| Moving? Here’s What to Do about Your Car Insurance |
| Moving around the corner or to a street closer to a better school district is stressful enough. There are the boxes to sort, addresses to change and new bedrooms to assign.
But when you move out of state, do you have to change your car insurance? The short answer is it depends. If you have any doubts about what your car insurance coverage entails, the best thing to do is call us and ask any nagging questions you may have. But we can also help you figure out where to start. Not only can different states have some slightly different laws when it comes to the road, but some also require an increased level of coverage. Your new state might have lower coverage limit requirements, but that also means you’re increasing your risk. Think carefully if you decide to do this. If you’re moving to what’s called a no-fault state, you’ll have to check to see if your insurance policy covers this. No-fault insurance means that all medical bills, funeral bills and income losses due to a car accident are covered no matter which side caused it. There are 18 states that require no-fault insurance, including New York, Oregon and Washington. You’ll also need to register your vehicle in a new state once you move. Make it a priority so you don’t get caught out on the road. If you’re having trouble figuring out what you need, call us. We’re the experts, and we can help you find the best policy for you. |
Restoring the Oceans Is Possible and Here’s How
The worrying collapse of the earth’s ecosystems due to human activity, disease or climate change is something that is becoming ever more widely documented in recent years. Thankfully, a team of marine biologists and concerned volunteers have shown that hope can be found where there may have been none with an inspiring 20-year project to physically rebuild a barren ocean ecosystem, resulting in a lush revival of a previously depleted marine environment.
Environmental sciences professor Karen McGlathery and others oversaw the world’s largest seagrass restoration project in Virginia’s coastal waters, turning previously cloudy, sediment-filled bays into underwater forests teeming with life. Over two decades, the team scattered eelgrass seeds from a moving boat across the bays of Spider Crab, Cobb, Hog Island and South, eventually sowing an incredible 75 million seeds.
Nine thousand acres of green seagrass now blanket the bays, and the tangible benefits for the entire ecosystem are there to see. The seas are now awash with crustaceans, fish, scallops and more calling the seagrass home as well as clearer, purer water caused by the sediment and microplastic waste being locked in place by the underwater greenery.
The project’s success doesn’t stop there, with the mammoth task being hailed as a game changer in the way conservation efforts are considered for the future. Restoration efforts elsewhere are taking inspiration from Virginia, such as the UK’s largest seagrass regeneration project, which is using the Virginia team’s blueprint for their own conservation efforts in the bays of Pembrokeshire, Wales.
| What to Know About Home Owners Insurance |
| So you’ve bought a home, moved in, decorated and gotten homeowners insurance. Great! What’s next? Well, do you know the limit on your homeowners policy?
The limit, in simple terms, is how much you can expect your insurers to pay out if you make a claim. Don’t be scared. Most homeowner policies are written with replacement cost terms. This means the insurance carrier will pay the full replacement cost for damages, even if the item being replaced has depreciated. This works very well for the contents inside your home. If an old appliance that cost $4,000 when it was new breaks, the policy will pay out $4,000 to replace it, even though it is worth significantly less a few years later. However, this is slightly different when it comes to a whole home. If your house is subject to large-scale damage such as a fire or a natural disaster, the cost of rebuilding might be more than the limit on your replacement cost. If these numbers don’t see eye to eye, you might not be able to make some of the repairs you need to. There is an answer, though: extended replacement cost policies. This means your insurance will pay a percentage more of the amount needed to repair your home if needed. It’s a very useful safety net to have in place. Costs could dramatically rise due to unforeseen circumstances or economic variables. These policies are commonly written at 125 percent of the stated limit of the basic coverage. But do you really need this policy? That depends on the value of your home as well as the materials it would take to rebuild if disaster struck. Think you want to change? Contact us any time to talk over the best policies for you and your home. |
