24/7 Access to Fey Insurance Services

With the help of our IT department we have stepped up the capabilities of our website. If you are a Fey Insurance Services customer you can now go into our website and click on "Customer Tools" and have 24/7 access to our agency. From the "Customer Tools" link you are able to either make policy change requests, pay your insurance premiums or report a claim. So often nowadays people remember that they needed to call us late in the evening. Now they can go to http://www.feyinsurance.com/ and either make that policy change request that they forgot to call in or submit a payment that is due that day.

Visit our new site today!

GPS Devices Help Burglars

GPS systems have made life much easier for drivers to find where they are going. Unfortunately it has also made life much easier for burglars to track down your house. Recently a 23 year old was caught burglarizing homes in northwest Ohio and Michigan. He would break into vehicles that had GPS devices in them while they were parked at restaurants and cinemas. He would then steal the GPS device along with the garage door remote. Later he would use the GPS device to locate the home and then gain entry in the home by using the garage door remote. The young man had struck ten home prior to being caught.

Fey Insurance's recommendation for individuals that own detachable GPS devices is to never leave the device out in the open when you are not in the car. Even if you are just going in for dinner at a restaurant or for grocery shopping, we suggest you hide the device in your glove compartment or take it with you when you leave the car. A second suggestion is to use a nearby location as your "home" and not your actual home address. This way the burglar would not be able to track down your exact house if they did happen to steal your GPS device and garage door remote.

Home Security Systems

On a daily basis you see ads on TV for home security systems. We at Fey Insurance highly recommend the installation of a Home Security System to add additional protection for you and your family. Insurance will work to put your property back in place after a fire or burglary, but a Home Security System will work to prevent or minimize the effects of that fire or burglary. If you are interested in such a Home Security System, please call us and we will tell you our opinion of the various manufacturers and what features to consider. For example battery backups are usually included in Home Security Systems, but we would also recommend cellular backups for your system in the event your normal phone service goes down or even disabled by a potential burglar. We would include carbon monoxide detectors in your system especially if you have a natural gas furnace or hot water heater. Central station monitoring is preferable to systems that go directly into a police or fire dispatch. Both are considered superior to a system that only sounds a local alarm in your home. There are discounts on your Homeowner policy for the installation of a Home Security System. Please call us to review those discounts. But the most important reason, in our opinion, to install such a system is for additional security for your family and peace of mind that you are doing everything to protect your family and your property.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

We at Fey Insurance Services want to wish you and your families a Happy Thanksgiving. May you use this time of year to count your many blessings and be thankful for all that you have.

We will be closing at noon today and will reopen on Monday November 30th. You can still reach us via our website (http://www.feyinsurance.com/). From our website you can go to "Customer Tools" and submit any policy changes you need or under the"Our Staff" link you can find one of our Fey Insurance Services representative's email address and email them directly. We check email several times a day even when the office is closed.

Again, from us here at Fey Insurance Services to all of you, Happy Thanksgiving.

Flood Insurance Facts

Flood insurance had its fifteen minutes of fame after the Hurricane Katrina disaster in 2005. During this time period the media was making everyone well aware that flood insurance is not part of your typical homeowner policy. Today that is still the case and with this post I would like to point out a few more facts about flood insurance.

Flood insurance is run through a government program called FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency). You can purchase it through insurance agency such as Fey Insurance Services but the backing is from FEMA. Typically it takes 30 days for a new flood insurance policy to go into effect. The one exception would be for a mortgage closing where flood insurance is required. So you need to plan ahead. Hearing about a big rain on the nightly news and calling your agent the next day will not work. Many people think of flood insurance when they think about what is stored in their basement. Flood insurance will only cover things such as furnaces, water heaters, washers, dryers, air conditioners, freezers, pumps and utility connections. Everything else you store down there (old cloths, furniture, carpet, TV, etc) is not covered unless those items are on the first floor of your house and the flood reaches that level.

In some cases flood insurance is required in order to get a loan. If your home or a home you are about to purchase is in a 100 year flood plain (meaning at least once every 100 years your location is under several feet of water) you will be required to purchase a flood insurance policy to close on your loan.

Feel free to get in touch with a Fey Insurance Services representative to learn more facts about flood insurance or to get a quote today.

Worker's Compensation issues for Ohio Business Doing Business in States Other Than Ohio

If you own or operate a business in Ohio, you are most likely carrying Ohio Worker's Compensation Insurance through the State of Ohio's Bureau of Worker's Compensation. If you pay an employee more than $160/quarter, you are required by law to do this. If your business takes you or your employees to other states, you need to be aware of the specific state's Worker's Compensation requirements. Depending on the circumstances, your Ohio Worker's Compensation may protect you and your workers in other states under the terms of Ohio's Worker's Compensation laws. There may be a problem, however, in Kentucky, for example where their Worker's Compensation governing bodies and laws do not recognize Ohio's Worker's Compensation Policies. In that case you may need to buy Worker's Compensation in the state where you or your employees are temporarily working. Many of these new issues are evolving as states scramble for revenue because of the current recession, so before going into other states on business, please check with that state's Worker's Compensation authorities to see if you need state-specific Worker's Compensation in addition to your coverage in Ohio or any other state.

Specialty Items Coverage

We are only a few weeks away from the Friday after Thanksgiving. This means that soon people will be flooding the malls trying to take advantage of the big Holiday sales. It is during this time of year that we like to always remind people that there is limited insurance coverage in all homeowner policies for things such as jewelry, guns, furs, coin/stamp/baseball card collections and silverware. No matter who your homeowner insurance company is they will only pay out a max of $1000 to $2500 for the items I just listed. The reason they do this is they feel these types of items are best covered under a scheduled personal articles policy. A scheduled personal articles policy allows you to specifically schedule items like rings, silverware, hunting rifles, coin collections, etc, for a certain value (based on a certified appraisal or sales receipt). If you currently have or are getting ready to purchase items such as these please call or email your Fey Insurance Services representative. They will help make sure these valuable items are best covered.