study found that 25.8 percent of children in the U.S. are being raised by a single parent, compared with an average of 14.9 percent across the other 17 industrialized nations studied.

Despite the fact that 35.8 percent of single parents are employed, the poverty rate among the group is high. So, it is highly unlikely that many of these parents have a life insurance policy to protect their loved ones.

Life insurance is important for dual-income families, but it’s doubly important for a single-income parent. The loss of a single parent represents a 100 percent loss of income for the child–a devastating blow to the child’s future welfare.

A single parent living paycheck-to-paycheck can afford life insurance. The Insurance Information Institute reports that a relatively healthy 40-year-old non-smoker can purchase $500,000 in term life insurance for roughly $30 per month.

If you’re a single parent who lacks life insurance, protect your family with coverage you can afford.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLtrntXifkY

With all of the natural disasters happening globally as well as locally it is important to have an evacuation plan in place. The Insurance Information Institute reccomends making it into a challenge for the whole family so every member knows the plan in case of an emergency.

In this video two families take the Ten Minute Challenge to see if they can evacuate their homes in just ten minutes. Erica and Jason Bish have prepared ahead of time and know what to pack and who will do it. Alex and Steve Gorman have not. The Insurance Information Institute says the key is to plan ahead. Gather insurance policies, wills and deeds, marriage licenses, home inventory and other financial documents in one place. Be sure to pack medicines, toiletries, and clothing for three days. Candysse Miller of the Insurance Information Network of California says families should ask themselves “If I had just ten minutes to get out, what would I take?”

Bucci Insurance encourages you and your family to take the Ten Minute Challenge!

Data security and cyber exposures are becoming a greater threat to organizations of all sizes, and insurance agents and brokers can provide valuable counsel to their clients on insurance and associated risk management services available.  According to a recent article in BoardMember.com, Boards are not paying enough attention (see here):

Many boards have largely failed to recognize the basic existence of cyber risks, much less understand the different types that are out there.

The article also points out that cyber crime has grown significantly more sophisticated, and notes a new type of attack:

Advanced persistent threats, or APTs, slowly rob companies of their most valuable information. They are not the work of hackers, but of tenacious, well-funded professionals focused on espionage…While breaches of customer data usually generate administrative costs, the newer breed of APT attacks could thwart strategic plans, costing untold amounts.

Obviously, organizations need to be proactive in protecting their data and business processes through appropriate security measures.  Insurance offers an additional form of protection that organizations can use.

Increasingly, companies are turning to cyber risk and privacy insurance to protect themselves. Such policies generally cover damage to a company’s data or lost income resulting from a cyber break-in, as well as liability from any lawsuits. The most useful aspect of the policies may be coverage for post-breach response costs, as well as services designed to help companies respond.

We hear Capital One asking us what’s in our wallet all the time, but Bucci Insurance wants to know what’s in your house? Now this is a bit more daunting, since your house is much larger than a 2×3 rectangle (we are assuming). 

If your home is ever burglarized, or burns down, the best way to demonstrate what needs to be replaced is with a home inventory – a record of your valuables, when you purchased them, and what they cost. Your insurer needs this information to properly adjust your claim.

According to a I.I.I blogger a great way to do a home inventory is to make use of your children’s attraction to every media object being a toy. Let them roam around the house with a digital camera and take pictures of everything in sight. If you don’t have children or ones that are willing to do this, you are welcome to do it your self. Make sure these pictures are then saved somewhere outside of your home.

What if somehow these pictures are destroyed? How do we preserve our home inventory?

Thankfully, as we now say in the I-phone age, “There’s an app for that.”

Or several: The New York Times last week rounded up home inventory apps, including one for $25 that lets you scan in the bar code of items like CDs, books and DVDs – speeding the process considerably.

I.I.I.  also provides a free online home inventory service.  You sign on, upload pictures of your stuff and fill out the details. A I.I.I. video describing the service is here. And, to get you on your way, here is a good list of what sorts of items end up in most inventories.

It’s no secret that health insurance is a fairly large expense, so of course most of us would like to decrease the cost.  When it comes to health insurance, consumers do not have the same level of control as with auto insurance, other than raising the deductible to reduce the premium, generally in order to impact the cost of health insurance, you have to revamp your lifestyle. In honor of National Nutrition Month, Bucci Insurance wanted to provide a few tips to help reduce insurance costs and stay healthy.

It is well known that smokers and drinkers are charged more for their health insurance, but what some consumers may not be aware of it that your weight can also cost more money? With some policies, even being just a little bit over the recommended range for your height can cause an increase of 10-20%.

What can you do, then, to lower those health insurance premiums? Here’s a list of five healthy habits that will help you lose weight, improve your fitness level, and eventually save some cash.

• Respect your body: A glass of wine every so often is fine, but drinking to excess, like heavy smoking, is not only bad for your body, but bad for your wallet. Quit smoking, and keep your alcohol consumption in the low-to-moderate range.
• Breakfast like a champion: While skipping meals is never wise, if you are going to miss one, make sure it’s not breakfast. Beginning the day without nutrition is like trying to run a car with an empty gas tank; you’ll be lethargic and unfocussed. In addition, missing meals makes it harder to lose weight, because your body goes into starvation mode, storing calories rather than spending them.
• Catch some zzzz’s: Did you know that getting ample sleep is crucial to optimum cognitive function as well as maximum weight loss? It is, so fight the urge to stay up to the wee hours, and try your best to get eight full hours of sleep.
• Cut calories: Eating healthy foods for breakfast, lunch, and dinner is a no-brainer, but you have to watch those snacks as well. If you can’t re-arrange your schedules so that you’re eating six small, healthy meals a day, instead of the big three, at least make sure that the snacks you choose are high in protein and low in sugar. Nuts and fruit are good choices.
• No pain no gain: It may be an old adage, but that doesn’t make it less true. 30 minutes of exercise 3-4 times a week, with a balance of cardio and strength training makes you leaner, and your insurance agent happy. Even thin people should exercise – it’s possible to be skinny but still be out of shape.

*Tips provided by the American Heart Association

While these tips won’t give you a lower insurance premium in six weeks, they’ll save you money in two ways: the first is that fit people handle stress better, get sick less often, and are less likely to file claims, the second is that as the weight comes off, and you’re back in the normal range for your height and age, you will be able to petition for lower rates, or shop for a new policy!