Author Archives: Steven Visco

Credit Score and your Insurance

Credit Score and your Insurance

Does your credit score affect your insurance rates? As a matter of fact, it does!

Your credit score plays a big role in the price of your insurance. Of course, the higher your score the cheaper your insurance, and the lower your score, the more expensive your insurance will be.

Insurance companies and agencies have many tools available to assist them in the underwriting process. Credit score and history provides a consistent tool to evaluate risk that does not discriminate against any specific group of customers. It helps the customer pay his or her fair share for insurance.

Most companies that use credit information treat it as just one of several factors in the underwriting decision. Generally, your credit rating alone is not likely to keep you from obtaining insurance or paying more, it can help you get insurance.

An NAII survey found that credit histories helped insurers write more policies. Companies said that they are able to accept some customers because the credit report offsets other information. One NAII member found that using credit histories enables it to charge seven percent of its customer’s lower premiums than otherwise would be the case.

So what’s credit got to do with it? A lot! If you have a low credit score, make improving your credit score a goal for the new year.

 

Cut Your Energy Costs

Cut Your Energy Costs

It’s a New Year, and now is the perfect time to cut back on your energy costs. Taking the steps to cut your energy costs will not only save you money, but it will save our resources and the planet.

Here are some tips to help you get started:

  • Make sure your home is sealed during the winter to avoid wasting heat. Close all fireplace dampers, windows, and make sure any cracks are sealed.
  • Cool your home naturally in the summer by opening windows on cool nights.
  • On nice days, hang your laundry out to dry instead of using the dryer.
  • Replace regular incandescent light bulbs and fixtures with Energy Star qualified fluorescent lights.
  • Unplug any appliances or devices that you are not using. Although they are not on, they are still drawing energy.
  • Replace your old refrigerator. Refrigerators made before 1993 could be costing $140 a year in electricity. Even refrigerators built between 1993 and 2001 cost about $60 a year to run. By comparison, a new Energy Star rated refrigerator runs on about $20 a year.
  • Only run your dishwasher when it is completely full to avoid running it multiple times in a day.

Everybody wants a little more money in their pockets. Attempting to save on energy will help you! You could save over $900 a year just by doing the basics. Imagine how much more you could save by finding more ways to save on your energy.

 

Candle Safety

Candle Safety

Calling all candle lovers! The holidays have passed and most likely you’ve received an abundance of your favorite candles. Before lighting a candle, be sure to follow these 4 important safety tips:

Don’t touch your candle while hot! Never touch or move while lit; wait until the wax has hardened.

Keep an eye on your candles. Always burn candles where you can see them (no longer than 3-4 hours at a time) and never near anything that can catch fire. Candles will burn slower and more evenly when kept in draft-free areas. Extinguish the flames before you leave a room. Never extinguish the flame with water.

Keep your candles clean. Trim wicks to ¼ inch before you light them (every time).

Keep candles out of reach. If you have pets, or young children, be sure to keep your candles in an area where they cannot reach them.

Enjoy your candles safely!

 

Breaking Bad Habits in the New Year

Breaking Bad Habits in the New Year

With the New Year right around the corner, many people will be setting their New Year Resolutions. Is kicking bad habits to the curb on your list for 2017? If so, here are some helpful tips and strategies to help you stay on track of your goals.

Make the commitment – making a commitment to your goal is number one. Whether your goal is to lose weight, start eating heathy or quit smoking; make sure you are 100% committed.

Create a roadmap – create reasonable monthly goals. Not only will these goals help you stay motivated and on track, but you will feel accomplished after reaching them.

Identify your triggers – we are all humans. We all have urges and weaknesses. Be sure to identify them before the start on your goals. Avoiding temptations will help you stay on track.

Evaluate When You Fall off Track – we all make mistakes. Maybe you just had to have that double bacon cheeseburger or just one cigarette while you were out with some friends. Evaluate when you come off track and be sure to get back on track.

Use these four strategies when achieving your goals this New Year. We wish you the best of luck for a prosperous new year.

 

The Gift of Life Insurance

The Gift of Life Insurance

The holidays are here and tis’ the season for gift giving. Many people think of gift giving as exchanging cookies, baked goods, toys or clothing.

What about the gift of life insurance? To some, it may sound confusing and to others it makes perfect sense.

Truth is, giving the gift of a life insurance policy does make perfect sense. When you give the gift of life insurance, you’re giving the gift of financial stability for the future.

If you’re tgingerbreadhinking about giving the gift of life insurance to someone you know this holiday season, here are some important factors to consider when making your decision:

Think about who you are buying for. Giving life insurance to children or grandchildren is ideal. When an individual is in good health, life insurance will cost considerably less. Therefore, making it an affordable gift.

Select the right type of life insurance. Policies that include a cash value feature, such as whole life or universal life gives the most flexibility for the future, and the opportunity to establish a foundation.

Purchase an appropriate amount of coverage. Depending on your recipient, it is important to calculate how much that person will need in life insurance. For younger children a policy with a smaller cash value is sufficient. However, if you are purchasing for someone older, consider the following:
Funeral expenses
Medical expenses, in the event the recipient faces an illness or accident.
Income protection
Retirement investment availability

Know when life insurance doesn’t make sense as a gift. If the person you are considering purchasing a policy for is sick, elder, or uses tobacco, it could increase the price of the policy. In this situation, you can use your best judgment to choose if the money is better spent elsewhere.
For more information on life insurance or if you are interested in giving the gift of life insurance this holiday season, please give our office a call at (516) 249-5200 or visit our website at www.chedwards.net.

We wish you a very happy holiday season from the management and staff at C.H. Edwards, Inc.

Written by: Denise Visco