The moment has finally arrived — you’ve done all the research, test driven your favorites and decided on the brand new car you want to buy. You simply need to make a down payment, call your insurance company and drive that baby home. Since you have full coverage on your brand new wheels, you’re all set in case the unthinkable happens, right? Not so fast!
Insurance and Your Vehicle
It’s a well-known fact that the minute you drive your vehicle off the car lot, it starts depreciating. This is because your brand new car is now considered to be used and its value declines sharply. In fact, the average car loses about 30 percent of its value in the first year alone. This is important to know because without gap insurance, your insurance coverage may pay only for its current value, not what it would cost you to replace it.
Gap Insurance Explained
Gap insurance is designed to cover the shortfall that often exists between the amount your insurance company is willing to pay for your vehicle and what it would cost you to replace it. While you might think this amount is nominal, it could add up to being several thousand dollars. This could make it difficult for you to enjoy a comparable vehicle.
Do You Need Gap Insurance?
There are certain situations when you should consider gap insurance — if you put less than 20 percent down, if your car loan is for five or more years, if you put more than 15,000 miles on your vehicle each year, if you combined negative equity from another vehicle into your current loan or if you lease your vehicle. If you own your vehicle outright or if you have a great deal of equity in it, you probably don’t need gap insurance.
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According to the California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973, every employer in the state is legally obligated to provide a safe workplace that is free of hazards. As part of that regulation, each employer is also required to have an Injury and Illness Prevention program. The following are practical tips that can be implemented to help reach the above goals.
Use Personal Protective Equipment
Depending on the job, there are different types of personal protective equipment that are a necessity to keep employees safe. Goggles are a must in any workplace environment that involves dust, chemicals or other objects that could injure the eyes. In workplaces where heavy objects could fall on the heads of employees, hard hats must be provided. Steel-toe shoes are also mandatory if the environment includes hazardous and heavy materials that could injure the feet.
It should be noted that simply making the equipment available is not enough. Employees must be properly trained on its use and must not be cleared for work in areas where such equipment is needed until they are fully trained.
Keep the Workplace Tidy
Clutter and debris can seem like the norm for a workplace but they can increase the chances of an accident. Employers need to ensure that there are an adequate amount of space to store items neatly. Spills should be cleaned up immediately to help prevent falls or reported to the right person so that they are taken care of as soon as possible.
Ensure Company Vehicles are in Good Working Order
Many people are injured while driving company vehicles each year. Each month, a visual inspection, as well as one that test the working order of items such as turn signals, should be completed. If repairs are needed, they should be taken care of as soon as possible.
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The beginning of the new year is a good time to take stock of your financial situation. One of the best ways to put yourself on firm ground financially is to look over your homeowners insurance. While this insurance is mandatory when it comes to bank-financed mortgages, there is often much you can do to reduce your premiums.
Complete a Yearly Deductible Review
It is a good idea to get into the habit of looking over your homeowners insurance deductibles every year. If you are like many people, you probably have not thought about your deductibles since you first purchased your policy. Low deductibles that seemed like a good idea when you bought your first home could be costing you money now.
Purchasing a home is a big financial step that can leave you with little disposable income in the event of an emergency. It can make more sense to lower your deductible for your homeowners insurance at that point. As you begin to feel more secure in knowing just how much money home maintenance and other necessities take of your paycheck, you can add to your emergency fund.
Raising the deductibles of your homeowners insurance can help you balance out the premiums you pay. With a suitable emergency fund, for example, that is equipped to cover those emergencies like the deductible for a replacement roof caused by a storm, you can enjoy savings all year round.
Talk to Your Insurance Adjuster
For the best results, it is a good idea to make an appointment with your insurance company to sit down and go over your insurance policy. A few adjustments for your deductibles could save you hundreds of dollars each year.
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Breaches in some worldwide retailers could have you wondering if your personal information is safe. After all, those huge conglomerates that have been targeted recently, such as Zappos and Target, have millions of dollars at stake so why would a cyber-criminal want to target a single person? The answer might surprise you.
Valuable Personal Information
Identity theft is a big business in this day and age of inter-connectivity. Whether a cyber crook is a small-time player and simply looking to have a good time with your credit card or they are part of a larger ring that sells the information they obtain, personally identifiable information such as your birth date, current and former addresses and social security number are all valuable to them. With just a few bits of information, these criminals can easily steal your identity, making your life a nightmare for many months or even years.
Email Addresses Sell
Even if a cyber-criminal is not able to get enough information to assume your identity, they can still steal your email address and sell it. Email addresses are valuable to legitimate businesses and criminals alike. They can easily be sold for a nominal amount that quickly adds up for those crooks who are adept at breaching security parameters.
Fraudulent Credit Card Activity
If you are like many people, you assume that retailers that have an online presence are safe to share your credit card information. While huge businesses such as Target have invested millions of dollars into their cyber security systems, it is still possible for them to be infiltrated. You should always see a lock in the address bar of any website that you are inputting sensitive information. Even with this assurance, though, you need to keep a close eye on your credit card statements each month.
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Spring is a popular time for adding to your home in the form of remodeling or putting up an addition. If you are like many people, you hire someone to complete the job for you. For most people, it is easier and faster to interview and hire a contractor to do the work instead of trying to muddle through it yourself.
Peace of Mind With the Professionals
One of the reasons for hiring a contractor to build that much-needed addition to your home or to remodel your outdated kitchen is to ensure that the job is done right the first time. Unless your career requires you to know the latest building codes, it is unrealistic to expect that you do so. Instead you rely on your contractor to know — as well as follow — the safety regulations put forth by your particular locality.
The Responsibility is Yours
Even though the contractor you hired is doing all the work, it is ultimately your responsibility for what occurs with your home. This is not to say that you are in this alone. Rather it is to caution you to be aware of the risks you face if your contractor does not follow the applicable codes when doing the work you authorized. This is one reason to use only those contractors who are licensed, bonded and insured.
Protect Yourself
One way to protect yourself is to check for the necessity of permits before allowing the contractor to start working. Request to see the permits if the contractor obtains them for you. Speak with your insurance agent to determine if additional coverage for the work is needed as well.
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Whether you are a collector of fine art or you have a garage full of vintage cars that are the envy of the neighborhood, you likely added them to your homeowners insurance when you purchased them and thought your job was done. After all, in the event of a catastrophic event — fire, flood, burglary — you thought your items were fully covered. It is worth delving more deeply into this subject, though, because you might be surprised to learn that your current insurance policy is not providing you with the coverage you thought it was.
Riders for Special Items
When you insure items that are extraordinary, your regular insurance simply might not provide enough coverage. Its limits could be far less than what the item is worth. Instead, ask your insurance agent about a specialty rider that is geared only toward that specific item or collection of items. Depending on the details, such a rider could cost you a few hundred dollars more for your insurance. The peace of mind you gain by adding such a rider is well worth the extra cost.
Reappraise Extraordinary Items
Before your fine art or jewelry was insured, you had it appraised to determine its value. Reappraising items such as this at least every two years helps keep your insurance on pace with their value. Most high level possessions continue to climb in value which means they could easily outstrip their levels of insurance coverage if you do not keep tabs on it. Regular appraisals will help ensure that inflation and valuation are kept to current levels in the event of a loss.
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