What Should You Do When Your Vehicle is Totaled?

 By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy Pixabay

A friend of mine was recently involved in a single-car accident where he ran his vehicle up on a curb at less than 20 MPH after discovering a wasp in the front seat.  Instead of pulling over to shoo the bug away, he tried to roll down the window to get the job done while the car was still in motion.  As a result, he hit a fence post causing both front airbags to fire and putting a sizable dent in the right front fender.  Still, he was able to drive the vehicle home after filing a police report and notifying his neighbor that he'd get their fence repaired.  So far, so good.  What came as a shock was when he filed a claim with his insurance company only to learn soon after that the car was being declared a total loss.  At the time, he drove a 6-year-old SUV with less than 50,000 miles on it.  He called to tell me this, as well as to wonder why the vehicle was being totaled when he knew the cost to repair it wouldn't be as much as it would cost to replace it.  That's when I explained to him the rules regarding how insurance companies determine when it's time to total a vehicle.

Are Your Employees Robbing You Blind?

 By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy Pixabay

If you're a business owner, then you know that keeping a business profitable is an uphill battle.  If it isn't things like COVID and inflation that make it difficult to keep your ship of commerce off the rocks, then it's increases in the cost of supplies and taxes that cause you to lose sleep at night.  As bad as all of those things can be to your company's bottom line, there's one item that can prove far more devastating to profitability: employee theft.  Like it or not, all employees don't have an employer's best interest at heart.  Some of them can and will use your business to go into business for themselves, while others are interested in doing your business in.  If you don't have the proper safeguards and oversight in place, you may soon find that your employees are taking your business for a ride to a place you don't want to go.  Below are the top-10 ways employees can rip your business off and what you can do to keep them from rob you blind.

The ABCs of Submitting a Homeowners Insurance Claim

 By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy Pixabay

As we enter the time of year when thunderstorms are an almost daily occurrence in North Florida, I thought I'd take the time to walk you through the basics of submitting a homeowners insurance claim.  Whether a claim is the result of the weather is beside the point.  While lightning strikes and wind damage are common during the summer months, the same process holds true if your home is damaged by a fire or a burst pipe.  What's vitally important when your home is damaged is that you understand the ins and outs of the claim process.  Get it right and you'll be able to make your property as good as new.  Get it wrong and you could wind up  getting less than you deserve from your insurer or having your claim denied.

How to Find a Reputable Contractor

 By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy Pixabay

As much as most people fret over filing a homeowner's insurance claim, one thing that pains them even more is worrying about hiring a contractor to repair a damaged home.  Face it, working with a contractor can be a high stress situation at best and a roller coaster ride at worst that can wind up emptying your bank account without successfully completing the task at hand.  Get it right and your property will be as good as new.  Get it wrong and you could wind up paying far more than the insurance company's check will cover.  To keep you from losing sleep over dealing with contractors, I thought I'd take the time to give you some helpful hints designed to weed out the good from the bad.