Archive

Archive for the ‘Insurance’ Category

Is an Ant Attack Covered by Homeowners Insurance?

September 29th, 2009

Ants are notorious for ruining picnics- but they can also be a huge pain in the um, rear, when they make their way indoors. That’s what my wife and I are going through now. Over the last couple of days, we have been fighting back an invasion that makes the Normandy landing look like a stroll on the beach.

 

350px-Argentine_ants_accessing_trap.jpg

If you’re going through the same problem, you might be thinking of hiring a pest control company and then filing a claim with your homeowners insurance provider to reimburse you. Well, don’t count on that plan to work. Ants, termites and other insects aren’t a peril that homeowners insurance covers. In fact, filing too many homeowners insurance claims over small problems could increase the cost of your homeowners insurance policy.

 

To fight back our invaders, we have deployed multiple defenses. Here are the steps that my wife and I have taken:

 

1. Clean, clean and clean. Keeping the floors clean of any kind of crumbs, and eventually ant corpses, seems to keep them from striking the same area twice.

2. Find where they are infiltrating your perimeter and stop their incursion. We have put down a couple ant traps where we see them coming from.

3. Search and destroy! There are bound to be a couple heroes who survive the ant trap and avoided the suction of the vacuum to strike out on their own and recon for new spot to invade. For these Rambo ants, a little spray of Raid usually ends their mission. Since we have cats, we are very careful to clean the floor after we spray anything.

 

Hopefully these tips will help you win your battle against the ants. If you have any tips on how to get rid of ants, please do share.

admin Insurance

South African Man Marries Four Women Simultaneously–Talk About a Need for Life Insurance!

September 29th, 2009

Think the Duggars have a big family? On Saturday, a South African man said “I Do” to four different brides in a rare simultaneous marriage ceremony. The kicker? He already has 11 children.

 

Three of the wives are newlyweds; one has been his wife for 12 years.

Milton Mbhele, the 44-year-old groom, said the joint marriage ceremony was carried out to reduce wedding expenses. South African law recognizes polygamous marriages; even the president has multiple wives.

 

After the honeymoon is over–and once he finally memorizes the names of his in-laws–he’ll get around to thinking about life insurance. And he’ll need plenty of it.

 

With a dozen or so kids, four wives, a massive home (I’m guessing) and a fleet of vehicles to haul the entire family around, his financial obligations are through the roof. I won’t speculate on his financial status, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say he needs a hefty life insurance policy.

 

brides-wedding.jpg

Let’s consider his expenses. First up: the cost of four wives. If Mr. Mbhele were to die from, oh I don’t know, stress, exhaustion or a mix of both, who would foot the bill for his four lovely brides? Mortgage costs, household expenses, groceries, clothing, automobile costs, health care–it’s a lot to take in. If his income were lost, they’d be on their own to maintain the household financially and support the kids.

 

Speaking of the 11 children, how much would they cost? Diapers, food, clothing, education, health care–kids are expensive! And once they get older, they’ll want to go to college. I don’t know what the cost of college would be for a dozen or so children in South Africa, but it costs a heck of a lot here in the U.S. And if he has more children (another dozen, perhaps?), his life insurance needs would continue to rise.

 

So, keeping all this in mind, how much life insurance does Mr. Mbhele need? I’d have to send away to NASA to get the final calculations (they have better computers than we do), but my rough estimate is that he will need a policy worth seven or eight figures in U.S. dollars, and probably a billion or two in South African rand. Yikes.

admin Insurance

5 Easy Ways to Fight Off Swine Flu

September 29th, 2009

Worried about swine flu? You’re not alone. Americans are all a bit paranoid about catching H1N1 swine flu, and for good reason.

 

The swine flu is a potentially deadly virus. Hundreds of people in Mexico have died after contracting the virus, and now it’s sweeping across the U.S. like wildfire. In fact, a report from the White House estimates that swine flu may affect as many as 40% of Americans in the coming year.

 

But don’t panic just yet. Swine flu can be avoided if you follow a few precautionary steps.

hand-washing.JPG

 

  • Get the swine flu vaccine - if you’re a pregnant mother, a health care worker or provide care to children younger than 6 months, you are strongly encouraged to get a swine flu vaccine. The vaccine is due out in October.

  • Wash your hands frequently – scrub vigorously for at least 20 seconds with warm water and soap. If you can’t find a sink, an alcohol-based hand sanitizer is a good substitute.

  • Give your immune system a shot in the arm – proper nutrition (you know, fruits and vegetables?) is the best way to boost your body’s natural defenses. Load up on vitamins and minerals and keep swine flu at bay.

  • Avoid people who are sick – if someone is sick, steer clear. Don’t use a water fountain after them, don’t let them borrow your pen and definitely don’t get stuck in an elevator with them.

  • Keep your workspace clean – with dozens of co-workers shuffling about, your workspace could be filled with millions of harmful germs, so make an effort to disinfect your cubicle as often as possible. Bring a can of Lysol to work and spray like there’s no tomorrow.

  •  

    If you do come down with swine flu, do the world a favor and stay home (it’s a darn good excuse to get a day off). Just because CNN’s Sanjay Gupta survived it doesn’t mean we’ll all be so lucky. Your community will thank you.

    admin Insurance