Our Blog

With your auto insurance, life insurance, home insurance, health insurance, and business insurance, you're probably pretty confident you've got all your bases covered. No matter what might happen, you have a policy in place to offset any of the misfortunes that could befall you or your property, right?

Chances are, those in the Connecticut can still be vulnerable, possibly in ways you've never suspected. Generally speaking, if there is a value associated with an object or anythingelse then there is an insurable interest by those that would suffer a financial loss if a destructive event would occur. Fortunately, insurance is available in most cases to protect those parts of your life that may have been inadvertently overlooked. A general rule is that the higher the premium the higher the risk is perceived or the Company making the offer may not understand the risk and prices it high "just in case". It just might save the day should one of those "when pigs fly" scenarios actually come true. Here are some examples:

Pets Just like people, our furry, feathered, finned, and four-legged friends have health issues and unexpected accidents. We've all heard the stories about those who've paid thousands of dollars in veterinary bills to save the lives of their beloved dogs and cats, and most of us are confident we would do the same. But what if you didn't have to? A pet insurance policy will protect you in the event that man's best friend becomes ill or injured and needs costly medical care. Such policies function in much the same way that human health insurance does.

Lightning Sure, the odds are slim, but lightning can strike...sometimes twice! And it can do serious damage to your home, car, or-gulp-you. Many home and auto insurance policies offer protection in the event that lightning does damage to your property, but not all of them do, and some have relatively low maximum payment amounts. Check your policy to make sure you are adequately covered.

Tombstone It is not uncommon for people to purchase and place grave markers in advance of their deaths. But what happens if those grave markers incur damage? Though typically fashioned of hardy materials, grave markers can be chipped, broken, vandalized, or stolen. Grave marker coverage is available to cover the cost of repairing or replacing a damaged tombstone. In some cases, this coverage is available as part of a homeowner's insurance policy.

Kidnapping A ransom insurance policy is not at all impractical if you are well to do, famous, work in high-risk situations, or travel to countries where kidnapping is a possibility. Such a policy will provide ransom money in the event that you are kidnapped-money that could potentially devastate you financially if you or your family were obligated to come up with it.

Body Parts If you are an athlete or model, or make a living off of the functionality or attractiveness of your body, you should definitely make sure the right parts are insured. Insurance companies do offer policies that pay if, for example, a professional baseball pitcher loses the use of his hand.

A Hole in One Have you ever sponsored an event where valuable items-cars, appliances, cash-were offered as prizes? A golf tournament is a good example of such an event. If a participant makes the highly unlikely hole-in-one shot, he or she wins a prize-at the expense of the event sponsor. Fortunately, such sponsors can take out what is formally known as prize indemnification insurance. In addition to athletic tournaments, this insurance is commonly used in game shows and other contests.

Call or contact Buckland Hills Insurance Agency about other types of insurance that can protect you in any type of situation and fitting your particular lifestyle.

Last month's New Year celebrations had good cause; we have a chance to be grateful for the years behind us as we look forward to the years ahead. Chances are, as we clinked champagne glasses with friends and family, the idea of not being around to celebrate with them next year never crossed our minds.

Do you remember the confusion and anxiety left behind on that beautiful morning of September 11th? The families whose lives where thrown into an unreal world of questions with no answers. Of what will we do now? The but...what if?

The reality is there is never a right time to plan for your needs with family financial security. The purchase of Life Insurance is an unselfish act to protect those that will face the unsure future alone as you will not be there to provide any other guidance than the financial resources. It is a committment to your family for their future needs like a home and food on the table.

In the event that something should happen to you, will your loved ones be protected? Now that we've embarked on another year of life, it's a good time to think about life insurance.

An Unselfish Investment

Life insurance is truly about ensuring your family has peace of mind if your life should end. Its potential benefits to your loved ones are many, including:

• Time to Grieve In addition to having funds to pay for your funeral expenses, some extra money will allow your family time to grieve. Your spouse may be able to afford to take time off work, if necessary, and spend more time with children.
• New Opportunities for Income The benefit from your life insurance policy can actually help your family generate more income in the future by creating opportunities. For example, your spouse may use the benefit as seed money to start a business; your son may use it as tuition for a college education that will lead to a higher paying job; and your daughter may use it to cover living expenses while she trains for a promising new career.
• Investment Potential Your family can invest the benefit from your life insurance and live off the interest while leaving the principal untouched.
• Freedom from Debt Another function of a life insurance benefit is to pay off your family's debt. Once unburdened of home mortgages, credit card bills, and car payments, they will be free to use their regular income in more constructive ways.

  Know the Ins and Outs

  Before you start shopping for life insurance, make sure you understand how it works. There are many relevant aspects and terms you must grasp in order to make an informed decision, including:

• Policy Essentially the written contract of insurance between you and your insurance provider, your policy will contain and explain all the important elements of your life insurance plan.
• Benefit Also known as a "death benefit," this is the amount of money that will be paid to the person or entity of your choosing upon your death.
• Beneficiary The beneficiary is the person or entity you have designated to be the recipient of the benefit, such as a spouse or child.

  Types of Life Insurance Not all life insurance policies are alike. Term life insurance, permanent life insurance, and whole life insurance all function in different ways.

  Call or contact Buckland Hills Insurance Agency at 860 644 3800 to find out which type of life insurance will best suit your needs and, most importantly, best serve the ones you love after you are gone.

Times have changed, and Connecticut insurance options have followed suit. Today, most of us rely heavily on technology to keep both our businesses and our personal lives running smoothly. We store enormous amounts of valuable information on computers - everything from that data required to keep a business in operation to scans of precious family photographs. But technology is never flawless. Though it usually makes life easier, it's also subject to glitches and breakage, as well as vulnerable to viruses, hackers, and theft. Here are just a few examples of stressful situations that illustrate the importance - and the vulnerability - of the technology on which we so heavily rely:

• A doctor's smart phone is stolen from his vehicle; the phone contains numerous patient records.
• A laptop belonging to a small business owner is lost; it contains the names, social security numbers, and credit card numbers of various clients.
• A virus shuts down a company's order processing system, which causes damage to the company and its customers.
• An unencrypted flash drive containing private information about a company's employees is lost in the mail.
• A business loses valuable data, and cannot afford the cost to replace it.
• Hackers begin targeting small to midsize companies with increased frequency, finding it easy to obtain the personal information of countless individuals and perpetuate instances of identity theft.

All of these are real life instances that might affect any of us, whether we are the ones from whom the technology is stolen or the ones whose private information is stored on it. Fortunately, Technology insurance provides some protection against these and other misfortunes.
Technology insurance is often regarded as one of the four segments of professional liability insurance, along with malpractice insurance, directors and officers insurance, and employment practices liability. Technology insurance can be very comprehensive, covering not only the first party (the one whose technology is lost, stolen, hacked, etc.) but also the third party or parties (those whose information was stored on the technology). Technology coverage may be termed in a variety of ways, including:

• Data breach - This coverage is ideal for retail stores, medical offices, financial institutions, and auto dealers. It protects the insured in the event that confidential information is accidentally exposed, whether electronically or in paper form.
• Privacy - This type of coverage protects businesses in the event that they are sued by a client whose private information, such as medical records, is improperly released.
• Technology E&O - This type of coverage is ideal for the professionals who bring technology to others, such as software designers and developers, website creators, and IT consultants. As they develop technology for individuals and businesses, they need protection from technology exposures.

Other types of technology insurance include hacker coverage and network liability.

Think about the role technology plays in your life. Are you at risk for losing or unwittingly exposing valuable or private information? If so, Call or contact Buckland Hills Insurance Agency about technology insurance, because the future is now.