HALLOWEEN – AND A “HAUNTED HOUSE” … AND INSURANCE IMPLICATIONS

The Entrance to McKamey Manor (image credit: McKamey Manor)
The Entrance to McKamey Manor (image credit: McKamey Manor)

Readers of this blog understand that Habig & Magoon Insurance Agency can find an insurance angle – a business of insurance angle – in almost any issue or aspect of society.

Indeed, insurance has an impact on … or is connected to … almost all that we do.

And, in that Habig & Magoon Insurance Agency, always independent and family owned, has been in business for close to 80 years, we have are familiar directly, or are aware of and educated on, just about every type of insurance event or circumstance.

It’s no surprise that we hunted down – for a Halloween post – stories and information on holiday and its ties and relevance to insurance.

If you click here you will be taken to a story that posted today at Fast Company, titled, “Running A Haunted House is Scarier Than You Think.”

Written by KC Ifeanyi, the article tells the story of Russ McKamey and his challenges and tribulations in running the famed and notorious haunted house, McKamey Manor, in San Diego, which subjects visitors to the intense form of scary

Yes, if you venture into McCamey Manor you could, among other frightening experiences, get tied up, or dunked in a tank of eels, or both – and then there are the hands that grab you.

Here is an excerpt from the article:

Before stepping foot inside [McKamey Manor], participants are required to sign a 10-page waiver, have notes from a doctor and a psychiatrist assuring peak physical and mental health, and they must go through a thorough background check. And even if someone successfully checks everything off McKamey’s laundry list, there’s still a slim-to-none chance that person will ever go through the manor because according to McKamey’s last count, the waiting list is 27,000-people deep.”

So, as you can see, Mr. McKamey is keenly and highly focused on liability, and protecting himself against lawsuits.

In fact, one of Mr. McKamey’s operating expenses – as explained in the article is spending “somewhere between $15,000-20,000 per year on specialty insurance from Lloyd’s of London.”

That specialty insurance policy is a smart investment, believe us – and we feel the more you will agree the more you learn about McKamey Manor (we encourage you to conduct a web search of the term “McKamey Manor”).

Happy Halloween!!

NOT HAVING THE RIGHT AUTO INSURANCE CAN PUT YOUR SAVINGS, RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS, AND EVEN YOUR HOME AT RISK OF BEING CONFISCATED. HABIG & MAGOON INSURANCE AGENCY MAKES SURE OUR CUSTOMERS DO NOT FACE THAT RISK

image credit  The R Street Institute
image credit The R Street Institute

October 28, 2015

Habig & Magoon Insurance Agency has been serving the people and businesses of southeastern Massachusetts for almost 80 years.     

And continuously, since we open our doors on Clifton Avenue in Brockton in 1937, we have been independent and family owned. We have always been involved and invested in, and giving to, the community in which we are located and do business, and which makes possible not just our success, but our very existence – for enabling us to first open our doors, during the Great Depression, no less – not the most hospitable environment for a new business – and which allows to keep the doors open.

In that we are independent, and thereby are able to create and customize coverage and policies from several valued insurance companies, and in that we are located in and active in the community we serve, we are better able to offer more personalized service and products than big box insurance companies that offer offer only their own policies.

As well, our ties to the community, and the strong relationships we forge with our customers, allow us deep insight into, and broad view of, just how important having the right insurance and right coverage is to the total financial security of an individual and family.

For example, auto insurance on your vehicle is to protect you for for theft of the vehicle, or damage to the vehicle, and for losses you or others sustain if your vehicle is involved in an accident.

And it is important to take a look at, as is the case with other forms of insurance, the big picture concerning what can result from having, or not having, the proper and right insurance coverage on your car, truck, van, motorcycle, or scooter in the event of an accident.

If you are are found at fault in an accident, and a plaintiff successfully sues you, then a considerable amount and type of your assets could be subject to confiscation, and being secured by the courts to satisfy a judgment.

This is a primary reason it is so important that your auto policy carries sufficient liability coverage.

Whether you are one of our customers, or not, Habig & Magoon Insurance Agency is available and happy to talk with you in person, over the phone, or online about your auto insurance.

Rest assured that through listening and asking questions, through discussion, we develop for you an auto policy that will properly cover and protect you and your family.

BILL, TRENT, AND LISA – CONTINUING THE FAMILY OWNED LEGACY OF HABIG & MAGOON INSURANCE AGENCY

hmscheck1

October 22, 2015

As we make sure to frequently emphasize in this space – because we consider it so important – is that, continuously, for the almost 80 years we have been in business, Habig & Magoon Insurance Agency has been independent and family owned.

We are a business and a legacy – and a tradition.

Fred Magoon launched Magoon Insurance Agency in 1937, on Clifton Avenue, in Brockton.

The Habig family would become part of the business when Bill Habig, married to Fred Magoon’s daughter, Betty, joined the agency.  He soon became a partner. 

Bill and Betty had three children – in order of birth, Bill, Trent, and Lisa. All the children were brought up in Easton, and all graduated from Oliver Ames High School – Bill Jr. and Trent in the early ’80s, and Lisa in 1988.

And all the children, today, work at Habig & Magoon Insurance Agency – making it a third generation family business.

The Habig kids know insurance.

When Bill Jr. graduated from what was then called Norwich Academy he went to work for three years as an underwriter for Plymouth Rock Assurance in Boston; he then worked for Travelers for three years, also as an underwriter, and also in its Boston office.

I left Travelers to go to New York City and work for a UK based insurance group, Hogg Robinson Insurance Brokers, one of the world’s largest insurance brokers,” said Bill Jr. “It was a tremendously positive experience, and I learned a lot, and living and working in New York City is exciting – but I have a strong affection for the Boston area, and when, after two years in New York, an opportunity arose to work for the family agency, I took it.”

Bill Jr. has been with Habig & Magoon ever since.  

In 1998, Bill Jr. bought Magoon Insurance from his father, and the new entity was renamed Habig & Magoon Insurance Agency.

Trent, today Vice President of Sales for Habig & Magoon, also went right into the insurance field after graduating from college, from Curry College in 1987.

Trent first worked in sales for Gaudette Insurance in Whitinsville, MA, and then Rodman Insurance in Needham, before launching his own business, TRH Insurance Agency, which he ran for 12 years before signing on with Habig & Magoon in 2012.   

Lisa Habig Pearce started working part-time for the agency not long after she graduated from Emmanuel College in 1991.  She continues to work part-time for Habig & Magoon in accounting and bookkeeping, and has been with us now for a little more than 20 years.

Trent, Lisa, and myself – we all respect and value highly the legacy of Habig & Magoon Insurance Agency,” said Bill Jr. “And we seek to honor that legacy in our work, in our relationships with our client, and in our involvement in the community.”

NFL PROSPECTS PROTECT THEIR FUTURE EARNING POWER; THE RISE OF THE LOSS-OF-VALUE INSURANCE POLICY

Washington Redskins Running Back Silas Redd (image credit: Mark E. Tenally, Associated Press)
Washington Redskins Running Back Silas Redd (image credit: Mark E. Tenally, Associated Press)

October 13, 2015

Habig & Magoon Insurance Agency has been serving the people of southeastern Massachusetts, and beyond, for almost 80 years.   We have always been family owned, and always independent.

Forging and practicing strong relationships and communication with our customers is fundamental to the value we provide our customers – and a primary reason we have been the choice of generations of many families.

Of course, this blog is one a way we communicate with our customers, and with the community at large.

We endeavor to make this blog a place to find helpful insurance related information.

As well, we also use this space to provide fun and entertaining information that is related to our business, and to the local community.

For example, the post about the New England Patriots and the team’s tie to Easton, which appeared on September 30th.   Please click here to access the post.

In keeping with the NFL football theme, and tying it to insurance, today we moseyed around a bit online and found some interesting information about NFL prospects and a form of insurance called “loss-of-value” insurance.

This is a type of insurance that an NFL prospect will take out to protect himself in the event of an injury or illness that may decrease his signing and market value.

Actually, loss-of-value insurance, is taken out by athletes that are prospects to play in other pro sports leagues – but because of the injury laden nature of football, especially big-time football, loss-of-value insurance is more prevalent and popular with players that the pro football ranks has its eyes on, than it is with players that are meriting attention from other professional sports leagues.

Loss-of-value insurance, to protect potential livelihoods earned in pro sports, is a relatively new phenomenon.

Two NFL players making the news recently for their loss-of-value policies are Silas Redd, running back for the Washington Redskins, the first in the league to collect on a loss-of-value policy, and Ifo Ekpre Olomu, cornerback for the Cleveland Browns.

Mr. Redd received an undisclosed amount.  Mr. Ekpre-Olomu is scheduled to collect $3 million on his policy.

Both Mr. Redd and Mr. Ekpre-Olomu sustained injuries on the collegiate level that affected their NFL earning power.

To learn more about loss-of-value insurance policies, please click here.

It is almost certain that loss-of-insurance policies will become more popular among athletes that are strong prospects to play at the pro level.

Habig & Magoon Insurance Agency will provide updated information on these policies here on this blog in the future.

GO PATS!! HABIG & MAGOON SHARES SOME INTERESTING NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS HISTORY

(image credit: New England Patriots)
(image credit: New England Patriots)

September 30, 2015

So, here we are, about a month into the football season, and in these parts fans of the New England Patriots are about as happy with the team as can be, at this juncture in time.

Yep, the Sons of Bill Belichick are putting a whoopin’ on the competition, with a record of 3-0, and making it look easy – and, just, perhaps, fully intending making a “How you like me now?” statement, in the wake of investigations of, and accusations leveled at, the program.

Everyone at Habig & Magoon Insurance Agency is a dedicated Pats fan.

For as long as their has been a Patriots franchise, there have been people working for our firm that cheer on the team.

Indeed, our agency was founded prior to the New England Patriots franchise being established – as the Boston Patriots – on November 16, 1959. Yes, our agency was launched – on Clifton Avenue in Brockton – some 32 years prior to their being a Patriots organization.

Of course, in 1959, the Patriots were not an NFL team; they were one of the eight original teams in American Football League, a challenger, if not widely considered a serious challenger to the NFL, for which 1960 would be its inaugural season.

It would not be until 1969 that the AFL would merge with the NFL.

For the first 10 years of its existence, the Boston Patriots franchise did not have their own stadium; for its first two years, Patriots home games were played at Boston University’s Nickerson Field, then from 1963 through 1968 at Fenway Park, and for the 1969 season, at Harvard Stadium.

For the 1971 season, the Patriots finally had their own stadium, Schaefer Stadium, in Foxboro. With the move to Foxboro, the team also changed its name, to the New England Patriots.

Now,, here’s a bit more history, and this ties to Easton, where Habig & Magoon has been headquartered for more than 30 years.

There were 10 investors who pooled finances to purchase the Boston Patriots, the final AFL franchise awarded, with Billy Sullivan, the president of three Boston area coal and oil companies, heading up the investment group.

Also among the investors was an Easton guy, John Ames Jr., a lawyer, president of North Easton Savings Bank, and a member of a true family of American aristocracy.

Through the years, many New England Patriots have lived in Easton, and in the surrounding towns where reside people who, and businesses that, are valued Habig & Magoon clients.

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Yes, for sure, it is charmed life, being a New England Patriots fan.

Next up, the Cowboys, on the road – and the team’s record to improving to 4-0.

GO PATS !!

IT’S EARLY FALL. WE STILL HAVE WARM DAYS – ALONG WITH COOL NIGHTS. BUT IT IS NOT TOO EARLY TO START WEATHERIZING FOR WINTER … WITH A PARTICULAR FOCUS ON PREVENTING ICE DAMS

image credit: The Ice Dam Company
image credit: The Ice Dam Company

September 28, 2015

There are many reasons that Habig & Magoon Insurance Agency, always independent and family owned, has been in business for close to 80 years, and served many families for generations – among those reasons is that we share helpful information with customers on how to protect life and property, and reduce insurance costs.   

To that end, we are going to address a topic here today that, perhaps, many … at least at this time in the year … would prefer we didn’t bring up.

The topic? Well, that would be ice dams.

You remember ice dams, right? Or have you forced yourself to forget?

Last winter was atrocious in New England – and ice dams caused immense property damage, unhappiness, out-of-pocket costs, and insurance claims.

It is early fall, and days are still warm, and nights are pleasantly cool, but it is a good idea to at least start planning to proof your property, and protect against, ice dams.

We mean, really, better to plan and get yourself protected now, all while the weather is nice, then scramble when the bitter and howling cold is here.

The basic and not so short and sweet explanation as to why ice dams form is that, when there is a lot of snow on the roof of a home or building, heat transmitted through the roof melts snow, and the resulting water, flows down the roof until it reaches the eve or gutter where colder temperatures allow the water to freeze … and ice just starts accumulating.

Water held … dammed up … behind the line can start leaking into your place – and when temperatures get above freezing, the ice starts melting, which can result in even more water flowing not off the roof, but through the roof, eves, ceilings, and into wall cavities.

With fall just starting, preventive measures to act on now – especially because they may take a bit of time to put in place – are those that help keep heat from your roof.

A story, titled, ‘How to Prevent Ice Dams,’ written by Douglas Trattner, and published on February 1, 2010, at HouseLogic, provides a trove of helpful advice on keeping properties ice dam free, including how to prevent heat loss through the roof, which is provided in the following excerpt from the article:

“Homeowners can’t control the weather, but they can do something about heat loss. ‘The main goal is to keep heat from reaching the roof, thus preventing snow melt in the first place,’ explains Doug Bruell, president of Cleveland’s 25-year-old North Coast Insulation. Proper insulation and ventilation of the attic space is intended to keep the roof surface at or near outdoor temperatures.

‘Typical steps include insulating the attic floor and installing soffit, gable and/or ridge vents to expel heat. Folding attic stairways and recessed light fixtures also need to be insulated. ‘All penetrations into the attic from the heated living space need to be addressed,’ adds Bruell. Homeowners can expect to pay $800-$1,500 to insulate the attic, plus another $300-$600 for the installation of vents.

“The process is a bit more involved for homes with finished attics, says Bruell. To facilitate sufficient cold air flow from soffit vent to ridge vent, baffles or tubes are installed between the ceiling insulation and the underside of the roof. This might involve opening up the ceiling.”

Please click here to be taken to the full article.

Yes, winter is still a bit off. But it is not too early to prepare for the cold and snow.

We strongly advise people to get out ahead of those ice dams.

There is no need to repeat the misery which was only too recent.

HABIG & MAGOON INSURANCE AGENCY DISCUSSES, AND SHARES INFORMATION ON, HOW WORKING FROM HOME MAY HAVE IMPORTANT HOME AND AUTO INSURANCE COVERAGE IMPLICATIONS

A Home Office (photo credit: FreelanceShow)
A Home Office (photo credit: FreelanceShow)

September 22, 2015

Habig & Magoon Insurance Agency has been in business for almost 80 years.   And ever since our launch, on Clifton Avenue in Brockton, in 1937, we have been independent and family owned.

One of the primary ways that Habig & Magoon Insurance Agency has consistently, for all the years we have operated, provided our customers with premium value, is that we remain current on changes across society, and insurance, specifically – with a focus on determining how these changes may affect the best and most cost efficient means to insure lives and property.

And when we identify an opportunity to better serve our valued customers, we act on it – with an initial action being communicating with our customers about what options are available to be more effectively, and smartly, covered.

A societal change ongoing, and ramping up, and gaining speed and increasing in volume, is people working from home, on either a part-time or full-time basis.

Of course, a major reason for this change is growth and adoption, and improvement, of online, wireless, and mobile communications.

Working from home can have an important and highly consequential impact on the type and amount of home and auto insurance you should carry.

Today, in this space, Habig & Magoon shares an article that focuses on the home and insurance auto implications of working from home.

Please click here to be taken to a story, titled, “Business: Working from home?  Check your insurance cover,” published in today’s edition of finweek.

If you work from home, especially if you do a lot of work from home, we encourage you to read the story, and also give us a call, and we can discuss whether your work situation warrants a review of your insurance policies – and what changes, if any, maybe, of definitely, should be made.

The world is always changing.

So, too, is the business and nature of insurance.

SMART USE OF TECHNOLOGY AND DATA IS A BEDROCK OF HABIG & MAGOON INSURANCE AGENCY – BUT IT IS CARING AND IN-PERSON INTERACTION AND CUSTOMER SERVICE THAT DISTINGUISHES US AND SETS US APART

hmscheck1

September 9, 2015

Habig & Magoon Insurance Agency has been in business for close to 80 years.   And since our founding, on Clifton Street in Brockton, in 1937, we have always been family owned, and always independent.

A major component of our success, and our longevity – indeed, fundamental to both – is that we forge strong relationships with our customers.  We take the time to listen, to ask questions, and develop for individuals and families insurance policies and coverage that is fine-tuned, specific, and the most appropriate.

Here is where we deliver prime advantage over the big box and giant insurance sellers that sell policies without in-person interaction and consultation.

It says something that many of our long-time customers have been serviced by the same Habig & Magoon employees and insurance professionals for more than 25 years.

Like all industries, the insurance industry is in a state of constant change and flux and transformation.

And, as is the case with all industries, technology is the driver of transformation – and improvement.

There is a good argument to be made – especially in that a bedrock and underpinning of the insurance industry is data and actuarial science – that “big data” has as profound an impact on the business of insurance as any other.

Directly, and indirectly, Habig & Magoon relies on technology and data to best serve and respond to our clients, and to run our enterprise most efficiently.

Yet, still, caring and in-person interaction and customer service – which is what Habig & Magoon has always provided all our customers … from 1937 onward – are out-front and priority factors in the decisions of people and families to stay with us year after year, decade after decade.

Caring and in-person interaction and customer service is how we operate and how we work.

This has always been the case, and it will always be so.

IN THE MIDST OF HURRICANE SEASON, HABIG & MAGOON INSURANCE AGENCY URGES PEOPLE TO PLAN AND ACT TO SAFEGUARD LIFE AND PROPERTY

Weather Map of Movement of Hurricane Arthur, which Hit the Boston Area on July 4, 2014 (image credit CBS Boston)
Weather Map of Movement of Hurricane Arthur, which Hit the Boston Area on July 4, 2014 (image credit CBS Boston)

August 31, 2015

Yesterday in this space, we featured and made reference to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina – and the changes in property and casualty insurance that the hurricane ushered in.

We are in the midst of hurricane season – which begins, annually, on June 1 and lasts until November 30.

Historically, though, in Massachusetts, August and September have been the most active for hurricanes.

Now, while southeastern Massachusetts, the primary geographic area where reside the people and businesses that Habig & Magoon Insurance Agency serve, is not the hurricane alleys of parts of Florida, Texas, and the Carolinas, it is still most certainly a region that sees a lot of hurricanes.

Hurricanes have done a lot of damage around here.

We should not be lulled into a lack of caution in that the Climate Prediction Center of the National Weather Service forecasts a less active than normal hurricane season for 2015 – for it is the nature of the weather to surprise us.

Please click here to be taken a place online where you can read the complete National Weather Service 2015 hurricane forecast.

Habig & Magoon Insurance Agency strongly advises homeowners, and owners of other properties in the area, to consider and act on steps to protect life and property from hurricanes.

The The Massachusetts Emergency Management Association (MEMA) recently released a public information alert that outlines and describes ways to protect yourself and what you own in the event of a hurricane.

If you click here you will be taken to the alert, which also includes valuable external references.

We are on the cusp of one of the nicest months in New England. Yes, September with its warm days and cool nights.

Yet September – and about 30 days beyond – is also hurricane season.

Habig & Magoon Insurance Agency urges vigilance and awareness as a component of a plan to enjoy late summer and early fall.

OF HURRICANE KATRINA, INSURANCE LOSSES, AND CHANGES IN PROPERTY & CASUALTY INSURANCE THAT THE HURRICANE BROUGHT ABOUT

New Orleans, LA, August 30, 2005 (photo credit Jocelyn Augustino/FEMA)
New Orleans, LA, August 30, 2005 (photo credit
Jocelyn Augustino/FEMA)

August 30, 2015

Habig & Magoon Insurance Agency – in business for close to 80 years, and always family owned and always an independent  agency – serves the people and businesses of southeastern Massachusetts, and beyond.

We protect people, property, and legacies.

As we are now in late summer, we are in the season that provides its own particular threat to life and property in the form of the atmospheric event called the hurricane.

Ten years ago, yesterday, the primary thrust of a hurricane – Hurricane Katrina – hit New Orleans and the surrounding Gulf Coast. It was one of the deadliest natural disasters in U.S. history.

Following is an excerpt from the Wikipedia page on Hurricane Katrina that provides information and background on the storm:

Hurricane Katrina was the eleventh named storm and fifth hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. It was the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. The storm is currently ranked as the third most intense United States landfalling tropical cyclone, behind only the 1935 Labor Day hurricane and Hurricane Camille in 1969, Overall, at least 1,245 people died in the hurricane and subsequent floods, making it the deadliest United States hurricane since the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane.”

If you click here you will be taken to the full Hurricane Katrina Wikipedia entry.

Almost impossible it is to get close to getting one’s arms around, and understanding, the human loss and pain of this event.

Loss in terms of dollars and cents, that worth and value is far more accessible. As reported in the Wikipedia page referenced above, “Total property damage was estimated at $108 billion.”

With such extraordinary material and financial loss, Hurricane Katrina necessarily became an immense insurance phenomenon. In fact, no event has resulted in more insured losses – $41 billion in insured losses – than Hurricane Katrina.

Hurricane Katrina caused a tremendous amount of rethinking about hurricane preparedness – which has been smartly and productively acted upon.

Property and casualty (P&C) insurance has changed because of Hurricane Katrina.

To read about some of these changes, please click here to be taken to a story, titled, “5 Major Changes in P&C Insurance since Hurricane Katrina,” published August 11 in PropertyCasualty360 magazine. The story was written by Jayleen R. Heft.

Habig & Magoon is expert at helping people and businesses secure just the right P&C insurance – including that which protects and insures against potential loss caused by hurricanes – at an affordable price.

If you are looking for home or property insurance, or have questions regarding a policy, or would like us to review and evaluate a policy you have, we are here and are most appreciative of the opportunity to help and serve you.