Reno Agency

2011 Holiday Hours

admin — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 21:19:09 +0000

Merry Christmas to all our clients and friends. The agency will close at 12 pm on Friday December 23rd and December 30th. The agency will be closed Monday, December 26th and January 2nd.

Pat Coughlin Memorial Fund benefits from you & the Reno Agency

admin — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 14:41:17 +0000

As today is Valentines Day, it’s only appropriate to announce a new promotion that will run throughout the rest of the year. Valentines Day is a day to show those you love, that you care about them. Life insurance is a example of how we show that love to those we treasure and take care of each day. Therefore for the rest of 2011, the Reno Agency will donate $25 to the Pat Coughlin Memorial Fund , in the name of the policyholder, after the purchase of any term life policy (10-30 yrs) or permanent life insurance policy.

If your home was in the southeast this article would mean something to you…

admin — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 14:25:54 +0000

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2011/01/11/180011.htm

If you were on spring break last year in FL you probably heard tons of stories on the news about families who were forced to abandon their homes because they were built with “Chinese drywall.” This literally was a health issue. Now Chinese drywall companies appear to be fighting compensating U.S. homeowner’s effected by their product. This has been a big insurance case in the past year or so as homeowner’s are looking to anyone they can for damages. Luckily Michigan homeowner’s are unlikely to be effected by this problem. The drywall was purchased as a last resort during the time of homes being rebuilt following hurricanes in or about 2005 in the southeast. Demand was so high that even new home builders will getting drywall anywhere they could and China was a market eager to fill the orders. So imagine moving into your dream house only to find out five years later that it was actually making you and your family sick.

What you need to know about “ice dams”

admin — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 14:11:19 +0000

http://www.disastersafety.org/projects/?id=2445&category=1068

Avoid the costly collision of hot and cold and reduce the risk that ice dams will form and create a soggy mess. When heat from the interior of a building with a sloped roof escapes into the attic space, it warms the underside of the roof. Meanwhile, the roof eave outside the heated space remains a colder temperature. As snow accumulates on the rooftop, it melts over the warmer portion of the attic and runs down the roof. When it encounters the cold edge of the roof it refreezes. The refrozen water along the roof edge creates an “ice damming” condition, and consequently, the melted snow running down the roof begins to back up underneath the roof covering. This water will soak the roof sheathing and leak into the attic unless there is a barrier above the sheathing. An appropriately installed secondary moisture barrier will help prevent the water from entering your business and damaging your structure and its contents.

Consider the following recommendations to help prevent your business from experiencing damage from freezing temperatures:

If your roof covering is going to be replaced in the near future, ensure that a secondary moisture barrier is installed using at least two layers of underlayment cemented together or a self-adhering polymer modified bitumen sheet (similar to underlayment). The moisture barrier should extend from the edge of the eaves to at least 24″ beyond the inside of the exterior wall.
To help prevent ice damming, remove or relocate heat sources that are installed in open areas directly under the roof, such as an attic or mechanical room.
Light fixtures in the ceiling below the open area that is directly under your roof, such as attic space or a mechanical room, should be insulated.
- Recessed light fixtures release heat if they are not insulated. Check to see if there is any visible light from these fixtures in the attic.
- If there is, they probably are not adequately sealed or insulated. You should seal or insulate those light fixtures immediately.
If you have penetrations into the attic (e.g. partition walls, stack vents, electric chase, etc.), seal and insulate them so that daylight cannot be seen and airflow is minimal. Also, insulate, seal, weatherstrip or gasket all attic access doors.
- Attic penetrations and access doors that are not properly sealed and insulated allow for heated air to escape into the attic and can contribute to an ice damming condition.

How much life insurance is enough?

admin — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 20:40:50 +0000

Here is a very simple worksheet I ask my life insurance clients to work on to determine how much coverage they need. Remember needs change over time, so it’s a great idea to review this worksheet at least every five years. The link below will take you to the worksheet.

Whether it’s with the Reno Agency or your financial services professional, resolve to review your financial plan in 2011.

http://www.slideshare.net/mikesalisbury/life-insurance-need-estimator?from=embed

Stop by for a Michigan Special Events Calendar

admin — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 14:55:45 +0000

Did you know that the “North American Snow Festival” is in Cadillac on February 3rd? The Reno Agency still has plenty of wall calendars available. They have beautiful photos from around Michigan and what makes this calendar unique is that many of our state’s special events and festivals are listed on the date they occur. Plus it shows the location of the event/festival. If you are out and about this week, swing by. Agency is closed Friday, New Year’s eve.

Great new website

admin — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 14:38:21 +0000

Found this website called disastersafety.org. Great information there. Check out this article on “Alternative Heating Sources.” Remember be safe first!

http://www.disastersafety.org/projects/?id=2377&category=1068

Insurance Industry Comes To The Rescue of North Pole Nick

admin — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 15:00:36 +0000

Just when you think you’ve seen and heard it all in the road-service business, along comes a call for road-side assistance that gives rise to a hearty chuckle.

Imagine this: With the holiday season rapidly approaching, calls have been coming in to the National Automobile Club call center all morning when one from Alaska is answered. The service coordinator, Margarita, quickly establishes the safety of the driver involved and the nature of the road-service need. At first blush, the problem doesn’t seem like a big deal; the caller needs a simple tow for a flat-tired vehicle lacking a spare.

But could it be a coincidence or holiday magic that, among other things, the disabled vehicle is in North Pole, Alaska — pulled to the side of the road on Santa Claus Lane to be exact. And, the driver’s name is Nicolas.

You can well imagine the excitement (the careful listening for little hoof beats; expecting at any moment to hear a jolly ho, ho, ho) that Margarita experienced.

As it turned out, the caller wasn’t a jolly, old elf, but rather a young U.S. Army recruiter, serving his country in the northernmost environs. He was promptly assisted and sent merrily on his way.

In reflecting on the experience, the National Automobile Club headquartered in Foster City, Calif., thought this tale was the perfect reminder to extend best wishes to all of the country’s servicemen, servicewomen and friends.

And as St. Nicholas said, Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Reno Agency Holiday Schedule

admin — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 14:23:08 +0000

The Reno Agency will be closed Friday December 24th and Friday December 31st. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to our clients, friends and community!

Just a reminder that we have 2011 Michigan “Events” calendars in our office if you’d like to stop in and pick one up.

Happy Holidays!

National Insurers Face New Scrutiny Over Price Hikes

admin — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 17:00:47 +0000

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2010/12/22/115868.htm

U.S. health insurance companies that want to increase premiums by 10 percent or more next year would face tougher government scrutiny under new rules proposed Tuesday.

The rules, called for under the sweeping healthcare law passed in March, would require insurers with price increases of 10 percent or more in 2011 to submit data justifying the higher rates for states or, in some cases, the federal government to assess.

While regulators cannot set health insurance rates, they can determine whether proposed increases are “unreasonable.”

The rules put further pressure on health insurers such as Aetna Inc., UnitedHealth Group Inc. and WellPoint Inc., which suffered bad press and drew closer scrutiny by Congress and regulators this year when prices for some individual plans in certain areas rose more than 30 percent.

Tuesday’s proposal offers Wall Street and insurers more details on the rules, which analysts said were better than expected and lifted some uncertainty hanging over the industry.

Shares of insurers, represented by the S&P Managed Health Care Index, rose 1.5 percent after the proposal was announced, but later pared their gains and were up 0.5 percent, in line with the overall market.

The rule is “not as bad as it could have been,” Capital Alpha Partners analyst Kim Monk told Reuters. With its emphasis on the states’ role, less federal oversight is likely over time and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ”will get out of the rate review business entirely, with this just being a stopgap.”

The proposal also pushes back implementation until July, which gives companies more time to seek possible changes, she added.

Health insurers largely fought Democrats’ healthcare overhaul but have since said they will work to implement it. Republicans, who are set to take over the House of Representatives next month, have vowed to repeal the law.

Karen Ignagni, head of the healthcare industry lobbying group America’s Health Insurance Plans, said the 10 percent threshold does not adequately account for all the factors insurers face when setting rates and that overall higher healthcare costs are a major factor.

“The public policy discussion on healthcare costs has focused on health insurance premiums while ignoring the root causes that are driving up the cost of coverage,” said Ignagni.

Jay Angoff, head of the Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight at HHS, said the proposed rule “strikes the right balance” between companies and consumers as well as state and federal roles.

“We believe that it maximizes consumer protection and transparency without unduly burdening the industry,” he told a news conference.

Under the draft, healthcare insurance plans for large groups, such as those offered by many big employers, are not subject to the review.

Still, insurers would have to submit a host of data to regulators about how they set their higher prices, including a three-year history of rate increases for the specific insurance plan, details on the plan’s medical-loss-ratio spending, and data on employee and executive compensation.

The requirements are likely to add to health insurers’ paperwork burden, Monk said.

Various consumer groups applauded the proposal, which they said would help rein in skyrocketing health plan prices and give buyers better information, although some advocates said the rules could be stronger.

“No longer will the insurance industry be able to operate in a wild, wild West through unreasonable premium increases without any accountability for their actions,” Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, said in a statement.

After a rate review, federal officials would post the findings on the HHS website. If a rate hike was deemed too high, insurance companies would also have to post the verdict on their own websites.

States with their own health insurance review systems would evaluate companies’ rates, with HHS stepping in to assess proposed increases in states without such systems.

Different state-by-state thresholds — rather than the blanket 10 percent one next year — would be set after 2011, officials said.

The proposal, online at http://link.reuters.com/ker23r, will be finalized after a 60-day public comment period.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Dave Zimmerman, Matthew Lewis and John Wallace)