Are You Ready? Smoke Detectors, Maine Homeowners Insurance and Maine Life Insurance

8/25/2011 8:00:00 AM

Fires are reported in the news on a regular basis. The impact on a family is huge. One of my most vivid memories as a child is a time when a family we were good friends with moved in with us because their home burned down. They lost everything they owned but they also lost something else - their sense of security. I remember the girl, maybe 5 years old, had trouble sleeping and just seemed scared all of the time.

So when I read the Sun Journal account of a fire yesterday in Fryeburg, I noticed two things and wondered about a few others.

1) I noticed: "Smoke detectors woke the family up." Whether hard wired or battery operated, functional smoke detectors save lives. The best system is a hard wired system with battery backup that warns you when the batteries are low. That way, if the power is out, the battery backup will be sure to function.

Do you know someone who life has been saved by a smoke detector?

2) I noticed: "The house was insured."

While insurance is certainly better than no insurance, when I see this I wonder:

Will the family get enough money to replace their home?
Where will they stay now that their home is gone - and who will pay for it?
How quickly will this claim get settled and how favorably for the family?
Do they have an agent who will be their advocate in the claims process or are they "on their own"?

That last point is critical. The family could hire a public adjustor and give up 15% of their settlement to the adjustor in exchange for advocacy OR they could rely on the services of a Trusted Choice independent agent like W.J.Wheeler to act as their advocate for no additional charge. Which would you choose?

3) I wondered: "Does this family have life insurance?"

Even with all the correct preparations (like smoke detectors and insurance), bad things can happen in life. While no one wants to dwell on this, responsible adults buy life insurance to help their families reduce the financial impact of a death in the family.

Have you taken care of your responsibilities to your family?

4) I wondered: "How are they doing?"

As you know if you have ever lived through a fire or had someone you know experience this kind of loss, even if the smoke detectors work, lives are saved, and insurance pays a prompt and fair settlement, the impact of this kind of event is huge. This family's life will never be the same, and it will take at least a year for things to "return to normal." I hope that their friends, family and community will step up to assist them.

At W.J.Wheeler Insurance, we consider ourselves part of the community too, and seek to play a supportive role after a loss, beyond being an advocate for you in the claims settlement process.

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For all of these issues, a relationship with a Trusted Choice advisor can make a big difference. At W.J.Wheeler Insurance we offer tools to help you reduce or eliminate loss and reduce its impact if a loss does occur. And as always, we provide:

An affordable, customized insurance plan from a choice of companies.
A trusted advisor who is your advocate after a loss

So, have you lost their home to fire? What was your experience? Or do you know someone who has had this experience - and what was it like for them?

Are your smoke detectors working? Is your Maine homeowners insurance adequate and do you have an advocate who will help you get a prompt and fair settlement? And have your purchased an adequate amount of Maine life insurance to help your family with the financial impact of death?