Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:52:18 -0700

Hug your kids at home, but belt them in the car.

Car crashes are the leading cause of death for children ages 3-14. Please help keep our children safe! Sometimes it is difficult to tell if you have your child’s seat installed correctly. There are over 50 different child safety seat manufacturers and each seat fits differently in each vehicle. It’s best to have your child’s safety seat inspected by a Certified Car Seat Technician to ensure your child is protected. During a check-up, trained technicians will examine your vehicle to insure correct car seat installation, correct use of restraints and safety clips, and appropriateness of the seat currently in use. Parents and caregivers are educated on how to properly install the seat in their vehicle.

There are many different locations that you can visit to have your seat checked. We’ve included links to helpful websites for child safety and to help you find a car seat check station near you!

FREE-Safe Kids at the Zoo Event

Saturday, May 5, 2012 

10:00am-2:00pm

Little Rock Zoo

1 Jonesboro Drive

Little Rock, AR 72205

Call 501-364-4940 for more information

Arkansas Children’s Hospital also offers Car Seat Check-ups daily, Monday-Friday by appointment.

Call 501-364-3296 to schedule!

http://www.archildrens.org/Services/Community-Outreach-Department/Outreach-Resources/Child-Passenger-Safety.aspx

http://www.safekids.org/in-your-area/

http://www.nhtsa.gov/cps/CPSFitting/Index.cfm

http://cert.safekids.org/Home/SeatCheckLocations.aspx

http://www.cdc.gov/MotorVehicleSafety/Child_Passenger_Safety/CPS-Factsheet.html

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 12:56:43 -0700

You know the old saying…”April shows bring May flowers”. Well that’s great! Unless you are a spring bride in Arkansas. Severe weather can pop up anytime and threaten to ruin your big day. We can help insure that doesn’t happen to you! Call us at 501-225-3454 and ask about our Wedding & Special Event Insurance.

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 13:11:55 -0700

When you received your last auto insurance or home insurance renewal notice, you probably wondered why your premium was higher or lower than last time.  Since auto insurance and home insurance rates can fluctuate throughout the year and over time, the following overview will provide you with some information regarding some of the causes. 

Credit History – One cause of fluctuating rates that affects both auto and home insurance rates is your credit score.  If your credit score has been on a negative decline, your auto and home insurance rates will reflect this in the form of slight increases in premiums.  Additionally, if your credit score declines very quickly due to a bankruptcy, you will probably see a large increase in your premiums upon renewal. 

Auto Insurance Rates

Auto insurance rates fluctuate frequently for a number of reasons.  These reasons include your driving record, drivers on the policy, vehicles on the policy, state laws, and the accidents and crime in your area. 

Driving Record – Your driving record is one major contributor to higher rates.  While a traffic ticket or at-fault accident will result in a noticeable increase, a violation such as Driving under the Influence or Reckless Driving will result in a significant rate increase.

Drivers – One reason for increasing rates are adding additional drivers to your policy, especially younger or less experienced drivers. 

Vehicles – Adding additional cars to your policy, especially more expensive vehicles or vehicles designated as high-performance, will typically result in a rate increase. 

State Laws – Every few years or for certain reasons, states will sometimes allow insurers to raise their rates based on a variety of factors.

Areas with Higher Rates of Accidents or Crime – If you live in an area with higher or increasing rates of crime, your renewal premiums will reflect an increase to account for the claims that may be filed for losses due to theft, vandalism, etc.  Additionally, areas that have a large number of accidents will typically have rates higher than areas with fewer accidents.

Home Insurance Rates

Many people don’t know this, but home insurance rates are tied to the stock market, bond market, and the global economy in general.  Because of this, home insurance rates fluctuate many times during each day.  Additionally, home insurance companies sometimes change their rates a few times during the year in order to gain more clients by making rates more attractive or for other reasons.

Endorsements – In terms of coverage items that you may already have as part of your home insurance policy, an endorsement called “inflation guard” is one of the most significant causes of rate increases over time.  Inflation guard protection is designed to ensure that the dollar amount of the coverage you have to replace your home increases with inflation.  If you have the inflation guard endorsement, your premium will increase every year because your amount of coverage has to keep up with the rate of inflation.

Areas with Higher Crime Rates – If you live in an area with high or increasing rates of crime, you may  notice that your home insurance renewal premium will be higher at renewal time. 

Areas with Frequent Natural Disasters – Home insurance rates are also influenced by the number and size of claims that have been occurring in a particular area.  If there have been a large number of fires or other cause of loss in a particular area recently, future premiums will reflect that.

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 07:55:42 -0800

Most people know that life insurance is something that allows a spouse or other beneficiaries to be paid a sum of money (called the death benefit) upon the death of someone covered by life insurance.  Fewer people know about the different types of life insurance, the features, and the versatility of the different types.

In short, there are two types of life insurance: Term insurance and permanent insurance.

Term Life Insurance – Term life insurance is designed to cover a person for a specific number of years, during which the policy owner pays the same premium in exchange for coverage.  When the length of the term ends, the policy owner is typically placed into a different rating category for the next term, which usually means a change in premium.  Term policies are strictly protection policies, meaning that the only benefit comes from specified event, for which a sum of money is paid to a beneficiary.  Term insurance is typically very inexpensive and well-suited for young people and those without dependents or children, although term insurance does not build up any cash value.

Permanent Life Insurance – There are several different types of permanent life insurance, but the main types are whole life, universal life, and variable versions of the two.  One of the great things about permanent life insurance policies is that, unlike term policies, they can actually build up cash value.  You can borrow against this cash value after it has accumulated a certain amount.  Permanent policies can also carry an investment aspect to them, meaning that in addition to the protection aspect of a term policy, they also serve as a cash accumulation vehicle that facilitates the growth of capital.  Below is an overview of several of these types of permanent policies.             

• Whole Life Policies – Whole life insurance tends to be the most expensive of the three primary types of life insurance (term, whole life, and universal life), but the advantages are that the death benefit, rate of cash value growth, and the fixed premium are all guaranteed.  Whole life policies have less of a risk of lapsing because much like term policies, the owner has to make regular premium payments to keep the policy active.
   
• Universal Life Policies – Universal life insurance is the most flexible of between term, whole life, and universal life policies.  What makes it so flexible is that there is regular schedule of payments and the growth rate of the cash value is not fixed.  To keep the policy active, the owner must monitor the amount of cash value accumulated and make sure that there is an adequate amount to meet the charges and demands of the insurer.  Universal life policies are typically more expensive than term policies, but less expensive than whole life policies.
   
• Variable Life Policies – Variable life insurance policies have cash value that accrues interest at variable rate that depends on where the owner decides to invest the cash value.  The policy owner has the option to invest the cash value as he or she sees fit.  Variable universal life tends to be a better cash accumulation vehicle than variable whole life because variable whole life policies have fixed investment and premium schedules.

While term and permanent policies have many differences, there are two things that term policies and permanent policies have in common:

• Both term and permanent policies protect your family and loved ones in the event of your passing, by replacing some or all of your lost income and preventing financial hardship.
   
• Both term and permanent policies are a great way to leave an estate for your children and loved ones because the death benefit is typically far greater than the amount of the premiums paid.

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:53:41 -0800

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