Free File Cabinets
Free stuff – file cabinets. And help out the kids.
If you’re our customer we have 4 file cabinets we’re getting rid of: A 5-drawer, a 4-drawer and two 2-drawer. First come, first served. You have to come and pick it up.
In exchange: A donation to the Shriners Hospitals for Children would be appreciated!
Good News From the Highways: Traffic Fatalities May Hit a Record Low for 2011
Connecticut is on track to end 2011 with modern-record low for deaths in road accidents.
Connecticut had 194 fatal crashes that killed 204 people through the end of November on all roads across the state, according to preliminary figures provided to the Hartford Courant by the transportation department.
Connecticut numbers have fluctuated along a general trend downward. More than 400 people died in car crashes in 1989, and that number has tended to be around 300 this decade.
Nationally, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced in early December that 2010 data show highway deaths at 32,885, the lowest number since 1949.
Did You Get Something Awesome for Christmas? Don’t Forget to Schedule it on Your Insurance!
Did You Get Something Awesome for Christmas? Don’t Forget to Schedule it on Your Insurance!
A few of you got some really special gifts this year. Maybe it was jewelry, or furs, musical instruments, fine arts, firearms, camera equipment, collectibles, etc. High-value items like these and more should be specifically listed to be insured properly. You may need to schedule it on to your home, condo or renters policy.
Call us to insure it, or just to ask if it needs to be listed on your insurance.
Posted inof Interest | 
antiques, camera equipment, collectibles, condo, CT, fine arts, firearms, furs, Home, Insurance, items, jewelry, musical instruments, policy, renters, schedule, StratfordDonating – Instead of Exchanging Gifts
Instead of exchanging gifts among ourselves in the office, we collectively decided to pool our “gift” money and make a donation. This year, it will be going to the Shriners’ Hospitals for Children. Last year it was Sister Theresa and Daughters of Charity Of the Most Precious Blood in Bridgeport.
Keep the spirit of Christmas.
AARP / Hartford Launch New Home Insurance Program
It’s good to be us!
We are a Select Agency for AARP / Hartford insurance products and we are introducing a new home insurance program. This is new to Connecticut and can be packaged with a new or existing AARP / Hartford Auto policy.
You may be able to capitalize on this opportunity. You can’t access this program through just any agent or agency – Dougherty Insurance is one of the only selected agencies in the area that is approved to offer this.
Call us at 203-377-4394 for more info.
NTSB Seeks to Ban Your Electronic Device
While they may mean well by promoting safety, the issue is one that the federal government does not have the authority to enforce. This is an issue that falls to the …authority of each individual state. Following a board meeting to discuss a 2010 accident in Gray Summit, Missouri, the NTSB now calls for a ban in all states, including Connecticut, including your vehicle.
A ban on cell phones for interstate truckers begins on Jan. 3rd.
It appears the NTSB has changed their strategy to blunt government enforcement after an earlier approach of trying to be informative and convincing. Earlier this year NTSB officials mentioned their desire to “change the mindset” of the culture to eliminate cell phone use while driving. (see this article from June: “Can U.S. Make Cell Phoning While Driving as Taboo as Drunk Driving“).
No mention is made by the NTSB of funding for enforcement, what authority will enforce it, or whether tracking technology will be used to monitor cell phones and other devices.
Posted inNews, News - National, of Interest | authority, Auto, ban, cell phone use, cell phones, Connecticut, driver, electronic device, enforcement, federal government, government enforcement, Insurance, national transportation safety board, nationwide ban, NTSB, personal electronic devices, states rights, Stratford, text, tracking technologyBridgeport Chiropractor in Insurance Scam Facing Prison Time
.– A chiropractor has pleaded guilty to bilking insurance companies to treat car accident victims whose injuries were exaggerated.
Connecticut Hearst Newspapers and The Hartford Courant report that Marc Kirshner pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court in Bridgeport to conspiring to defraud insurance carriers.
Prosecutors say more than 10 insurance carriers paid about $1.7 million for phony claims as a result of Kirshner’s role in the scheme. Authorities are seeking restitution from Kirshner.
Authorities say Kirshner and others who have pleaded guilty created false medical records, prescribed powerful and unnecessary pain medication, required extended and unneeded chiropractic treatment and recommended exotic and questionable diagnostics.
Prosecutors say the 46-year-old Kirshner faces between four and five years in prison.
Posted inLocal News | Bridgeport, car accident victims, chiropractor, Connecticut, CT, fraud, guilty, Insurance, insurance scam, phony claims, prison, scam, StratfordHurricane Prediction Accuracy in 2011- How Did the Experts Do?
Now that hurricane season is over we can review how accurate the predictions were for the 2011 season.
Colorado State University predicted 16 named storms, with 9 hurricanes and 5 developing into major hurricanes.
NOAA: 12 – 18 named storms, 6-10 hurricanes, 3-6 major hurricanes
Accuweather: 15, 8 and 4.
Weather Services International: 15, 8 and 4.
ACTUAL: 19 named storms, 7 hurricanes and 3 major hurricanes.
For reference, an “average” season has 10-11 named storms, 6 hurricances and 2 major hurricanes.
Hospital Mystery: Who Took Dead Woman’s Ring? Insurance Mystery: How Do You Insure Your Jewelry To Cover Yourself For This?
A recently published article in the CT Post describes the dissappearance of a ring and the difficulty in establishing exactly what happened to it, where, and when.
From an insurance perspective, the fact that it is not known what happened (theft? misplaced or lost? possibly given away? did it ever exist in the first place?), when, or where makes it challenging to tell if this is an insured loss. Also, how can the financial value of the ring be determined? There is no way to accurately verify value without the existence of the ring – unless you’ve done this: Gotten a recent appraisal of the ring from a professional jeweler – the more recent the appriasal is, the more accurate it will be.
An appriasal will also be the value that a jewelry item can be scheduled on to a homeowners (or condo, or renters) policy. Scheduling the item(s) also broadens the coverage to include “mysterious dissappearance” so there is coverage even if it can’t be established exactly what happened.
There are other reasons to schedule jewelry, and there are other items that should be scheduled. For example, the church in Westport that recently sustained a fire had a $100,000 organ that was destroyed. Scheduling this item would ensure it was insured properly.
Ask us if you have questions about items you own and if you would benefit by scheduling them on your insurance.
Facebook Agrees to Privacy Settlement with Government
Is Facebook open to huge lawsuits and/or losses for failure to protect their customers’ privacy? Can Facebook users sue if the information revealed on Facebook ultimately leads to defamation, slander, fraud, harrassment, etc. against the user? What kind of insurance, if any, is available to cover it? Read the following article and judge for yourself:
Facebook Agrees to Privacy Settlement with Government
Facebook Inc. agreed to a 20-year privacy settlement with the U.S. government that would require the company to ask users for permission before changing the way their personal information is released.
The settlement, the strongest government rebuke yet to the social network, stems from changes Facebook made to its privacy settings in December 2009 to make aspects of users’ profiles—such as name, picture, gender and friends list—public by default.
In an aggressive complaint, the Federal Trade Commission charged that Facebook’s changes threatened the “health and safety” of users, in part, by exposing “potentially sensitive affiliations” such as political views, sexual orientation or business relationships.
As part of the settlement, Facebook agreed to submit to independent privacy audits every two years for the next 20 years. If it violates the settlement, it can be fined $16,000 per day per violation. The requirement to ask for permission could force Facebook to be less aggressive in the way that it rolls out new features. Previously, Facebook has rolled out features such as facial recognition by asking users to turn new features “off” rather than asking them to turn them “on.”
Click here for the rest of the article.
Posted inof Interest | Connecticut, CT, Defamation, Facebook, federal trade commission, Government, harrassment, Insurance, lawsuits, Privacy, SettlementGet a Free Quote
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