With winter quickly approaching it won’t be too long before the freezing weather and snow are here. As the primary months when consumers crank up their furnaces and portable heaters, November, December, and January account for nearly two-thirds of all non-fire carbon monoxide (CO) related deaths.

In fact, according to the Center for Disease Control, this invisible killer accounts for over 500 CO deaths plus thousands of hospital visits each year. The unfortunate part is that most of these tragic deaths could be prevented by implementing some basic safety measures. With that in mind, we want to share some insight into what CO poisoning is, how it affects your body, and what you and your family can do to ensure you are protected.

Also, as a final note, many insurance companies will provide discounts for properly installing both fire and carbon monoxide alarms. To find out more, please contact our office.

Carbon Monoxide Safety Tips

What Is Carbon Monoxide (CO)?
Carbon monoxide (CO) is an odorless, colorless gas that interferes with the delivery of oxygen in the blood to the rest of the body.

What Are the Major Sources of CO?
Carbon monoxide is produced as a result of incomplete burning of carbon-containing fuels including coal, wood, charcoal, natural gas, and fuel oil. It can be emitted by combustion sources such as unvented kerosene and gas space heaters, furnaces, woodstoves, gas stoves, fireplaces and water heaters, and automobile exhaust from attached garages. Problems can arise as a result of improper installation, maintenance, or inadequate ventilation.

What Are the Health Effects?
Carbon monoxide interferes with the distribution of oxygen in the blood to the rest of the body. Depending on the amount inhaled, this gas can impede coordination, worsen cardiovascular conditions, and produce fatigue, headache, weakness, confusion, disorientation, nausea, and dizziness. Very high levels can cause death.

The symptoms are sometimes confused with the flu or food poisoning. Fetuses, infants, elderly, and people with heart and respiratory illnesses are particularly at high risk for the adverse health effects of carbon monoxide.

What Can Be Done to Prevent CO Poisoning?

• Ensure that appliances are properly adjusted and working to manufacturers’ instructions and local building codes.
• Obtain annual inspections for heating system, chimneys, and flues and have them cleaned by a qualified technician.
• Open flues when fireplaces are in use.
• Use proper fuel in kerosene space heaters.
• Do not use ovens and gas ranges to heat your home.
• Do not burn charcoal inside a home, cabin, recreational vehicle, or camper.
• Make sure stoves and heaters are vented to the outside and that exhaust systems do not leak.
• Do not use unvented gas or kerosene space heaters in enclosed spaces.
• Never leave a car or lawn mower engine running in a shed or garage, or in any enclosed space.
• Make sure your furnace has adequate intake of outside air.

What about Carbon Monoxide Detectors?
Carbon monoxide (CO) detectors can be used as a backup but not as a replacement for proper use and maintenance of your fuel-burning appliances. CO detector technology is still being developed and the detectors are not generally considered to be as reliable as the smoke detectors found in homes today. You should not choose a CO detector solely on the basis of cost; do some research on the different features available.

Carbon monoxide detectors should meet Underwriters Laboratories Inc. standards, have a long-term warranty, and be easily self-tested and reset to ensure proper functioning. For maximum effectiveness during sleeping hours, carbon monoxide detectors should be placed close to sleeping areas.

If your CO detector goes off, you should:

• Make sure it is the CO detector and not the smoke alarm.
• Check to see if any member of your household is experiencing symptoms.
• If they are, get them out of the house immediately and seek medical attention.
• If no one is feeling symptoms, ventilate the home with fresh air and turn off all potential sources of CO.
• Have a qualified technician inspect your fuel-burning appliances and chimneys to make sure they are operating correctly.

Did you know almost 60% Americans don’t own any type of life insurance policy? This is according to the latest study done by the Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education (www.lifehappens.org).

Life insurance allows your spouse and/or family to receive money to help offset funeral expenses, lost income, and future financial needs.

Purchasing the right policy can be a daunting process, though, which is why we wanted to include what we feel are our top tips to buying a life insurance policy.

If, as you read this information, you have any questions or would like life insurance quotes to evaluate your options, please contact our office.

Why Should I Buy Life Insurance?
If someone depends on your income for their livelihood, like a spouse or child, then you should strongly consider buying life insurance. Life insurance provides the financial support families need if a loved one were to pass away unexpectedly.

How Much Life Insurance Should I Buy?
Figuring out the right limit to use depends upon a variety of factors. Lost income, funeral expenses, college expenses, mortgage loans, consumer debt balances, and additional expenses are just some of the elements you should consider as you evaluate how much to purchase. There are a number of life insurance calculators available to assist you with this process for free.

Which Type of Policy is Right for Me?
There are four basic types of life insurance to choose from; depending upon your financial situation, investment aspirations, and desired limit, some options will work better than others.

The four types of policies are term life, whole life, universal life, and variable life.

Term Life Insurance. Term life insurance, just as its name implies, is a policy that has a specified “term” to the policy. Typical terms are 10, 20, or 30 year, and it is the most common form of life insurance.

Term policies are typically the LEAST expensive because they only provide insurance protection and they do not accumulate cash value. Many term policies include the flexibility to convert them into whole life policies as the individual’s income and needs change.

Whole Life Insurance. Whole life insurance, also known as permanent insurance, provides protection through your entire lifetime. As long as you pay your premiums the policy will never expire, regardless of your health condition.

Another major difference between whole life and term is it accumulates a cash value that can be borrowed against or withdrawn. However, because of these two major differences the premiums for a whole life policy are higher than those of a term policy.

Universal Life Insurance. Universal life insurance is similar to whole life insurance in that it provides protection throughout your lifetime and accumulates a cash value. Where it differs, though, is in its flexibility with limits and premiums.

Universal life insurance actually gives you the freedom to increase or decrease your coverage and control the amount and frequency of your premium payments as your insurance and financial needs change.

Variable Universal Life. Variable Universal Life is very similar to universal life with one major addition: variable universal life policies allow policy owners to apply their premium dollars to a variety of investment options. This option offers the possibility for an increased rate of return over a normal universal or permanent policy, but that means it is also subject to market risks associated with investing.

How do I know if the policy I buy is from a reputable insurance company? The policy you buy is only as good as the company insuring it. You need to know the company will be around if you need it to pay a death claim. There are actually a few different rating agencies that rate insurance companies on their overall financial strength and their ability to pay claims. A.M Best, Standard and Poor’s, Moody’s, and Fitch are all companies that independently evaluate the financial soundness of insurance agencies and assigned them ratings based upon their findings.

Each company rates insurance companies a little differently so you may want to look at multiple ratings as you select a company. You will want to look for an “A” (or AAA depending upon the rating agency) rating and a positive financial outlook to help ensure you select a financially secure insurance company.

How should I purchase my policy?
While you can certainly purchase life insurance online, we recommend working with a life insurance expert or financial planner. Working with a specialist can help you determine the right life insurance product and select adequate policy limits.

Also, by working with a licensed agent it will be much easier to make changes to your policy and receive guidance and answers to your questions as your needs change.

What kind of questions should I ask?
A lot of people simply don’t know what questions they should ask in regards to their life insurance. You should make sure you clearly understand the product you are purchasing, which is why we’ve included a few examples of questions you should be ready to ask.

• Is the policy renewable?
• Can the policy be canceled?
• Can I make changes to the policy?
• How long is the premium guaranteed for?
• Are there any special policy provisions?
• What are the exclusions on the policy?

What can I do to help reduce premiums?
There are actually a number of things you can do to help save on your premiums aside from reducing limits or changing insurance products. Since your current health condition is one of the primary factors used to determine your premium, any changes you can make to move yourself into a “preferred” or “super-preferred” risk class will greatly reduce your premium.

To do so, though, may involve losing weight, exercising, quitting smoking, or lowering cholesterol and blood pressure. And, while it may take some work, moving into the more “preferred” risk classes can save you tens of thousands of dollars over the life of a policy.

Should I always keep the same policy?
Financial situations and family additions are just a couple of reasons why you should evaluate your life insurance needs every few years. Income growth and additional children can significantly affect the limit and type of policy that will fit your situation. We recommend working closely with an agent or financial advisor who understands how to properly address your changing needs.

*The above information is to be used as guidance only, and should not be considered as definite in any particular case. Every policy is different and you need to read through your policy and consult with your agent to best determine how your coverage will respond. Within this article we simply cannot analyze every possible loss exposure and exception to the general guidelines above.

We are finding that more and more of our clients are renting out their homes on either a short- or long-term basis.  It could be a second home, an investment property, or even the basement or a spare room in your house.  Depending upon the rental scenario, your homeowners insurance policy may not properly cover you.  You will need a more specialized policy.

Short-Term Rentals/Primary Residence

If you are planning to rent out all or part of your primary residence for a short period of time, for instance, a week or several weekends, there will likely be two insurance scenarios.

Some insurance companies may allow a policyholder a short-term rental.  Other companies will require an endorsement to the existing policy to provide the proper coverage.   If you plan to rent our your primary residence on a regular basis for short periods (think Airbnb), then this is considered a business for insurance purposes and will not be covered by your homeowners insurance policy.   Proper coverage would require the purchase of a business policy.

Long-Term Rentals/Second Home

If you are looking to rent out your home for longer periods of time like six months to a year, you will likely need a rental dwelling policy.   (This would also include vacation homes and investment properties.)  Rental dwelling policies provide the proper protection for landlords on their properties, and typically cost about 25 percent more due to the increased risks.

Rental dwelling policies provide property insurance coverage for physical damage to the structure of the home plus coverage for personal property left on site for maintenance or tenant use like appliances or yard equipment.

The standard policy will also include liability coverage if a tenant or guest is injured while on the property.  It will also cover legals fees and medical expenses.

Most rental dwelling policies also provide coverage for the loss of rental income while the property is being repaired due to a covered loss.

Renters Insurance

As the landlord, your coverage is only on the structure itself and your financial interest in it. Your tenant’s personal possessions are not covered under your policy. In order to avoid disputes in the event of damage to the renter’s belongings, many landlords require a tenant to buy renters insurance before signing a lease.