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Applying for disability can be a scary situation to be put in. The government has two different programs that are set in place to help assist those who are now needing disability assistance. If you are newly disabled, you may be wondering if you qualify for financial assistance from the Social Security Administration (SSA). The two programs are known as Social Security Disability (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI).  

The Social Security Disability (SSDI) program is a program that is set up to pay benefits to the insured and their family members. This means that the person applying for disability has worked recently, long enough, and paid Social Security taxes on those earnings.  

 The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program pays benefits to disabled adults and children who have limited income and resources. To learn more about how to apply for disability, view the required documentation and information about you and your medical condition. See below for a list of items you need to provide when applying through the SSA.  

Information About You 

When you are in the process of applying for disability through the SSA programs. View the required personal information below: 

• Your place of birth, date of birth, and Social Security number. 
• The name, Social Security number, and date of birth or age of your current spouse and any former spouse. It is important to know the dates and places of marriage and dates of divorce or death (if appropriate).  
• Names and dates of birth of your minor children, if you have any. 

• Your bank or other financial institution’s routing transit number and the account number. 

Information About Your Medical Condition 

Similarly, to the required information about you, you must also provide the required personal information below: 

• Name, address, and phone number of someone we can contact who knows about your medical conditions and can help with your application. 
• Detailed information about your medical illnesses, injuries, or conditions: 

• Names, addresses, phone numbers, patient ID numbers, and dates of treatment for all doctors, hospitals, and clinics. 
• Names of medicines you are taking and who prescribed them. 
• Names and dates of medical tests you have had and who sent you for them. 
• Information About Your Work: 
• The amount of money earned last year and this year. 

• The name and address of your employer(s) for this year and last year. 
• The beginning and ending dates of any active U.S. military service you had before 1968. 
• A list of the jobs (up to 5) that you had in the 15 years before you became unable to work and the dates you worked at those jobs. 
• Information about any workers’ compensation, black lung, and/or similar benefits you filed, or intend to file for. These benefits can: 
• Be temporary or permanent in nature. 

• Include annuities and lump sum payments that you received in the past. 

Documentation Needed to Apply 

Along with the information listed above, the SSA may ask you to provide documentation that shows you are eligible, such as: 

• Birth certificate or other proof of birth. 

• Proof of U.S. citizenship or lawful alien status if you were not born in the United States. 
• U.S. military discharge paper(s) if you had military service before 1968. 
• W-2 forms(s) and/or self-employment tax returns for last year. 
• Medical evidence already in your possession. This includes medical records, doctors’ reports, and recent test results. 
• Award letters, pay stubs, settlement agreements, or other proof of any temporary or permanent workers’ compensation-type benefits you received. 

Looking to apply for disability or want more information on the process? Reach out to your local agent, today.  

Prepare Your Vehicle  

In addition to the annual tune-up and maintenance your vehicle undergoes, there are more small things you can do to help winterize your vehicle in anticipation of the winter months. Below are a few tips to help you protect your vehicle:  

• Test your battery; battery power drops as the temperature drops 
• Check the tire pressure; tire pressure drops as the temperature drops 

• Check your wiper blades and replace if needed 
• Make sure the cooling system is in good working order 
• Have winter tires with a deeper, more flexible tread put on your car 
• If using all-season tires, check the tread on your tires and replace if less than 2/32 of an inch 
• Add wiper fluid rated for -30 degrees 

• Keep your gas tank at least half full to avoid gas line freeze 

 Before Heading on the Road 

Before starting your vehicle, there are a few things you should do to help you achieve safe driving. If there are any obstacles on your windows, mirrors, external cameras, or sensors, it is important to remove them before you get behind the wheel. Dirt, ice, snow, and general build-up can block crucial sensors that allow for assistive-driving features to work properly, such as automatic emergency braking. If your local weather forecast looks a bit troubling or like a storm is brewing it would be best to wait out the storm if possible. Of course, sometimes travel is unavoidable and if that is the case for you, share your travel plans and route with someone before you leave. If the weather is freezing, warming up your vehicle can help make sure everything is properly operating instead of rushing to run the vehicle that has been kept cold overnight. When warming up the vehicle, never leave it running in your garage – even if the garage door is up because the chances of carbon monoxide poisoning are increased.   

How to Prevent a Car Accident 

While driving on icy, snowy, or wet roads your full attention is needed. Avoid using cruise control while operating your vehicle as this could cause some unintentional steering motions to happen, like skidding. If you do happen to skid while driving, steer in the direction of the skid so when your wheels regain traction, you will not have to overcorrect to stay in your lane.  Make sure to accelerate and decelerate slowly as to not cause any potential sliding or hydroplaning on the road. Increase your following distance to 8 to 10 seconds. If at all possible, do not stop when going uphill.  

While driving, if the visibility is severely limited due to a whiteout, pull off the road to a safe place and do not drive until the conditions improve. If possible, avoid pulling off onto the shoulder of the road unless it’s an absolute necessity. Limited visibility means other vehicles can’t see yours on the shoulder. 

Looking to increase your auto coverage this winter season? Contact your local agent for more information. 

It’s another new year and everyone is listing off their new year resolutions. Many people forgo an important resolution that should beat out going to the gym weekly or eating a cleaner diet. What is this resolution that should beat out all the typical goals? Reviewing your insurance coverages. This is a resolution that you should take into account yearly and place it at the top of your new year resolutions list. You may be asking why is reviewing my insurance coverages so important? Below, we’ve listed the importance of going over your insurance coverages for you to know what to keep an eye out for. 

Create a Home Inventory 

One of the best ways to start off your insurance coverages is by first making a home inventory. This is great for determining if you have sufficient coverages for all of the contents within your home. Below is the information needed for each item included in a home inventory list: 

• Description of the item 
• Make, model or serial number, if applicable 
• Appraisals or cost at the time of purchase 
• Where the item was purchased 
• Date of purchase  

• Receipts or photos in an attachment, if relevant 
• Estimated replacement cost if you bought today 

Changes in Your Life 

As years go by there are many life changing milestones. All of these milestones can have varying effects on your insurance coverages. Milestones such as: 

• Getting married or divorced 
• Children leaving home/empty nest/child off to college 
• Starting a new job or business 
• Starting a family/birth or adoption of a child 
• Bringing aging parents into your home 

• Purchase or receipt of an expensive gift 
• Death in your immediate family 
• Paying off your mortgage 

 Important Questions to Ask 

• Do you have replacement cost or actual cash value coverage on your homeowner’s policy? Make sure that you can tell the difference between the two options, although, replacement cost is most preferred in any case. 
• Do you need flood insurance or sewer backup coverage? As a reminder, neither of these are covered under your standard homeowner’s insurance policy. 
• Should you change your deductibles? Knowing the ins-and-outs of your deductibles is crucial so there are no surprises if you have a loss. 
• Are you eligible for any additional discounts or savings opportunities? Things may have changed during the year and you might be eligible for new discounts or other ways to lower your rates. 

Take the first step into a fresh new year by reaching out to your local agent to talk about your coverage options, today. 

The holidays are full of excitement and celebrations with family and friends. While getting ready for the festivities, meals, and decorating time that is planned can create excitement for you and your furry friends, there are several things to watch out for. As their owner, it’s important to consider how things like festive plants, lighting, and additional festive changes around your home could affect the safety of your pets. Below are some safety tips to help protect your pets during the holiday season. 

Hide and Cover Electrical Wires

Lights and electrical decorations typically lead to new cords being scattered around the house. This can lead to your pets trying to eat or play with the wires and this could cause harm if they were to break the protective coating. To ensure their safety, make sure all cords are secure or hidden from them. As an additional protection measure, unplugging the cord while you’re away can minimize the risk of electrocution. 

Cover Food

Holiday celebrations always come with delicious food at gatherings. It’s important to remember that your pets shouldn’t eat certain foods because it can make them severely sick. When you decide to wrap up mealtime, make sure that all of your countertops and surfaces are clear of any food, store all leftovers away and take the trash out. Double-check that all of your lids on your trash bins are secure to ensure that your dogs will be deterred from trying to dig into them. 

Remove Candles

Lighting candles during the holidays can add a charming glow and warmth to your home but, they can be a danger to your pets and create a potential fire hazard. Most importantly, never leave a lit candle unattended because your curious pet could burn themselves or knock over the candle. Look at using battery-lit candles instead to keep you and your pets safe during the holiday season.

Research Traditional Holiday Greenery

Did you know that common holiday plans are dangerous for your furry friends? Mistletoe, holly, and poinsettias can easily cause your cat or dog to have cardiovascular or gastrointestinal issues if they were to ingest them. Different plants can also affect different animals and breeds in unique ways. Do your research on how specific holiday plants may affect your pet before deciding to showcase them in or around your home.

Speak with your local insurance agent about policies that could help protect your pets and home during the holiday season. 

Life insurance policies can be confusing. There seem to be endless different options, plans, and policies to choose from. You might have simply selected the cheapest life insurance policy because you didn’t fully understand your options. Maybe you selected a pricier policy because “You pay for what you get!” If these describe you, you might not be getting the most out of your life insurance policy. Here are some questions to ask yourself when considering your current life insurance policy.

Do I need term or permanent life insurance?

Although this seems like a tricky question, it can really be boiled down to a few simple assessments. What is your budget? What are your family’s needs? If you’re young and single with no kids, you could save money by choosing a short term life insurance policy. On the other hand, permanent life insurance offers an added amount of safety and security. Higher incomes, larger families, and greater expenses require deeply rooted insurance plans. With permanent life insurance, you can rest assured that you won’t need to worry about renewing, re-assessing, or dealing with insurance agents.

How much coverage do I realistically need?

In order to accurately assess how much financial protection your family needs from your life insurance policy, you must know how much money would be required for your family to continue on after your death. This means estimating your current expenses, understanding funeral costs, and accounting for your income. Make certain that your life insurance policy meets or exceeds this assessment. Knowing that your family is covered if something were to happen to you will bring you and your loved ones peace.

Can I make an annual payment rather than monthly?

Finally, you could save yourself money by paying for your life insurance annually rather than monthly. Most insurance agencies are charging you a small fee for making monthly payments. If you can’t afford to pay an annual fee, you may still be able to pay larger fractured payments every few months instead. If your provider allows, make as few payments as possible throughout the year; ideally, one annual payment. This way, you will ultimately pay less money in total.

People across the nation are breaking out their winter jackets, scarves, and gloves to prepare for the winter months that are upon us. Keeping warm during winter is important for everyone, so it is likely that many people are grabbing their space heaters as well. While a space heater can be a useful tool during the winter, it can also present some dangers when inside your home or office. Here are a few helpful tips to consider while using your space heater this winter.

Only plug it into the wall.

The inevitable temptation to plug your space heater into a power strip or extension cord is common and understandable. Sometimes you need heat in places where no wall outlets are close by. However, you must resist this temptation! Most space heaters require a lot of energy, and you can easily overload a common household power strip with them. You could start an electrical fire in your home or office by overloading your extension cord, so be sure to only plug your space heater directly into a wall outlet.

Give it a break.

Try not to leave your space heater turned on for extended periods of time. You should turn off your heater and unplug it from the wall every couple of hours. By doing so, you are reducing the risk of overworking your heater. Most space heaters have heavy duty heater coils and fans inside of them, so overworking your heater could result in a dangerous malfunction. These malfunctions are rare but if you only use your heater for appropriate amounts of time, you will only further ensure safety.

Leave enough space between your heater and other flammable objects.

Finally, when using your heater, take caution in what is near or in front of the main vent. Because the airflow is usually upwards of 85 degrees, it will slowly but surely warm up anything to dangerous levels. In some cases, the heat exposure may cause certain fabrics to catch fire if left too closely for too long. To avoid this, allow at least three feet of space between your heater and anything that might be damaged or catch fire, including yourself and your clothes.

Protect your assets with insurance. 

If you remember all of these tips this winter, consider yourself protected from any avoidable disasters caused by your space heater. Of course, not all disasters are completely avoidable. If you want to protect yourself from any unpredictable damage to your home this holiday season, be sure to do your research and find an insurance plan that works for you. Whether it be homeowner’s insurance, renters insurance, or additional asset protection, it is always important to make sure that you are covered.

As we get closer to the time of celebration and being grateful, it’s a good time to think about all you are thankful for. One thing that may not always come to mind is your independent insurance agent! When looking into getting your own set of insurance policies, no one else is going to have your back like your local agent. This Thanksgiving season, here are five reasons to be thankful for your local independent insurance agent.

Finding The Best Policy For You

Your insurance agent is always looking out for what is best for you and your circumstances. They are focused on providing the right policy that will match your specific needs – no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

Explaining Everything You Need to Know

Your agent is there to explain everything so you fully understand exactly what you are getting with your policy. In addition, they are happy to explain all the risks and evaluate all options when it comes to insurance! They are focusing on more than what specific insurance carriers provide to help you identify potential areas of exposure.

Bundle Your Personal Policy

One of the best things your agent does for you is building a personal insurance bundle that is specially catered to you! They are able to bundle multiple policies from various carriers in order to cover all of your needs in one package and cover your needs all year-round. 

Community Focused

Your local agent is also a member of your community! They are committed to your success and the success of others throughout the community! They are also great at connecting people throughout the community and creating everlasting networking opportunities for you.

Knowledge Beyond Insurance

Your agent will often provide more knowledge than that of their insurance expertise. As they have worked with many individuals and businesses throughout the years, they are covered in many different types of situations that all require different sets of coverages. This can be beneficial if you are experiencing a situation where you need coverage but aren’t sure what policy is best suited. 

Give your local agent a call and let them know you are thankful to have them in your life!

If you own a business, you may be familiar with the term Business Owner’s Policy, otherwise known as a BOP. This policy combines business property and business liability insurance into one business insurance policy. The intention of a BOP is to help cover your business from claims resulting from things like fire, theft, or any other covered disasters. Additionally, this policy can cover claims that could arise from your business’s operation. Claims such as bodily injury, personal injury, advertising injury, or general property damage.

Requirements to Qualify for a BOP

Not all businesses are eligible for a business owner’s policy. Of course, as with most things, different insurance providers will have a varying set of requirements the business owner must pass in order to achieve eligibility. These requirements can range from the business location, the size of the location, revenue, and class of business. Did you know that most insurance providers only cover businesses that handle all business on-premises? 

Who Needs a Business Owner’s Policy?

These are the business types that are typically eligible for BOPs: retail stores, apartment buildings, small restaurants, and office-based businesses. If you fit into any of these three options, you should look into getting a Business Owner’s Policy:

• Your business has a physical location.
• There’s a possibility of you getting sued. 
• You have assets that could get stolen or damaged. 

What is Included in a BOP?

Business owner’s insurance usually includes:

• Commercial Property Insurance 
• General Liability Insurance
• Business Income Insurance

What Else Do You Need?

It’s important to remember that business owner’s packages do not cover professional liability, auto insurance, worker’s compensation, or health and disability insurance. Once you’ve begun looking into insurance you will need to purchase separate insurance policies to cover professional services, vehicles, and your employees.

Interested in adding a business owner’s policy to your coverages? Reach out to your local agent to learn more.

Umbrella insurance, usually referred to as excess liability insurance, is a form of personal liability insurance that covers claims in excess of regular homeowners, auto, or watercraft policy coverage. An umbrella insurance policy is put in place to help the policyholder pay what they owe. To put it in simple terms, if a dollar limit of the original policy has been used the umbrella insurance is used as a fail-safe so the policyholder will not have to dip into their savings fund to pay the outstanding balance. 

Costs and Premiums 

Like many insurance policies, the cost of an umbrella insurance policy will depend on how much coverage you are purchasing, the state where you reside (insurance rates tend to vary by the state), and the risk of insuring you will cost the insurance company covering you. Depending on the number of cars, homes, and family members needing coverage will decide the cost of the policy. The more you have of each, the more expensive the policy will be. Among other types of insurance, umbrella insurance is considered to be quite cheap in comparison with how much the policy actually covers. 

There are always premiums involved with insurance. If you have purchased an auto, home, or watercraft insurance policy through the same carrier it may be a little less expensive to add an umbrella policy through that same carrier. Of course, depending on the policy provider, the policyholder who is wishing to add an umbrella insurance policy will be required to have a base insurance coverage of $150,000 to $250,000 for auto insurance and $250,000 to $300,000 for homeowners insurance.

What Isn’t Covered?

The best part about umbrella insurance policies is that they are focused on providing broad coverages. Any incident that the policy does not specifically exclude is covered. Remember that there is no insurance policy that covers everything! Below is a list of things that may not be covered by an umbrella policy:

• Damage of your own property. This is a form of liability policy, so it will only cover if you do damage to someone else’s property. 
• Any damage caused on purpose by you or a covered member of the policy. 
• A liability incurred in business or professional activities. Business liability insurance is needed to cover these types of incidents.
• The liability you agreed to assume under a contract you signed.
• Liability related to war or armed conflicts. 

Wanting to learn more about umbrella insurance and maybe add it to your coverages? Reach out to your local agent for more information. 

The first question that you may be asking yourself is, “When will I ever have a vacant property?” It’s surprising how common owning a vacant property is. There are four common scenarios where you may have possession of a vacant property:

• You own rental properties and are between tenants
• You’ve moved for a new job but your house is unsold
• A property is undergoing renovations
• As executor, you are selling a house to close an estate

Depending on the length of the property’s vacancy, the type of policy you are required to have will change. 

Longer Vacancies Require Special Policies

Longer vacancies (usually a year and beyond) require you to purchase a special policy. This policy is traditionally known as peril protection. Peril protection covers the causes of loss listed by name in the policy documents (fire, lightning, wind, hail, explosion, and others). The upside is that this policy covers all the essentials but it doesn’t cover everything. If you have a total or partial loss, having Actual Cash Value (ACV) loss settlement coverage will settle the actual cash value of the loss reported. This ACV will take depreciation into account when settling the claim. 

Policy Terms Available

• 3 months
• 6 months
• 12 months

Eligible Home Types 

• The home must reflect proper maintenance
• Up to four-family construction
• Valued up to $500,000 (most states > $1M in a few)
• Renovations in the process are accepted without surcharge

Vacant Properties Are at a Higher Risk

Did you know that vacant properties represent a higher risk to insurance companies versus a property that is occupied all the time? The reason for this is the lack of an eye on the property increases the chance of damages, vandalism, or other mischief that could occur. In addition to this, the lack of regular maintenance on the property increases the chance of water and fire damages. If you are needing vacant property insurance to cover an older building that wasn’t maintained properly can increase your risk profile and premiums. 

Need to add vacant property insurance to your coverages? Reach out to your local agent for more information.