Did You Know?

When you think about "worst case scenarios" in regard to your home, you probably envision catastrophic damage, but then relax knowing that you have insurance.

However, misconceptions and bad information can arguably cause you more grief than the worst storm, flood or incident. Many people assume that since they have home insurance, they are protected for anything that might happen to, and within their properties.

Unfortunately, there are a several areas that are not always covered by standard home insurance, and it is important that you are aware of them. Two such examples are sewer backups / sump pump failure and Ice Dam damage.

Many people mistakenly believe that sewer backups are the responsibility of the municipal government, or wrongfully assume sewer backups are covered as a standard part of home insurance. This is not the case, and in the event of a sewer backup, your home could be damaged in the order of tens of thousands of dollars.

Last year, the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR) released a major study about homeowner perception of sewer backups. They found that despite millions of dollars in damages occurring each year from backups, many people are still unaware of their own coverage in this regard.

ICLR concluded that since heavy rainfall and sewer backups are unpredictable, homeowners who aren’t sure if they have this type of coverage should check their policies or call their insurance brokers or insurance companies.

Ice Dam damage is another issue that is especially relevant to those of us who live in the north. Ice Dam damage is caused by snow that melts on your roof and re-freezes, building up a layer of ice at the edge of your roof.

Ice dams themselves are caused by heat build-up in your attic and inadequate ventilation. The result is water backing up through your shingles and into your attic and wherever else gravity allows water to flow, including interior walls and ceilings.

One warning sign is an abundance of icicles on your roof. If you notice this, then you may have a problem that needs to be corrected. More importantly however, is that you review your policy to make sure you are properly covered.

At Dawson & Keenan we believe that you deserve the right information before you make any decisions about insurance. We’re happy to talk to our current customers and anyone else about insurance myths, misconceptions and issues.

Give us a call today and make sure you’re properly prepared, adequately insured, and have nothing to worry about in regards to your home insurance.

• If you live in an apartment building and you start a fire accidentally, your landlord can sue you for negligence – many insurance policies provide coverage to protect you against this kind of lawsuit.
   
• If you have tenant insurance, and there is a fire in your apartment building preventing you from returning, your hotel stay will be covered.
   
• If you are away from your home for more than 96 hours during the heating season, and you don’t have anyone checking your home daily, you will not be covered by your insurance policy for water damage caused by freezing.
   
• If your home is vacant for more than 30 days, your home coverage will become invalid.

True or false? Red cars cost more to insure than those of another colour.
False. The colour of your car does not affect your insurance costs. Insurance companies are more concerned with your driving history and with the age of the car than with its colour.

True or false? Damage caused by events considered to be ‘acts of god’ are not covered by most insurance policies?
False. You can get insurance to protect you from practically all perils. The more we know about your specific needs, the more we can do to make sure you’re covered in the event of the worst.

True or false? Whether you’re married or single, if you are under the age of 25, your insurance will be higher.
False. If you married and under 25 and combine your individual insurance policies, we’ll give you a better rate.

True or false? Insurance is higher on a 2 door car than on a 4 door car.
True. It does usually cost more to insure a 2 door car.

Sometimes, it’s not about selling something as much as just setting someone straight.

One day, a customer of ours called looking for some information. She owned a cottage and had recently acquired a new neighbor from the United States. The new neighbour was building a cottage.

Halfway through construction the neighbour became quite upset to hear that in order to be insured in Canada, the law stated that the cottage would have to be inspected every two months.

We quickly assured her that there was no such Canadian law and laid that anxiety to rest. Many people profess to be experts at insurance.

We actually are.

You might be surprised how much you can save when you get married and consolidate your insurance.

One of our customers, a young man in his early 30’s, was getting married, and he and his wife were buying their first house. His wife was insured elsewhere, and they decided to bring their insurance together at Dawson & Keenan.

After the discounts were applied on their cars and house, they wound up saving over $500 just for having more convenient insurance!

Insurance is different in the United States. In Michigan, if you don’t have collision insurance, the most you can claim is $500. Even worse, if someone hits your car while you’re parked, without collision coverage, you’ll get nothing.

As a Sault Ste. Marie based company, we know that many of our customers frequently run across the border to fill up on gas, to go to the Casino or just for a night out.

We understand the needs of people in Sault Ste. Marie, and we’ll tell you exactly what insurance you need if you visit the US regularly.

Seasonal residences are great, but unfortunately we can’t always be on vacation and things can happen when we’re not there.

One of our customers had the pipes burst in his lakeside cottage in the winter, and there was a great deal of water damage. The insurance claim was between 30 and 40 thousand dollars.

The claim was initially denied because there was a clause in his insurance policy stipulating that during the heating season, the cottage needed to be checked daily if it was unoccupied for more than 96 hours, or there needed to be a monitored alarm in place that would warn about a drop in temperature.

The insurance company denied his claim on the basis that nobody was checking the cottage and the alarm had not been set. However, upon further investigation, we discovered that the alarm was working properly and the reason the alarm did not trigger was because the temperature of the house did not drop.

The pipe that burst was too close to an outside wall without enough insulation to prevent the pipe from freezing. Under these circumstances we were able to convince the insurance adjuster that the policy conditions had been met and the claim was paid.

We know that winter weather can get pretty nasty and even good drivers can lose control of their cars in hazardous driving conditions.

That’s what happens to many of our clients. An accident can have a very serious impact on your insurance rates, but fortunately, Dawson & Keenan account managers recommend an auto policy that provides accident forgiveness.

That way, if after many years of being accident free, you have your first accident, it doesn’t count. If you have a second accident in the future, it will be treated as your ‘first’ accident with the previous accident being completely forgiven.

This means that accidents don’t haunt you for the rest of your life and drive up your insurance costs.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of shady companies out there, and if you’re not careful you can fall prey to them.

One of our customers took a job over the Internet. It involved accounting work that she could do at home, which was perfect for her with her busy family.

Part of her job was depositing cheques for a company, deducting 10%, and paying bills. She used her own account to deposit the cheques. Although she thought it was strange, she needed the job.

Unfortunately for her, the company was fraudulent, the cheques did not clear, and her account was frozen. Not only was she out the value of the cheques she deposited, but she incurred significant costs to clear her name and get her account released

Her claim was originally declined on the basis she was running a business out of her home. When her account manager at Dawson & Keenan reviewed the policy, she determined that she wasn’t running her own business but rather she was an employee.

Resultantly, she was able to prove that she was depositing cheques for a third party as an employee, and so her insurance covered her costs.

Good thing too because it saved her over $5,000!

At Dawson & Keenan we don’t just set up your policy, hand you an insurance slip and send you on your way.

We take the time to make sure you have the right insurance. For example, one of our younger customers looking for car insurance asked for PLPD (personal liability and property damage) because he wanted to keep the cost of his insurance as low as possible.

When we told him that it’s only $70 more per year to add specified perils, he said sure. Then his truck was damaged by, of all things, a freak hailstorm.

In the end, he was extremely happy that he’d spent the extra five dollars a month so his truck could be repaired. Having the right insurance often costs the same as having the wrong insurance, but the consequences can be drastically different.

A guest arriving for dinner at your house slips and falls on your icy steps resulting in a severe head injury.

A guest of your child swimming in your pool dives into the shallow end and suffers permanent paralysis.

You may be found liable through the court for the cost of the long term care and emotional trauma which may exceed the limit of personal liability insurance on your homeowner policy.

It may sound unlikely; however life is unpredictable and unexpected things can happen.

Personal Umbrella Liability covers you and your family for bodily injury to others in excess of the liability limits of your home and auto policies from an unexpected occurrence anywhere in the world.

The more things you own - home, cottage, pool, cars, boats - the more exposure you may have to claims against you for bodily injury to others. Personal Umbrella Liability provides added liability coverage above the limits of your home and auto policies to protect your assets from potentially high court awards.

_{(script provided by Lombard Canada)}

Boaters caught drinking and boating in Ontario will face the same penalties as those for drinking and driving.

These penalties apply to anyone who is caught drinking and operating motorized and non-motorized vessels, including power boats, canoes, kayaks, jet-skis, sailboats, dinghies, inflatable boats and rafts.

Penalties include but are not limited to:

• installation of Ignition Interlock on boater's vehicle (their vehicle, not their boat)
• immediate 90-day driver's license suspension
• immediate 90-day driver's license supsension
• once convicted, impaired boaters have a criminal record

_{(Script courtesy of Lombard Canada)}