In Times Square with thousands of strangers or in your living room with close friends, ring in the new year with a party. Just make sure to follow several tips that keep your New Year’s Eve celebration healthy and safe.
Drink Responsibly
If you’re planning to drink, do not drive. Don’t let your drinking friends drive, either. Instead, choose a designated driver, hire a taxi, take public transportation or invite everyone to crash in your living room.
Go easy on the alcohol, too. Pacing yourself prevents alcohol poisoning and ensures you can pay attention to your surroundings as you act smart and stay safe.
Handle Food Safely
Appetizers, hors d’oeuvre and snacks keep the party going. Heat food adequately and refrigerate leftovers promptly, though, to prevent food poisoning. Check in with guests about possible food allergies, too, as you safely indulge in party foods.
Navigate Crowds
Whether you’re a guy or gal, grab a friend and travel in a group for safety. Keep an eye on your surroundings, never go anywhere with strangers and never leave your beverage unattended. Leave your valuables at home and hold your phone and wallet in a front pocket, too, especially if you’re headed to a crowded celebration downtown.
Drive Carefully
Winter weather can make roads slippery, particularly when you travel after dark. Drive carefully as you leave early, go slow and maintain a safe distance from other vehicles. Of course, if the roads are too bad, stay home and watch the party on TV instead of going out this year.
Ban Guns and Fireworks
Stick with noise makers and sparklers if you need special effects on New Year’s Eve. Otherwise, an inexperienced user could kill or injure someone. Plus, shooting guns and fireworks could break local noise ordinances and other laws.
Ringing in the new year is a fun tradition. Use these tips to keep the party, your guests and you safe and healthy.
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Valued at $46.2 million, the Graff Pink diamond is one of the most expensive pieces of jewelry in the world. Your jewelry box might not hold anything that priceless, but you certainly want to insure your valuable or sentimental pieces, including the diamond cufflinks you wore at your wedding or your grandmother’s ruby brooch.
1. Hire an Independent Appraiser
An independent appraiser will carefully and thoroughly inspect each piece of jewelry you own, and he or she will then determine the exact value of your works of art. Be sure to obtain a signed document that includes a detailed description and appraiser’s value for each piece.
2. Check Your Current Insurance Policy
Most homeowner or renter insurance policies include cash value or replacement coverage for personal belongings. As long as that figure is high enough to cover everything you own, including your real jewelry, you’re set.
3. Purchase a Rider
If your current policy does not cover your valuable gems, purchase a rider. It offers additional coverage for your precious collection.
4. Take Pictures of all Your Pieces
The police need detailed descriptions of your jewelry if a piece is lost or stolen. Take detailed pictures of each piece to increase the likelihood of recovery.
5. Update Your Inventory Regularly
Once you’re sure your jewelry is adequately insured, mark your calendar for an annual inventory review. Add new pieces you recently purchased and remove pieces you sold or gave away to ensure your collection is completely covered.
6. Inspect Your Jewelry
As part of your annual review; take your jewelry for an inspection. The jeweler will look for loose settings, chips or scratches. Take new pictures after any needed repairs are made.
7. Store Your Jewelry in a Safe Place
Insurance will replace your real jewelry if it’s lost, stolen or damaged, but don’t take chances. A fireproof safe hidden in your home or a safety deposit box at the bank protects your gems, especially if you own expensive pieces that you wear only on rare occasions.
You do not want to file a claim for stolen jewelry and find out it wasn’t insured. Follow these tips and talk to your insurance agent today as you protect your valuable collection.
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Whether you received valuable collectibles or heirloom jewelry, you’ll want to insure these holiday presents. Your homeowners or renters insurance policy may provide coverage for some of your new items, but anything above the existing coverage limit requires a personal articles floater. Consider specific gifts that you’ll want to insure this year.
Jewelry: Your homeowners insurance policy should cover jewelry valued at less than $2,000. However, appraised jewelry that’s more valuable will require a floater.
Furs: From a real fur jacket to a fake fur-trimmed hat, add any furs you receive to your homeowners insurance policy.
Fine Art: Paintings, sculptures, rare books, manuscripts, ornamental collectibles, glasses and antique furniture fall under the fine art category. Record these items and their value on an itemized schedule attached to your insurance policy.
Electronics: Laptops, cameras, TVs and other electronic devices, plus telescopes, video recording equipment and films, are typically included in your existing homeowners or renters insurance policy. If these items are high-end, consider a floater.
Coins or Stamps: Depending on their value, you’ll want to add a floater for new coins or stamps in your collection.
Musical Instruments: List any musical instruments, including sound equipment, on a floater.
China, Crystal or Silverware: List these items on a schedule and include the insurance coverage amount.
Sporting Goods: Bicycles, golf equipment, guns and other sporting goods fall under your existing insurance policy unless they’re collectible, rare or expensive.
Tools: Insured under your homeowners or renters policy, your new tools won’t need a floater unless they exceed the value of your existing coverage.
As with everything in your home inventory, record a detailed description, serial number, purchase date, value and picture of your new holiday presents. Store copies of this information with your insurance policy in a fireproof safe and in a secure location other than your home.
Go ahead and enjoy your new holiday presents. Just remember to check with your insurance agent to be sure they’re covered.
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While food is the primary cause of childhood choking, holiday decorations and other seasonal hazards can also be dangerous. If an item fits in a tube that’s one and three-quarters inches wide, a child can choke on it. As you decorate, unwrap presents and eat during holiday celebrations, take six precautions that keep your young guests safe.
- Hang ornaments, lights and tinsel out of reach. Shiny and inviting, these tree decorations should be kept on the upper half of the tree or placed on wreaths that are out of a toddler or young child’s reach.
- Remove fake berries from the table centerpieces. Kids are usually hungry, and fake berries look just like the real thing. So for safety, remove fake berries and any other artificial table centerpiece component that resembles something edible.
- Pick up small items like spare change, buttons and jewelry. Especially if you’re not used to having youngsters around, you may store these choking hazards in jars throughout the house or lying loose on counters. For safety, move them to a high shelf where little hands can’t reach.
- Give toy batteries to parents after the celebration instead of wrapping them with the gift. You don’t want kids to suck on or accidentally swallow batteries that are supposed to power their new toys.
- Toss wrapping paper, tape and ribbon as soon as the presents are opened. Have a trashcan handy, and use it to dispose of these choking hazards after each gift is opened.
- Store food out of reach. While you prep the meal, keep an eye on the serving area and table. Little ones may grab food, whether it’s bite-sized or full sized, and stuff it into their mouths. To be safe, prep a few kid-safe snacks in advance for hungry kids to enjoy between meals.
Create a choke-free holiday when you implement these six precautions. With them, everyone can enjoy a safe and happy holiday.
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Since 1984, Monterey County has participated in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). This participation, as well as the continued compliance with federal regulations, allows county residents to purchase flood insurance. Even if your business is far from any form of water such as rivers or creeks, it could still be affected by the intricate system of drainage improvements and facilities that the county maintains in an effort to protect its residents and their properties.
Federal Mandates
If you wish to relocate your business to an area that lies within the 100 year floodplain as determined by Monterey County engineers, or build within that area, federal regulations mandate that you purchase flood insurance in order to take advantage of any federally backed financial assistance for doing so. Even if you are not planning to move your business and you are happily ensconced in your current location, purchasing flood insurance is a wise business decision.
Weather Conditions Warranted Protection
Businesses that are not located within the flood plain are still at risk for being damaged due to flooding. Weather occurrences such as El Nino, for example, can cause extreme amounts of water to be dumped in areas that are ill-equipped to deal with such an onslaught of weather. Weaken structural supports like building foundations, or even elements of the property itself such as hills, can allow water to breech the boundaries of your business and cause flooding.
Industrial Accidents Pose a Concern
Water main breaks are incidences that do not occur often but the results can be devastating if you have not prepared for the possibility prior to it occurring. Not only will you need to be concerned with paying for the costs of replacing your damaged inventory and property out of your own pocket, you might struggle with losing sales from your customers during this period of time.
Flood insurance is a way to gain peace of mind that allows you to rest easier at night. Knowing that your business – and its assets – are protected in the event of an unexpected flood is a smart business move for the longevity of your company.
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The business world today is being held accountable more and more often. In many cases, this means that a business might be stripped of its traditional business insurance limits during a catastrophic event. These are events that a business owner likely never dreamed of occurring to them. It is important, though, to plan for these unexpected events.
Umbrella Insurance Provides Overarching Protection
Legal settlements can not only rattle the framework of a business, they can put it in a serious financial bind. While a business might have been diligent about ensuring that they have adequate amounts of commercial auto insurance, general liability insurance and employer’s liability insurance, they might be unpleasantly surprised to learn that it is not enough. Given the fact that insurance settlements continue to rise, a commercial umbrella insurance policy is an effective way for a business to protect itself against a large loss.
Commercial Umbrella Insurance: Protective and Affordable
Many businesses – especially small and medium sized ones – might wonder about the necessity – as well as the affordability – of such insurance. Commercial umbrella insurance is unique, though, and it is that uniqueness that makes it so affordable. During an event, such as a legal settlement, your other insurances will be tapped for payment first. This means that those insurances that are required – auto, commercial liability and employer liability – are used to their limits.
Then the Umbrella Comes Out
Once the limits of your other, mandatory insurances are reached, then your commercial umbrella insurance kicks in. While this type of insurance is optional, purchasing a policy is considered to be a good investment in the long term viability of a business. To put it in perspective, for many small and medium size businesses, just one accident, injury or mistake that is determined to be the fault of the business can completely wipe out its financial coffers if the settlement outweighs its monetary limits.
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