Month: March 2016

Avoiding Fender Bender Fraud Claims

Posted on by AgentInsure

Fender benders are an unfortunate side effect of driving and in many cases they are unavoidable. There are some different steps that you can take however to avoid fraudulent claims that may end up marring your driving record and even raising your rates. In many cases those that are filing fraudulent claims will claim that they are suffering from horrendous injuries like whiplash as a result of the wreck. They will then go against your insurance for a large settlement which means your rates will go up and you may even lose coverage.

There are some ways to avoid these claims however. For starters, your insurance company will ask for detailed records of the accident, records of the other driver’s medical treatment, witness statements, statements from first responders and more. The best way to avoid these fraudulent claims is to take the time to collect the needed information to make a clear and concise record of what happened. Having a clear record is the best way to make sure that the claim is processed as it happened not as someone else claims it happened.

Still another way to avoid this type of claim is to stay in contact with your insurance company. If you have an insurance company like Compass Insurance this is the easy part. Frequent communication with your insurance company will help you to file your claim in a timely and efficient manner and will help you to make sure that claims against you are truthful as well.

For those that feel they are part of a fraudulent fender bender claim the best course of action is to be proactive and have the necessary evidence to clear your name, your driving record, and to help you to keep  your insurance from going up.  

Ways to Recycle and to Reduce the Amount of Plastic Bags

Posted on by AgentInsure

When taking a close look at consumers’ use of plastic bottles, bags, and packing materials, the statistics are shocking. The waste is outrageous.

Inspiration Green reports the global use of plastic bags is an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags used each year. This amounts to using one million bags each minute.

An average American receives about 1,500 plastic bags each year from shopping. Retailers spend US$ 4 billion annually on plastic bags and plastic packing materials. About 100 billion of them end up in landfills each year, where they may take hundreds of years or up to one thousand years to decompose. Huge floating piles of them end up in our oceans.

It takes about 12 million barrels of oil to manufacture these plastic bags each year. It would only take 14 bags make the equivalent amount of gasoline to drive a vehicle about one mile. Americans recycle less than five percent of these plastic bags. Over 12% of the municipal garbage is plastic.

Here are some clever ways to recycle them and ways to reduce collecting them in the first place:

  • Recycle all plastics. Separate plastics and take them to a local recycling center if necessary.
  • Reuse plastic containers and bottles as storage items and to make home handicrafts.
  • Try to buy things not packed in plastic.
  • Use plastic bags to fill upholstery, pillows, and homemade pet beds.
  • Use plastic bags as small trash can liners.
  • Use plastic bags to protect food for storage.
  • Take clean, dry, still usable, plastic bags back to the store. Many major retailers have recycling bins. If not, at least they serve more than once for shopping.
  • Use reusable shopping bags and/or containers for shopping.

Compass Insurance applauds those who take care of our earth and have environmental awareness when it comes to the use of plastics. Compass Insurance helps homeowners with a review of existing insurance coverage to make sure there is sufficient protection and helps new homeowners get the insurance they need. Contact the agents at Compass Insurance today!