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As the Holidays are vastly approaching, the wintry weather also likes to make an appearance. With this weather can come many hazards. One of the biggest insurance claims during the winter has to do with bursting pipes. So this holiday season, we have decided to give you some tips on how to prevent frozen or bursting pipes.

- Look for and seal air leaks around pipes.

- Keep garage door closed if your water supply lines are in the garage.

- Open cabinets to help warmer air circulate around pipes.

- When weather outside is close to freezing temperatures, let cold water drip from your faucets. Running this water helps prevent them from freezing

-Try to keep thermostat temperature consistent both day and night

-If you leave your home for an extended period of time, set the temperature on your thermostat to go no lower than 55 degrees Fahrenheit.  

Follow these steps to keep your holidays bright. From all of us at Rob Rueseler & Associates, “Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New year”

It’s that time of the year again, and I don’t mean Thanksgiving. I’m talking about Medicare Enrollment Part D. What is this and why is it important you may ask? Medicare Enrollment Part D is also referred to as the Medicare prescription drug benefit. This is the time of the year where you can change your Medicare prescription plans. This can allow you to save money, explore and choose different plans, and compare medications. You can obtain a quote and make changes by going to www.medicare.gov/part-d.  If you are currently under Medicare coverage, make sure to take advantage of this opportunity as open enrollment ends December 7^th, 2017.

Whenever you are filling out forms, reading every little aspect can become quite tedious at times. By the time, you get to page two, you might be ready scan for signature blocks and get the papers away from you as fast as possible. On most instances, you rely on the staff or agent to point you to corrections or places you may have skimmed over too fast. This works for most instances, but when it comes to life insurance, it can end up costing you way more time to correct on the back end. I am talking specifically about contingent ownership. By putting someone as a contingent owner, you allow them to access and change the policy if you were to pass away before it takes effect. To explain through scenario: Your spouse has ownership on your policy and you left the contingent ownership space blank. Unforeseen tragedy strikes and your spouse passes away before you do. Now, you are unable to make any changes to the policy, even though it was on yourself.

The only way to make this change is to go to probate court and present your case. This process can easily take up to 6 months or longer and there is a chance you could lose. All of this could have been avoided, if you were named as the contingent owner of the policy. So, is it too late to make this change to your current policy? It is not. Call your agent today and see if you have this portion filled out. If you do not, you can request an ownership change form and make this easy update. Please feel free to reach out to our life insurance department and we would be happy to fill you in on even more ways to make your life easier and more enjoyable for those around you.

Information & Insight provided by Tammy Bigham 

I had just touched down from a long flight to Los Angeles and the last thing I wanted to do was stay in an airport trying to decide what car rental plan I should go with. Unfortunately, I had no choice and this was the first time I was in this situation. Thanks to the world-wide web, I had already pre-selected and paid for my rental car (or so I thought). When I finally get to the rental counter, I tell the lady at the counter my information, expecting to get the keys quickly and be on my way. What happened next threw me into the fluster that had me questioning my very own reasoning of deciding to rent a car in the first place. I verbally confirm the price with the service desk employee and she replies with, “it all depends on which insurance package you choose”.

Insurance package? I quickly reply with “I thought everything was all included in the first overpriced plan I purchased before I got off the plane”.  She replies, “Sir, it is illegal in the state of California to drive without the proper insurance”. This really frustrated me and I had no clue of what to do next. I had full coverage on my personal car, but no clue what I needed for a rental. After several minutes of frustration, I decided to buy the highest priced plan of rental insurance. This ended up costing over half the price of the rental plan itself.

I finally receive my rental and I leave feeling like I was just punched in the money tummy. Later I meet up with my friends and tell them about the car rental fiasco, to only hear them reply with laughter. I ask them “why is my misfortune so amusing to you”? The next thing my buddy said left me speechless. He waits for my angry facial expression to subside and then proceeds to tell me I didn’t have to buy an insurance plan for my rental at all. I reply with the pale white face of disgust with “what are you talking about”? After a long discussion, I find out that most full coverage insurance plans will cover the rental car as well. I called the next day to cancel the remainder of my double insured rental and actually received some of my money back. If only I would have known this from the beginning, I would have been able to save even more. Let my story be a lesson to check with your insurance provider before you get punched in the money tummy with non-required fees.