Home Inventory Matters

All Good Things Must Come To An End

2010-03-12T16:25:00.000-06:00

Hi folks.

After seeing the light of day, I have decided to close Farley Home Services, and consequently the Home Inventory Matters blog. I have enjoyed providing the inventory service to my clients and the blog to my faithful readers (many of you are both!), but I simply can not continue in this business at the present time or for the foreseeable future.

Proverbs 16:9 says "The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps." I am grateful to have had the opportunity to serve so many of my friends and neighbors, but the time has come to serve in a new capacity. I have recently accepted a role as the youth leader and outreach coordinator at New Heights Chapel in Murfreesboro, TN and I am excited about this opportunity.

Blogging is something I very much enjoy, and I have begun a new blog called Worn Out Bibles in conjunction with this new role. I would appreciate your continued readership at that site if you are so inclined.

May God bless you all.

A. J. Farley

NAIC says Inventory When You Get Engaged!

2010-02-25T15:15:00.000-06:00

Just got engaged? Congratulations! You've got some work to do, hm? Here's another thing to add to your list: Home Inventory. In the course of establishing one household, you are going to need to know how much coverage you need for your contents wherever you decide to live, particularly if you have been on your own for a while. The National Association of Insurance Comissioners (NAIC) has some great tips for how to put your insurance households together, and one of them is to inventory your goods.

Make an inventory of all of your belongings you'll be combining to determine how much coverage you'll need. Be sure to update your inventory as you purchase new items, or with wedding gifts.

Check out this article after the shock of your engagement wears off. May God bless your union! Get to work! We can help!

A. J. Farley, a hopeless romantic in his own right, owns Farley Home Services, your home inventory professionals. Please visit EverySingleItem.com for more details. Thanks!

It's Not A Party Until...

2010-02-03T10:28:00.002-06:00

Allstate Insurance has some good tips published in the Dalton (GA) Daily Citizen for those of you planning a Super Bowl party. The big game is this weekend, so you better get busy! The first step is to call your agent.

Worried about a raucous guest falling and injuring himself in your home? Check your homeowners policy to make sure you have personal liability protection that provides adequate coverage for your home and assets. (emphasis added)

Remember, your liability coverage needs to exceed your net worth.

What if that guest breaks your pricey antique vase in his fall? Will your insurance replace it? Protect your home valuables — like fine art, collectibles or sporting equipment — with a scheduled personal property endorsement to your homeowners policy. (emphasis added)

This endorsement is also know as a personal articles floater or inland marine coverage. These are all basically the same thing.

The article also goes on to discuss the need for discipline regarding the amount of alcohol your guests have had. Please don't let someone leave your home when you know he or she has no business being behind the wheel of a car. This is not just an insurance issue, it's the right thing to do.

A. J. Farley runs a home inventory provider named Farley Home Services in Murfreesboro, TN. Please visit FarleyHomeServices.com for more information. Thanks!

Rare Picasso Damaged in Accident

2010-01-26T10:25:00.000-06:00

The New York Times reports damage to Picasso's The Actor, incurred when an art student stumbled and fell into the work while visiting the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Times says that the fall caused a six inch tear in the canvas along the lower right-hand corner. The student was not injured.

“The Actor” was painted when Picasso was only 23. “He was very poor, and these canvases were expensive,” said John Richardson, the Picasso biographer. He explained that if Picasso made a mistake, he couldn’t afford to throw out the canvas, but rather painted over it. “Nearly all these early canvases have something painted underneath,” Mr. Richardson said. He added: “There are few major paintings from this period and” — at 4 feet by 6 feet — “this is one of the biggest. It’s very important.” Dealers say a painting of this scale and period could be worth well over $100 million.

A skilled restorer can repair a work like this, using a mixture of old and new techniques as well as new technology. The Met's Conservation Laboratory is on the case.

Like a gifted plastic surgeon, a seasoned restorer has many options these days and a host of materials and instruments at his disposal, even acupuncture needles. They are not used as they would be in Asian medicine, to puncture a surface, or to sew a canvas, but rather are applied from behind to keep a tear flat.

I feel for the person that stumbled into this piece. Can you imagine damaging something that valuable? That's a bad day right there.

A. J. Farley owns Farley Home Services, a home inventory service. Please visit FarleyHomeServices.com for details.

Boston Residents Catch a Break

2010-01-18T13:31:00.000-06:00

Boston.com says that Boston residents who have homeowners insurance through the state's FAIR plan (insurance of last resort) will see a decrease in premiums this year, while the rest of the state will see relatively flat rate changes for the coming year. The FAIR plan had requested a modest increase, but Joseph Murphy, the state's acting insurance commissioner, said that the rate increases did not appear to be justified.

Insurance rates in coastal states are a difficult nut for insurance carriers to crack. They have to balance the higher risks associated with coastal properties (usually wealthier policyholders) with affordable rates for inland policyholders (everyone else).

(Boston.com apparently will not allow me to include excerpts of the article, so you'll have to follow the link for yourself. Sorry for the inconvenience...)

A. J. Farley runs Farley Home Services of Murfreesboro TN.

eHow Says Home Inventory Essential

2010-01-13T14:23:00.004-06:00

eHow says home inventory is one significant way of being prepared for disasters like fires, tornadoes, etc. Here are some snippets:

A good inventory will help you determine how much insurance your need to protect your possessions and it is an accurate record of what you have should you need to file a claim.

When you buy something new update your inventory.

Some good, basic information here, that almost sounds like I could have written it. Acually no, it's better written than if I had done it!

Haiti Tragedy: Earthquake ravaged Haiti is in dire need of medical supplies and triage care. The sheer number of victims is making it dificult to handle even stabilization of the injured, much less provide proper medical treatment. Just a terrible situation...

The Desiring God blog has links to charities collecting for Haiti here or you can give to the Salvation Army here. Please give if you have the means to do so.

A. J. Farley runs Farley Home Services in Murfreesboro TN.

True Bicycle Insurance on the Horizon?

2010-01-08T16:03:00.002-06:00

Lindsay Caron writes an interesting piece on bicycle insurance, a surprisingly scarce commodity, on BikePortland.org. You would think that since a bicycle is a means of transportation, you should be able to insure it like you would a car or a motorcycle, but this is not the case.

Bicycle insurance that is similar to auto insurance already exists in England, Australia, and New Zealand. It covers policyholders’ medical bills resulting from bicycle crashes, as well as covering bicycle repair or replacement and lost wages from serious injuries.

Not only can you not purchase this "bicycle as transportation" type of policy here in the states, it's difficult to find true, all-peril "bicycle as personal property" insurance either.

Here's what I mean: When you purchase high value items, such as jewelry, fine arts, and the like, you need to purchase a special policy that provides Inland Marine protection, often referred to as personal articles coverage. Personal articles policies broaden your coverage for those specific named items to include pretty much any type of unintentional loss, and you need that type of policy for just about any collectible item. Without that type of policy, you are limited to your homeowners insurance, which provides "named peril" coverage as opposed to all peril. Insurers don't like to cover bicycles under personal articles policies, and collision is not one of those named perils on your homeowners coverage.

So, if you are in a bike accident, you have no coverage for your high dollar bicycle replacement or lost wages. You may have coverage for your medical bills through your health insurance, but many times health insurers will decline losses relating to accidents up front until they find out if a car policy will pay something.

The good news? The League of American Bicyclists (LAB) is hoping to bring this type of coverage to the USA soon.

The catch: in order for the plan to be affordable to its members yet not pose a serious financial risk to the underwriters, it would have to cover a large pool of members outside of the highest risk group — cycle-commuters with no other insurance options. The LAB would have to include this insurance as part of their base membership fee. Even as supplemental insurance, the proposed plan was a screaming deal at only $10 a year, which would be added to the annual fee for members. Such a plan, [Portland insurance agent, Jeff] Lang argues, could potentially make a LAB membership more attractive to new members as well as providing a basic service.

The LAB hoped to bring this coverage about in 2009, but the poor economy, decreased donations, and decreased membership during that year scuttled the plan. The new year brings new possibilities though, and hopefully this thing can come to fruition in the near future.

A. J. Farley runs Farley Home Services, a home inventory provider based in Murfreesboro TN. Please visit FarleyHomeServices.com at your leisure.

Like a Good Neighbor, Trim Your Trees!

2010-01-05T05:57:00.001-06:00

Sunday's Houston Chronicle has a well written Q & A by local attorney Ronald Lipman regarding trees on your property line. Bear in mind that while your neighbor's tree drops leaves on your yard and shelters birds that drop other stuff on your yard, you also benefit from the shade and beauty that tree provides. It's not like your neighbor's tree is some sort of curse on your home.

Your neighbor has the right to trim your tree. They also have the right to place a barrier to prevent the roots from your tree from causing damage to their property. However, if the pruning or the barrier kills the tree, and you have the time and inclination to sue your neighbor, you might be able to recover damages for the loss of the tree.

I'll bet you didn't know that. I didn't!

Visit FarleyHomeServices.com for all your home inventory needs.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-22T07:47:00.000-06:00

¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14, New King James Version)

I'm going to take the rest of the year off. Normal service will be resumed the first full week of January.

Merry Christmas from Farley Home Services!

AJF

Sotheby's Sells Stolen Painting For Thief

2009-12-18T09:18:00.001-06:00

Sotheby's auction house has come under fire for selling a piece by British artist Allan Ramsay on behalf of the thief. The New York Observer has the story, excerpted below.

Mr. [Bill] Hoffman, 45, would not fit the Hollywood image of a sophisticated art thief. A New Jersey native, he moved to Kingston about 20 years ago and now makes his living doing odd jobs such as "picking up someone's garbage or junk," as the message on his cell phone announces. And if you asked him, he'd say he wasn't a thief at all...

Yet if Mr. Hoffman had simply liked the painting-had taken it home, hung it over his fireplace and admired it while sipping cocoa-he may, in fact, not find himself in the position he's currently in: under investigation by the F.B.I. Agents are looking into not only how Mr. Hoffman gained possession of the painting, but also whether he may be the first person in memory to have hood-winked Sotheby's into auctioning an allegedly stolen piece of art on his own behalf...

THE ART WORLD has long lacked a universal or even commonly accepted way of proving ownership of lesser paintings. While a masterpiece will possess a "provenance" that will detail the history of its ownership, auction houses and galleries are often asked to sell works valued at under $1 million with the barest of documentation...

For Sotheby's, Mr. Hoffman is memorable for another reason: "This is the only time I can think of when someone has allegedly stolen something and soon thereafter has consigned it himself to public auction," said Jonathan Osloff, North American general counsel for Sotheby's...

Sotheby's has been embarrassed by this process, and the FBI is investigating Hoffman's claims to the painting, which he allegedly took with the owner's permission in 2007. I find the whole thing funny, but only because I have no dog in the hunt.

A. J. Farley runs Farley Home Services when he isn't chuckling at the foibles of the art world or getting distracted in some other way. Please visit FarleyHomeServices.com for details.

"I guess Houston's 'bout as big as a city can get..."

2009-12-15T21:52:00.001-06:00

The Houston Chronicle, often lauded for its impeccable (ahem) fashion reporting, says the bow tie is back in again. Here are a few excerpts:

Designer Tommy Hilfiger, known for mining nautical preppy looks, has always shown bow ties on his runways for a sporty look that's still sophisticated. “Historically, the bow tie was simply a means to keep a shirt closed. Today, it's more about style preference,” Hilfiger says. “I think the bow tie is being reinterpreted for more casual looks. It's no longer restricted to formalwear. It can be a playful accessory.”[emphasis added]

But, says Scott Apgar, neckwear director of Arlington-based Tandy Brands Accessories (sold at Dillard's, J.C. Penney, Nordstrom, Macy's and Bealls), “If a man is going to wear a bow tie, he better want to tie it himself. It may look a little lopsided and a little off, but it shows that you did it. And that will earn you extra points.”[emphasis added]

What more proof could you possibly need? Now get out there and tie those bows!

A. J. Farley wears bow ties and runs Farley Home Services. Not necessarily in that order.

Santa Barbara Fire Woes

2009-12-11T09:37:00.002-06:00

The Santa Barbara Independent has a gut check story about families rebuilding after wildfires destroyed much of their beautiful neighborhoods last year. Insurance carriers come off looking like bandits in this report, particularly Allstate and the California FAIR plan (the insurer of last resort for folks in high risk areas of the state).

A perfect storm of troubles has followed, including inadequate square-footage rebuild money; the daunting process of documenting lost possessions, how much each item cost, and then debating with Allstate about how much each item was worth at the time it went up in flames; disputing what she was owed on the “additional living expense” option that covered her family’s stay in a hotel immediately after the fire; and the financial and legal peril she finds herself in after paying out-of-pocket for numerous repairs and having Allstate “drag their feet” about reimbursing her. [emphasis added]

Your heart goes out to these folks who have paid premiums faithfully for years, played by the rules, and yet are struggling now to be properly reimbursed for these losses. United Policyholders is working to help these folks.

“Basically, people are facing one of two problems,” explained Amy Bach, executive director of United Policyholders, a statewide advocacy organization that helps disaster victims navigate the insurance gauntlet. “You are either under-insured, as in, even if you get paid your full coverage, it won’t be enough,” she said, “or, the insurance company is low-balling you … that is, they aren’t offering you enough of your coverage.” Since hitting the ground here in Santa Barbara immediately after the Tea Fire, her group has found plenty of both problems, particularly in the Mountain Drive area. [emphasis added]

The problem of having too little coverage is endemic in California and big everywhere else. Remember, a good relationship with your insurance agent goes a long way in these circumstances. Get together with him or her early in the claims process to make sure that things are progressing as they should. Review your policy annually with your agent or his staff.

Above all, complete a home inventory preemptively and keep it up to date. You won't remember all that you have lost in this most stressful of times. Don't get pushed aside and leave hundreds of thousands of dollars sitting on the table.

A. J. Farley owns Farley Home Services, a home inventory documentation service. Please visit FarleyHomeServices.com for more information. We can help!

A Call For More Bow Tie Swap Clubs!

2009-12-08T08:45:00.001-06:00

An Idea Whose Time Has Come...And Gone...And Come Again: The Hartford Bow Tie Swap Club Celebrated their 17th (annual?) meeting recently in Connecticut.

As part of the event, members bring the ties they are tired of and swap them for those others have contributed to the swap. One of the first turned-in ties that was grabbed was one donated by former Hartford Arts Council head and Bow Tie Swap Club founder Ken Kahn, who happened to be in town. [emphasis added]

Sounds like something right out of F Scott Fitzgerald, doesn't it? This is a wonderful tradition that needs to be spread far and wide across this great land of ours, particularly Middle Tennessee! I guess I'll have to start my own club and be its sole charter member...

A. J. Farley is a bow tie wearer and founder of Farley Home Services, Middle Tennessee's premier home inventory specialists. Please visit FarleyHomeServices.com for more details.

Florida Dodges Bullet, Awaits The Next One

2009-12-03T12:53:00.000-06:00

Don't Let The Mild Season Fool You: Thankfully, Florida had a mild hurricane season this year, one of the mildest in recent memory according to the Gainesville Guardian. This hurricane season responded to El Nino's push, keeping the storms that did form out to sea.

With hurricane season ending Monday, it appears everyone can breathe another sigh of relief. It's been four years since a storm has reached hurricane strength at the time it made landfall in Florida. That was in October 2005, when powerful Wilma struck near Naples. At one time, Wilma had been the most intense hurricane ever when its pressure dropped to 882 millibars and winds escalated to 185 mph. It weakened just before landfall. The storm caused $21 billion in damage in Florida alone. Since Wilma, only five tropical storms have made landfall in Florida, causing $1 billion in damage in the last four hurricane seasons combined.

Florida residents are, however, warned to continue to be prepared.

David Donnelly, the Alachua County Emergency Management director, urges residents to always have an emergency kit on hand. That's because Florida is prone to other emergencies, such as flooding, tornadoes, chemical spills and wildfires. Donnelly noted chances of severe storms, ones that produce tornadoes, are greater in the winter during strong El Nino years. One prime example was the strong El Nino pattern that formed in late 1997 through early 1998. The end result was seven months of record-breaking, and deadly, Florida weather.

Florida residents can certainly be thankful for the mild season. With all of the silliness that has taken place in the state's insurance situation, consumers should take comfort in whatever good news comes their way. Let's just hope that El Nino doesn't turn out to be a trojan horse in the coming months.

A. J. Farley runs Farley Home Services, a home inventory documentation service based in Tennessee. Please visit FarleyHomeServices.com for more information. Thanks!

Rethinking Discounts

2009-11-23T17:00:00.003-06:00

Florida Consumers Getting Ready For Another Round: Miami's CBS4 reports that Florida insurance carriers are re-inspecting homes in an effort to reduce windstorm discounts the state requires them to offer. Here's an excerpt...

In 2006, the discounts were double [sic] on the theory that at [sic] a fortified property would be good for both the property owner and the insurer. But the discounts began to cut into the insurance companies bottom line as more and more property owners qualified for them. Insurance companies have asked the state to adjust the amount of discount they have to allow, but so far the state has said no. In order to cut giving the wind mitigation discounts, the insurer would have to get permission from the state.

Aside from the poor grammar (I have plenty of room to talk) I found this piece disturbing. Are there unscrupulous inspectors that were giving the thumbs-up to properties that didn't qualify for these discounts? Probably. But it sure does seem that the insurance industry always assumes the worst and sets policy on that basis. Insurers are often caught between a rock and a hard place, particularly in Florida. It's a bad business practice to automatically assume that your customers are cheating you in every single transaction, but insurance companies in Florida have this as a standard procedure.

A. J. Farley runs Farley Home Services, your home inventory specialists. Please visit FarleyHomeServices.com.

Michigan Legislature and Insurance Industry at Odds

2009-11-16T12:40:00.007-06:00

I Guess No Gift Exchange This Year? The state of Michigan continues to be locked in battle with the state's property and casualty insurers (read: Big Insurance) over the state's desire to overhaul its insurance laws and to provide Michigan's consumers with greater protections. Insurance Journal has this brief story, excepted here:

According to [Property and Casualty Insurers of America], the petition form seeks to cut insurance premiums by 20 percent for auto, home, and business coverage; cut auto insurance premiums for good drivers by an additional 20 percent; base insurance premiums primarily on driving safety record and not on credit history, marital status, territory or other rating factors; give the insurance commissioner the ability to refund premiums deemed excessive; mandate insurers to follow consumer protection laws; prohibit insurers from unfairly canceling coverage; and adopt additional laws to protect consumers among other proposals. (emphasis added)

The state is stepping in to keep its consumers from having to deal with massive rate increases and unfair business practices (such and pre-emptive non-renewals and excessive geographical premium surcharges), and the industry is whining at full force. It won't be long before some carriers decide to take their ball and go home like companies have in Mississippi and Florida, which will make this situation go really bad in a hurry for Michigan consumers. I hope that the state isn't pushing too hard with the rate increase caps, but I fear that it is. One has to assume that the insurers are using Michigan as a testing ground to determine how hard to fight these restrictions in other states, otherwise they would have pulled out already. I would hate to see consumers have less choice after this is all said and done.

A. J. Farley runs Farley Home Services. Please visit FarleyHomeServices.com for more information today!

What Would George Bailey Say?

2009-11-12T09:06:00.007-06:00

Credit Scoring in The News: A recent Dallas Morning News editorial is drawing criticism from the Texas business community regarding the use of credit scoring in the underwriting and premium calculation for P & C coverages. In a different article, the Morning News had found that auto and homeowners insurance consumers with poor credit scores were paying rates as high as 35% above those with higher credit scores but similar claim records. I have blogged about this practice before, speaking particularly about the state of Michigan's move to ban credit scoring as a means of determining underwriting eligibility. Here are some excerpts from the initial DMN article:

Rates submitted by the 35 largest auto insurers show that all but two use credit history to help decide whom to sell insurance to and how much to charge. Some companies double the rates for those with poor credit scores. Among home insurers, 19 of the 26 largest companies charge higher rates for low scores, including some who charge 2 ½ times as much...

Alex Winslow of Texas Watch, a consumer group active in insurance issues, said credit scoring should not be a major factor in insurance rates, particularly in the current economy "where many people through no fault of their own are seeing their credit scores drop – and insurance bills go up."

Now some excerpts from the critique:

Individual credit scores improve or degrade depending upon matters such as amount of outstanding personal debts, late payments and bankruptcies. Decades of underwriting insurance have proven that credit scoring to be reliably accurate in predicting risks and claims activity...

Never mind that banks, credit card companies, mortgage companies, landlords, employers, retail stores and myriad others also use credit scoring for business purposes. Their opportunities to be researched, written about, and editorialized upon by The News may come soon enough.

Here's my stance: since a statistical correlation does not imply a cause and effect relationship, credit scoring has no business being included in the underwriting decisions of insurance carriers. Period. A credit scoring model is simply an end run around the laws that outlaw discrimination.

A. J. Farley runs Farley Home Services, a home inventory documentation service in Murfreesboro, TN. Please visit EverySingleItem.com for more information.

Maybe Your Home Should Float!

2009-11-09T08:22:00.004-06:00

Not A New Idea: Some residents of Louisiana are considering floating homes as an alternative to elevating existing structures. Louisiana's Daily Comet article about the structures describes the pros and cons of home floatership. A big issue? Insurance companies that don't cover the structures because they aren't tied down. How ironic!

But officials aren’t buying into the new technology just yet. Mike Hunnicutt, deputy section chief of FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Program, said FEMA doesn’t endorse floating houses as a good strategy for protecting against hurricane flooding. Also, the National Flood Insurance Program, locals’ only option for flood insurance, won’t insure floating houses because they’re not considered anchored to the ground.

Options like this need to be explored. Local residents have made clear that they intend to remain in flood prone areas, so whatever can be done to lessen the burden on the rest of the insurance premium paying folks in the state would be helpful. FEMA should work with the flood insurers and the home manufacturers to find a way to make floating homes that everyone can be satisfied with.

Louisiana residents have gotten creative in their use of the space under their elevated structures, creating workshops and barbecues, and even hanging porch swings from the stilts.

A. J. Farley runs Farley Home Services, a home inventory documentation service. Please visit EverySingleItem.com to see how you can be served!

New York Says Inventory, Review For Winter

2009-11-05T13:13:00.003-06:00

Review That Policy! The New York Department of Insurance said in a recent press release that the approaching winter storm season should serve as a reminder to us to review our homeowners policies and more importantly (at least from my perspective) to get those home inventories completed.

Develop a home inventory with such information as receipts and photo/video records showing your real estate and personal property. Make sure you have two copies one at home and another in a safe but accessible location away from your home.

Trust me, you don't want to make the state of New York angry. You better get to work! Give us a call.

Farley Home Services meets your home inventory needs. Please visit EverySingleItem.com for more details. Thanks for reading!

Titanic Treasures At Stake

2009-11-02T09:44:00.003-06:00

What's This Got To Do With Anything? I found an interesting article on the remnants of the Titanic, and who owns its rights. Admittedly, this has nothing to do with home inventory, insurance, or any of the other things we normally discuss here. I just find it interesting to imagine treasures resting on the ocean floor, and the history of this particular vessel.

The company RMS Titanic (RMST) has emerged as the owner of the salvage rights. RMST is considering a seventh dive next year, its first since 2004 although other dives, including one financed by "Titanic" director James Cameron, have taken place. RMST has already recovered 5,900 artifacts from the ship during the first six dives. Legally the company does not own the ship nor the recovered items and it has gone to court in pursuit of limited ownership as a way to make up for the huge salvage costs.

The proceeds from the artifacts of this ship could amount to $100 million, so this is no idle dispute. Here is some of the footage from the 2004 dive:

Farley Home Services provides home inventory documentation for all of your treasures. Please visit EverySingleItem.com for details.

What's In The Vaults?

2009-10-27T10:05:00.008-05:00

Art Bought By Banks, and Bailouts: A recent New York Times business article described the vast amount of art owned by banks around the world, and how that art ownership has been affected by the recent global financial crisis (perhaps you may have read about it).

Some do make an effort to share their artistic wealth. Monte dei Paschi di Siena of Italy invites the public to see some of its impressive collection, which stretches back to the Renaissance. The Swiss bank UBS lets the Tate Museum of Britain select from its collection. But these efforts don’t often come to much. The Tate currently has only three of UBS’s pieces on display.

Critics claim that banks don't display the works they hold, hoarding them in unseen vaults, unaware of both their monetary and intrinsic values. Sadly, mosts banks that own vast collections are not in a position in the current economic climate to pay an adequate curator to let them know what they have. Works sit in storage, unappreciated on every possible level.

Contact Farley Home Services (EverySingleItem.com) for help with your home inventory needs.

How Insurance Companies Feel About Mold

2009-10-22T09:40:00.005-05:00

Let's Just Get This Out On The Table: Fire insurance business is typically easy for agents to write. The premiums are good, and the policies don't require very much in the way of service other than the occasional mortgagee clause change when a client refinances. So agents like to write homeowners insurance policies, umbrella policies, and business insurance coverages because they tend to be easy money. If there's one thing that drives P & C insurance agents crazy, it's homeowners policies that get sideways.

Mold is, plain and simple, a maintenance (rather than insurance) issue in the eyes of the insurance industry. If you have a water damage loss that requires mold remediation, you've done something wrong. Insurance is intended to be for things that occur suddenly and accidentally. All insurance policies require you to prevent further damage from occurring once you discover a claim situation. Mold grows over time, so a loss that has mold means that you have neglected a leak or you haven't been paying attention to some other situation in your home.

Mold claims get denied. The insurance industry doesn't want to pay for the maintenance of your home.

Please visit the Farley Home Services site at EverySingleItem.com for your home inventory needs.

California Shakeout

2009-10-19T09:02:00.003-05:00

Earthquake Preparedness In The News: California recently held a statewide earthquake drill called the Great California Shakeout to get people thinking about disaster preparedness. Sadly, the event has already taken place and I missed it, but you can still read about how to get yourself and your family ready to face an emergency like this on the state's website.

Farley Home Services provides home inventory documentation. Please visit EverySingleItem.com for more information. Thanks!

Last Minute Heroics

2009-10-15T12:11:00.005-05:00

A Great Night for America: I don't normally devote an entire blog entry to soccer, but it's warranted today because of the wonderful turn of events that took place last night in our nation's capital. Our national team, depleted from the outset by the loss of our speedy young striker Charlie Davies (more on that later), and down to 10 men at games' end due to a significant injury to our stalwart defender Oguchi Onyewu, (more on that later) came back from a 2-0 deficit despite shameless time-wasting efforts by our opponent Costa Rica (more on that later) to secure a 2-2 draw, and with it the top spot in the CONCACAF region heading into next year's World Cup.

The USA was reduced to 10 men for the last seven minutes of the game, plus five minutes of stoppage time, after defender Oguchi Onyewu went down in the Costa Rican penalty box with a torn patellar tendon in his left knee, suffered while he was backpedaling after a corner kick. He had to be stretchered off and, as the USA already had used all three of its allowed substitutes, the Americans played a man down the rest of the way.

Charlie Davies was significantly injured in a fatal, single car crash early Tuesday morning. The SUV in which he and the young woman who died were passengers was torn in half, and Davies had crushed bones in his legs, facial injuries, and a torn bladder requiring hours of surgery later that day. Questions have arisen as to whether Davies will ever play the game again, but of course those pale in comparison to the loss of a loved one suffered by the family of Ashley Roberta.

Onyewu, who plays his club soccer with AC Milan of Serie A was stalwart all night until his injury. He has a remarkable ability to be in the right spot to head away any ball directed toward his goal in the air. At the time of his injury, the USA was trailing 2-1 and had already used our allotment of three subs for the match, so our boys finished the game short-handed.

The Costa Rican coach, Brazillian Rene Simoes ("The Professor") argued with the fourth official on the sideline about the timing of a substitution late in the game, and the exchange became so heated that the game was disrupted and Simoes was ejected. One by one, other Costa Rican coaches were ejected in an effort to disrupt the game and kill off the clock while nursing a one goal lead. The head official was wisely having none of this, and ensured that the USA received a generous portion of stoppage time added to the end of the game, which proved to be crucial. The image of the Costa Rican bench, depleted and in despair after the tying goal, will be one US fans will treasure for a long time.

The dramatic extra-time header that tied the match was nodded home by defender Jonathan Bornstein through the smallest of spaces between a Costa Rican defender and the goal upright. How it went in is still a mystery to me. All in all, a very satisfying night. And we finished ahead of Mexico in the final standings, which is always a plus!

Please visit Farley Home Services at EverySingleItem.com for all of your inventory needs.

Art Theft That Grows More Odd By The Minute

2009-10-12T08:08:00.004-05:00

I'm Sorry, Can You Explain That Again? The Boston Globe has the story of a strange theft which is shaking (or amusing) the art world. Dr. Ralph Kennaugh, a former Harvard University Medical School instructor, and Angelo Benjamin Amadio, a law school student, claim that much of their art collection, which includes works by Rembrandt and Van Gogh among others, has been stolen. The problem? They don't cooperate with police, they seem to relish giving press conferences, and they had very few of the works insured. Things just aren't adding up.

Investigators, who previously identified the alleged victims, Dr. Ralph Kennaugh and Angelo Benjamin Amadio, as suspects in the theft are considering the possibility the doctor was a victim of Amadio, a spokesman for the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office said yesterday. “That is one scenario we’re looking at,’’ said Commander Mike Richards. “There have been untruthful and inconsistent statements presented to us by Mr. Amadio.’’ In a telephone interview from California last night, Kennaugh, 62, who worked as a radiation oncologist at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Worcester until March and was an instructor at Harvard Medical School, called the allegation “ridiculous.’’

I first became of aware of this story through this blog posting on Appraiser Workshops, and the details have become decidedly less clear over the last week.

Now, Something Completely Different: The US Men's National Soccer Team won an amazing game on Saturday night in Honduras that clinched their 2010 World Cup spot, marking the sixth consecutive time that they have qualified. The victory, a 3-2 spellbinder, came after Honduras' leading goal scorer missed an 87th minute penalty kick that would have tied the game and delayed our qualification. The often maligned Connor Casey scored a brace (two goals in one game), and captain Landon Donovan drove home the game winner off a free kick from distance about midway through the second half. It was the ugliest, most beautiful game I've seen in a long time, made all the more exciting by the grainy, bootleg internet feed I was forced to watch it on. On to South Africa! Our national team really deserves your attention.

A. J. Farley enjoys a good art theft tale as much as the next man. He also runs Farley Home Services, your home inventory professionals. Please visit EverySingleItem.com.

When It Rains, It Hurricanes

2009-10-09T10:46:00.006-05:00

Another Example: Tuesday's blog entry dealt with insurance carriers pre-emptively non-renewing policyholders so as to avoid potential future losses. These are typically isolated incidents, but today's news says that Nationwide Insurance is non-renewing 60,000 Florida policyholders.

"This is a difficult business decision, but Nationwide must make tough choices now to make sure they can be here for our customers in the future," the company said in its statement. Meanwhile, the state is still trying to work out the details of a withdrawal from the home insurance market sought by State Farm Florida, which says it wants to leave because it has been denied rate hikes it needs. An administrative hearing on that dispute is now set for Nov. 17.

Yet again the Florida consumer takes one on the chin. Nationwide says that they have found a patsy, er, alternative carrier, that has agreed to write many of the non-renewed policies. All those for higher deductibles and higher premiums please raise your hands. This taking-my-ball-and-going-home approach the insurance industry uses is growing tiresome, but apparently the insurers feel it is their only option if the states are unwilling to approve the rate hikes the companies request.

Please visit EverySingleItem.com for your home inventory needs.

Insurance Companies Dropping Potential Claimants

2009-10-06T09:12:00.002-05:00

You Could Have A Claim, So We're Dropping You: Did you know that your insurance carrier can elect to not renew your policy based on the possibility that you might file a future claim? Regulations vary from one state to the next, but some New York residents are learning this lesson the hard way according to Sunday's New York Daily News.

A major hurricane hasn't swept through New York since 1999. But that's not stopping insurance companies from using hurricane fears to refuse to renew home insurance policies in coastal areas of the Bronx. [John] Zagami [the non-renewed customer in the story] eventually found a new insurer - but with a higher premium and a larger deductible.

The New York state legislature may visit this topic in the near future, but the practice is perfectly legal as it stands now. As always, your agent is your best friend in this process. If your carrier will make an exception to keep you, your agent is most likely to make that happen.

A. J. Farley owns Farley Home Services, and stands ready to serve your inventory needs. Please visit EverySingleItem.com for details. Thanks for reading!

Indian Market Struggles

2009-10-01T09:50:00.003-05:00

Santa Fe in the Spotlight: NPR reports that the annual Santa Fe Indian Market recently concluded with mixed results. The market (begun in 1922) showcases native art and culture, and many native artists earn the lion's share of their income from this event. Click this NPR Media Player link to hear the Morning Edition story.

The recession had a tangible impact on some of the benefit auctions held during the week of Indian Market. Artists — along with some galleries and dealers — often donate original works to help raise money for museums and organizations dedicated to American Indian arts.

Like we have been saying, it's a tough time for artists, but it's a great time for buyers.

Getting Older Stinks: I'm playing soccer with the (way) over 30 age group in my area, and it's been a rough season for me personally. I hurt my heel earlier in the campaign, and this last Monday I rolled over on my outstretched hand causing all my fingers to bend backwards in a manner at odds with God's wondrous design of the hand. I just finished on the phone with my wife, and told her of my plans to play in our game this evening, causing to her sigh heavily. Ahh the life of a woman married to an adolescent male...

A. J. Farley runs Farley Home Services and whines regularly. Please visit EverySingleItem.com for more of the former and none of the latter.

YouTube To the Rescue

2009-09-28T08:25:00.003-05:00

See For Yourself:

Of course, you could have a Home Inventory Professional complete the task in a fraction of the time it would take you...

If a picture is worth a thousand words, what's a video worth?

Please visit EverySingleItem.com for more details. Thanks!

Organizer Says Inventory Essential

2009-09-25T16:09:00.002-05:00

Inventory Helps Recoup Possessions: Maryanne MacDonald writes in the Memphis Commercial Appeal about the value of a home inventory when the time comes to file an insurance claim. Here are some excerpts from the article.

If you are ever the victim of a fire, burglary or other disaster, you will need to have a record of your household furnishings and other valuable items. You will need to know when you purchased the item, the original cost and the current value.

When describing your furnishings and equipment be as specific as possible. Write an accurate description of large items. For furniture, include the color, wood type and size. For appliances, record the manufacturer, model, serial number and size.

The time to take this action is before disaster strikes. Disasters don't stick to our schedules, though, so you have to carve out the time to take care of this. Call a professional, like me, or ask a friend or family member to help you with this task ("We'll do your home this weekend and my home next weekend.") This is not as hard as people make it seem.

Visit EverySingleItem.com for more information.

Float Your Jewelry, Seriously!

2009-09-21T12:13:00.003-05:00

The Difference Between Being Made Whole and Being Made Angry: Your jewelry needs its own insurance protection. So says Sunday's Boston Globe.

If you have items worth more than you’re covered for, consider buying an additional policy using a “floater’’ or “rider’’ for their replacement cost, which will also cover lost jewelry. For floaters, insurers typically charge a percentage of an item’s value and don’t levy a deductible.

This 'floater" is what we have been describing as personal articles coverage or inland marine coverage. As always, you need to visit with your insurance agent to tailor the right policy mix. It's important to document your belongings as well with a personal property inventory. Filing a claim will be far simpler with such an inventory in place.

Two Losses, Two Deductibles: Louis Ferguson had his vehicle stolen. The insurance policy paid for the value of his truck, but not for the personal property that was in it...

Ferguson said that he spent the next 24 hours trying to file a report with the Knoxville Police Department, find a hotel to sleep in and then visiting several auto rental establishments only to discover that he couldn't rent a car because he was only 20 years old at the time. His father eventually arranged a car rental from Mississippi, but not before the trip had ended up costing roughly $1,000 in out-of-pocket expenses. "It was a lot of trouble," he said. "The insurance gave me what the truck was worth, and I bought a new one, but they don't replace all the personal property that was in it."

I'm reading between the lines here, but I think Mr. Ferguson is leaving something out of this story, and that is the fact that his personal property would have been covered by his renters insurance, had he purchased a policy, or by his homeowners insurance if he owned his home.

When your vehicle is stolen, two types of insurance losses occur. The thief steals your vehicle which covered by its own policy, and he steals your personal property (ipod, loose clothing, cash, whatever else happened to be in the car at the time of the theft, barring policy exclusions). Let's say you have $500 deductibles on both your auto comprehensive and your homeowners policy. The first $1000 is your responsibility, but after that you should be covered. I suspect Mr. Ferguson had no renters insurance based on what I'm seeing here.

Bear in mind, we're talking about how things are, not how things should be.

A. J. Farley owns Farley Home Services, a personal property documentation service. Visit EverySingleItem.com for more details.

So Now It's Flooding Here

2009-09-17T16:47:00.006-05:00

Rising Floodwaters Close To Home: The Christiana community, just south of my home in Murfreesboro, is disappearing under floodwater after four consecutive days of rain here. The Red Cross has opened a shelter and volunteers are going to work to get folks and livestock to safety.

Rutherford County EMS spokesman Randy White spoke of the heroism shown by the numerous agencies who responded to the Christiana area Thursday to aid in the rescue efforts of those trapped in flooding conditions. “It was amazing,” he said. “There were acts of heroism and selflessness. This could have been a disastrous situation but we were able to rescue everyone who needed it.

I live in an incredible place. I just wish we didn't have to go through times like this to see how good we have it!

Flooding Threat High In Washington State: The Green River Valley could suffer significant flooding this year as the Howard Hansen Dam has become inoperable.

A weak abutment of the Howard Hanson Dam will prevent the Corps of Engineers from operating the dam as it has since 1962. As a result, heavy rains this fall could place thousands of homes and businesses at risk of serious flood damage and billions of dollars in losses.

As a result of this threat, Washington governor Christine Gregoire has strongly encouraged residents of the valley to purchase flood insurance before it's too late. Flood policies have mandatory 30 day waiting periods to prevent consumers from buying them during periods of imminent danger. It may be too late already.

Home inventory is also encouraged as a preventative measure.

Create a home inventory of your personal property. A complete inventory of your possessions will help you and your adjuster get through the claims process more quickly, including insurance settlements and/or tax deductions for losses. The home inventory should include descriptions, serial numbers, receipts and pictures or video if possible. Store your home inventory and insurance papers in waterproof containers off site in a safety deposit box or with a friend.

Governor Gregoire addressed Green Valley residents to spur them to action on this issue.

Flooding from the Green River could strike the cities of Kent, Auburn, Renton and Tukwila this winter because the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will not be able to store as much water as normal behind the facility because of the damaged abutment. The federal government built the rock-and earth-fill Hanson dam in 1961 to control major flooding in the Green River Valley. "They need to get flood insurance," Gregoire said of what residents can do. "They need to make plans for their families so they know what to do if the water rises and so they know where to go. They have to have an emergency kit and supplies and move valuables from ground level up."

You folks in these cities need to pay attention to this and take action accordingly. This threat is real, and the chances are good that you'll have a flood event somewhere in your community this fall.

A. J. Farley owns Farley Home Services, a home and small business owners inventory service. Please visit EverySingleItem.com for more information. Thanks!

Oregon Rates, Texas Recovery, and a Sharp Dressed Man or Woman

2009-09-14T09:27:00.004-05:00

Oregon Insurance Rates on the Rise: Homeowners in Oregon have long had the benefit of paying some of the lowest homewoners insurance premiums in the country, but those rates are creeping up in recent days. The Bend Bulletin (another great newspaper name) has the story.

Of the top 10 homeowners insurance underwriters in the state by market share, eight have reported premium increases in the last year, according to the state. Allstate spokeswoman Kathy Powell said the company raised rates to counter not only an increase in claims due to storms and wildfires but a rise in the “severity” of the claims, meaning higher costs to settle them.

These rate increases are calculated seperately from any auto insurance rates. In other words, homeowners and car insurance rates are indepedently calculated. The only correlation is in the multi-line discounts that many companies offer.

One Year Post-Ike, Galveston On The Mend: The Houston Chronicle reports that Galeveston, Texas is seeing positive signs of recovery on the horizon a year after the devastating storm.

Shuttered businesses dot the island, but new businesses like Fit to Run, a store specializing in running shoes, are springing up to take their place, Chamber of Commerce President Gina Spagnola said.Kim Bachmeier, 37, and her partner, Steve Whitcher, 42, decided to open Fit to Run amid Ike's destruction. “Sometime after the hurricane I looked at Steve and said, ‘Why don't we open up a store?'” Bachmeier said. “It was just the right time, and I think we were the right people.”

Farley Customer in the News: One of our client's was recently named as one of Nashville's Best Dressed by Nashville Lifestyles magazine. Our client recognized that her (or his!) wardrobe was an important part of her (or his!) public identity, and that he (or she!) was not adequately protected with insurance alone and that a home inventory was essential. She (or He!) was so pleased with our service that he (or she!) included a gratuity with our payment. I won't tell you his (or her!) name. This is kind of fun.

A. J. Farley runs Farley Home Services, a home inventory documentation service, and finds amusement in the simplest of things. Please visit us on the web at EverySingleItem.com.

Art News Day: Protection Takes Many Forms

2009-09-10T09:17:00.005-05:00

Connecticut Museum Hosts Appraisal Weekend: Several appraisal experts in diverse fields ranging from jewelry and watches to toys and sports memorabilia will be donating time at the Lockwood-Matthews Mansion Museum the first weekend in October for an Antiques Roadshow themed event. The costs for appraisals will be greatly reduced, and all proceeds will benefit the museum.

Last year, more than 1,200 people attended the LMMM Antiques Appraisal Weekend, but the museum is expecting an even larger crowd on October 3rd and 4th, given the remarkable line-up of experts and the ever-growing popularity of online auctions and hit TV shows such as the Antiques Roadshow.

Take advantage of these low cost opportunities as they present themselves. The article goes on to detail the credentials of each of the appraisers who will be on site, and the list is impressive. The money is going to a good cause, too, so it's wins all around.

Remember collectors, the best way to have piece of mind regarding your collection is to inventory its items, and a home inventory professional like me can help you with that process and ensure that your collection is adequately detailed. You also need a special insurance coverage called inland marine (or personal articles) protection for your collection. Homeowners insurance is not enough.

It's a Dirty Job... Yesterday's New York Times had an enlightening story about the reclamation of a work by Spanish master Velázquez.

The painting was so dull before it was cleaned that Mr. Brown said he didn’t think it was a Velázquez. But after the varnish and the layers of paint — additions made centuries later to make the canvas look more old-masterish and entice buyers — were removed, “all the liveliness of the artist’s brushstrokes and all the subtleties that for decades had been covered over were revealed.”

I've found the restoration process to be fascinating as I've learned more about it. I hope this article whets your appetite as well.

A. J. Farley runs Farley Home Services, an inventory service for home and small business owners, tenents, and landlords. Please visit EverySingleItem.com for more information.

Two Completely Unrelated Items. It's A Holiday!

2009-09-07T07:59:00.005-05:00

Dutch Governement Doing The Right Thing: Thirteen works of art, including the work Village in Winter Time pictured here, will be returned by the Netherlands to the families of Jewish owners persecuted during the Nazi era. Twelve of the works belonged to a single owner, Hans Ludwig Larsen. The thirteenth, a work entitled Portrait of a Man, was owned by a collector named Richard Semmel, who sold the painting under duress in an attempt to fund his escape from Nazi occupation. Both Mr. Larsen and Mr. Semmel are now deceased. Bloomberg has the story.

Larsen’s loss of the paintings was “due to circumstances directly related to the Nazi regime,” the Restitutions Committee said. Semmel probably sold his picture to fund his escape, it said. During the five-year Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, thousands of artworks were looted. Many were returned to the Dutch government by the Allies after the war and remained in the national collection. The Restitutions Committee was founded by the government to handle claims for art in state hands. Since its foundation in 2002, the panel has dealt with 75 such cases.

It is wonderful to see these Nazi art claims being resolved, but it is a shame that the process is taking so long. Mr. Larsen and Mr. Semmel, like so many before them, went to their graves with no restitution, and that is a tragedy. Unresolved cases like this still exist accross Europe.

The Bowtie Backfires: R&B idol Chris Brown thought that wearing a baby blue sweater and matching bowtie during his Larry King interview would help him remove some of the tarnish from his image. Brown was charged in February with beating his girlfriend, singer Rihanna. She never pressed charges, but there was never any doubt about who was responsible.

Let's just say that it didn't go well. Twitter was alive with folks saying ugly things about Brown and his fashion choices. The bowtie seemed to become in people's minds the icon for Brown's hypocrisy.

Still more Twitter commenters, however, were transfixed with Brown's choice of baby blue bowtie and matching sweater. A sampling of tweets:

- "Chris Brown lost more fans for wearin this outfit than he did for hitting Rhianna~~~ HATER"

- "Who else wants to reach into the tv and yank that bow-tie off of chris brown?"
- "Is the bow tie chris brown has on his stylist attempt to make him look innocent or just payback for what he did to rihanna."
- "Why the f*** is Chris brown wearin a bowtie I feel like he gonna convert to Islam any minute and start sellin bean pie"
- "Chris Brown thought that dressing like a black howdie doodie [sic] on this interview was gonna get him off....lmfaooooooooooooo"

In fact, immediately after the interview, one ambitious Twitter user created a new account, chrsbrwnsbowtie, complete with tweets from the bowtie itself, which is black on its Twitter page. "you ask why im black on twitter and blue on tv? i belong to chris brown...do the math...smh," explains the bowtie in a post. A mere two hours after chrsbrwnsbowtie's first post, it had 650 followers.

London's Telegraph chimes in as well.

In this case, however, it’s a new low for Brown.

Bad days for the bowtie. Thanks Chris Brown. Things were hard enough already without all these posers...

A. J. Farley runs Farley Home Services, a Home inventory documentation for home and small business owners, tenants, and landlords. Please visit EverySingleItem.com for more information.

California Wildfire Insurance Blues

2009-09-03T09:21:00.006-05:00

There is no shortage of stories out there about the California homeowners whose homes have been destroyed by recent wildfires. I don't want to add to that pile, but rather to give you a sense of what folks are saying and doing in the aftermath of these devastating fires.

United Policyholders: Offers good advice about how to work with your insurer during a claim. United strongly suggests that you hire a public claims adjuster. Not certain that I agree with that advice, but it's certainly an option you have, particularly if you anticipate that the claim will be contentious. You'll usually know that within the first ten minutes of your first meeting with the insurance company's adjuster. United also gives good advice about setting to work on compiling your loss inventory. Better to do it preventatively with an inventory professional!

Start your personal property inventory immediately. This will be a very lengthy, detailed and emotionally involved process. Your memory is best right after the loss, so start to compile your list of personal property immediately. It is very likely that you will not remember to list all of your items and several months later, while looking for certain things, you will determine they are gone – this is most often the case with partial losses.

Los Angeles Times: California homeowners will be paying higher rates for their insurance coverage in the aftermath of these fires. Policyholder advocates (United again!) are already convinced that these fires are merely a smokescreen (for lack of a better term) for the rate increases, and that underinsurance is actually a bigger issue.

But Amy Bach, executive director of the San Francisco-based consumer group United Policyholders, said she was more concerned about the quality of the coverage than its cost. She said more fire victims could find that they didn't have enough coverage to pay the entire cost of rebuilding their homes. "My big concern is that the insurance companies are going to use these fires as an excuse to increase their rates, and the underinsurance problem is going to be the same as it ever was," Bach said. "People are going to be paying more for less."

MyDisasterPlan.com: Patrick Krupka runs this site and has some great information related to preparedness.

"The missing piece of many disaster plans is the protection of a family's irreplaceable legal and financial documents," says Krupka. "In my 20 years of emergency work, I have seen families lose everything; houses, heirlooms andfurniture, and also birth certificates, custody documents, passports and insurance records. In an emergency, your documents are actually your most valuable items."

Lovely news day, eh? The best advice I have for you folks in California is to somehow take emotion out of the insurance claim equation. The sooner you come to see this event as a business transaction rather than a catastrophe, the quicker you will see eye to eye with your claims adjuster and come to a fair settlement. It's OK to get angry if you channel that anger constructively. Hang in there, California.

Farley Home Services is your premier home inventory provider. Please visit EverySingleItem.com for more details. Thanks!

An Occasional Hurricane Reminder

2009-08-31T12:35:00.002-05:00

Northeastern Hurricanes On The Horizon: Saturday's New York Times had a story about hurricane preparedness that I want you to see. The paper reminds you that, while it has been a long time since the Northeastern US has suffered a significant hurricane, the potential exists during every hurricane season, and the time to prepare against loss is now. Home Inventory is, of course, a part of the solution.

A home inventory will help ensure that you have purchased enough insurance to replace your personal possessions. It can also speed the claims process and substantiate losses for income tax purposes. A detailed home inventory is also helpful should you need to apply for disaster aid.

You may live in a place that is safe from hurricane damage. (Tennessee remains unscathed! Tornadoes are another story.) However, regardless of where you live, your risk of loss exists. It may come through natural causes like tornado, hurricane, or lightning. It could come through man-made causes like electrical fires or theft. The fact is that you are at risk if you own personal property, and your insurance carrier has very long forms for you to complete when that time comes. Home inventory can give you back a year of your life, a year that you would otherwise spend haggling with your insurer.

A. J. Farley runs Farley Home Services, a home inventory service based in Middle Tennessee. Please visit EverySingleItem.com, the company website, for more details.

Fake Insurance in the News

2009-08-27T11:54:00.003-05:00

If it sounds too good to be true...: A Georgetown, SC man was recently charged with selling fake homeowners insurance policies. Not just falsely representing a company mind you, but selling policies that were imaginary and meaningless from start to finish. Apparently, the crime was discovered before any of the victims had to file a claim, so no serious harm was done. With this in mind, I give you...

Top Ten Ways To Know Your Insurance Agent Is Selling You A Fake Policy:

10) You can't find a company listing for Big House Mutual Insurance company.
9) Your premium check was endorsed by someone named Joe Underwriter.
8) Your agent's business card has a picture of Wyle E Coyote in the corner.
7) The receptionist answers your phone call by saying, "Coyote Investments, Loans, Pawn, Firearms, and, oh yeah, Insurance. Can I help you?"
6) When your agent says his car is his real office, he does so without a trace of irony.
5) Your policy is handwritten on a Shoney's napkin.
4) Your premium payment envelope has an apartment number in the return address.
3) The bumper sticker on your agent's car reads, "I'd rather be embezzling."
2) Your policy is delivered in a shrink wrapped packet which reads, "Sanitized For Your Protection."
1) Your agent asks you what the word coverage means.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Farley Home Services is your premier home inventory provider. Come see at at EverySingleItem.com. Thanks!

Bad Time To Sell, Great Time To Buy

2009-08-24T09:22:00.004-05:00

Two articles relating to the glut of collectibles available these days fill our page today. Not to go all Economics 101 on you or anything, but you'll remember that gluts, of course, are bad news for sellers but good news for buyers. You've heard the old saying, "The rich get richer, the poor get poorer." Never more true than these days, particularly in the antiques and collectibles market. If you are an investor with cash to spend, there are plenty of bargains out there.

Miami Dealers Say It's A Buyer's Market: The Miami Herald is reporting that antiques dealers in and around that city have packed aisles and and are willing to negotiate.

Monica Fidel, a personal-property appraiser in Miami, says this market is suffering just as much as others in the economic downturn but with a few quirks. The market is flooded with items, Fidel says, so the supply is much greater than the demand. Consumers aren't buying antiques or collectibles unless they have plenty of money -- and they're looking for singular or high-end items.

This glut of antiques and collectibles is not limited to the South Florida area by any means.

Charlotte Area Appraisers Staying Busy: The Charlotte Observer says that personal property appraisers in that city have been besieged lately by clients who need to convert their treasures into quick cash.

An appraisal can cost $200 to $400, on average. That risk hasn't stopped the inquiries. Local personal property appraisers say business rose dramatically in the spring. They guess that's around the time people exhausted severance pay or savings accounts and began looking for more creative ways to pay the bills. Louise Phillips of Alexander Appraisal Service in China Grove said she's seen more people who want to sell, as well as forced sales through bankruptcies. People are looking to unload everything from china to furniture to rare plants from their gardens, she said.

Both articles make one point perfectly clear: If you do not have to sell an item right now, it is best to wait until at least a slight upturn in the economy. Otherwise, you simply will not get a fair market price for your item in this climate.

Collectors, remember you need to protect your collections in two ways you may not have done. First, you need an inventory of your household items, paying special attention to your collections. Second, you need a special, inexpensive insurance policy separate from your homeowners to protect your collection. I can help you with the first point, and your local insurance agent can take care of the second.

Farley Home Services stands ready to serve your home inventory needs. Please visit EverySingleItem.com for details.

Blogger Says You Need A Local Agent

2009-08-13T16:36:00.004-05:00

Someone In Your World: Daren DiSantis of OfficialWire.com says that there are several advantages to having a local insurance agent, agreeing with me in the process.

Local insurance agents care more about you as a person than anyone else in the insurance business. I'm not saying that because I dislike claims adjusters (quite the contrary!) or any other nonsense like that. I am saying it because your local agent is the person you deal with for your insurance questions and needs. An agent will tell you if some course of action you want to take is the right way to go. An underwriter won't tell you that, a claims adjuster won't, and actuary won't. Agents advise; other insurance people react. That's a significant difference, and if you are buying insurance through an 800 number, you aren't talking to someone who thinks the way you do.

Farley Home Services strongly suggests that you have your own local insurance agent. In nearly every instance you can think of, a local agent is the best insurance professional for you to turn to. I can't emphasize this enough. Local agents will tell you that you need a home inventory too, by the way!

A. J. Farley owns Farley Home Services, your premier home inventory professionals. Please visit our web site at EverySingleItem.com, and thanks for your time today!

The Joys Of Videotape

2009-08-07T06:45:00.003-05:00

Home Inventory Video Suggestions: Meha Ahmad writes for Insurance Agents.com, and a recent entry of hers suggested that all of us complete a home inventory video of our belongings. Most of the claims adjusters that I know would like to tell Meha that they don't really want to watch home videos and that you will have to do that for yourself, but that's a topic for another day. Obviously, I believe a video is a poor substitute for a detailed home inventory provided by a qualified home inventory professional such as Farley Home Services, but it's sure better than nothing, and it's in that spirit that I provide the above link. This topic is so important (and neglected!) that any discussion of it is worthwhile in my humble opinion.

Your home insurance claim process will run more smoothly if you get shots of every room, but more importantly, of every item in every room. Leave nothing undocumented. Open all the drawers, closets, storage units, cabinets. Slowly pan over every storage space so your insurance provider will have a better idea of what your home insurance claim includes.

Listen, I'm passionate about this topic since it's how I earn my living, but the fact remains that a home inventory report that you create could be the most important document that you will ever hold in your hands next to a marriage certificate, birth certificate, or a will. Home inventory turns the worst year of your life into no something manageable and bearable. It means the difference between surviving and thriving, and in complicated days like these isn't it nice to have a little piece of mind?

Family Time: We are enjoying a nice visit with my Mom this week. It's been a while since we have seen her, so this is a nice reunion don't you know.

A. J. Farley gets worked up about things behind his desk at Farley Home Services, your premier home inventory provider. Please visit EverySingleItem.com for details.

Coin Collecting Made (Relatively) Easy

2009-08-05T06:51:00.004-05:00

Gold Coins In The News: The Chubb Collectors summer newsletter is out and has a very informative article on collecting bullion, generic, and rare gold coins that I thought you might find interesting. Chubb Collectors is a great free publication and I would suggest you subscribe if you haven't already done so. Here' an except from the linked piece:

Historically, when paper currencies are debased, investors and collectors often turn to precious metals as an alternative to traditional investments such as stocks and bonds. In recent months there has been strong demand for platinum, gold and silver coins and bars. Much of that demand has centered on U.S. and world gold coins. [emphasis added]

Remember coin collectors, you need a special insurance coverage for your collection, separate from your homeowners insurance, called personal articles coverage. Gold coins are particularly ill-served by your homeowners policy.

A Call For Home Inventory: Insurance guy Cliff Berman writes on Isnare.com that you need to complete a home inventory when purchasing your first home.

One of the first things you should do when you get ready to buy your first home is take a careful inventory of the contents of your house. It's important to let your homeowners insurance company know if you've got jewelry or paintings of value that are going to need to be covered. [emphasis added]

Thanks Cliff. I'll take all the help I can get!

That's all folks! I hope you're having a good week.

A. J. Farley manages Farley Home Services, a home inventory documentation service. Visit the company website at EverySingleItem.com.

Some Lighter, Ahem, News

2009-08-03T07:44:00.007-05:00

I've Been Trendy For Years Now: What do Karl Lagerfeld, Kanye West, and yours truly have in common, aside from our stunningly handsome appearances? The bow tie, of course. So says Stylehive.com in this recent blog post.

From hipster to hip-hop and all the way uptown to"Gossip Girl" territory, there's no denying that the trend is starting to build.

I'm re-posting their instructional video too, since everyone needs to know how to tie a bow tie, even you ladies! (Not sure what is wrong with the sound-I'm a simple man.)

We'll stop there for today. I love these lazy summer days!

A. J. Farley wears bow ties and runs Farley Home Services, an inventory service provider for homeowners, tenants, landlords, and small business owners. Please visit EverySingleItem.com for details.

Blogs, Blogs Everywhere!

2009-07-31T06:23:00.002-05:00

Blogger Says You Need An Inventory: Mary E. Trimble says on her blog that "a home inventory can save you big money - and headaches - should tragedy strike." Here's more:

The aftermath of a disaster is confusing and frustrating enough without trying to recall the particulars of your possessions. For items destroyed in fire or flood, a household inventory will help you remember what you had. Insurance adjustments are expedited more efficiently when information can be gathered from current documentation.

I don't know much about Ms. Trimble, but I have to admit a certain fondness for her now!

Public Adjusters In The Blogosphere: A public adjuster is a claims adjuster working free-lance, not employed by an insurance carrier. Public adjusters help individuals in contentious insurance claim settlements, but usually at a hefty price (10-15% of the final settlement). The (poorly written) Tampa Bay Real Estate blog discusses how public adjusters can help.

Your insurance company sends out their personal insurance adjuster, that has one thing in mind, to close the claim as cheap as possible.

A word of caution. Public adjusters do not have the best reputation among those in the insurance industry, as you can imagine. Some public adjusters have a reputation for artificially inflating the size of claims, and insurers tend to lump all public adjusters into that category. Bringing a public adjuster into an insurance claim is sort of like demanding to speak to your lawyer in a TV cop show. "Why do you need a public adjuster, we're all friends here?"

We'll stop there for today. Thanks for tuning in!

Farley Home Services provides inventory documentation to homeowners, tenants, small business owners, and landlords. Please visit EverySingleItem.com to see how we can serve you.

State Farm Goes Down Swinging

2009-07-30T08:00:00.005-05:00

State Farm Moves to Eliminate Florida Discounts: State Farm Florida, which will soon stop writing new homeowners insurance in the state, is now asking the legislature's permission to remove all the discounts that its remaining policyholders receive, giving those people what amounts to a significant rate increase. Clients receive discounts for such things as having your car and home insured by the same carrier, alarm systems, new plumbing and electrical wiring, hail resistant roofing, and the like. Those discounts, when taken in total, can reduce one's premium by roughly one third.

State Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, called the filing an "outrageous" way of "going around the law" to raise premiums without a formal rate increase. "The insurance companies always seem to find a way to help themselves and neglect the homeowner," he said. [emphasis added]

A Missed Opportunity: Bernard Madoff's personal property is being meticulously cataloged by federal marshals in preparation of a coming auction of his goods. I never thought to apply for the job. Arrgghh.

The forfeiture order signed by federal Judge Denny Chin gave the U.S. government complete control over the $7.5-million apartment and the $3.5-million house in Montauk. (A $10-million Palm Beach home was surrendered earlier this year). Chin ordered the properties and everything inside, including clothing, fixtures, artwork, linens and sheets, surrendered to help pay victims of the estimated $65-billion Ponzi scheme.

Ohio Bucks the Trend (pun intended): My last blog entry noted that insurance rate increases were on the way primarily for coastal states. The Ohio Department of Insurance is saying that 2008 saw significant increases for homeowners insurance premiums. (Ohio has no coastline unless you count Lake Erie.) No word yet from Ohio on future premium trends.

Despite the increases last year, [Ohio Insurance Institute spokesperson Mary] Bonelli said, Ohio auto and homeowners insurance rates are still among the lowest in the country -- and the reason is competition. "There are 266 homeowner writers in the state and 613 auto writers," she said. "That's the third-highest number in both areas." [emphasis added]

Summer Protection Tips From NAHIP: The National Association of Home Inventory Professionals has some travel tips to keep your home safe while you are gone this summer. Here's an excerpt:

Don't place any online or mail orders that could possibly be delivered while you are gone. Packages left outside for days are a strong indicator that nobody is home. Ensure that your lawn is cut. A lawn in need of mowing is an obvious sign that a homeowner may be away on vacation. Those who mow their own lawn should consider hiring a lawn service if away for an extended period of time.

That's about all for today. I don't want to talk about the Gold Cup final just yet. Thanks for reading!

A. J. Farley runs Farley Home Services, a home inventory service for folks like you. Please visit EverySingleItem.com for more details.

Another Round of Rate Increases . . .

2009-07-24T06:38:00.003-05:00

You Know Who You Are: Residents in Texas, North Carolina, Louisiana, and Florida can expect to pay higher property insurance premiums in the coming months. OK you geography buffs out there, what do these states have in common?

Obviously, there is a lot of debate in these states about the inland (poorer) homeowners having to pay higher premiums because of the coastal (richer) risk, and while I tend to be on the side of the little guy whenever possible, I have to side with the coastal residents on this one. A major tenant (perhaps the major tenant) of insurance is the concept of shared risk. The best way to accomplish that in a property insurance setting is to do so across an entire state, in my humble opinion.

Each insurer has to tailor its policies to meet individual state requirements, so state legislatures have a huge say in how things work. This is an unwieldy process for the big national insurers, but the alternative of a federally regulated insurance program is distasteful to most of us (unless you live on a coast). If you are unhappy with how your homeowners insurance rate is calculated, talk to your state legislator. He has more say in that rate than even your insurance agent.

Thanks for your readership!

A. J. Farley owns Farley Home Services, a personal property inventory service. Visit us at EverySingleItem.com for more information.

The Basics of Home Inventory

2009-07-20T13:00:00.006-05:00

It's been a while since I have spent any time reviewing the basic justification for a home inventory, and I know that we have a lot of new readers that haven't heard an explanation of what I do or what the home inventory industry is all about.

Let me start off by saying that home inventory goes hand in glove with good homeowners insurance coverage. I'd go so far as to say that one is incomplete without the other. Most of us have mortgages and are required to carry "hazard" insurance (Hazard is the mortgage industry's term for homeowners policies, and can include homeowners, condo-unitowners, or rental dwelling coverage depending on the occupancy of the home), but no one requires you to have a home inventory. Until, that is, you have a claim.

Claims adjusters require the completion of personal property inventory forms in order to settle those types of claims. Even if you have suffered a total loss and everything is gone, you will more than likely have to start completing these forms and continue until you reach your coverage amount (usually 70% of your dwelling, but varies from one company to another). It takes weeks or months to remember everything that you own, especially if your pictures, videos, or other documentation is destroyed in the loss. Our memories just aren't that good.

Home inventory solves this problem. A home inventory is a detailed list of all the items you own, and usually includes photographs of each item. We like to call it your life-collection. You can complete a home inventory on your own, or you can have an inventory professional like Farley Home Services do this for you.

Every insurance carrier suggests that you complete a home inventory and update it regularly. (Here are links to Allstate, State Farm, Farmers, and Nationwide's discussions of this need.) Your insurance carrier wants you to have a detailed inventory so that they can fairly reimburse you for your loss. (Most of us are under-insured when it comes to personal property, by the way.) If you have no inventory, you have a lot of work to do, and you may lose a year of your life in the pursuit of your claim. Do you have that time to spend?

A. J. Farley runs Farley Home Services, a home inventory documentation service based in Murfreesboro, TN. Visit his company's site at EverySingleItem.com for more information.

Local Spin On Deaccessioning Debate

2009-07-17T10:43:00.004-05:00

In a recent blog post I discussed the debate over whether museums and public galleries should be able to liqidate a portion of their holdings to help pay the bills in troubled times like these. This controversial practice, known as deaccessioning, allows museums to keep the bulk of their work together and exercise their own judgement. Critics claim that this is a violation of a public trust, and that it often directly conflicts with the wishes of the entity that donated the works in the first place (which is true). A local Nashville case illustrates the conflict.

Fisk University Battles O'Keefe Museum: This Nashville Tennesseean article describes a recent Tennessee Court of Appeals ruling which will, if it stands, allow Fisk University to sell a 50% share of its Alfred Steiglitz collection. Steiglitz was the husband of Georgia O'Keefe, and the collection includes primarily O'Keefe works. After Steiglitz's death, O'Keefe donated his collection of her works to Fisk University, a historically black university in Nashville, with the stipulation that the work be displayed as a complete set.

The financially troubled unversity is wishing to sell a share of the collection to the Crystal Bridges Museum in Arkansas. The university and the museum would then split the display time for the collection evenly. The O'Keefe Museum in New Mexico, as administrator of Mrs. O'Keefe's estate, claimed that the university's arrangement with Crystal Bridges violated the stipulation that Mrs. O'Keefe had placed upon the collection, and further claimed that the collection should returned to the estate rather than allowing Fisk to enter into these types of arrangements.

"[Public galleries] see these things as assets, and they sell them off to pay their gas bills, which is frustrating," said Stan Mabry, owner of Stanford Fine Art in Belle Meade [a Nashville suburb]. "Long term, they'll regret it. I wish there was a way to get the city, the state museum, collectors and others to pitch in and keep them in Nashville." [emphasis added]

As a Middle Tennesseean, I would love for this work to stay in Nashville permanently. It seems to me that the larger issue is the right of the public galleries to do with their collections what they see fit. I understand that donors give to public galleries and museums in order to keep works on display for the good of all, but if a museum can't keep its doors open due to poor cash flow, then all of its pieces leave the public view, obviously a far worse fate. Unfortunately, these decisions will be for the courts to take moving forward, and who knows how that might end up?

If you are a collector of fine art, you need an inventory of those works for your insurance carrier as well as a separate insurance policy. Keep this in mind as you build your collection.

Farley Home Services provide home inventory documentation for everyone regardless of your stance on deaccessioning. Please visit EverySingleItem.com for more information. Thanks for reading!

Vacation Homes, Under-Insurance, and Personal Accomplishments

2009-07-15T06:52:00.006-05:00

Don't Forget The Lake House: Those of you who own vacation homes need to remember the contents you keep there when it comes to your home inventory protection. As a matter of fact, Matt MacMillan of the Hutchison (MN) Leader says you should keep a separate inventory for that residence. The article has some good insurance tips for owners of secondary residences.

If your secondary home or vacation home has a mortgage, your lender may require homeowners insurance just as it would for your primary residence. However, there may be additional stipulations in the policy because you only reside in the home for part of the year. Like with your primary homeowners insurance, it is important to review the policy for your secondary home every year and keep an up-to-date home inventory in case you would need to file a claim following a loss. [emphasis added]

Under-Insurance Conundrum: Karen Telleen-Lawton has an interesting article dealing with the problem of homeowners under-insurance. This is an issue across the country, but it is especially significant in places like California, Florida, and Texas. The bottom line is to have a solid insurance agent and to sit down with her regularly to review your insurance needs.

. . . despite being willing or obligated to buy insurance, homeowners don’t properly evaluate the risk, believing it can’t happen to them. So while they hedge their bets by buying insurance, they further hedge their hedge by willingly under-insuring.

On The Home-front: I scored an ugly goal, but a goal nonetheless, while playing soccer with the old guys last night. Let's just say it's been a while. I'm uncomfortable with all the David Beckham comparisons, but if the boot fits . . .

Farley Home Services is your premier home inventory professionals. Visit us on the web at EverySingleItem.com, and as always thanks for reading today!

The British Are Agreeing! The British Are Agreeing!

2009-07-13T12:11:00.003-05:00

Support From Across The Pond: The Guardian newspaper has some tips for saving money on your insurance bills that extend to American audiences, and home inventory is a suggested method for determining your coverage need. Hear that steady drumbeat off in the distance? That's the third parties telling you that you need my service! Thump, thump, thump. Here's what the Guardian has to say about our favorite topic:

Don't go for policies that offer "unlimited" contents cover - unless you have lots of expensive items at home - as you will probably pay over the odds for your insurance. It is better to get the cover you need. "It's a good idea to make an inventory of all your belongings, then add a little extra for items you may have missed," says Scott Mowbray, of Virgin Money . [emphasis added]

Mississippi Recovering Slowly but Surely: The Mississippi Gulf Coast is getting back to its pre-Katrina form, but the process is a slow-go. So says the Cedar Rapids Gazette is this article, excerpted below. (You will recall that Cedar Rapids had significant flooding last year, so many Iowa residents are looking to Mississippi to get a feel for how their own recovery will proceed.)

Two huge issues in Mississippi’s recovery pace have been building standards and getting insurance for new buildings. Some insurance companies have left the state; others have raised rates. The number of homeowners getting insurance from the state’s Wind Pool, which covers people who can’t get other insurance, has nearly tripled. [emphasis added]

God bless you folks on the Gulf Coast. I trust that your long nightmare will one day come to an end.

A. J. Farley runs Farley Home Services, an inventory documentation service for homeowners, landlords, tenants, and small business owners, and churches. Please visit EverySingleItem.com for more information, and thanks for reading today!

Hurricanes, Bulls and Bears. What a Day!

2009-07-10T07:24:00.004-05:00

Good Insurance News? No Way! Texas officials reviewing claims data from the two recent hurricanes says that a surprisingly small number of justifiable complaints were filed, less than one quarter of one percent! Way to go, Texas insurance industry! Claims Journal has the story.

"There will always be complaints arising from any storm damage. When you are dealing with a lot of money in a catastrophic situation, it can be difficult for all of the parties to be completely satisfied with the claim settlement," said [Texas Insurance Council Chair Dorothy] Langley. "But these low numbers on complaints coming from both Ike and Dolly are remarkable considering the volume and severity of the claims. It shows the industry has worked hard and been successful in putting their policyholders back on their feet in difficult circumstances."

It's refreshing to see some good insurance news for a change. The industry needs all the help it can get these days.

"Deaccessioning" Debate Rages On: Deaccessioning occurs when a public art gallery or museum sells off its own pieces in an effort to raise capital, either to acquire new works, or to restore or maintain other pieces, and a debate rages both in Europe and here about how vigorously museums should engage in this practice and to what ends. Regulation has been difficult to enact and even more difficult to enforce. London's Telegraph has the story of the latest round of discussion.

The [British] Museums Association has attempted to restrict “deaccessioning” with some ethical guidelines, based on stages of consultation and a preference for loans or exchange over sale. But although restrictions are legally imposed by the terms of charitable bequests, the law is far from watertight and conscience is the ultimate policeman of the process.

This practice is far more prevalent in America. For instance, recently the New York Historical society sold one of its paintings, a William Holbrook Beard work entitled The Bulls and the Bears in the Market, in order to pay for an air conditioning upgrade. The New York legislature (see this New York Times piece) is attempting to regulate this practice, but major museums are fighting for the ability to use their own judgement, particularly in this era of tight budgets.

Farley Home Services provides the home and small business inventory documentation that insurance carriers require to handle claims. Please visit us on the web at EverySingleItem.com for details, and thanks for reading today!

Watch What You Say!

2009-07-08T08:50:00.005-05:00

Insurance For Bloggers? The Chicago Tribune reports that bloggers need to purchase personal injury protection against charges of libel or slander. The coverage is not very expensive and could save you a fortune.

"Blogging has made everybody in the world a potential editor in chief. In the past, you might have had a day or two to cool down or ... to shoot that letter via snail mail to [the newspaper]. There was someone there who would police what you said. All or some of it might make it into the newspaper," Spicer said. "Today, in a matter of a half-hour, you could have set up your blog and gone out and said your piece about any number of issues."

The easiest solution is to refrain from libeling or slandering anyone in your blog, but I know that is easier said than done, particularly when you are trying to grow your readership through expressing strong opinions. It's not just bloggers who need this protection: active users of social media sites (or parents of such children!) should seek this coverage as well.

Apartment Vacancy At Highest Level In Two Decades: The Wall Street Journal reports that the national vacancy rate for apartments is at its highest level in 22 years, and this increase comes at the time of year that should be a peak leasing season.

The housing downturn initially offered landlords the chance to lure troubled homeowners into the rental market. But the pace of job losses shattered any inroads that apartments might have gained from the housing bust. Apartment vacancies began to rise at the end of 2007 before accelerating further as the economy deteriorated last fall.

Many landlords are in danger of defaulting on property mortgages obtained during the era of easy credit if these vacancy rates don't fall again. These landlords feel pinched, unable to reduce rents to attract new tenants because that capital is needed to make mortgage payments. It's a tough situation.

A. J. Farley runs Farley Home Services, a home inventory documentation service. Please visit us on the web at EverySingleItem.com. Thanks for your time!

It's A Buyer's Market For Collectibles

2009-07-06T08:23:00.005-05:00

Care For Those Trees: The Toronto Globe and Mail says add tree care to your to-do list in order to prevent property damage and injuries. "Everyone who knows trees emphasizes the need for regular inspection and care. A tree may look as strong as the Rock of Gibraltar, but it may be suffering from disease or have been damaged and susceptible to disease. A rotted-out tree will be more vulnerable."

Treasure Reduction: The Worcester Telegram says that antique and collectible retailers are experiencing a boom in their business as the economy worsens and people are turning family heirlooms into cash to pay medical bills and the like.

The company pays cash for antiques, jewelry and other items of value people bring in from their attics and basements and — in these times — cherished possessions that they wouldn’t otherwise part with. “Our shows have been pretty popular since the economy has taken a downturn,” said Ms. Thompson. “Our business has doubled, partly because we pay in cash.”

There are some pretty tough stories in that article. It's worth a read if you have the time.

Count Your Blessings: You know someone else who needs to complete a personal property inventory (besides you)? Churches! So says ChurchSafety.com, a public relations and marketing site of Brotherhood Mutual insurance company. Church buildings are every bit as much at risk of damage from fire and theft as residential structures, perhaps even more so since the buildings are unoccupied for longer stretches of time.

Farley Home Services produces home inventory documentation for homeowners, landlords, tenants, small business owners and even churches! Please visit EverySingleItem.com for details. Thanks for reading today!

Art Theft Claims Still Unsettled

2009-06-29T08:42:00.004-05:00

Stolen Nazi Art: Bloomberg .com updates progress (or lack thereof) being made toward settling stolen art claims from the Hitler era. The Nazis stole some 600,000 pieces of art. I had no idea the number was that high. It's been 70 years, let's get this done.

Poor Unloved Renters: David Pugh says renters need love. If not love, then at least insurance. Renters need home inventories too, by the way.

Insurance Agents Under Stress Too: Claims Journal says that "bad apple" insurance agents are tempted to protect their livelihoods through insurance fraud in tough economic times like these.

I want to take this time to emphasize how important it is to have a good working relationship with your insurance agent. This protects you in two ways: 1) Your agent has a vested interest in keeping you happy, and he will be more likely to go to bat for you in a claim situation if he is familiar with you and knows your character, and 2) You will be more likely to get of sense of how he does business the more often you meet with him. If you have some questions about his business practices, find someone else you can have confidence in. You need a trustworthy representative.

A. J. Farley owns Farley Home Services (EverySingleItem.com), an inventory service for all who own homes, small businesses, rental property, or who are tenants. Please visit our site. Thanks!

Hurricane News, Cute Puppies, and Madoff Update

2009-06-27T07:05:00.008-05:00

The Northeast Needs To Get Prepared: The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) recently published guidelines for personal disaster preparedness. As you may know, the Atlantic Hurricane Season runs June 1st to November 30th, and residents of coastal states need to spend some time attending to these tasks in anticipation of storms that will threaten New England this season. Excerpt:

Make a record of your personal property. Keep an itemized list of your furniture, clothing and valuables to assist adjusters in case of a claim. Back it up with photographs or video.

I know I sound like a broken record regarding home inventory. Crack, pop, hiss. No apologies made.

The High Price of Dog Ownership Just Got Higher: I know, I know. Dogs are adorable and bring great joy to our lives. I know that the companionship they offer is without peer. I know that the world is a better place because of our domesticated dogs. Our dog Lucy is a lovable mutt and my family thinks the world of her.

I also know that dog ownership is expensive. Kennel bills, veterinary bills, dog food, chew toys; as if it wasn't enough already, now your insurance carrier may be charging you higher rates on your homeowners policy beacuse of your little adorable pooch. Fido may even one day be the cause of your insurance carrier cancelling your policy. WooHoo!

CBS Reports Feds Ask For 150 Years For Madoff: Federal prosecutors trying the case of disgraced financier Bernie Madoff, who masterminded one of the largest Ponzi schemes in history (I'm sure that some of you would say this distinction belongs to Social Security), have asked the judge to sentence him to 150 years, the maximum imprisonment available for his crimes. Madoff is 71.

Federal sentencing guidelines allow for the 150-year term, prosecutors said. Any lesser sentence, they added, should still be long enough to send a forceful message and "assure that Madoff will remain in prison for life."

While I understand the need for a strong message to be sent and that Madoff is clearly guilty of this massive fraud, I also understand that the money on those statements was always phantom money and that it's never coming back because it never existed in the first place, regardless of whether Madoff dies in jail or not. Madoff didn't steal billions of dollars. He repeatedly lied, and in so doing created billions of phantom dollars out of thin air. Certainly investors gave him lots of money that they have now lost, but the actual amount "invested" with Madoff is far smaller than the numbers reported in the press.

A. J. Farley runs Farley Home Services (EverySingleItem.com), your one stop shop for all your home inventory needs. Whether you own a home, a small business, or rental property, you need to document your belongings. We take care of tenants as well!

Music Memorabilia In The News:

2009-06-25T10:41:00.008-05:00

Beatles: A recent auction of music memorabilia included an autographed Sgt Pepper's poster that netted $52,500 at Christie's in New York.

Kurt Cobain: Christie's also recently sold one of Kurt Cobain's original bass guitars, a Sears model, for nearly $44,000.

Jimmy Hendrix, David Bowie, and Brian Jones: Christie's is selling a number of guitars belonging to these artists, among others, next week in London.

On The Soccer Front: These are heady days for fans of the Nats, as our men defeated Spain yesterday 2-0 in the semi-finals of the Confederations Cup being played in South Africa, home of next year's World Cup. Spain came into the match ranked number one in the FIFA world rankings and riding a 15 match winning streak and a 36 match unbeaten streak dating back to November 2006.

Only last week the US men were embarrassed on the world stage by two frustrating group play losses to global powers Italy and Brazil. It's amazing how quickly one's fortunes can turn. Next up, the Confederations Cup championship being played this Sunday, 2 pm Eastern on one of the ESPNs against either Brazil (wouldn't that be sweet) or South Africa. I'm glad so many in the mainstream sports media are talking about this now. Soccer usually only gets a once over if any coverage at all.

A. J. Farley runs Farley Home services, an inventory service for homeowners, tenants, landlords, and small business owners. Please visit EverySingleItem.com for more information, and thanks for reading!

In Defense of The Bow Tie

2009-06-22T06:24:00.007-05:00

Never Out Of (Or In) Style: I add the following link with little comment, mainly an excerpt:

This means adopting pieces that can be downright nerdy on almost everyone else, but transforming it with confidence and a good eye to make a bow tie the hippest thing around.

It's all about the attitude, my friends. As further evidence, I site the following . . .

The Man's Got Nothing Left To Prove: The Wisconsin State Journal has this article about Thor Pettersen, a 93 year old "chick magnet."

While others wear T-shirts, Pettersen sports a bow tie and cardigan. He likes to feel dressed up, he said. He wore the same outfit during his career as an engineer with the Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company.

What a great story. I want to meet Mr. Pettersen some day.

Unlikely Outcome: So long as we're not talking business today, I want to speak up for the Men's National (Soccer) Team (who desperately need a nickname). Our boys are currently competing in South Africa (home of next year's World Cup) in a tournament called the Confederations Cup.

Group play came first, and the men found themselves in a group with Italy (reigning World Cup champions), Brazil (reigning Confederations Cup champions, and the most successful soccer nation in the history of the game), and Egypt (African champions). Pretty tough draw. They played Italy first and lost 3-1. They played Brazil next and lost 3-0, and looked downright terrible doing so. Yesterday they had to beat Egypt by at least 3 goals and Brazil had to beat Italy by at least 3 goals in order for the USA to advance out of the group stage into the knockout stage. The planets alligned, and both of those things happened! It was incredible!

So now the men move on to play Spain (defending European champions, and number one ranked team in the world right now) on Wednesday afternoon. The winner of that game advances to the championship game on Sunday against either Brazil or South Africa. Yesterday was the most fun I've had as an American soccer fan in a good long while.

A. J. Farley runs Farley Home Services, producing home inventory documentation for home and small business owners, tenants, and landlords (although you'd never know it from today's blog entry). Please visit EverySingleItem.com for more details. Thanks!

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Home Inventory On TV!

2009-06-19T14:20:00.005-05:00

It's On The Television, So It Has To Be True: Tallahassee's WCTV has a recent story about the start of hurricane season that includes, you guessed it, the need for you to complete a home inventory.

Keep Me In The Loop: I found an article from a paper called the (Suburban Chicago) Daily Herald that spurred my thinking about home improvements and insurance. In my experience, people have been sometimes reluctant to let their insurer know about home improvements, because they felt that the insurer was just wanted to raise their rates. Not true my friends! Your agent wants to make sure you are getting the best coverage for your money. You should never intenionally put yourself in a postition of being under-insured, and improving your home by X dollars without increasing your coverage at least a corresponding amount does just that and frankly isn't very smart. Look at this excerpt:

To illustrate, say you obtained $200,000 in coverage several years ago but the remodeling job you completed in '07 and the work that you're planning now would add another $75,000 to the cost of rebuilding the house if it was destroyed. The insurer would likely be obligated to pay a maximum of $200,000, less any deductible the policy includes: You would then have to pay the rest of the reconstruction costs from your own pocket.

Why would you do that? Call your agent, raise your policy amount, and quit your whining! (Of course I'm joking about the whining part.) The other place where people are most likely under-insured is personal property (contents) coverage. In order to know that you are adequately insured there, you need a home inventory, and we can help!

A. J. Farley runs Farley Home Services (www.EverySingleItem.com). Farley Home Services produces home inventory documentation for cheapskates and big-spenders alike. You can reach A. J. at information@farleyhomeservices.com. Thanks!

Change Is Good!

2009-06-17T06:13:00.003-05:00

Isn't it nice when you see a friend continue to grow and develop? My mother-in-law is a classically trained musician, holding a Master's Degree in Piano Performance from Indiana University, a fine music school. She has a great love and appreciation for classical music, with a large collection of recorded music on display (and playing) in her home. She has played the piano (or keyboard) at our church for nearly forty years. As you can imagine, the music style in our church, like most churches these days, has changed a good bit over the last five years. The music team has included many of the newer praise and worship songs and incorporated new instruments and musicians as part of the team. Over the years, my mother-in-law has gone from being the church's only musician to one of a growing and diverse group. Many musicians in her situation would have grown tired of the changes and abandoned their post. But I'm grateful to say that "Nana" hasn't done so. It's encouraging to me to see her continuing to learn new song styles and new media. She's even on Facebook now!

Change is inevitable. We can embrace it or we can be left behind by it.

You'll be seeing some changes over the coming months to Farley Home Services products and services, as well as our online presence and this blog. I want to announce the first or these changes this morning.

The goal of a home inventory is to recover Every Single Item that you have lost. EverySingleItem.com is the web's new home for Farley Home Services. You will see some minor changes to our site when you visit now, but there will be some major renovations in time. (The Farley Home Services address will still get you there, but it will look slightly different when you arrive.) Eventually this blog will migrate over to that main site.

Coming later this fall . . . an online do-it-yourself option for home inventory brought to you exclusively by Farley Home Services. I'm very excited about this prospect. More about that as the roll-out date approaches.

These are busy days for us here. Good changes are coming!

Farley Home Services produces home inventory documentation for landlords, tenants, small business owners, and homeowners. Please visit EverySingleItem.com for more details.

Insurance Rate Hikes Likely Coming Your Way

2009-06-15T06:47:00.005-05:00

Vicious Cycle: Saturday's Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that four of the top insurers in the state of Georgia have requested rate hikes for the coming year, affecting nearly 40% of the state's consumers. State Farm, First Liberty, Cotton States, and Nationwide have filed increases that fall between 5 and 11 percent, modest by insurance company standards but huge for the rest of the financial world. Rates are also on the rise in Illinois, Texas, and Florida among others.

Even with such increases, Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine said consumers are doing better than those in neighboring states, where he said premiums have been rising at double-digit rates. “We are by far the cheapest in the Southeast,” he said.

That makes you folks in Georgia feel A LOT better, doesn't it?

Allstate On The Mend: The Wall Street Journal says Allstate has learned some tough lessons over the past year and is ready to bounce back. When the WSJ has something good to say about a publicly traded insurance carrier, that generally means that the company's shareholders should be excited and the company's clients should be afraid. We'll see how this one turns out in the next year.

California Fire Season Starting Soon: Insurance and fire officials are warning California residents that it's that time of year again according to the Los Angeles Daily News.

[California Insurance Commissioner Steve] Poizner urged Californians to secure adequate fire insurance, record home inventory by film or video, have a preparation kit and draft a family action plan in the event of a fire. "Don't get burned twice: Update your assets with your insurance company," Poizner said.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Farley Home Services provides home inventory documentation. we serve small business owners as well! Please visit FarleyHomeServices.com for more details.

Insurers On The Move

2009-06-12T07:38:00.000-05:00

Farm Bureau: According to Farm Bureau, this storm season promises to be one of the most active ones in the past ten years. We've already seen that here in Tennessee. The link says that as part of your storm preparedness you need a home inventory.

State Farm: Will resume writing homeowners insurance in Mississippi according to the Jackson Clarion Ledger. This is very good news for the consumers of Mississippi. I'll just be curious to see how many residents of the state will forgive State Farm and come back to them.

Short Post This Morning: My wife's family is having a reunion this weekend, so I'm going to play golf in a few hours with a bunch of her uncles and cousins. I married into a wonderful family! I play golf so infrequently these days, and I like to get my money's worth by taking a lot of swings along the way.

Farley Home Services Provides inventory documentation to frustrated golfers everywhere. Please visit FarleyHomeServices.com to see how you will benefit from the service we provide.

Appraisal Open House

2009-06-10T07:46:00.009-05:00

Giving Away The Store: Skinner, Inc., a Massachusetts auction house, will host an Appraisal Day to publicize its new location, and proceeds will benefit a local hospital. In the vein of Antiques Roadshow, many auction houses are hosting these types of days across the country. It's an interesting way to drum up some business. Start digging around in your attic. You never know what you are going to find up there.

Speaking of Antiques Roadshow, I found this video on YouTube of a happy '57 Fender Stratocaster guitar owner. One of my recent clients had some wonderful vintage and autographed guitars, and it started me thinking that there are some fantastic pieces of music memorabilia floating around out there. Of course, I live close to Nashville, so that has a lot to do with my experience.

Are Vinyl LPs Your Thing?: I found an interesting blog for you vinyl collectors out there that you may want to bookmark. Collecting Vinyl Records has some wonderful information about the ups and downs of of collecting the beloved black circles. The article that caught my eye was on record appraisals, and you will want to take a look.

Alabama Flood Still Has Residents Reeling: Denny Brown is a retiree living near Montgomery, Alabama. His home flooded about a month ago. He managed to salvage most of what was important to him, but much of his home was damaged and needs extensive repair and he's "plowing through" his savings faster than he'd like to. The Montgomery Advertiser has his story.

The floodwater filled his house to a depth of about two feet, and most items that were above that were OK, he said, including his prized collection of toy racecars, trains and other collectibles.

Many of the residents on Mr. Brown's street did not have flood insurance.

OK, that'll do it for today. Thanks for reading!

Farley Home Services produces home inventory documentation for folks like yourself. Please visit FarleyHomeServices.com for more information.

Divorce and Home Inventory

2009-06-08T12:00:00.003-05:00

I Hate To Even Bring It Up: One of the reasons that people need home inventory is a topic that I frankly do not like to talk about, and that is divorce. Divorce has touched all of our lives in ways we would rather not have to think about, but it is a part of our modern life and as such needs to be taken into account when we talk about financial planning. I found this article by Lucile Uttermohlen entitled Divorce: Inventory Your Personal Property So You'll Get More Of It. Here is a key excerpt:

Your list is also useful in negotiations. If you can show your spouse what items you want, chances are he / she will agree you should have them. Even if he / she doesn't agree with everything on your list, he / she will be sure to agree to some, if not most things, and you will have that much less work to do convincing the judge. While you're at it, list the things you are proposing to leave for your spouse. You won't look greedy if you can show that he / she is getting a fair share of the stuff. Make sure you don't hog all of the goodies, though. Your spouse and the judge will be a lot less cooperative if you are selfish.

I'm not naive. I understand that about half of marriages end in divorce today, and that some folks have unfortunately gone through this process as more of a victim (as much as one can be) than a participant. Once it is clear that a marriage cannot continue, whatever can be done to make the process less painful is beneficial, and home inventory certainly fits in that category.

More Bad Inventory News: There are times when it seems that the only mention home inventory receives in the news is when a criminal gets caught and his possessions are seized to help settle up his debts to society. Such is the case yet again in the Cleveland Plain Dealer's online Metro section last Friday. This story has a yet more unfortunate twist because the couple in question, Jeff and Jenny Hovinen, committed suicide jointly as their world came crashing down around them. Tragic. The money the couple spent on their lavish lifestyle was stolen from Jenny's employer, St Vincent Charity Hospital.

It Must Be Another Buckeye Day: This tidbit regarding home inventory appears in an article from the Akron Beacon Journal.

''I would be pleasantly amazed if 10 percent of the people did. I'm not so sure what good shape I'm in. I'm great at giving the speech. I know we have pictures. I think we have a video, but it's not very thorough,'' he admitted. The best time to do an inventory or update your inventory is anytime before the loss, [insurance agency president Steve] Shechter said.

Ahem, Mr. Shechter, take your own advice. Get yours done first. I can point you to some professionals in your area who can help!

Farley Home Services provides home inventory documentation to the homeowners, tenants, landlords, and small business owners of the world. Come see us at FarleyHomeServices.com.

Not So Fast, Comrade

2009-06-05T06:31:00.009-05:00

Yale On The Hot Seat: The Associated Press reports that Yale University is fighting charges that it knowingly accepted a stolen Vincent Van Gogh painting in 1961 which now hangs in the university's art gallery. The piece belonged to Russian industrialist Ivan Morozov, but was confiscated by the communists during the 1917 revolution and later sold. The university accepted the piece from Stephen Carlton Clark, a Yale alum, who acquired the piece in the early 30's. Predictably, Morozov's heir, Pierre Konowaloff of France, wants his art back.

"Yale's continued and wrongful detention of the unlawfully confiscated 'The Night Cafe' is prohibited by customary and international treaty law," Konowaloff's attorneys wrote in the filings. "Yale should be held accountable for financially benefiting and being complicit in the pillage and plunder and unlawful confiscation of cultural property."

Yale should do the right thing and give this piece back. Easy for me to say.

Indiana Hail Storms: Indianapolis and surrounding communities were hit by large hail, straight line winds, and lightning damage two nights ago. The video clip above from Indianapolis' WTHR has some warnings about moving ahead with repairs before you talk to your insurer. Bottom line: call your agent first.

U.S. News Says It's Time To Update: U.S. News & World Report's Phillip Moeller says it's time to update your personal disaster plan, and of course home inventory is part of the equation.

Farley Home Services produces home inventory documentation for the whole wide world. Please visit FarleyHomeServices.com for more information.

And Now For Something Completely Different

2009-06-03T10:59:00.004-05:00

Men's National Soccer Team In Costa Rica Tonight: (Note: I'm writing this piece for folks who normally follow this blog to find out about home inventory, insurance, and collectibles; and for this reason the soccer information is greatly simplified. Those of you who already know something about about World Cup Soccer will probably find this piece too elementary to be of much benefit. I just want you to know where I'm coming from!) Our men's national soccer team travels to Saprissa Stadium in San Jose, Costa Rica for another world cup qualifying match tonight, and here's why you should care . . . we've never won there. In fact, we've managed a tie there only one time in our nation's history. Our last trip to Costa Rica for a world cup qualifier in 2005 ended in a depressing 3-0 loss in a driving rainstorm.

The next World Cup will be played in South Africa in 2010 and nations from around the globe are attempting to qualify for the 32 team field in a series of regional qualifying tournaments. Our region, known as CONCACAF, (don't ask) has narrowed its contestants to six nations; the USA, Mexico, Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, El Salvador, and Honduras. The current round of qualifying consists of each team playing each other twice, once at home and once away, for a total of 10 games apiece. At the end of this round, the top three teams will advance to next year's World Cup. Each of the teams have played three games to this point in the round, and the USA is in the lead with 7 points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, no points for a loss).

World Cup qualifying is a treacherous business. Other teams in our region always play their best against us. When our team plays on the road like tonight, the passionate home fans will set up a massive and loud party all night long in front of our team hotel the night before the match. They throw bags of urine and batteries at the players as they enter the field, and some of our players have been accosted by fans and even officials of other teams as they travel. The stands of many soccer stadiums around the world, particularly in Central America, have high chain link fences in front to keep the fans off the field. It gives the impression of the fans being in a cage, and they seem to respond accordingly. The stands are very close to the field, much closer than in American stadiums. This is the type of environment in which our team will be competing tonight.

When our team plays at home, our own fan base is often smaller than the fan base of the team we are competing against, leaving us with no home field advantage even in our own country. Given these circumstances, it's amazing that our team is attempting to qualify for our sixth straight World Cup. The match starts at 10 pm eastern on ESPN2 and should be entertaining to say the least.

One other note: The stadium in San Jose uses artificial turf rather than natural grass, and the surface makes a significant difference in the play of the game. The ball bounces higher, it skids farther, and play is generally at a faster pace on turf. This nearly always gives the home team an advantage, and tonight should be no exception. Our men have their work cut out for them.

Thanks for indulging me. Normal service will be resumed next time.

Farley Home Services provides home inventory documentation for home owners, small business owners, tenants and landlords, be they soccer fans or not. Please visit FarleyHomeServices.com.

Happy Hurricance Season!

2009-06-01T06:23:00.003-05:00

Some things are just inevitable. The sun will set this evening, the wind will continue to blow wherever it wants, you will have to pay your tax bill, comedians will make jokes about politicians, who will become embroiled in scandal, etc. The seasons of the year are like this too, and one byproduct of seasonal change is that the threat of hurricanes will increase during the summer and fall months in our part of the world.

Today Is The Day: June 1st marks the start of the Atlantic hurricane season, and various predictors are telling us how difficult predictions are in this era of global warming. Axa Art has some suggested precautions for the you fine art collectors in light of our new hurricane threat.

But what do you do if your Rodin bronze is standing ankle-deep in water or your favorite Rosenquist print got scratched? Damage control is a matter of foresight and more than often swift, smart action. Putting wet art works on paper into a freezer until professional help arrives is only one of many relevant tips provided by AXA's specialists who strongly recommend preparing a list of conservators specializing in the respective collection focus (whether works on paper, Asian sculpture or textiles) with telephone numbers.

Allstate Says Hurricane Preparedness Includes Home Inventory: What, you didn't see that coming? The Dothan (AL) Eagle has the story.

Allstate Insurance Southeast Region Senior Communications Consultant John Heid says now is the time for residents to record their belongings and make sure their insurance coverage is appropriate. “Hurricane season is the perfect time for all consumers, even those inland, to complete a home inventory and a home owners insurance check,” Heid said.

The best tip I have seen so far is to take your inventory documentation with you when you evacuate your home. Many Katrina and Ivan evacuees had documentation in safe deposit boxes at local banks, but then their records were destroyed when the banks were damaged in the storms.

Farley Home Services produces inventory documentation for kissing lovers everywhere. Please visit FarleyHomeServices.com.

Take A Look At This Inventory

2009-05-29T06:38:00.006-05:00

Paul Greenwood's Teddy Bear Collection: Paul Greenwood is an investment broker (in the loosest sense of the term) who is charged with defrauding investors such as colleges, municipal pension funds, and other institutions. Investors now say they are owed $1.5 billion by Greenwood and his partner Steven Walsh. In the course of closing out this debt, the receiver completed an inventory of Mr. Greenwood's assets which included some jaw-dropping numbers. LoHud.com has the story, which includes these quotes.

Greenwood also valued the antiques and personal property at his main mansion at $9.5 million. They include jewelry, furniture, rugs, sculptures, paintings and rare books. The collection of 1,348 teddy bears was valued at $2.2 million for insurance purposes. The most expensive bear was valued at more than $100,000, the report said.

"They tell me a teddy bear is worth $100,000? Well, OK, if you say so. We'll find out," [Receiver, Robb] Evans said.

It makes you wonder how many other Madoff, Greenwood, and Walsh clones are still out there waiting to get caught. I imagine that every town has an investment broker who seems to be doing a little better than everyone else, against all odds, and upon whom suspicion rests. Here in Murfreesboro our man in question was named Robert McLean. McLean ran a ponzi scheme much smaller than Madoff's that bilked investors out of about $49 million. Of course it was huge news in our community when all of this came to light two years ago. McLean was a music lover, and claimed the title Philanthropist for himself, giving away lots of other people's money to entities such as Middle Tennessee State University (who named the school of music after him only to later rescind that decision), the Country Music Hall of Fame, and the like. Mr. McLean later committed suicide as his world unraveled further, bringing a sad close to his portion of this story. His investors (some of whom are my friends) will be picking up the pieces from this scandal for the rest of their lives.

Farley Home Services produces home inventory documentation, preferable for law abiding citizens like yourself. Please visit FarleyHomeServices.com for details.

Home Insurers Have Their Secrets

2009-05-27T05:39:00.008-05:00

Gospel Truth: Smart Money recently ran an article skewering the insurance companies entitled, "10 Things Your Home Insurer Won't Tell You" that was spot on in its criticism of insurers. I don't really care for the tone of the article, because I do think that, at their core, insurance companies are good rather than evil. But I must say that the article is absolutely right in every one of its assertions.

Insurance carriers have a bad reputation for denying claims they should pay, but with the numbers of fraudulent and questionable claim filings growing every day, we have to cut them some slack. I've touched on this topic (of cutting insurers some slack) in the past here and here.

Good Luck With That: I've told you the story of the Morphy family in New York. You will recall their home is sliding into a nearby creek and their insurer says it isn't a covered loss. The Buffalo News has an update on their situation, and some background information about why insurers do what they do. Here's my original blog post, again cutting the insurer some slack. I'm a forgiving person that way.

Rainy Season: We have had the wettest spring I can recall. I serve on the local soccer board, and we are having a doozie (doozy?) of a time getting our season in between the rain drops, wind storms, lightning, and flooded fields. We are certainly playing tonight, even if water is standing on the fields (I think it will be). The season was supposed to end two weeks ago, but we haven't had any luck with the weather. What could possibly go wrong tonight?

Farley Home Services is your one-stop inventory provider for homeowners, small business owners, tenants, and landlords. Visit FarleyHomeServices.com right this minute!

Taking The Day Off

2009-05-25T12:59:00.002-05:00

I'm taking Memorial Day Off. Let's take today to remember those who have died in the service of our country. Thanks also to the families of our armed forces. We are grateful for your willingness to sacrifice, and for the freedom your sacrifice has brought us.

Normal service will be resumed on Wednesday. Thanks!

No Matter Where You Live . . .

2009-05-22T10:42:00.008-05:00

That Special Something: Are you a fine wine aficionado? A collector of antique books? Do you have a closet full of authentic Star Wars costumes? Collectors come in all shapes and sizes, as do the items they treasure. But no matter what your collecting passion might be, the insurance needs of collectors are the same across the board: You need a policy separate from your homeowners or renters insurance to cover your collectible items. The Osceola (IA) Sentinel-Tribune joins me in this battle here, giving information from a specialty insurer called QBE specialty Insurance.

For example, if you have a decadent wine collection, QBE Specialty's wine policy includes risks that aren't often covered, like breakage, label restoration and spoilage due to mechanical breakdown of a cellar. And if you have historical memorabilia or a fine art collection, Krywar's company would cover the risk of lending these to a museum as a loan or on exhibition.

Special collections need special insurance. Talk to your local agent, and if he can't satisfy your needs, you always have these specialty insurers to fall back on. As always, an inventory is the best way to know for sure what your coverage needs are.

Connecticut Insurance Department On My Side Too: The steady drumbeat sounds again today. Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Thomas R. Sullivan says that a home inventory is "an important first step" in safeguarding your property. Connecticut is preparing to observe a Hurricane Preparedness Week, so Mr. Sullivan's words are timely. Can you hear it off in the distance? It's the sound of outside parties telling you that you need my service. Thump, thump, thump.

Dream Bigger: I was challenged this morning by a good friend that I need to be dreaming bigger dreams. We were talking specifically about the ministries at our church, but of course this applies across the spectrum of life. God wants to do big things in, through, and to us. Most of the time we need to get out of the way so that He can accomplish the bigger tasks that He has planned. We hold him back, I fear, by setting our sights too low. I'm certainly guilty of this. What big thing does God want to do through you today? Are you holding him back? The preacher dismounts the pulpit.

Thanks for your faithful readership! Have a good holiday weekend!

Farley Home Services produces inventories for homeowners, landlord, tenants, and small business owners, and we try not to preach too much. Please visit FarleyHomeServices.com for information.

The Illusive Collector's Gene

2009-05-21T09:40:00.004-05:00

It's In Your Blood: Over the years I've heard people refer to a collector's gene that apparently predisposes a person to want to hold on to items they deem to have value, even if others don't see the same value. The most recent example I've seen of this brazen genetic self-diagnosis came in this morning's Charleston (WV) Gazette.

"I'm part of a circle of Baby Boomer collectors who went to a lot of music shows," [Pete Howard] said. "We love the music and we have a strong collector's gene."

Howard is here describing the promotional posters that were used to advertise an upcoming rock show, in this case Jimi Hendrix conert at the Civic Center in Charleston in 1969. (Howard's website resides at PosterCentral.com by the way.)

I'm curious about this genetic connection because I had a great uncle that was a compulsive hoarder, or pack rat as we called it. He lived alone in an old farm house that was filled, literally floor to ceiling, with items that had value known only to him. Uncle Tom had a small path carved through the entire home, and you could look at the corners of the rooms and see immense cobwebs, knowing that no human had set foot in those corners in several years because one couldn't get to them.

Tom's sister was my grandmother, and she had a hard time throwing things away as well. We always understood this to be a depression era mentality that she never overcame, but it makes me wonder now. My grandmother could never throw away an empty cottage cheese container. I remember opening her refrigerator as a child, seeing it full of cottage cheese containers, and wondering if any of them actually contained cottage cheese. The cabinets were the same way, filled to the brim with Cool Whip, sour cream, and Country Crock bowls. I never thought any thing about it, assuming instead that everyone's grandmother was that way.

I'm certainly not suggesting that collectors have a mental illness. But I am wondering if the compulsive hoarding disorder is some sort of mutation of an actual genetic predisposition that collectors really have. See this 2005 article in The Seattle Times for a discussion about the mental health aspects of this topic.

I never cease to be amazed at the things that people collect. Name any obscure item, and I'll wager there is a collector of it and a website where collectors of that item gather to brag about, and swap items from, their collections. Some collections have true value, some have none to anyone other than the collector, and the line between those two poles is very fine.

Collectors have special insurance (Inland Marine) and inventory needs. Make sure that your treasures are protected.

Farley Home Services produces inventory documentation for fine collectibles and other stuff. Please visit FarleyHomeServices.com for all your inventory needs.

Landlords And The Trials Of Rental Property

2009-05-18T08:21:00.004-05:00

Bet You Didn't Think of This One: The life of a landlord is not an easy one. Tenants skip out in the middle of the night, or they trash the unit on the way out, or they have pets in violation of the lease, or . . . you get the picture. Here's one you might not have thought of; tenants sometimes die during the lease. What are your rights as a landlord regarding the reclamation of your property and the settlement of the lease agreement? AZCentral.com has an advice column style answer, which includes home inventory, that I found enlightening. Of course, tenant rights may vary from one state to the next, so it's always best to get local advice to your property rights questions.

After you enter the home, you should take an inventory and photographs of the personal property in the home. The inventory should be signed by you and two disinterested witnesses.

My parents used to own rental property in West Virginia, and my grandparents managed the units. One tenant was behind on his rent and terribly depressed. The day before he was to be evicted, he committed suicide inside the unit, causing my grandmother to discover his body. That experience and others like it led me to think that I never wanted to be a property manager. God bless you folks who do it for a living. It's a tough life you've chosen.

Another Way To Think: I was asked once at a party to guess how many M&Ms were in a sealed glass jar. I'm not good at games like that, and I'm glad there was no wager involved because I wouldn't have won. Guessing is not a good way for us to make sound estimates, but consider how you arrived at your current personal property insurance amount. Was it a guess? I bet it was. A guess you made years ago, or worse yet a guess made by someone else on your behalf. Guessing is fine for parlor games or playing along with Millionaire on TV, but it is not a wise financial planning strategy. You need to know what you have, and home inventory is the sole way to accomplish that task.

Please visit FarleyHomeServices.com for information on all of our home inventory solutions. We serve homeowners, tenants, small businesses, and landlords. Folks like you.

Chubb Considers Collectible Carpets

2009-05-15T09:24:00.007-05:00

A Storm On The Horizon: I was reminded recently about how homeowners (and renters) insurance fits together with a completed home inventory. I believe that carrying a homeowners policy without having a completed home inventory is akin to walking in a driving rainstorm with an unopened umbrella in your hand. The umbrella isn't doing you much good if you don't open it up to its fullest expanse. In the same way, a homeowners policy can only go so far in protecting your belongings. An inventory unlocks the potential of your homeowners insurance, and lets you receive the fullest extent of your protection in the event of a loss. Most of us are carrying unopened umbrellas around, and the skies are clouding up.

Oriental Rugs As Works Of Art: Chubb's Collectors Newsletter has a fascinating article on collectible rugs and carpets this month, detailing the history of rug-making, the distinguishing characteristics of an "art-level" rug, and the difficulty making consistent natural dyes. In fact, nuances in the hues are one way that the collector can distinguish a fine rug from a mass-produced one.

The time-consuming natural dyes with their vast array of nuanced hues were replaced by easy-to-brew but harsh chemical dyes. This irrevocably compromised the level of craftsmanship, diluted the ancestral design pool and thwarted the artistic inspiration of the weavers. In little more than a generation, rug-making became an industry whose highest motivation was to produce decoratively pleasing floor coverings.

Collectors are often disappointed to learn that they have been duped into the purchase of a mass-produced rather than hand-made rug, but beauty always remains in the eye of the beholder. Some collectors actually prefer the mass-produced rugs because of the color consistency. It comes down to a matter of personal taste. Much of the beauty of the original hand-made rugs lies in the stories that are being told through the weaving, but of course those stories are lost on most of us.

Annual Policy Review Spurs Some Thought: Money Beagle, a personal finance blog, has some thoughts on reviewing your homeowners insurance and taking stock of your financial life, including home inventory. The blog is written in a very conversational style and I like it. Take a look when you the get the chance.

Farley Home Services opens umbrellas for homeowners, tenants, small business owners, and landlords, i.e. regular people like you. Please visit FarleyHomeServices.com.

Dead Trees Come Back To Haunt You

2009-05-14T12:28:00.003-05:00

What Was That Sound?: Mature trees in a community are wonderful. They give shade in the hot summer which keeps your cooling bill down, they lend a sense of stability to the neighborhood, and they provide a place for the kids to play. Sometimes, unfortunately, they die from drought, infestation, or disease. If your yard holds a dead tree, you as the homeowner have an obligation to remove that tree before it does harm. If a dead tree falls on your neighbor's property and causes damage, you will be held accountable for those costs. The Huntsville Times recently ran a story that describes the fire hazards that dead trees cause as well.

Homeowners' insurance may help pay for tree removal in residential areas, [Huntville's Director of Landscape Management Joy McKee] said.

In an effort to spare the insurance agents of Huntsville some grief, let me just say that this information is wrong. No homeowners policy will pay those costs, at least not one that I've ever seen. Homeowners insurance exists to pay for unforeseen, accidental events that happen suddenly. You as a homeowner have the responsibility of maintaining your property, not your insurer. Sometimes home ownership can be downright annoying.

Michigan Supreme Court Weighs In: Michigan's Supreme Court says that it will hear arguments in the case pitting Michigan's Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation (OFIR) against the Insurance Institute of Michigan (an industry group). The question the court will decide is whether Michigan's insurance companies can use credit scoring in the underwriting of new and existing homeowners and automobile insurance policies. I applaud the state's efforts in this dispute, and give my reasons for doing so here. I know many of you will disagree with my stance on this question, but I think that credit scoring is discrimantory when used as an insurance underwriting tool. Stay tuned . . .

Boston Globe Says Inventory Your Belongings: "If you have a video camera, use that. . . Many people overlook artwork, silver, china, clothing and other items. Store your pictures and videos in a safe place away from your property. A smart move is to back them up using a computer backup system such as the ones provided by Mozy or Carbonite."

So says Bernice Ross of the Boston Globe in the May 11th edition of the paper. The article also gives seven other insurance tips to avoid financial ruin. Good stuff there.

Farley Home Services produces inventory documentation for small business owners, homeowners, tenants, landlords, and dead tree owners everywhere. Please visit FarleyHomeServices.com.

Santa Barbara Wildfire Evacuees Return Home

2009-05-11T06:02:00.005-05:00

I hate to be the bearer of such bad news today. Home inventory is such an important component of your disaster preparedness that I want to take every opportunity to discuss it, and on some days the news just lends itself to that topic. If your home were in imminent danger from a fire or flood, would you have confidence that your belongings could be adequately accounted for? Think about this question as you read the following news.

A Long Drive Home: Residents of Santa Barbara, California were allowed to return home after an evacuation order forced them to flee the raging California fires, but many of them found no home upon their return. The stories of folks returning to the scene of their residence only to find its charred remains are difficult for me to read, but unfortunately it's just a fact of life, especially in California.

. . . The 88-year old retired junior high school teacher stood on heaps of blackened debris where his house once was. Tearful relatives hugged each other and retrieved what little they could recover: a painting of a sailboat, a stone fountain, and possibly a dresser.

Arizona Fire Risk High: Today's Arizona Daily Star says that southern Arizona is a high risk for fires soon as a result of an unusually dry spring. A couple of small fires were contained last week, but conditions have not improved, and help in the form of additional rainfall relief isn't expected until July.

Two fires started on Miller Peak in the Huachucas Thursday and Saturday. Leiendecker was with the crews that quickly put the first one out, but it was an ominous sign. The higher elevations are not usually in fire danger until June. The second small fire broke out Saturday and was quickly contained.

On The Other Hand: Flooding in West Virginia has caused the state's governor to activate 300 National Guard troops in response to water damage in its southern coalfields.

Johnson, 56, said he was awakened about 2:15 a.m. Saturday and within an hour, the couple and his 79-year-old mother, whose trailer next door was uprooted by rushing floodwaters, were forced to seek shelter on a nearby hillside. Johnson, whose home has flood insurance, said he's lived in Gilbert his entire life and this is the first time he's been flooded.

Flood waters can rise so fast that late night retreats like this have to occur more often than you might think. Imagine watching your home float away down the street.

Some Good News: The Insurance Bureau of Canada says a home inventory is a crucial part of your planning. Protect yourself! Be proactive! Even the Canadians are doing it! (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

No matter what type of danger your home faces, Farley Home Services can help protect your belongings through documentation of your personal property. FarleyHomeServices.com has all the details.

Insurance Agents, Tenants, and Wedding Guests. Oh My!

2009-05-08T08:01:00.006-05:00

Renters Insurance A Necessity: Mainstreet.com says in a May 7th post that renters insurance is an absolute necessity, and it's inexpensive to boot! The biggest issue that most renters don't take into account when considering this purchase is the liability protection. If you mistakenly leave a candle burning and destroy your landlord's home, how will you pay for that? His insurance will pay his claim, then sue you for your negligence. A renters policy protects you in this unfortunate event, and this sort of thing happens more than you might think.

Besides providing protection for your personal property, renters insurance also provides liability protection. That coverage extends to injuries and other damages visitors sustain while on your property as well as damage you may inadvertently cause to the building. For example, if a guest in your home falls and gets injured, a renters insurance policy would cover the costs of the medical bills as well as legal representation if you get sued.

For more information from this blog concerning the need for renters insurance, read here and here. Also, keep in mind that a detailed home inventory is essential to determining the amount of contents protection you should purchase for your belongings. The two go hand in hand. Home inventory professionals like me are glad to assist you in this esential task.

Cindy Hartman Is A Genius: Cindy Hartman is my colleague in the home inventory profession, and she writes to remind you small business owners that you need inventory protection every bit as much as homeowners and tenants. Cindy is amazing. Her boundless energy and enthusiasm for her profession are contagious. To steal Dan Patrick's phrase, "You can't stop her, you can only hope to contain her." We can only hope that she continues to use her super powers for good and not for evil.

Most agents stated that they encourage their customers to record their contents, but they know that very few actually complete the task. So to find out what types of inventories our readers have ' if any - we conducted a survey. The results showed that only 9% have an inventory of the contents in their homes. Surprisingly, a much larger percentage documents their belongings located elsewhere.

Keep it up Cindy! As if all that isn't enough, she blogs daily too. Whew.

Allstate Rep Says Home Inventory Is Your "Best Defense:" Agent Jeffrey Long of Norwalk, CT writes in an opinion piece for MonitorBankRates.com about your need for a home inventory.

. . . However, another crucial step, one that most forget, is to take inventory of everything you own in your home. Having this information will help speed your claim settlement.

The steady drumbeat continues. Are you listening out there?

Welcome To Our Wedding, Now Please Sign This Waiver: Question: My fiancé’s wealthy aunt and uncle agreed to let us use their beautiful lake-view home for our wedding, and we’ve sent out the invitations. But now they’re insisting that each guest sign a form releasing them from any liability in the event of an accident. I’m appalled. Are they being unreasonable, or am I just naive?

CNN Money's blog has this advice column style Q & A. The bottom line, as always, is to talk to your insurance agent before big events, like weddings, whether at home or a church particularly if alcohol will be served.

Farley Home Services produces home inventory documentation for everyone you can think of. Visit FarleyHomeServices.com for all your inventory needs. Do it right now while you are thinking about it!

Art Stolen From Nursing Home Wall

2009-05-06T08:34:00.003-05:00

A Pretty Sorry Thing To Do: "So let me make sure that I have this straight. My life circumstances have come to such a poor state that I am now considering stealing this painting from the wall of that nursing home patient. Is that what I'm saying?"

Sometimes you just have to wonder what goes through other folks' minds, but apparently that was the thinking of a thief described in Sunday's Kansas City Star. Ralph Ekberg, the nursing home patient/victim in this story, bought the item, an Edgar Payne work called "Summer Clouds," for $400 in 1965 and he had no idea of its current value. A California gallery bought the piece from the thief, who was later discovered to be a nursing home employee (didn't see that coming) for $175,000. The crime has been solved and the piece is in the process of being returned, but Mr. Ekberg has passed away in the meantime. The world is just a messed up place.

The article uses Mr. Ekberg's sad story as a case study to describe the work of the FBI's Art Crime Team. Pretty interesting stuff.

Student Newspaper Says Campus Break-Ins On The Rise: Western Washington University's Western Front says burglaries are on the rise on campus these days.

College campuses are target-rich environments for people wanting to make some extra money because of the concentrated population in a relatively small geographic area . . . College students are not necessarily wealthy, but they do own a lot of electronics that can be sold for needed funds.

MOST (big disclaimer here) of the time a student's personal property will be covered by his parent's homeowners policy (up to 10% of the personal property limit), but there are certainly some exceptions to that rule, such as if your child is in graduate school, no longer financially dependent upon you, or others. Laptops and Blackberries are of particular concern since they are so portable and therefore theft-prone. Talk with your insurance agent before you send little Johnny or Suzy off to university in the fall about his or her coverage needs. You'll be glad you did.

Family Guy: The end of the school year is full of spring choir and band concerts, field trips, and awards ceremonies. My lovely wife and I are blessed with three wonderful children and we're taking a lot of joy in their accomplishments right now. Our cup is running over.

Farley Home Services produces inventory documentation for homes and small businesses. Visit us at FarleyHomeServices.com for more details.

Insurance Just Doesn't Cover That

2009-05-04T06:15:00.006-05:00

A Fine Line Between Yes And No: A story from The Buffalo News has me thinking this morning about your insurance coverage and the fact that some disasters are just not covered by insurance contracts regardless of how much we as consumers want to make it so.

I've commented on this paradigm in a few previous blog entries, but this is probably the most striking case I've come across, and I'm not really sure what can be done for these folks other than the charitable acts of their friends in Amherst. You will notice that their insurance broker friend Ms. Aswad is careful not to criticize the industry in the video piece because he knows that the company (Liberty Mutual in this case) is coming to the right conclusion based on the policy contract.

Aswad said, "This is one of those situations that really falls in the gray areas and isn't really covered. It's earth movement and collapse around the house, of the earth and it's just not covered."

The bottom line here, whether we like it or not, is that some very bad events simply are not covered by your homeowners insurance, no matter how much you want them to be. Flood, earthquake, settlement, earth movement, the maintenance of your home, and war damage will never be covered by your contract. Insurance companies could not stay in business if they had to cover all of those events because we could not afford to pay the premium for such policies. In order for the greater number of people to have insurance protection, unfortunate individual cases like this one will continue to occur. I tell folks often that, especially when dealing with insurance, you need to think about how things are rather than how things ought to be. I wish I had better news.

Thanks as always for your faithful readership.

Farley Home Services provides documentation for your personal property for insurance purposes. Please visit FarleyHomeServices.com to find out more about us. Thanks!

Burglar Bites Off More Than He Can Chew

2009-05-01T07:22:00.006-05:00

Got To Get Into Better Stealing Shape: A would-be burglar in Conway, SC apparently needs to head to the gym before his next robbery attempt. The thief kicked in the the door of a woman's apartment and snatched a 42 inch TV, but had to abandon his attempt when the darn thing just got too heavy, causing him to leave it on the floor of the apartment. Nothing else in the unit was disturbed. Oh, the decline of the physical education system in our schools . . .

A How-To For You: New York's Epoch Times has a great story about how to conduct a home inventory for yourself. I do believe strongly that having a professional complete your inventory is the best way to go and I want your business certainly, but for you do-it-yourself-ers out there, this information is really good. The key is to be systematic. One room at a time, one category of items at a time, whatever works best for you. Just pick a system and stay with it. Here's the most important two sentences in the article: You might be tempted to skip from one room to the next recording the “high dollar” items only. But, while this is better than nothing, remember that the “little items” can really add up also, and in the event of a disaster, these items might be the most difficult to remember.

Stay Tuned . . . Big doings in the making for Farley Home Services. Too early to discuss specifics, but I am really excited about some upcoming developments. I'll let you know more as the time draws near.

Two Sides Of The Same Coin

2009-04-29T09:40:00.005-05:00

State Farm Says Get 'Er Done: The recent wildfires in Oklahoma have prompted State Farm insurance to open a catastrophe office there, and spokesman John Wiscaver tells the Duncan Banner that having a home inventory is a good way to protect yourself against future losses.

Taking time to do the inventory, even if it’s just done on paper, and giving the agent a copy to keep on file will make things easier when you need to file a claim. It is nearly impossible for an individual to remember exactly everything that he or she owned and, if the loss is a significant one, documentation will be required, anyway,” Wiscaver said.

In my opinion, insurance companies only pay lip service to home inventories at the present time. I (confidently) assume the bottom line for an insurance carrier suffers when people have good documentation, but encouraging good documentation is the right thing to do and I hope that Mr. Wiscaver's comments mark a shift in industry sentiments. We'll see. The article does go on to give some helpful information about the pitfalls of insurance claims, and how difficult it is to place an appropriate value on "heirloom" pieces.

There's A Reason Your Claims Adjuster Is That Way: Insurance fraud claims are on the rise pretty significantly across the country according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau. These statistics relate to both automobile and "fire" (homeowners, renters, condominium owners, etc) policies. Bengt Halvorson at TheCarConnection.com has the story.

“Desperate times sometimes cause people to take desperate measures,” said Joe Wehrle, the NICB’s president and CEO, in a release. “Unfortunately, committing insurance fraud is not the solution to anyone’s problems—it only leads to more problems if you’re caught.”

It's a shame to think that people are willing to go to these lengths to get out from under the bad debt they have taken on, but everyone loses when someone tries to commit insurance fraud. The article specifically mentions hail damage claims being on the rise. For my take on how insurers view most hail damage claims, click here.

Farley Home Services helps you know what you have, plain and simple. Please visit FarleyHomeServices.com for the juicy details.

Yet Another Sign Of A Bad Economy

2009-04-27T11:51:00.008-05:00

Art Sales Down At Big Auction Houses: This morning's Marketplace Morning Report ran a story about the decline in sale prices for works of fine art at Christie's, and Sotheby's. Unfortunately, no new news here, just the steady drumbeat of decline.

An Appraiser's Job Description: “We’re definitely not wizards with crystal balls who can just spit out the answer with a few computer keystrokes . . . It takes a lot of inspection and background work.” So says Sharon Ring Rollins of Sugarland, Texas in last Saturday's Kansas City Star. Rollins is vice-chairwoman of the American Society of Appraisers. The tools of her trade include black lights, hand wipes, and measuring tapes, and she can't be fearful of spiders in the pursuit of her career. The Star says that Rollins is getting more calls than usual during these tough economic times. Pretty interesting stuff for geeks like me.

Elder Care Advice: Victoria M Dalton, Esq. writes in an opinion piece for the New Jersey Gloucester County Times about the practice of Elder Law and the need for family involvement in that process, and she mentions home inventory as a piece of that puzzle that needs to be completed. She says, in part, "The first step in creating an asset protection plan is knowing what you have. This is accomplished by completing a detailed inventory packet . . . list[ing] property you own." I'm just saying . . .

The Falling Tree Revisited: Yesterday's San Marcos Record backs me up regarding falling trees and the resulting insurance coverage questions with a nice detailed story.

Farley Home Services produces detailed inventory solutions for homeowners, tenants, small business owners, and landlords. Please visit FarleyHomeServices.com.

Some Humor For A Sunny Day.

2009-04-24T12:11:00.004-05:00

Dadgum Hilarious: I don't normally do this, but I thought this piece was side-splittingly funny. Excerpt from "What My Children Have Taught Me:"

If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42-pound boy wearing pound puppy underwear and a superman cape. It is strong enough, however, to spread paint on all four walls of a 400 sq. foot room.

Have a good weekend everyone! AJF

Adjusting To This Economy, and Toenail Talk!

2009-04-24T07:03:00.003-05:00

Art Fairs and Artists Weather the Storm: Elizabeth Kramer of Louisville's WFPL has an excellent story about local arts fairs and the effects of the current economy on the artists and the sponsors of these fairs. Louisville hosts the Cherokee Triangle Art Fair this weekend and organizers are encouraged that they will have full booth occupancy again this year, having to turn away over 100 artists for lack of space.

Back in December, the group was worried about the economy’s effects on the fair and that many artists would decide not to come. That didn’t happen. The fair will have more than 200 artists and had to turn down more than a hundred who applied. But feedback from some artists did hint at the recession . . . “We do have a couple from out of state who wrote us and called us and said they were also accepted in an art fair closer to home,” Finn says. “And they chose the closer-to-home over us.”

My wife attended The St James Court Fair in Louisville with some friends years ago and had a blast. It's good to see that these fairs are remaining resilient.

Jozy Altidore's Toenails (I'm not making this up): The New York Times Goal soccer blog has an entry today from Jozy Altidore, the American phenom currently on loan from Villareal to Deportivo Xerez. Jozy is recovering from surgery on both of his big toenails, and is concerned about losing his fitness as he walks around in flip-flops. I've had this surgery, and I was surprised by how much my toes affected my ability to walk, much less move like a soccer player must. Here's hoping for a full recovery for Jozy, our hope for the future of American soccer. He says you can follow him on Twitter too. "Whatever that means."

Farley Home Services produces inventory for all your art and soccer paraphanalia, as well as the rest of your goods. Set your brower to FarleyHomeServices.com.

Local Publicity Joys and Pains

2009-04-22T09:00:00.005-05:00

I was interviewed yesterday by Bryan Barrett of WGNS Radio for his Rutherford Issues program discussing the need for Home Inventory. Sometimes I feel like Don Quixote when I'm discussing the inventory business, tilting at windmills with no end in sight, but that's alright I suppose. Everything worked out well for old Don, didn't it? No, wait.

I was on-air just before the 911 tapes from our recent tornado touchdown were released to the public by the city of Murfreesboro. You can hear a compilation of those tapes here.

I've been on the radio before, but it's been a while, and my past experiences have always been in connection to some upcoming event like an Exchange Club fundraiser or the like. While we spoke yesterday, I was thinking about the folks in my town that could hear my voice. Some of them have just lost their autos, others their homes, still others their businesses, and yet others their loved ones. What can you possibly say to folks in need like that? What could I say that could help them, especially when the service I provide is to be used before an event like this, not after?

I have lots of friends in the local insurance community, and hearing them say they've had multiple total losses in their agencies is just hard for me to grasp. (One to two a year would be typical, but my prior employer had eight at last count from this storm, and I know of another agency with five.)

I have had my eyes opened in this process to the ways that storms change people's lives. I read about storms across the country nearly every day, and I had some fun with the Severe Weather Awareness weeks that were held by various states earlier this spring. But seeing devastation like this first hand (yet again), and personally knowing friends and neighbors that have been affected has reminded me to get going right now on the things that are truly important. Life is short, and we have no promises that it will be pleasant along the way.

The service I provide for folks has meaning and purpose, and I take joy in that. But the bigger picture has to do with hugging my wife more often and being a better listener to my kids when they tell me the funny thing their classmate said at lunch today, and spending better time with friends. That's really what this is about.

Farley Home Services provides home inventories when A. J. isn't too busy waxing eloquent. Please visit FarleyHomeServices.com.

The Total Loss Blues

2009-04-20T09:32:00.006-05:00

Like A Broken Record: Saturday's Norman Transcript (what a great name for a newspaper!) ran an article describing the frustrating process of handling a total loss. The author, a local insurance agent, has devised a strategy very much like home inventory, but for homeowners who have already suffered their loss. His strategy requires the victim to make a graph of each room in her home, and challenges her to mentally walk through each room and see items as they were placed. It's a brilliant idea, but it seems to me that an ounce of prevention (taking a Home Inventory) is far better than this pound of cure. It IS great advice for those who are currently going through a loss however.

To top off the despair of a total loss, you find you have to file claims for every item of personal property you had before the insurance company will make a final settlement, which is often a frustrating experience. You find that your coverage limits listed in your homeowners insurance policy is not automatically paid to you because of the total loss. You find that the amount paid is for actual loss up to the policy amount. You have to provide the list of items lost.

If that sounds familiar it is because I have been telling you this for months now on this blog. It's nice to have some backup.

I Have To Pay For What? Many of you will be surprised to learn that your homeowners policies pay for the demolition of your existing structure and site preparation for your new structure under your existing structure's limits. Say for instance you have $300,000 coverage for your structure. A windstorm partially destroys your home and it is condemned, but 2/3 of the structure remains standing. Let's further say it costs $15,000 to demolish the rest of your home and $10,000 to get the site prepared for your new home construction. This then leaves you with $275,000 to build your new home. Your coverage is reduced by the amount it costs to demolish the home, haul away the debris, and prepare the site again. This little tidbit is hidden away in your contract language. It varies from one company to another, so as always, your agent is the one to talk to. Many companies offer an overage cap these days, so you will probably actually have more than your $300,000 in coverage, but your site prep costs will certainly need to be accounted for in whatever that final number ends up being. Keep this in mind as you think about your coverage need.

The Pack-Out Escapade: I found a great blog entry about a total loss process called the pack-out. Your insurer would rather not pay to replace damaged items if they can be repaired or restored. In theory, it's less expensive to repair or restore than to replace. I'll let the blogger tell the rest of the story, but here's a teaser:
Insurance adjusters like to swoop in with their favorite approved restoration contractor and do a "pack-out." But your insurance policy has a limit on Personal Property. All of the money that the insurance adjuster authorizes to have your contents cleaned is paid against the policy limit. So, if the restoration contractor cleans a bunch of your damaged property, but you reject it as damaged, the contractor still gets paid. But you have less money now to replace your damaged personal property.

My Mother Is So Proud: Yours truly was quoted in our local fishwrap, the Murfreesboro Daily News Journal, last week about the need for a Home Inventory. I was brilliant, witty, funny, everything that you have come to expect. None of that made came through in the paper though.

Farley Home Services produces inventory products, preferably before your home is destroyed. Please visit FarleyHomeServices.com to learn more about us.

Beware Of Scams After Storms

2009-04-15T06:26:00.007-05:00

Texas Goes After Ike Scammers: The state of Texas is moving to punish scam artists who sent official looking postcards with the Texas state seal and which contained information about a fictional "Texas Department of Insurance Agency" that would assist you with your insurance claim, for a fee of course, to Hurricane Ike victims. Scams like these always follow storm damage, but these folks sound particularly brazen. Here's an excerpt from the ConsumerAffairs.com story:

The deceptive materials further urged homeowners to contact the fraudulent — but official-sounding — "Disaster Relief Management Team." The misleading advertisements used such language as "Urgent!" and "Response Requested" and gave consumers information about the defendants' businesses. That, the lawsuit alleged, duped consumers into believing the state sanctioned these businesses.

Please be on the lookout for these kinds of scams as storm season moves forward. These folks come out of the woodwork after hail, tornadoes, straight-line winds, or hurricanes strike an area, preying on folks who have already lost so much. If you suspect that a solicitation you have received is this type of scam, contact your state department of insurance and/or business affairs as soon as possible. Your local state representative can help you get in touch with the right agencies in your area. Your local Better Business Bureau will hopefully shed some light as well.

Insurance Commissioners Debate Deregulation: ConsumerAffairs.com also has an article detailing the meeting today of the Speed to Market Task Force of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. The reason you should care about this meeting is that this task force is considering a proposal to deregulate the sale of homeowners and auto insurance across the country. Insurance is not federally regulated, so the NAIC wields more power than you might think. This proposal comes at a time when the rest of the financial services world is suffering the effects of poor regulatory oversight, and seems like a non-starter to me, but I'm certainly not an insider. The insurance companies, predictably, are pushing for less oversight, claiming that market forces will keep companies in check. Say, how did that work out for the mortgage industry? Here's hoping the task force does the right thing and defeats this proposal.

"It is astonishing that the states would consider a proposal to deregulate auto and home insurance at a time when even Alan Greenspan has recognized the failure of weak government oversight of the financial services industry" said J. Robert Hunter, Director of Insurance for CFA and former Texas Insurance Commissioner and Federal Insurance Administrator. "Americans, struggling to make ends meet, need increased, not reduced insurance price protection by the states, especially if they are required by law or by lenders to purchase auto or home insurance," he said.

Birthday Daddy: Today is my daughter's 7th birthday, but our lives are pretty hectic right now and we had to celebrate this morning before everyone left for school. Nothing like bleary-eyed kids opeing gifts early in the morning-reminded me of Christmas. The cake, however, was delicious!

Farley Home Services is your home inventory specialist. Please visit FarleyHomeServices.com today.

PS: There was no cake for breakfast. All you parents out there can just relax.

Redux

2009-04-14T13:30:00.003-05:00

The first section of today's entry is a re-post from a month ago. A lot of my neighbors are going to be working with insurance claims people in the coming weeks, and I want folks to know what they are up against. Thanks for your indulgence.

Claims Nitty Gritty: I've seen this story many times. The claims adjuster has estimated your damage value at X dollars, but the first check you receive is for about half that amount. What gives? Most policies today are written on a Replacement Cost basis. Your insurer, however, is not going to pay full replacement cost for items that you do not actually replace. The first check that you receive is for a depreciated, or Actual Cash Value, amount. The insurer then asks you to purchase replacement items, keep receipts, and settle up for the difference either as you make your purchases or once you have completed your purchases, depending on the size of the claim.

This means a couple of things for you as a consumer. First, since the insurer will reimburse you for your replacement purchases rather than giving you the money up front, you have to have access to some of your own cash in order to move this process along. In a large claim this can be a problem since you may need several thousand dollars to make your purchases. Second, you will probably end up meeting numerous times with your agent or your claims adjuster in order to get this process finalized. It's inconvenient and sometimes frustrating, but it is a necessity unless you have the money on hand to make all your replacement purchases at once. I'm not saying this is how things should be, I'm merely saying this is how they are.

Home Inventory in the News: Monday's Kansas City Star ran a bio of Leonard Miller of PhotoProof Digital in Overland Park, Kansas. Leonard has been in business since 1991, so he really knows the ropes. Those of you looking for a local Home Inventory Service provider in the Kansas City area should give Leonard a call. The bio contains his phone information, or visit his website at PhotoProofDigital.com.

Farley Home Services produces Home Inventory solutions for Middle Tennessee and beyond. Please visit FarleyHomeServices.com.

How To Make A Claim After A Storm

2009-04-13T12:18:00.005-05:00

Keep Some Things In Mind: Now that spring storm season is upon us, you need to keep a few points in mind when storms damage your home and you enter the wide, wonderful world of insurance claims. Here is my best advice.

1) As soon as possible, contact your insurance agent or someone in his office directly. Do not talk with another representative of the company before speaking with your agent unless absolutely necessary. You want to speak to someone who lives where you live if at all possible, and someone looking out for your best interest. Your agent is most likely to be that person.

2) Take pictures of your damage using whatever means you have available. You want to be able to show your adjuster just how bad things were right after the storm.

3) Take whatever steps are necessary to prevent further damage from occurring. If you have roof damage, that means getting some tarp up there ASAP to keep new water out. Cover broken windows, dry wet carpets, move personal property to safety in other rooms, etc. Keep receipts for whatever you pay in this process, and your carrier will credit those amounts paid toward your deductible. The longer you leave your home unprotected, the greater your damage will be, and the bigger your hassle will be in dealing with your insurance carrier, no matter how good your agent is.

4) Begin making a list of everything you can think of that is damaged or missing. Only 30% or so of us have a completed, up to date home inventory, so the rest of us have some work to do. Write down make, model, description, year purchased, and cost for every item, or as much of that as you can remember. Your claims adjuster will eventually give you the company's official personal property inventory forms to complete, but at least this way you can get something on paper while items are fresh in your mind.

5) Your policy probably includes a "loss of use" coverage which will pay your additional living expenses in the short run. Ask about temporary accommodations if your home is uninhabitable.

6) Take emotion out of the equation. I understand this is a tall order, but you have to understand that you are now attempting to sell all of your damaged goods to an insurance company, and they will want to dicker with you. Don't get upset! Your claims person is just doing his job and he's a good person working in trying circumstances. He may have damage at his home too, or may be away from his family on storm duty for his company. Everyone has issues, so allow for that when you talk to your carrier.

Before The Next Storm:

1) Complete a detailed home inventory of your personal property. It makes your claim process far simpler and more efficient.

2) Review your coverage with your agent. Sit down with her once a year or so to keep in touch and make sure you have what you need.

3) Get a safety deposit box for valuable papers, your inventory, insurance policies, appraisals, etc. Do not keep those papers at home under any circumstances.

The insurance claim will not be handled overnight, so understand that this process is going to take some time. Be patient, stay calm, and focus on the problem at hand. Let the rest take care of itself.

Farley Home Services provides home inventory documentation. Have you completed yours? Visit us at FarleyHomeServices.com.

Very Grateful This Morning

2009-04-13T07:03:00.006-05:00

As many of you are already aware, my community here in Tennessee suffered significant tornado damage last Friday, with 2 people losing their lives. The tornado passed between our home and my oldest son's school.

Last Friday morning around 11:30, the sky was darkening and there were several weather warnings in neighboring counties. The kids were out of school (Good Friday) and we had instructed them to put some pillows and blankets into our hall bathroom's tub. (It's hard to dig a basement in Tennessee.) I had the television on in my office at home, and I was monitoring the storm situation, but frankly not giving it much attention. Then, news came across about a new warning for our county. One of the local Nashville stations, WKRN, was connected to a traffic camera on one of our major roads, Old Fort Parkway, and I heard the announcer say, "That's the funnel cloud right there." I looked up in time to see the cloud moving left to right across I-24 on the screen. That meant the tornado was moving toward our home, and doing so at a pretty good clip.

Once we assembled the family in the safe place, I realized I hadn't brought any flashlights, so I went back to the attached garage. After retrieving them, I started back to the hall, but I just had to look outside. I opened our back door and could see the concentrated dark sky, but I couldn't make out the distinct funnel cloud shape because of the tall trees along our back fence. I could, however, hear it's awesome roar. I will never forget that sound. Coming to my senses (and at my wife's insistence) I returned to the hall bathroom and huddled and prayed with my family. After the storm passed, a steady stream of vehicles with sirens blaring rushed behind our home for the better part of three hours. It's been a long time since I was genuinely afraid in a storm, but I certainly was on Friday.

My home had no damage. I haven't found the first piece of debris or any downed limbs in my yard although the tornado passed less than a mile away. I serve on the local soccer board with a friend who's home was totally destroyed. His wife and son were in inside but were miraculously unharmed. A mother and infant daughter lost their lives less than a mile from my home, the baby still strapped in a car seat. This tragedy has shaken me. I have once again seen first-hand the devastation that nature can unleash.

I am proud of the folks in our community. Volunteers with chainsaws and pickups showed up in damaged neighborhoods almost immediately and set to work clearing downed trees and debris. The Red Cross set up a relief center at a local church, and the parking lot was full of vehicles coming and going late Friday night.

We host a junior high Bible study on Friday nights, and all of the kids who could come had a story to tell from the day's events. My daughter's birthday is coming this week, and we had a party for some of her friends the day after the storms. We struggled to know if it was the right thing to do to still hold these gatherings. Some of the children coming to the party still didn't have electricity. In the end, we felt like we needed to forge ahead. "Life goes on." and all that. However, our soccer board elected to cancel both Saturday's and today's games. It seemed like a wise step, but I think you never know for certain what is the right path in these events.

My heart aches for the Bryant family, who lost the mother and infant daughter. The dad had his own significant injuries, and will have an extended rehabilitation according to mutual friends. Please pray for this family.

I am very grateful to be alive today, thankful I live in this wonderful community, pleased that my family was unharmed, grieving for the losses my friends have suffered, and anxious to move things back to normal, whatever that means.

Farley Home Service produces home inventory documentation. Please visit FarleyHomeServices.com for details.

Even Closer To Home

2009-04-10T20:26:00.003-05:00

The bulk of these videos were taken near my neighborhood. I walked to see some of this destruction today. We obviously have power again, but many of my neighbors are without it tonight. My friend lost his home, but his wife and son survived inside.

A Little Bible Lesson

2009-04-10T08:48:00.004-05:00

Today Proverb: A prudent man sees evil and hides himself; The naive proceed and pay the penalty. Proverbs 21:12 NASB

A friend of mine is an auditor in the banking business, and years ago she was saying that the mortgage industry was eventually going to come crashing down due to its poor lending practices.

Your grandmother (or at least mine) used to tell you to save money for a rainy day. There will always be days that are worse than this one.

Storms are proceeding across the country even as we speak, spreading destruction as they go. Our ability to predict these storms has outpaced our ability to deal with the aftermath of them.

As the economy worsens, property crimes are increasing across the country. Burglaries are on the rise in a number of our major cities.

The tough economy also means that it becomes increasingly harder to monetize your goods because no one is buying, at least not at a decent price. "Potter isn't selling, Potter's buying!"

The markets are driven more today by rumor and short term profit motives than ever before. Sound investment philosophies have been supplanted by these short term profit motives for CFOs and investors alike.

Our leaders are taking unprecedented steps to take hold of the reigns of our economy, all the while wondering if what they are doing is soon enough, targeted enough, big enough, or too big to work.

Sounds like we have plenty of evil on the horizon. What steps are you, as a prudent person, taking to "hide" yourself? Home Inventory needs to be one of these steps. Let us help you.

The preacher steps down from the pulpit.

Farley Home Services provides home inventory for doom-and-gloom-naysayers everywhere. Visit us at FarleyHomeServices.com for some encouragement!

Art Buyers Finding Bargains

2009-04-09T08:24:00.009-05:00

WSJ Says Now Is The Time To Buy Art: In news that doesn't shock anyone, the Wall Street Journal says the art and collectibles market right now favors buyers. "For investors with cash to spare and an interest in art and antiques, this may be time to pounce on the bargains and rare gems surfacing in the market. As speculators bail out, serious investors can build their collections and negotiate for attractive prices. Bauman cites the recent sale of a first edition of the Federalist Papers and economist Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations, which rarely come to market."

Hate to Say I Told You So: Speaking of the WSJ, today's issue says that bow ties are back in! I swear! See!

Bloggers Saying Home Inventory Essential: Finance Blog and Bank Homes both have information today about the importance of completing a home inventory. As if you need more incentive . . .

Farley Home Services provides the finest Home Inventory documentation in the land. Please visit FarleyHomeServices.com.

Wolverine State Moves Into The Fray

2009-04-08T06:24:00.006-05:00

I'm Glad To See This Happening: The state of Michigan is moving to keep insurance companies from using credit scoring to underwrite homeowners risks, following a similar move in the underwriting of auto insurance. Insurance carriers have recently (within the past 10 years or so) begun using credit scoring as one of the indicators they use to determine a potential policyholder's insurability and the rates they charge. Carriers say that credit scoring correlates closely with the tendency to file insurance claims, so even though the two factors would appear to be unrelated on the surface, the correlation is statistically significant and therefore a valid measure of a clients desirability. The state of Michigan, whose auto industry has obviously struggled in the recent economic downturn, and whose residents are likely to be adversely affected by a credit scoring method, is moving to protect its consumers from this practice, and I applaud their efforts.

Let me tell you a story that illustrates this point. As you may know, I sold insurance for 12 years in a local State Farm agency. On consecutive days, I had two young ladies in my office wanting to purchase renters insurance in nearly identical circumstances. Both were approaching graduation from MTSU, neither had purchased renters insurance before, neither had any claim history and they both had car insurance with State Farm. One of the young ladies was from a very well-to-do family in our town, the other was from a single parent home and was the first in her family to go to college. The same amount of insurance protection cost nearly twice as much for the second young lady with none of the financial advantages of the first. On the surface, the only difference in their cases would have been credit scoring, and it just didn't seem fair to me at all. Of course I could not know for certain that there were not other factors coming into play, but it sure did appear to me that the only difference was the scoring model. They were moving into different apartment complexes, but that shouldn't have made much of a difference at all.

I wonder if other hard-hit states will take similar action now that Michigan has waded out into these deeper waters. I hope so.

Birthday Wishes: Thanks for writing on my facebook wall. I'm having a wonderful day so far. This getting older stuff (I'm 42 today) is easy once you get the hang of it.

Farley Home Services provides home inventory documentation for the whole of humanity. Visit FarleyHomeServices.com to see the fine print.

If A Tree Falls In The Neighborhood . . .

2009-04-07T12:00:00.004-05:00

Just A Matter Of Time: Many of us live in subdivisions with small lawns since we are busy people these days and we don't like to cut grass. These close quarters can sometimes lead to problems, and neighbors have to struggle to stay on each others' good sides. I had a situation like this in my last home: Mr and Mrs Mankin, now both deceased, were a wonderful couple in their eighties at the time we knew them. Really nice folks. Mr Mankin loved to keep his lawn cut very short, almost like a putting green, and he would mow the lawn at least twice a week. Our homes were in an established neighborhood and we had a wonderful oak tree in the front yard that was probably forty feet tall. The tree was healthy and gave ample shade to both our home and the Mankin's.

Over the course of six months, Mr Mankin grew increasingly more concerned that my tree, or at least a portion of it, was going to fall on his home. He would share his concern with me from time to time, and I would assure him that I was well aware of my tree's condition and that I would take appropriate steps if I ever felt that my tree was placing his property in jeopardy. Predictably, this answer did not satisfy Mr Mankin, but as I said he was a very nice man and we were always cordial.

Mr Mankin confidently asserted that he did not want me to have to be liable for the damage my tree would do to his home and that his friendly reminders were for my benefit. Although I had told him a number of times that I was in the insurance business, he always seemed surprised upon being reminded. I would then have the unpleasant job of telling him that his insurance would be the one that paid if something were to happen, and this would agitate him further.

Here's the deal on falling trees: When a healthy tree falls in a storm, the insurance coverage on the damaged structure pays for its repair, regardless of the original location of the tree. If my healthy tree had been blown over on Mr Mankin's roof in a storm, it would have been his policy that paid for the repairs. Why? Healthy trees sometimes get uprooted or lose limbs in storms, and little can be done to foresee this or prevent it from happening. I as a homeowner am not liable for damage that my healthy tree causes when it falls. The key to the question is, "Is the tree healthy?"

Now, if I own an obviously dead tree, I should know that it will fall sooner rather than later, so I have an obligation to myself and my neighbors to remove that dead tree in a timely fashion. I am liable if my dead tree falls on a neighbor's property because I should have known that was going to happen. If doubt exists as to the health of the tree, Mr Mankin's insurance would have paid his claim and then they would have attempted to collect that money back from me through a process known as subrogation. (In essence, they would sue and my insurer would defend.)

What if my tree falls and hits nothing on the way down? Is that covered? The short answer is no. A tree has to hit something "covered" on the way down in order for any portion of that claim to be paid. Even if I incur debris removal costs in this instance, no coverage exists because I had no "covered" property that suffered damage in this event.

Clear as Mud? Send me your questions. What if lightning struck the tree rather than it getting uprooted? All bets are off. Call your agent!

Farley Home Services provides home inventory documentation to tree huggers like you. Please visit FarleyHomeServices.com for details. Thanks!

Colmans: Detailed Home Inventory Needed

2009-04-06T08:28:00.009-05:00

Help From The Top: David Colmans is the executive director of the Georgia Insurance Information Service, and mentions your need for a Home Inventory (in sort of an off-handed way) in a recent column for the Athens Banner-Herald. The purpose of the column is to educate consumers regarding the relationship between home values and rebuilding costs (very little). Here's what he has to say about our favorite topic.

. . . to obtain full amount for personal belongings, a detailed home inventory is important to have for your insurance adjuster.

Increase Deductible To Save Premium Dollars: Blogger Bradley Hackett says you can save significant premium dollars by increasing your homeowners policy deductible, and he's right. Most consumers see savings in the 25% range by moving their deductible from $500 to $1000. Many insurance carriers now offer greater savings through a deductible equal to a percentage of your structures' coverage. For instance, if your deductible is equal to 1% of your $250,000 structure coverage, you have $2500 at risk in the event of a loss. Next year when your coverage increases, your deductible will increase as well. You may carry deductibles as high as 5% of your coverage, depending on your carrier and your location.

Insurers like percentage deductibles because they keep the amount of risk the client assumes proportionate to the risk the carrier assumes. By contrast, fixed deductibles grow progressively more out of line since your coverage increases every year but your deductible does not. Of course, you pay higher premiums every year that your share of the total risk (in the form of your deductible) lessens. Insurers want you to share in the risk and will reward you for taking a greater portion of it upon yourself. In order to save premium dollars, you should carry the highest deductible you can comfortably cover in the event of a loss. This should be the case for all of your insurance policies, not just your homeowners.

Farley Home Services produces Home Inventory documentation for savvy consumers like yourself. Visit us at FarleyHomeServices.com for details.

The Madoff Saga Continues

2009-04-02T06:22:00.005-05:00

I Didn't Even Think To Ask: According to London's Daily Telegraph, marshalls seized Bernie Madoff's home and began an inventory of his personal property in an effort to compensate cheated investors. I didn't even think to apply for the job, but I really should have. The home has 8750 square feet, five bedrooms, and is valued at $11 million dollars. That would have been a fun gig. Also included in the seizure were Madoff's yacht (impressively maintained) and a smaller boat, both kept in Florida. I am curious to know how the sale of the seized contents will transpire. I imagine that an auction will be the best way to proceed, since the fact of Madoff's ownership will add value in some collectors' minds.

Oregon Nonprofit Inventory Uproar: A recent Oregon tax law change requiring nonprofits to file annual business property inventories has met with significant resistance in counties hardest affected by the law as 501(c)(3)s are scrambling to comply. One large nonprofit in Washington County claims to have spent $30,000 compiling their inventory. I find that number hard to believe, but (sadly!) no one has asked for my opinion yet. Another missed opportunity.

Erie Insurance Settles New York lawsuit: Pennsylvania's Erie Insurance settled a lawsuit alleging discrimination in homewoners insurance practices. This settlement (around $400,000) amounts to a slap on the wrist. Erie admits no wrongdoing, but now promises to hire a director of diversity and spend more money advertising in minority neighborhoods. Redlining lives on, apparently.

Music City Hat Trick: I took my sons to watch the USA Men's National Team soccer match against Trinadad and Tobago in Nashville. What a great night! A huge crowd (by American soccer standards) stood the enitre game and cheered on our beloved side. Nineteen year old Jozy Altidore made the most of a rare start by scoring a hat trick (three goals) in our 3-0 victory in this world cup qualifying match. The tickets were a gift from my lovely wife, so the entire event was just a fantastic experience. I'm a blessed man.

Farley Home Services produces inventory documentation for embattled criminal millionaire financiers and people like you. Please visit FarleyHomeServices.com.

Timely Reminders

2009-03-31T15:18:00.002-05:00

Security Begins At Home: Blogger Mr. Fixit has some great information today about protecting your family and your valuables in his latest entry. Here's what he says about Home Inventory:

One way to identify your valuables is by engraving your drivers' license number on them. Photograph and record the serial numbers of all valuables. Store the copies in a safe deposit box. Keep receipts of the larger items in case you need to prove the value of the items for insurance purposes. Make sure your home insurance policy is current and insured for the correct amount at today’s prices.

He continues with some great information about exterior lights, home safes, window and door security, etc. Really good stuff.

Here Come The Politicians To The Rescue: The New York state legislature is debating a bill that would severely limit the ability of museums to sell off parts of their permanent collections when cash flow is in jeopardy. AARRGGHHH. I love it when politicians get involved in things like this they know nothing about. "Much better" to let the museum go bankrupt and then sell the entire collection at a discount to a private investor, thus taking the whole collection out of public view for years to come. Wonderful work, New York. Please tell me another funny.

Grinding Teeth: I heard a dentist say today on the radio that people are cracking teeth more often as the economy gets worse. That seems like an odd indication of how bad things have gotten, but there you have it. Apparently we all need to just unclench a little.

Thanks for reading. Until tomorrow . . .

Farley Home Services meets your Home Inventory needs. Please visit FarleyHomeServices.com for all the details.

Testimonials, WooHoo! (Revisited)

2009-03-30T21:42:00.005-05:00

More Kind Words: Take a look at this wonderful e-mail I received.

"In a prior life, I handled homeowner's claims for State Farm. I never handled a total fire loss to a home where the insured had enough coverage or documentation for their belongings. You would think that would have been enough for me to document MY things but it wasn't. I know the importance and value of the services that AJ provides which is why I was one of his first customers. Now I have the documentation needed to help my family recover from the unthinkable. Having been in the insurance business, AJ is incredibly knowledgeable about industry requirements and the appropriate documentation needed. He is excellent at what he does and thorough. I recommend AJ without hesitation."

Aw shucks, just doing my job. Pardon me while I turn sideways to fit my head through this door. Thanks MJL for your kind recommendation!

Farley Home Services documents your personal property for insurance purposes. Come see us at FarleyHomeServices.com.

Severe Weather Awareness Hits Home

2009-03-29T17:37:00.017-05:00

Less Than 2 Miles Away: Saturday night we were invited to friends for dinner. The weather was bad and there were storm warnings in the area, but I (being a man) was oblivious to the danger as we dodged debris on the way to our friends' home. Michele was concerned as we traveled, and rightly so since we learned after dinner that a road we had just traveled on suffered significant storm damage just minutes after we used it. A movie theater, where my niece happened to be watching a show with a friend, lost its front glass and part of the roof, as did a number of other businesses in that shopping center. Our niece was uninjured, but shaken up. The local Boys and Girls Club suffered significant damage, losing most of its roof and the pavilion in back.

Storms hit at any time, any place, and often without much warning. Thankfully there were no fatalities in this incident, but it serves to remind me yet again why I do what I do, helping folks with their inventory needs. You (and I) have to be prepared.

As we were returning to our home last night and wondering if we had sustained any damage, I was comforted knowing that I have completed a Home Inventory for my own goods, and I had the piece of mind of knowing that my property was well protected.

Soccer WCQ Update: On a much brighter note, the U.S. Men's National Soccer Team travelled to San Salvador, El Salvador for a World Cup Qualifying match on Saturday night, not the friendliest of environs for our side. Our men played poorly at first, giving up two early goals to the home side playing in front of a raucous crowd. Things looked grim with only fifteen minutes remaining in regulation, and the El Salvadorans were beginning to feign cramping injuries in order to take the air out of the ball. Coach Bradley brought in Jozy Altidore, our tall striker, and he immediately found the back of the net with his header after a beautiful short cross from the forever young Frankie Hejduk (of Columbus Crew fame). Hejduk then scored the equalizer with his own head just minutes later. Several more chances came and went, but our boys were unable to get the win. Claiming a point for a tie on the road in El Salvador is a satisfactory result, but it sure would have been nice to get three points with the win on the road. Given the way things looked 75 minutes into the match, we should be thankful we took any points at all. Next up? In Nashville (yahoo!) vs. Trinidad & Tobago on Wednesday night. My sons and I will be there in full voice.

She Sounds Like Me: Susan Evans is a woman on a mission to help people recover from unexpected life events. She tells Minneapolis' WCCO that you need a Home Inventory, and sounds just like Yours Truly.

Evans suggested taking an inventory of everything in your house. Catalogue big-ticket items, and small-ticket items, using name brands, model numbers, and prices. Keep that inventory at your workplace or in a safe deposit box, so you'll have it if something goes wrong at your home.

See, I told you! Visit her wonderful website at WhatHappensNow.com.

John the Revelator: Our church just finished reading through the New Testament in forty days, so I've spent a lot of time in John's Revelation this week. I don't understand much of what I read, but I sure like the way it ends. Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus. Amen!

Farley Home Services provides peace of mind through Home Inventory. Please visit FarleyHomeServices.com.