For the California Homeowner, what does replacement cost contents mean to you. Sounds like its a fairly easy idea but there are some catches in the policy. First,  you can't replace a collectable or a obsolete item. An antique can only be antique if its old, so collectables and antiques are under the actual cash value portion of the policy. The insurance company will try and replace your item with like kind and quality at its actual value. Then we have the interesting case of a fire loss. The insured had five televisions in the house, all of them operational. The replacement value of the televisions was $2500 but the insured only got a check for $1250.00. Concerned they called to find out what's up. Most insurance carriers settle a replacement cost loss by sending a check for the actual cash value until the item has been replaced. The insured was informed that they would receive the rest of the money after purchasing the replacement items. This seemed reasonable and it is in the contract. It prev ...

 

This is going to be a fun weekend. I get to play in a musical skit. They needed a trumpet for a burlesque number. Have not done it in years but is sure different from the classical music that I play on a regular basis. The Atascadero Elks Lodge is putting on a musical revue about the history of the Elks. Musical numbers include barber shop quartet, some good old fiddle playing and  of course a couple of big musical numbers. It is a dinner show Saturday  at 5 Pm and Sunday at Noon. I don't know if there are any tickets left as they were going quickly. I wanted to plug the good works that the Elks do and let them know I support their work. Ted Hamm Insurance supports the arts and hopes you do as well.

   Homeowners can take a tip from commercial kitchens. There is now a product that I found  that acts like a commercial kitchen fire suppression system. The product is called Stove top Firestop  and it hangs above the stove. A grease fire will cause it to discharge a fire suppressant powder. The video of the product in action was most amazing. Fire leaping out of the pan on the stove followed by a puff of powder and no fire. They did not say how hard it was to clean up the powder but having seen a couple of kitchen fires, It has to be better than fire damage repair. The product is made by Willams-Pyro, Inc. A great name for some one in the fire suppression business. Insurers are beginning to take note and there is at least one company that will offer discounts to apartment complexes for having these installed. The product has a shelf life of five years and the discount over the years more than pays for the system. Inattention at the stove can cause a fire very quickly. Cooking the bacon, ...

  Yet another entry to our motto. This story is not a happy one. In this case insurance was needed but wasn't there. Of all the risks that are covered by homeowners insurance have you ever thought about landslide. To be honest neither had I, but a homeowner in Oregon found out that their policy like every other policy excluded flood , earthquake and earth subsidence ( read landslide ). They had a very complete homeowners package from the looks of the article, but were unaware of the exclusions. An insurance package usually starts out with language that insures everything and then through the exclusions removes coverages the insurer is not willing to offer or will only offer at an extra premium. So the exclusions become the most important part of the policy. When you have concerns or questions you should call your agent and ask questions about what the exclusions means. Many are straight forward but so many of them are confusing and worded in insurance ease. Insurance ease is a language spoken by very fe ...

  I was introduced to a product new to me. The product is called FloodStop by aqua managers. It is a product that can detect a water loss from a leaking appliance or ruptured supply line. The unit senses water and shuts of the water supply. It just takes a small amount of water to trigger the device. What is the big deal you might ask. Well if you or any one you know has ever come home to find water coming out the front door  or a flood in the bathroom you know. Water damage claims run in the thousands. The loss is almost completely valued on the amount of time the water has been running. The more water in the home the higher the loss. Clients who insure with Capital Insurance Group can go to The Protector Network and get the product at a discount. I am going to check out where else it is available and I will post that here later. I just got so interested in the idea I had to share. This product seems to be a very valuable addition to home security, the same as a smoke detector or fire extinguisher ...

This may be old news but the State of California passed bill AB2499. The bill went into effect on July 1, 2011 and changed how traffic school masked traffic violations. A first time offender can still get a ticket masked by taking traffic school but there is no help if another violation occurs within 18 months. This is intended to keep  the repeat offenders from appearing to have good driving records. The insurance companies will not give credit for traffic school if the ticket is not masked by the courts. California law still says that a driver with 2 violations is not a California good driver by definition and that insurance companies must charge a higher rate. That increase is usually at least 30%. Another issue in the law was that if you hold a commercial drivers license or were operating a commercial vehicle at the time of the violation traffic school will not mask the violation. Any major violations such as DUI or Reckless driving will not be masked as well. We at Ted Hamm Insurance hope this news ...