Speaking of springtime hazards, with temperatures rising, children everywhere are turning from their TV sets to their backyard trampolines.
In some respects, you could argue that this is a good thing: children are increasingly sedentary these days, and adolescent obesity is on the rise, so physical activity should be embraced in all its forms, right?
Well, when it comes to trampolines, maybe not. To put it mildly, backyard trampolines are accidents waiting to happen, both for your child and you. Any emergency room worker or insurance claim adjuster will attest to the medical and financial hazards of defying gravity in this way.
According to a 2007 study by Rhode Island Hospital, over a half a million children were injured jumping on trampolines between 2000 and 2005. These injuries ranged from minor bruises to paralysis-causing spinal injuries.
Trampolines also pose an extreme financial risk to homeowners, which is why most insurance companies refuse to insure property that has one, even if the trampoline has protective nets and padding. Some home insurers will allow them, but only with the purchase of a expensive rider on the policy.
Insurers are skittish because trampolines are known in tort law as “attractive nuisances,” which are objects, locations or conditions that are dangerous and attractive to children. In most states, the law holds owners of these nuisances responsible for keeping children safe, even if they are injured while trespassing.
So if you currently have a tramp in the backyard, we strongly encourage you to dismantle it. If you don’t have one and your child keeps pestering you to buy one, we recommend you exercise your parental veto power.
If your college student is headed to Mexico for spring break, here’s the best parting advice you can give: Go easy on the booze.
Each year, alcohol fuels thousands of accidents, from the relatively harmless mishap (forgot to apply sunscreen) to the stuff of cautionary tales (got tossed in a Mexican prison).
According to the U.S. State Department, “Alcohol is implicated in the majority of arrests, violent crimes, accidents and deaths suffered by U.S. citizen tourists.”
So yeah, remind your son or daughter that Mexico is not extension of their college campus—it’s a sovereign country with laws, and Mexican police are probably less indulgent when it comes to gringo shenanigans than the average campus security guard.
Since most U.S. health and car insurance policies don’t work across the border, insurance is another thing you may want to consider before your college student heads south. Trip insurance can fill some of the gaps:
Trip cancellation/delay
Car accidents and theft
Stolen possessions and lost luggage
Emergency evacuation and medical care
Be sure to speak with a licensed agent and review policy coverages carefully before buying trip/travel insurance. Of course, insurance can’t cover everything. And that’s where common sense comes in.
If you’re anything like me, the thought of a spider crawling on your body gives you the heebie-jeebies.
And at night, when the world is quiet and serene, the idea that the same spider could somehow land on your face, crawl into your open, snoring mouth and actually go down the hatch is enough to make you upchuck.
But can they really do all that?
As far-fetched as it sounds, some people believe anything can happen when you’re asleep—including spiders and other bugs crawling into your mouth.
In fact, it’s been said the average sleeping person swallows up to 20 spiders during their lifetime. But try as they might, no one has actually been able to prove that supposed “fact” one way or the other.
Those on the other side of the fence say no way! If something moved on your face it would definitely awaken you—and you’d most likely swat it away. They call it an urban legend, something someone made up somewhere along the line just to prove how gullible man really is.
Like it or not, spiders populate homes all across the U.S. every day, hatching in damp, dark places like basements, corners…and under beds. You might even find one in your covers, if you look closely. Eeek!
Whether you believe the tale or not, we’d like to offer up this simple advice: don’t take any chances. When you go to sleep tonight—don’t sleep with your mouth open!
Did you know that 10 percent of all property-related insurance claims are fraudulent?
That’s according to the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, a group of insurance companies, consumer groups and law enforcement organizations.
Fraud can be classified into two groups—soft fraud and hard fraud:
Soft fraud is when a person bends, omits or obscures the truth for small financial gain, such as underestimating your mileage on an auto insurance application. While such a thing may seem small and harmless to you, these little white lies end up costing insurers millions of dollars each year, and they pass on that cost to all of their policyholders, honest and dishonest alike.
Hard fraud is deliberate, calculated deception for large-scale financial gain/or avoidance of loss. Giving up your car and reporting it stolen, for example; claiming injury after an accident (many of which are staged); offing someone for the life insurance payout. You get the idea.
Occasionally there are cases of insurance fraud that are so brazen and ridiculous you’ve almost got to hand it to the person for their chutzpah. Pennsylvania judge (yes, judge) Michael Joyce is an example. Joyce claimed extensive injury and chronic pain and demanded millions in payments after a … 5 M.P.H fender bender.
If his through-the-teeth-lying isn’t enough to raise your eyebrows, consider that Joyce, after pocketing nearly half a million from insurance companies, proceeded to go golfing, inline skating and scuba diving in the Caribbean.
He even got his pilot’s license (despite claiming to suffer from a brain injury that impaired his mental functioning).
Joyce is looking at a direct flight to the slammer. He can take some consolation in the fact that he’s now a minor celebrity: he made it into the Insurance Fraud Hall of Shame.
Other Hall inductees from last year include “sinister seniors” Helen Golay and Olga Rutterschmidt, who make Michael Joyce look like a saint by comparison. Golay and Rutterschmidt killed two homeless men after befriending them and surreptitiously setting them up with millions in life insurance.
With more and more people out of work every day, maintaining the family car insurance policy or keeping everyone covered by health insurance is becoming exceedingly difficult.
In fact, a recent study by the Insurance Research Council (IRC) reveals that many Americans are now choosing to drop or non-renew their insurance policies because they’re unemployed and just plain can’t afford them.
But leaving yourself and your loved ones vulnerable, especially when finances are tight, is never a good idea. One major disaster or accident could lead to home foreclosure or a stack of unpaid medical bills. That’s why it’s important in times like these to maintain the best protection money can buy.
Before disaster happens and job loss leads to a lack of insurance, get a few smart tips about how to get the right insurance quotes to make sure you’re provided for in the future. It may just be one of the most important actions you’ll ever take.
If you look at car crash statistics, it’s hard to escape this conclusion: men are terrible drivers, and the world would be safer if males rode shotgun more often.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, men have the dubious distinction of getting in the most accidents—of any type, large or small.
The gender stereotype of women being more likely to get into fender-benders is not accurate; men dominate that category as well.
This isn’t news, of course: insurers have known for years that men are more likely to drive aggressively and erratically, and that’s why they typically charge men more for insurance.
Among males, men ages 16-20 have the highest accident-involvement rate, which also not surprising, given the deadly correlation of inexperience and willingness to take risk among young men.
Now that I’ve got your attention, it’s quiz time. Ready?
What do frozen squirrels and licking cows have in common (other than the fact that they’re both animals)?
Here’s the truth, an answer you might not believe: they’ve both been named in weird insurance claims filed in the U.S. during the past few years.
Some policyholders, looking to make a dollar or two through insurance payouts, file strange claims involving animals, food and inanimate objects. Others find themselves in unusual situations involving bumbling burglars, slips and falls or true instances of loss—and sincerely need help.
In fact, some people max out their insurance coverage over some of the strangest and most random occurrences insurance companies have ever heard of.
Take for instance these examples:
A homeowner, concerned that her pipes were leaking, submitted a claim for standing water in her backyard garden. When the insurance adjuster came to inspect the damage, he found only the family dog which, it turns out, enjoyed relieving himself in the same spot over and over.
A policyholder submitted a claim for a new bed, explaining that he wore out his old one by having too much sex.
A woman filed a renter’s insurance claim when she discovered that her cell phone wouldn’t work after she cleaned it—in the dishwasher.
A woman sued a nightclub—and won—after she fell through a window and broke some of her teeth. At the time the incident happened, she had been sneaking into the club to avoid paying a cover charge.
Though most of us can’t help but laugh at the ridiculous situations some people seem to find themselves in, how do these strange things happen in the first place—or do they? Who’s to say?
To read some of the other strange occurrences for which people file claims, read our article on the subject here. But please; for your own sake, use some common sense where your insurance is concerned—and save your claims for true emergencies.
While the Maryland-based insurer may help you save hundreds on your insurance, it is not the only insurer that can do so. A lot of insurance companies out there may be able to save you hundreds on your insurance.
This is not to denigrate Geico—the only thing they’re guilty of is having a more creative advertising and copywriting department.
The point is that good deals on insurance are everywhere. All it takes is a few minutes to find out if you could be paying less. Start a quote request in the box on the right and find your better deal.
If you’re anything like me, the thought of a spider crawling on your body gives you the heebie-jeebies.
Did you know that 10 percent of all property-related insurance claims are 
Now that I’ve got your attention, it’s quiz time. Ready?
