Insights and Updates

Home Insurance and Winter

As winter is on our door steps it’s a good time to discuss your home insurance.  During the winter we see some of the worst claims occur as the results of flooding, freezing pipes and slip and falls just to name a few.  Fortunately many of them can be prevented with a little maintenance.  Ice dams An ice dam is a wall of ice

Ten Questions Home-buyers Should Ask Before Buying a Home

Buying a home is often the purchase of a lifetime. To avoid unpleasant surprises, Chubb has put together a checklist to help your customers ask the right questions before starting a new life in a new home.  Is the basement dry?  Check the basement area for dryness. Stains on walls are one indicator, but the existence of a sump pump is

Check Your Roof

With fall here, wind, rain, hail, and winter storms are ahead its time to  inspect your roof for damage and undertake any necessary repairs. Trim trees and remove dead branches so they do not damage your home or injure someone if they fall. Check for damage to your roof, and clean gutters and downspouts to keep debris from accumulating.

Avoiding Cottage Fires

This article is courtesy of the Insurance Bureau of Canada. It’s important to create a firebreak around your cottage – an area that won't fuel a fire. Your basic protection is to keep the grass cut and raked. But there is much more you can do to create primary and secondary firebreaks. A primary break is a clearing of all ground within five metres of your buildings. Space trees so the tops are at least five metres apart. Saw off branches less than three metres above ground level. Prune branches so they're at least three metres away from a chimney or stovepipe.

Campfire Safety

On a warm summers evening, by the water’s edge nothing beats roasted marshmallows and scary ghost stories around a crackling fire.  A long tradition at the cottage or while away camping.  This seemingly harmless tradition can turn quickly into a tragedy if certain precautions are not taken.   We had this happen to one of our clients.    Their 13 year old son sprayed their camp fire with insect repellant hoping to help the fire spread faster.

The family cottage, a Canadian Tradition

L.D. Dermody Insurance
It wasn’t too long ago that families enjoyed summer living at their rustic cottage.  Wood frame dwellings, sitting on the ground or blocks, with screen doors that usually didn’t keep the mosquitoes out.  Using the bathroom usually meant running to the outhouse.    Water carried up from the shore because there was no plumbing.   Reading books by lantern because there was no electricity. Meals cooked over campfires followed by an evening of songs and guitar playing around that same campfire.

Tow Truck Industry Crack Down

We have all been there.  You’re at the side of the road broken down or just had a small accident.   You’re not sure what to do.   You just know that you need to get your car away from the area as it’s not safe.    A tow truck pulls up and offers to help.  You take them up their offer because what else are you going to do?  They tow you to a local garage or compound, and then you get the bill.  Wow!  Who knew that it would cost so much.   Not just an arm and a leg but two arms and legs and they won’t even give you  your car back until you pay the bill, cash only.  Last week the provincial government introduced legislation that, if passed, would regulate the tow truck industry.