Blog | Boizelle Insurance Partnership - Page 52
How to Build Your Very Own Raised Vegetable Garden
How many of you have dreamed of having your own home garden, imagined the wonderful smells of fresh basil, thought about taking that first bite into a freshly picked plump red tomato? Since the outbreak of COVID-19, have you found yourself with more time at home? If so, now may be your perfect opportunity to build your own home garden oasis.
What To Do After an Auto Accident
Automobile Accidents occur every single day. In fact, over six million car accidents occur each year in the United States. The initial shock of being in a accident can feel traumatic, leaving you disoriented. It’s important to remain calm and focused, so you don’t forget these very important steps you need to take:
What Can I Do to Stay Safe In the Kitchen?
Each year in the United States, over a million people suffer burn injuries that require medical attention. 50,000 of those require hospitalization, 20,000 have major burns over at least 25% of their body; 4,500 of those people succumb to their injuries.
Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus or COVID-19, we’ve seen a surge in the number of people being admitted to the hospital for burns and other injuries. You may ask yourself why this is happening. The answer isn’t as shocking as one might believe: because restaurants and other public areas have placed restrictions upon their establishments limiting the number of patrons, more and more people are spending time at home. And that means more time in the kitchen. Now, whether you’re a master chef or a beginner, accidents do happen. There are several things you do to protect yourself and your loved ones while you’re at home.
Kitchen safety is extremely important and practicing good habits while in the kitchen can prevent you or a loved one from being injured.
• If you’re going to be cooking, it’s best to avoid wearing loose clothing. If you have long hair, tie it back.
• Remove any and all loose jewelry that may become tangled around pot handles.
• Always keep your oven gloves or mittens near you and use them! Never try to pick up a hot pot or pan without wearing some kind of protection.
• Never leave your pot or pan handles facing out. Young children can grab them, resulting in a dangerous spill.
Being safe in the kitchen isn’t only limited to avoiding burn injuries. Food poisoning is another potentially disastrous scenario. There are ways to protect yourself.
• Check your bread for any signs of discoloration or mold. If you find some, throw them away.
• Don’t leave temperature-sensitive foods out in the kitchen: raw meat, fish, and various dairy products like yogurt or milk can spoil fast. It’s best to put them in the refrigerator or the freezer right away.
• Clean up spills immediately. A wet floor can lead to slips and falls.
• If you’re handling raw meats or fish, always remember to wash your hands afterwards.
Do what you can to avoid distractions.
• It’s okay if you use your cell phone to listen to music while you’re cooking. It’s best to create a playlist that you enjoy, so you don’t feel the need to change the song every few minutes. Taking your eyes away from the stove or the oven for an extended period of time could be catastrophic, not only because of potential injuries, but you may end up burning your food!
• Try to limit the amount of people hot surfaces. If you have too many people moving around the kitchen, especially around hot surfaces, someone could get burned.
Why Do I Need Boat Insurance?
Typical boat insurance policies have two basic sections: physical damage and liability. Physical damage pertains to accidental loss or damage to the boat and its machinery. Various parts of the boat would be covered in this section of the policy: the hull and engines, sails, personal property, and any other operating equipment that is essential to the boat’s functionality.
Liability Coverage
The liability section of the policy is where you will find your coverages for your legal obligations to third parties, as well as damage caused to someone else’s property as a direct result of operating your boat. For example, let’s say you’re on your boat with your family and some guests. One of the guests on your boat slips and falls, breaking their ankle. The broken ankle would be considered bodily injury. Your policy would also cover you if someone died while on your boat.
Medical Payments Coverage
Another part of a boat insurance policy that is very important is your coverage for medical payments. If the event of an injury to another party, your Medical Payment coverage would cover the costs for any first aid treatments, an ambulance, hospital bills, and any other costs resulting from an injury on your boat. You’ll want to make sure that you have coverages for in place for when people are either coming aboard your boat or if they’re leaving. Always makes sure you have enough coverage on your policy to cover potential injuries to yourself or members of your family.
Uninsured/Underinsured Boat Coverage
When it comes to legal operation of a boat, liability insurance is not required. Therefore, in some instances, it is not unlikely that someone may not be carrying liability insurance on their boat policy. Uninsured/Underinsured Boat Coverage is meant to cover you for injuries sustained that are caused by an operator of another boat that doesn’t have liability insurance on their boat policy.
How Much Will It Cost to Insure My Boat?
This is not a simple question to answer. There are several factors that go into determining the cost of insurance for a boat. For instance, the value, length, and age of the boat; type of boat, type of engine, where you plan to use your boat, and claims history. Naturally, someone who has a long history of filing insurance claims for their boat is going to pay a higher cost than someone who has a clean slate because they are deemed to be higher risk. As is the case with other types of insurance, there are ways to lower the cost of your premium. The easiest, and perhaps most commonly used way is to select a higher deductible for your policy. This is the money you would pay up front out of pocket before your insurance policy kicks in. It may also be possible to include something called a lay-up period which is a period of time in which your boat is not being used (typically during the winter months). Your insurance underwriter may offer a discount for each month you are not using your boat.
Call our office to discuss your options for boat insurance today! We’re here for you!