We're shopping around for homeowners insurance as it appears we can find
policies these days a lot cheaper than the one we have (might have something
to do with the real estate crash and insurance companies trying to boost
their business). When I received the binder in the mail from our broker, I
had to correct some details that he wrote down incorrectly. For example
that the pool is in-ground (like I told him) and not above-ground (as in the
app) etc. I told him that we have two dogs (both gentle breeds) but he just
noted one of the dogs on the binder application. I haven't corrected the
dog part yet and I'm not sure if I should bother to do so.

My question is, to what extent should I nit-pick about this form to have all
the details 100% correct? I have the feeling that the broker is not as
concerned about that as I am. But he has 1,000 times more knowledge about
the homeowners insurance industry than I do. I am just concerned that if
there is an incorrect detail if we have a major claim, like if the house
burns down, then I don't want the insurance co. to refuse to cover it
because of some "seemingly" trivial question on the original form is not
correct.

"scorpster" wrote in message
...
We're shopping around for homeowners insurance as it appears we can find
policies these days a lot cheaper than the one we have (might have
something to do with the real estate crash and insurance companies trying
to boost their business). When I received the binder in the mail from our
broker, I had to correct some details that he wrote down incorrectly. For
example that the pool is in-ground (like I told him) and not above-ground
(as in the app) etc. I told him that we have two dogs (both gentle
breeds) but he just noted one of the dogs on the binder application. I
haven't corrected the dog part yet and I'm not sure if I should bother to
do so.

My question is, to what extent should I nit-pick about this form to have
all the details 100% correct? I have the feeling that the broker is not
as concerned about that as I am. But he has 1,000 times more knowledge
about the homeowners insurance industry than I do. I am just concerned
that if there is an incorrect detail if we have a major claim, like if the
house burns down, then I don't want the insurance co. to refuse to cover
it because of some "seemingly" trivial question on the original form is
not correct.


*Better to have it in there then not. Make sure that you mention works of
art, computers, TV's, stereos etc. Someone posted a response a few weeks
ago here regarding a fire that a friend had. Based on his friend's
experience he advised taking pictures of everything and putting them in a
safe deposit box for insurance purposes. I thought that was excellent
advice.

On Sat, 16 May 2009 15:44:30 -0700, "scorpster"
wrote:

We're shopping around for homeowners insurance as it appears we can find
policies these days a lot cheaper than the one we have (might have something
to do with the real estate crash and insurance companies trying to boost
their business). When I received the binder in the mail from our broker, I
had to correct some details that he wrote down incorrectly. For example
that the pool is in-ground (like I told him) and not above-ground (as in the
app) etc. I told him that we have two dogs (both gentle breeds) but he just
noted one of the dogs on the binder application. I haven't corrected the
dog part yet and I'm not sure if I should bother to do so.

My question is, to what extent should I nit-pick about this form to have all
the details 100% correct? I have the feeling that the broker is not as
concerned about that as I am. But he has 1,000 times more knowledge about
the homeowners insurance industry than I do. I am just concerned that if
there is an incorrect detail if we have a major claim, like if the house
burns down, then I don't want the insurance co. to refuse to cover it
because of some "seemingly" trivial question on the original form is not
correct.

Find another agent. This one is deliberately putting in wrong
information to get a lower rate quote. He wants to make sure you buy
the policy from him so he gets his commission. He doesn't care that by
falsifying info on that application, the policy may prove worthless
when you need it most.


It doesn't matter how great a price you get on insurance if it isn't
going to cover you when things go pear shaped.

"scorpster" wrote in message
...
We're shopping around for homeowners insurance as it appears we can find
policies these days a lot cheaper than the one we have (might have
something to do with the real estate crash and insurance companies trying
to boost their business). When I received the binder in the mail from our
broker, I had to correct some details that he wrote down incorrectly. For
example that the pool is in-ground (like I told him) and not above-ground
(as in the app) etc. I told him that we have two dogs (both gentle
breeds) but he just noted one of the dogs on the binder application. I
haven't corrected the dog part yet and I'm not sure if I should bother to
do so.

My question is, to what extent should I nit-pick about this form to have
all the details 100% correct? I have the feeling that the broker is not
as concerned about that as I am. But he has 1,000 times more knowledge
about the homeowners insurance industry than I do. I am just concerned
that if there is an incorrect detail if we have a major claim, like if the
house burns down, then I don't want the insurance co. to refuse to cover
it because of some "seemingly" trivial question on the original form is
not correct.


I agree with salty (2nd response to your question). Run away from that
agent. He's not doing you any favors.

On Sat, 16 May 2009 19:34:38 -0400, John Grabowski wrote:


"scorpster" wrote in message
...
We're shopping around for homeowners insurance as it appears we can find
policies these days a lot cheaper than the one we have (might have
something to do with the real estate crash and insurance companies trying
to boost their business). When I received the binder in the mail from our
broker, I had to correct some details that he wrote down incorrectly. For
example that the pool is in-ground (like I told him) and not above-ground
(as in the app) etc. I told him that we have two dogs (both gentle
breeds) but he just noted one of the dogs on the binder application. I
haven't corrected the dog part yet and I'm not sure if I should bother to
do so.

My question is, to what extent should I nit-pick about this form to have
all the details 100% correct? I have the feeling that the broker is not
as concerned about that as I am. But he has 1,000 times more knowledge
about the homeowners insurance industry than I do. I am just concerned
that if there is an incorrect detail if we have a major claim, like if the
house burns down, then I don't want the insurance co. to refuse to cover
it because of some "seemingly" trivial question on the original form is
not correct.


*Better to have it in there then not. Make sure that you mention works of
art, computers, TV's, stereos etc. Someone posted a response a few weeks
ago here regarding a fire that a friend had. Based on his friend's
experience he advised taking pictures of everything and putting them in a
safe deposit box for insurance purposes. I thought that was excellent
advice.

Burn them to rewritable CD's and give a copy to a family member that
doesn't live in the same end of town. Keep a copy of their's for them.
They can be updated over and over. Safe deposit boxes are not cheap.

"RLM" wrote in message
news
On Sat, 16 May 2009 19:34:38 -0400, John Grabowski wrote:


"scorpster" wrote in message
...
We're shopping around for homeowners insurance as it appears we can find
policies these days a lot cheaper than the one we have (might have
something to do with the real estate crash and insurance companies
trying
to boost their business). When I received the binder in the mail from
our
broker, I had to correct some details that he wrote down incorrectly.
For
example that the pool is in-ground (like I told him) and not
above-ground
(as in the app) etc. I told him that we have two dogs (both gentle
breeds) but he just noted one of the dogs on the binder application. I
haven't corrected the dog part yet and I'm not sure if I should bother
to
do so.

My question is, to what extent should I nit-pick about this form to have
all the details 100% correct? I have the feeling that the broker is not
as concerned about that as I am. But he has 1,000 times more knowledge
about the homeowners insurance industry than I do. I am just concerned
that if there is an incorrect detail if we have a major claim, like if
the
house burns down, then I don't want the insurance co. to refuse to cover
it because of some "seemingly" trivial question on the original form is
not correct.


*Better to have it in there then not. Make sure that you mention works
of
art, computers, TV's, stereos etc. Someone posted a response a few weeks
ago here regarding a fire that a friend had. Based on his friend's
experience he advised taking pictures of everything and putting them in a
safe deposit box for insurance purposes. I thought that was excellent
advice.

Burn them to rewritable CD's and give a copy to a family member that
doesn't live in the same end of town. Keep a copy of their's for them.
They can be updated over and over. Safe deposit boxes are not cheap.



My safe deposit box costs $38 per year. Seems cheap to me. What do you
consider cheap?

On Sat, 16 May 2009 20:41:00 -0400, JoeSpareBedroom wrote:

"RLM" wrote in message
news
On Sat, 16 May 2009 19:34:38 -0400, John Grabowski wrote:


"scorpster" wrote in message
...
We're shopping around for homeowners insurance as it appears we can find
policies these days a lot cheaper than the one we have (might have
something to do with the real estate crash and insurance companies
trying
to boost their business). When I received the binder in the mail from
our
broker, I had to correct some details that he wrote down incorrectly.
For
example that the pool is in-ground (like I told him) and not
above-ground
(as in the app) etc. I told him that we have two dogs (both gentle
breeds) but he just noted one of the dogs on the binder application. I
haven't corrected the dog part yet and I'm not sure if I should bother
to
do so.

My question is, to what extent should I nit-pick about this form to have
all the details 100% correct? I have the feeling that the broker is not
as concerned about that as I am. But he has 1,000 times more knowledge
about the homeowners insurance industry than I do. I am just concerned
that if there is an incorrect detail if we have a major claim, like if
the
house burns down, then I don't want the insurance co. to refuse to cover
it because of some "seemingly" trivial question on the original form is
not correct.


*Better to have it in there then not. Make sure that you mention works
of
art, computers, TV's, stereos etc. Someone posted a response a few weeks
ago here regarding a fire that a friend had. Based on his friend's
experience he advised taking pictures of everything and putting them in a
safe deposit box for insurance purposes. I thought that was excellent
advice.

Burn them to rewritable CD's and give a copy to a family member that
doesn't live in the same end of town. Keep a copy of their's for them.
They can be updated over and over. Safe deposit boxes are not cheap.



My safe deposit box costs $38 per year. Seems cheap to me. What do you
consider cheap?

Family will keep a copy of a CD for free. Free is cheap! It's availible on
weekends too! Day or night if need be. I also have a couple of fire safes
in the house and live in a community with 24 hr. fire protection. So I can
also keep a copy.

In article ,
RLM wrote:

Family will keep a copy of a CD for free. Free is cheap! It's availible on
weekends too! Day or night if need be. I also have a couple of fire safes
in the house and live in a community with 24 hr. fire protection. So I can
also keep a copy.

Or this...
http://www.sentrysafe.com/products/p...tail.aspx?s=27

--
"Distracting a politician from governing
is like distracting a bear from eating your baby."

--PJ O'Rourke

"RLM" wrote in message
news
On Sat, 16 May 2009 20:41:00 -0400, JoeSpareBedroom wrote:

"RLM" wrote in message
news
On Sat, 16 May 2009 19:34:38 -0400, John Grabowski wrote:


"scorpster" wrote in message
...
We're shopping around for homeowners insurance as it appears we can
find
policies these days a lot cheaper than the one we have (might have
something to do with the real estate crash and insurance companies
trying
to boost their business). When I received the binder in the mail from
our
broker, I had to correct some details that he wrote down incorrectly.
For
example that the pool is in-ground (like I told him) and not
above-ground
(as in the app) etc. I told him that we have two dogs (both gentle
breeds) but he just noted one of the dogs on the binder application.
I
haven't corrected the dog part yet and I'm not sure if I should bother
to
do so.

My question is, to what extent should I nit-pick about this form to
have
all the details 100% correct? I have the feeling that the broker is
not
as concerned about that as I am. But he has 1,000 times more
knowledge
about the homeowners insurance industry than I do. I am just
concerned
that if there is an incorrect detail if we have a major claim, like if
the
house burns down, then I don't want the insurance co. to refuse to
cover
it because of some "seemingly" trivial question on the original form
is
not correct.


*Better to have it in there then not. Make sure that you mention works
of
art, computers, TV's, stereos etc. Someone posted a response a few
weeks
ago here regarding a fire that a friend had. Based on his friend's
experience he advised taking pictures of everything and putting them in
a
safe deposit box for insurance purposes. I thought that was excellent
advice.

Burn them to rewritable CD's and give a copy to a family member that
doesn't live in the same end of town. Keep a copy of their's for them.
They can be updated over and over. Safe deposit boxes are not cheap.



My safe deposit box costs $38 per year. Seems cheap to me. What do you
consider cheap?

Family will keep a copy of a CD for free. Free is cheap! It's availible on
weekends too! Day or night if need be. I also have a couple of fire safes
in the house and live in a community with 24 hr. fire protection. So I can
also keep a copy.



24 hour fire protection? Please describe in detail.

On Sat, 16 May 2009 21:02:44 -0400, Kurt Ullman wrote:

In article ,
RLM wrote:

Family will keep a copy of a CD for free. Free is cheap! It's availible
on weekends too! Day or night if need be. I also have a couple of fire
safes in the house and live in a community with 24 hr. fire protection.
So I can also keep a copy.

Or this...
http://www.sentrysafe.com/products/p...tail.aspx?s=27

I have a couple of safes much like those too. One uses combination to
open, one a key. Both will withstand a fire for a couple of hours, so the
paperwork states. I hope never to find out first hand.

"John Grabowski" wrote in
:


"scorpster" wrote in message
...
We're shopping around for homeowners insurance as it appears we can
find policies these days a lot cheaper than the one we have (might
have something to do with the real estate crash and insurance
companies trying to boost their business). When I received the
binder in the mail from our broker, I had to correct some details
that he wrote down incorrectly. For example that the pool is
in-ground (like I told him) and not above-ground (as in the app) etc.
I told him that we have two dogs (both gentle breeds) but he just
noted one of the dogs on the binder application. I haven't corrected
the dog part yet and I'm not sure if I should bother to do so.

My question is, to what extent should I nit-pick about this form to
have all the details 100% correct? I have the feeling that the
broker is not as concerned about that as I am. But he has 1,000
times more knowledge about the homeowners insurance industry than I
do. I am just concerned that if there is an incorrect detail if we
have a major claim, like if the house burns down, then I don't want
the insurance co. to refuse to cover it because of some "seemingly"
trivial question on the original form is not correct.


*Better to have it in there then not. Make sure that you mention
works of art, computers, TV's, stereos etc. Someone posted a response
a few weeks ago here regarding a fire that a friend had. Based on his
friend's experience he advised taking pictures of everything and
putting them in a safe deposit box for insurance purposes. I thought
that was excellent advice.



taking pictures of everything and
putting them in a safe deposit box

Just take them with a digital, put in a folder structure (by inside,
outside, room, whatever), zip it with "save full path info" and email it
to yourself at like Yahoo. It's then there all nice and safe and
accessable from anywhere. They do the safekeeping and backups.

I've had emails sit there for years in a folder.

RLM wrote:


My safe deposit box costs $38 per year. Seems cheap to me. What do
you consider cheap?

Family will keep a copy of a CD for free. Free is cheap! It's
availible on weekends too! Day or night if need be. I also have a
couple of fire safes in the house and live in a community with 24 hr.
fire protection. So I can also keep a copy.

CDs cost money. A Gmail address is free.

Gmail allows up to 8Gigs of storage (last I heard). Send an email to
yourself with the pictures in a ZIP file attachement.

The documents are, like Elvis, out of the building. They are accessible
anywhere to anybody with the password. They are easily updatable.

Where's the bad?

On Sat, 16 May 2009 21:16:51 -0400, JoeSpareBedroom wrote:

"RLM" wrote in message
news
On Sat, 16 May 2009 20:41:00 -0400, JoeSpareBedroom wrote:

"RLM" wrote in message
news On Sat, 16 May 2009 19:34:38 -0400, John Grabowski wrote:


"scorpster" wrote in message
...
We're shopping around for homeowners insurance as it appears we can
find
policies these days a lot cheaper than the one we have (might have
something to do with the real estate crash and insurance companies
trying
to boost their business). When I received the binder in the mail from
our
broker, I had to correct some details that he wrote down incorrectly.
For
example that the pool is in-ground (like I told him) and not
above-ground
(as in the app) etc. I told him that we have two dogs (both gentle
breeds) but he just noted one of the dogs on the binder application.
I
haven't corrected the dog part yet and I'm not sure if I should bother
to
do so.

My question is, to what extent should I nit-pick about this form to
have
all the details 100% correct? I have the feeling that the broker is
not
as concerned about that as I am. But he has 1,000 times more
knowledge
about the homeowners insurance industry than I do. I am just
concerned
that if there is an incorrect detail if we have a major claim, like if
the
house burns down, then I don't want the insurance co. to refuse to
cover
it because of some "seemingly" trivial question on the original form
is
not correct.


*Better to have it in there then not. Make sure that you mention works
of
art, computers, TV's, stereos etc. Someone posted a response a few
weeks
ago here regarding a fire that a friend had. Based on his friend's
experience he advised taking pictures of everything and putting them in
a
safe deposit box for insurance purposes. I thought that was excellent
advice.

Burn them to rewritable CD's and give a copy to a family member that
doesn't live in the same end of town. Keep a copy of their's for them.
They can be updated over and over. Safe deposit boxes are not cheap.



My safe deposit box costs $38 per year. Seems cheap to me. What do you
consider cheap?

Family will keep a copy of a CD for free. Free is cheap! It's availible on
weekends too! Day or night if need be. I also have a couple of fire safes
in the house and live in a community with 24 hr. fire protection. So I can
also keep a copy.



24 hour fire protection? Please describe in detail.

Firemen are paid to be at the fire house 24-7 not volunteers.

"Kurt Ullman" wrote in message
...
In article ,
RLM wrote:

Family will keep a copy of a CD for free. Free is cheap! It's availible
on
weekends too! Day or night if need be. I also have a couple of fire safes
in the house and live in a community with 24 hr. fire protection. So I
can
also keep a copy.

Or this...
http://www.sentrysafe.com/products/p...tail.aspx?s=27

The back end of our house burned about 10 years ago and we had documents and
pictures of household items in a fireproof box (see below). The fire burned
through a bedroom floor and the box ended up in the basement but all
pictures and documents survived. The box is a bit malformed and blackened
but works and we still use it today.

http://tinyurl.com/7t36fk

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.sentrysafe.com/products/p...i_ p=CartView

"scorpster" wrote in message
...
When I received the binder in the mail from our broker, I had to correct
some details that he wrote down incorrectly. For example that the pool is
in-ground (like I told him) and not above-ground (as in the app) etc. I
told him that we have two dogs (both gentle breeds) but he just noted one
of the dogs on the binder application. I haven't corrected the dog part
yet and I'm not sure if I should bother to do so.

My question is, to what extent should I nit-pick about this form to have
all the details 100% correct?

Doubt they would not pay for a fire because you have an extra dog, but they
may not pay for a pool injury if you have the wrong type listed. Maybe your
agent is trying to slip in a low ball price? If the application looks like
fraud, claims may be in jeopardy.

On Sat, 16 May 2009 21:10:03 -0500, HeyBub wrote:

RLM wrote:


My safe deposit box costs $38 per year. Seems cheap to me. What do
you consider cheap?

Family will keep a copy of a CD for free. Free is cheap! It's
availible on weekends too! Day or night if need be. I also have a
couple of fire safes in the house and live in a community with 24 hr.
fire protection. So I can also keep a copy.

CDs cost money. A Gmail address is free.

Gmail allows up to 8Gigs of storage (last I heard). Send an email to
yourself with the pictures in a ZIP file attachement.

The documents are, like Elvis, out of the building. They are accessible
anywhere to anybody with the password. They are easily updatable.

Where's the bad?

I already own a dozen re-writeable CD's that can be copied and erased over
and over like floppy discs. Nothing wrong with online storage. I offered
it because I'm sure I'm not the only one that has them setting around.

"gilb" wrote in message
...
The back end of our house burned about 10 years ago and we had documents
and pictures of household items in a fireproof box (see below). The fire
burned through a bedroom floor and the box ended up in the basement but
all pictures and documents survived. The box is a bit malformed and
blackened but works and we still use it today.

http://tinyurl.com/7t36fk

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I noticed this in the ad. Not sure if it means what I think, but you may
need it replaced.

"Lifetime after-fire replacement guarantee."

The fire profing may depend on the moistur in the insulating material
between the walls of the safe. Once boiled out, it is not very efffective
any more.

On Sat, 16 May 2009 21:10:03 -0500, "HeyBub"
wrote:

RLM wrote:


My safe deposit box costs $38 per year. Seems cheap to me. What do
you consider cheap?

Family will keep a copy of a CD for free. Free is cheap! It's
availible on weekends too! Day or night if need be. I also have a
couple of fire safes in the house and live in a community with 24 hr.
fire protection. So I can also keep a copy.

CDs cost money. A Gmail address is free.

Gmail allows up to 8Gigs of storage (last I heard). Send an email to
yourself with the pictures in a ZIP file attachement.

The documents are, like Elvis, out of the building. They are accessible
anywhere to anybody with the password. They are easily updatable.

Where's the bad?

Gmail storage, being free, can dissapear at any time with no
recourse..

On Sat, 16 May 2009 23:03:58 -0400, RLM wrote:

On Sat, 16 May 2009 21:10:03 -0500, HeyBub wrote:

RLM wrote:


My safe deposit box costs $38 per year. Seems cheap to me. What do
you consider cheap?

Family will keep a copy of a CD for free. Free is cheap! It's
availible on weekends too! Day or night if need be. I also have a
couple of fire safes in the house and live in a community with 24 hr.
fire protection. So I can also keep a copy.

CDs cost money. A Gmail address is free.

Gmail allows up to 8Gigs of storage (last I heard). Send an email to
yourself with the pictures in a ZIP file attachement.

The documents are, like Elvis, out of the building. They are accessible
anywhere to anybody with the password. They are easily updatable.

Where's the bad?

I already own a dozen re-writeable CD's that can be copied and erased over
and over like floppy discs. Nothing wrong with online storage. I offered
it because I'm sure I'm not the only one that has them setting around.
Rewriteable CDs are getting harder to find - but rewritable DVDs are
available everywhere (and for less than the rewriteable CDs.

"RLM" wrote in message
news
On Sat, 16 May 2009 21:16:51 -0400, JoeSpareBedroom wrote:

"RLM" wrote in message
news
On Sat, 16 May 2009 20:41:00 -0400, JoeSpareBedroom wrote:

"RLM" wrote in message
news On Sat, 16 May 2009 19:34:38 -0400, John Grabowski wrote:


"scorpster" wrote in message
...
We're shopping around for homeowners insurance as it appears we can
find
policies these days a lot cheaper than the one we have (might have
something to do with the real estate crash and insurance companies
trying
to boost their business). When I received the binder in the mail
from
our
broker, I had to correct some details that he wrote down
incorrectly.
For
example that the pool is in-ground (like I told him) and not
above-ground
(as in the app) etc. I told him that we have two dogs (both gentle
breeds) but he just noted one of the dogs on the binder application.
I
haven't corrected the dog part yet and I'm not sure if I should
bother
to
do so.

My question is, to what extent should I nit-pick about this form to
have
all the details 100% correct? I have the feeling that the broker is
not
as concerned about that as I am. But he has 1,000 times more
knowledge
about the homeowners insurance industry than I do. I am just
concerned
that if there is an incorrect detail if we have a major claim, like
if
the
house burns down, then I don't want the insurance co. to refuse to
cover
it because of some "seemingly" trivial question on the original form
is
not correct.


*Better to have it in there then not. Make sure that you mention
works
of
art, computers, TV's, stereos etc. Someone posted a response a few
weeks
ago here regarding a fire that a friend had. Based on his friend's
experience he advised taking pictures of everything and putting them
in
a
safe deposit box for insurance purposes. I thought that was
excellent
advice.

Burn them to rewritable CD's and give a copy to a family member that
doesn't live in the same end of town. Keep a copy of their's for them.
They can be updated over and over. Safe deposit boxes are not cheap.



My safe deposit box costs $38 per year. Seems cheap to me. What do you
consider cheap?

Family will keep a copy of a CD for free. Free is cheap! It's availible
on
weekends too! Day or night if need be. I also have a couple of fire
safes
in the house and live in a community with 24 hr. fire protection. So I
can
also keep a copy.



24 hour fire protection? Please describe in detail.

Firemen are paid to be at the fire house 24-7 not volunteers.



Oh. I thought you had some sort of unusual situation there.

As far as making sure my important files survive a fire.. I use Carbonite
online backup to keep my entire drive contents securely backed up in a
remote location.. works pretty well. I had my brother sign up for it too,
and it rescued all his data when his laptop hard drive crashed.

On Sat, 16 May 2009 23:55:12 -0400, clare wrote:

On Sat, 16 May 2009 23:03:58 -0400, RLM wrote:

On Sat, 16 May 2009 21:10:03 -0500, HeyBub wrote:

RLM wrote:


My safe deposit box costs $38 per year. Seems cheap to me. What do
you consider cheap?

Family will keep a copy of a CD for free. Free is cheap! It's
availible on weekends too! Day or night if need be. I also have a
couple of fire safes in the house and live in a community with 24 hr.
fire protection. So I can also keep a copy.

CDs cost money. A Gmail address is free.

Gmail allows up to 8Gigs of storage (last I heard). Send an email to
yourself with the pictures in a ZIP file attachement.

The documents are, like Elvis, out of the building. They are
accessible anywhere to anybody with the password. They are easily
updatable.

Where's the bad?

I already own a dozen re-writeable CD's that can be copied and erased
over and over like floppy discs. Nothing wrong with online storage. I
offered it because I'm sure I'm not the only one that has them setting
around.
Rewriteable CDs are getting harder to find - but rewritable DVDs are
available everywhere (and for less than the rewriteable CDs.

I used to put Linux on the re-writeable CD's, so I've had them a long
time. Now the Distro's are on DVD's so I use them now. Don't use the CD's
much but they are great for this aplication.

Putting them online is something I hadn't thought about until it was
brought up in this forum. I use a portable hard drive to backup 5
computers here at home also. I have over 10GB of USB fobs that use SD
memory within arms reach that we use to share a lot of family pictures
with family that lives out of state by mailing them back and forth.

Storage is what you have handy and is already payed for. Cheap to mail.

I've seen some good ideas in this thread.

On Sat, 16 May 2009 23:03:58 -0400, RLM wrote:

On Sat, 16 May 2009 21:10:03 -0500, HeyBub wrote:

RLM wrote:


My safe deposit box costs $38 per year. Seems cheap to me. What do
you consider cheap?

Family will keep a copy of a CD for free. Free is cheap! It's
availible on weekends too! Day or night if need be. I also have a
couple of fire safes in the house and live in a community with 24 hr.
fire protection. So I can also keep a copy.

CDs cost money. A Gmail address is free.

Gmail allows up to 8Gigs of storage (last I heard). Send an email to
yourself with the pictures in a ZIP file attachement.

The documents are, like Elvis, out of the building. They are accessible
anywhere to anybody with the password. They are easily updatable.

Where's the bad?

I already own a dozen re-writeable CD's that can be copied and erased over
and over like floppy discs. Nothing wrong with online storage. I offered
it because I'm sure I'm not the only one that has them setting around.

Regular CDR's that are not rewriteable are actually more stable for
long term storage. They are extremely cheap these days. You can burn
an awful lot of standard CDR's for the price of one rewriteable, and
they are more likely to be readable 5 or 10 years from now. If you
really want to get silly, there are "medical CDR's" that are more
expensive, but are stable for much longer.

My suggestion is to make several copies to standard CD's and keep them
in a few locations. Keep a copy on your computer, too. Heck, one under
the drivers seat of your car would probably be okay, too. Not the
glove box, which gets much hotter.

No single storage method is completely secure. Best to have it stored
in multiple places. A cd in your desk drawer at work, one at a friend
or neighbor's house, etc.

Storing an additonal copy on your email account is nice, but even the
biggest ISP's have had data disasters, and they have also changed
hands and deleted accounts or discontinued service for no apparent
reason. None of them are too big to fail or change.

In article ,
RLM wrote:

http://www.sentrysafe.com/products/p...tail.aspx?s=27

Oops. Wrong URL. I meant to send people to the one for the fire/water
resistant HARD DRIVE.
http://preview.tinyurl.com/3kv95c

--
"Distracting a politician from governing
is like distracting a bear from eating your baby."

--PJ O'Rourke

scorpster wrote:
We're shopping around for homeowners insurance as it appears we can find
policies these days a lot cheaper than the one we have (might have
something to do with the real estate crash and insurance companies
trying to boost their business). When I received the binder in the mail
from our broker, I had to correct some details that he wrote down
incorrectly. For example that the pool is in-ground (like I told him)
and not above-ground (as in the app) etc. I told him that we have two
dogs (both gentle breeds) but he just noted one of the dogs on the
binder application. I haven't corrected the dog part yet and I'm not
sure if I should bother to do so.

My question is, to what extent should I nit-pick about this form to have
all the details 100% correct? I have the feeling that the broker is not
as concerned about that as I am. But he has 1,000 times more knowledge
about the homeowners insurance industry than I do. I am just concerned
that if there is an incorrect detail if we have a major claim, like if
the house burns down, then I don't want the insurance co. to refuse to
cover it because of some "seemingly" trivial question on the original
form is not correct.

It reminds me of an old Alan King bit. He said he had a small fire in
his house and called his insurance agent to initiate a claim. The agent
looked up his policy and said, "I see here that you have our Fire and
Theft policy." King acknowledged that that was what he had. "OK, let's
see, said the agent,"was anything stolen?" "No," replied King, "just
fire damage." The agent said he was sorry, but a claim wasn't possible.
"What do you mean, I can't make a claim?" replied King, "I had a FIRE."
"I understand," replied the agent, "but in order to be covered, you
would need to have our Fire OR Theft policy."

On Sun, 17 May 2009 08:51:18 -0400, wrote:

On Sat, 16 May 2009 23:03:58 -0400, RLM wrote:

On Sat, 16 May 2009 21:10:03 -0500, HeyBub wrote:

RLM wrote:


My safe deposit box costs $38 per year. Seems cheap to me. What do
you consider cheap?

Family will keep a copy of a CD for free. Free is cheap! It's
availible on weekends too! Day or night if need be. I also have a
couple of fire safes in the house and live in a community with 24 hr.
fire protection. So I can also keep a copy.

CDs cost money. A Gmail address is free.

Gmail allows up to 8Gigs of storage (last I heard). Send an email to
yourself with the pictures in a ZIP file attachement.

The documents are, like Elvis, out of the building. They are accessible
anywhere to anybody with the password. They are easily updatable.

Where's the bad?

I already own a dozen re-writeable CD's that can be copied and erased over
and over like floppy discs. Nothing wrong with online storage. I offered
it because I'm sure I'm not the only one that has them setting around.

Regular CDR's that are not rewriteable are actually more stable for
long term storage. They are extremely cheap these days. You can burn
an awful lot of standard CDR's for the price of one rewriteable, and
they are more likely to be readable 5 or 10 years from now. If you
really want to get silly, there are "medical CDR's" that are more
expensive, but are stable for much longer.

Or "archival DVD"

My suggestion is to make several copies to standard CD's and keep them
in a few locations. Keep a copy on your computer, too. Heck, one under
the drivers seat of your car would probably be okay, too. Not the
glove box, which gets much hotter.

No single storage method is completely secure. Best to have it stored
in multiple places. A cd in your desk drawer at work, one at a friend
or neighbor's house, etc.

Storing an additonal copy on your email account is nice, but even the
biggest ISP's have had data disasters, and they have also changed
hands and deleted accounts or discontinued service for no apparent
reason. None of them are too big to fail or change.

RLM wrote:
On Sat, 16 May 2009 21:10:03 -0500, HeyBub wrote:

RLM wrote:

My safe deposit box costs $38 per year. Seems cheap to me. What do
you consider cheap?
Family will keep a copy of a CD for free. Free is cheap! It's
availible on weekends too! Day or night if need be. I also have a
couple of fire safes in the house and live in a community with 24 hr.
fire protection. So I can also keep a copy.
CDs cost money. A Gmail address is free.

Gmail allows up to 8Gigs of storage (last I heard). Send an email to
yourself with the pictures in a ZIP file attachement.

The documents are, like Elvis, out of the building. They are accessible
anywhere to anybody with the password. They are easily updatable.

Where's the bad?

I already own a dozen re-writeable CD's that can be copied and erased over
and over like floppy discs. Nothing wrong with online storage. I offered
it because I'm sure I'm not the only one that has them setting around.


Re-writable optical media is probably the worst possible choice for
reliability (next to floppies).

"George" wrote in message
...
RLM wrote:
On Sat, 16 May 2009 21:10:03 -0500, HeyBub wrote:

RLM wrote:

My safe deposit box costs $38 per year. Seems cheap to me. What do
you consider cheap?
Family will keep a copy of a CD for free. Free is cheap! It's
availible on weekends too! Day or night if need be. I also have a
couple of fire safes in the house and live in a community with 24 hr.
fire protection. So I can also keep a copy.
CDs cost money. A Gmail address is free.

Gmail allows up to 8Gigs of storage (last I heard). Send an email to
yourself with the pictures in a ZIP file attachement.

The documents are, like Elvis, out of the building. They are accessible
anywhere to anybody with the password. They are easily updatable.

Where's the bad?

I already own a dozen re-writeable CD's that can be copied and erased
over
and over like floppy discs. Nothing wrong with online storage. I offered
it because I'm sure I'm not the only one that has them setting around.


Re-writable optical media is probably the worst possible choice for
reliability (next to floppies).


Even the write-once media got some bad press a few years ago in InfoWorld
and/or PC World.

"scorpster" wrote in message
...
We're shopping around for homeowners insurance as it appears we can find
policies these days a lot cheaper than the one we have (might have
something to do with the real estate crash and insurance companies trying
to boost their business). When I received the binder in the mail from our
broker, I had to correct some details that he wrote down incorrectly. For
example that the pool is in-ground (like I told him) and not above-ground
(as in the app) etc. I told him that we have two dogs (both gentle
breeds) but he just noted one of the dogs on the binder application. I
haven't corrected the dog part yet and I'm not sure if I should bother to
do so.

My question is, to what extent should I nit-pick about this form to have
all the details 100% correct? I have the feeling that the broker is not
as concerned about that as I am. But he has 1,000 times more knowledge
about the homeowners insurance industry than I do. I am just concerned
that if there is an incorrect detail if we have a major claim, like if the
house burns down, then I don't want the insurance co. to refuse to cover
it because of some "seemingly" trivial question on the original form is
not correct.

Then fix it. If your non-documented dog bites someone who then sues you,
your insurance may not cover. Don't take this needless risk.

On Sun, 17 May 2009 14:07:39 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 17 May 2009 08:51:18 -0400, wrote:

Regular CDR's that are not rewriteable are actually more stable for
long term storage. They are extremely cheap these days. You can burn
an awful lot of standard CDR's for the price of one rewriteable, and
they are more likely to be readable 5 or 10 years from now. If you
really want to get silly, there are "medical CDR's" that are more
expensive, but are stable for much longer.


Or "archival DVD"

Yes, but the easiest way to find a source is to look for them as
"Medical CD" or "Medical DVD"

On Sun, 17 May 2009 15:10:39 -0400, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

"George" wrote in message
...
RLM wrote:
On Sat, 16 May 2009 21:10:03 -0500, HeyBub wrote:

RLM wrote:

My safe deposit box costs $38 per year. Seems cheap to me. What do
you consider cheap?
Family will keep a copy of a CD for free. Free is cheap! It's
availible on weekends too! Day or night if need be. I also have a
couple of fire safes in the house and live in a community with 24 hr.
fire protection. So I can also keep a copy.
CDs cost money. A Gmail address is free.

Gmail allows up to 8Gigs of storage (last I heard). Send an email to
yourself with the pictures in a ZIP file attachement.

The documents are, like Elvis, out of the building. They are accessible
anywhere to anybody with the password. They are easily updatable.

Where's the bad?

I already own a dozen re-writeable CD's that can be copied and erased
over
and over like floppy discs. Nothing wrong with online storage. I offered
it because I'm sure I'm not the only one that has them setting around.


Re-writable optical media is probably the worst possible choice for
reliability (next to floppies).


Even the write-once media got some bad press a few years ago in InfoWorld
and/or PC World.


Some brands are markedly more reliable than others. Verbatim are
excellent.

On Sun, 17 May 2009 15:08:44 -0400, George
wrote:

RLM wrote:
On Sat, 16 May 2009 21:10:03 -0500, HeyBub wrote:

RLM wrote:

My safe deposit box costs $38 per year. Seems cheap to me. What do
you consider cheap?
Family will keep a copy of a CD for free. Free is cheap! It's
availible on weekends too! Day or night if need be. I also have a
couple of fire safes in the house and live in a community with 24 hr.
fire protection. So I can also keep a copy.
CDs cost money. A Gmail address is free.

Gmail allows up to 8Gigs of storage (last I heard). Send an email to
yourself with the pictures in a ZIP file attachement.

The documents are, like Elvis, out of the building. They are accessible
anywhere to anybody with the password. They are easily updatable.

Where's the bad?

I already own a dozen re-writeable CD's that can be copied and erased over
and over like floppy discs. Nothing wrong with online storage. I offered
it because I'm sure I'm not the only one that has them setting around.


Re-writable optical media is probably the worst possible choice for
reliability (next to floppies).
Really??
Still a heck of a lot better than magnetic tape - or NVRam.
The big drawback to today's rewritables for archival use is they CAN
be erased and over-written or altered while write-once media cannot.

Then of course there is the issue of poor quality Chinese Crap being
passed off as quality media - but that's a totally different story.

On Sun, 17 May 2009 16:04:02 -0400, "Dimitrios Paskoudniakis"
wrote:


"scorpster" wrote in message
.. .
We're shopping around for homeowners insurance as it appears we can find
policies these days a lot cheaper than the one we have (might have
something to do with the real estate crash and insurance companies trying
to boost their business). When I received the binder in the mail from our
broker, I had to correct some details that he wrote down incorrectly. For
example that the pool is in-ground (like I told him) and not above-ground
(as in the app) etc. I told him that we have two dogs (both gentle
breeds) but he just noted one of the dogs on the binder application. I
haven't corrected the dog part yet and I'm not sure if I should bother to
do so.

My question is, to what extent should I nit-pick about this form to have
all the details 100% correct? I have the feeling that the broker is not
as concerned about that as I am. But he has 1,000 times more knowledge
about the homeowners insurance industry than I do. I am just concerned
that if there is an incorrect detail if we have a major claim, like if the
house burns down, then I don't want the insurance co. to refuse to cover
it because of some "seemingly" trivial question on the original form is
not correct.

Then fix it. If your non-documented dog bites someone who then sues you,
your insurance may not cover. Don't take this needless risk.


And warn your agent/broker to be sure his E&O coverage is up to date.
He may be needing it if this is his common MO.

On Sat, 16 May 2009 21:22:28 -0700, "scorpster"
wrote:

As far as making sure my important files survive a fire.. I use Carbonite
online backup to keep my entire drive contents securely backed up in a
remote location.. works pretty well.

I wouldn't count on that. I believe Dick Cheney is there right now,
reading and editing them.

I had my brother sign up for it too,
and it rescued all his data when his laptop hard drive crashed.

"scorpster" wrote in message
...
We're shopping around for homeowners insurance as it appears we can find
policies these days a lot cheaper than the one we have (might have
something to do with the real estate crash and insurance companies trying
to boost their business). When I received the binder in the mail from our
broker, I had to correct some details that he wrote down incorrectly. For
example that the pool is in-ground (like I told him) and not above-ground
(as in the app) etc. I told him that we have two dogs (both gentle
breeds) but he just noted one of the dogs on the binder application. I
haven't corrected the dog part yet and I'm not sure if I should bother to
do so.

My question is, to what extent should I nit-pick about this form to have
all the details 100% correct? I have the feeling that the broker is not
as concerned about that as I am. But he has 1,000 times more knowledge
about the homeowners insurance industry than I do. I am just concerned
that if there is an incorrect detail if we have a major claim, like if the
house burns down, then I don't want the insurance co. to refuse to cover
it because of some "seemingly" trivial question on the original form is
not correct.

Ask your broker, not us. Who the heck are we that you would potentially
jeopardize your (and your family's) financial future over?

If for some inexplicable reason you don;t trust your broker, talk to your
local, municipal, state/province or federal regulator

In cases like this it's always good to get a real and professional opinion.

On May 16, 6:44�pm, "scorpster" wrote:
We're shopping around for homeowners insurance as it appears we can find
policies these days a lot cheaper than the one we have (might have something
to do with the real estate crash and insurance companies trying to boost
their business). �When I received the binder in the mail from our broker, I
had to correct some details that he wrote down incorrectly. �For example
that the pool is in-ground (like I told him) and not above-ground (as in the
app) etc. �I told him that we have two dogs (both gentle breeds) but he just
noted one of the dogs on the binder application. �I haven't corrected the
dog part yet and I'm not sure if I should bother to do so.

My question is, to what extent should I nit-pick about this form to have all
the details 100% correct? �I have the feeling that the broker is not as
concerned about that as I am. �But he has 1,000 times more knowledge about
the homeowners insurance industry than I do. �I am just concerned that if
there is an incorrect detail if we have a major claim, like if the house
burns down, then I don't want the insurance co. to refuse to cover it
because of some "seemingly" trivial question on the original form is not
correct.

if you have a claim the company can claim insurance fraud and not pay
anything.... insurance fraud is serious. you can go to jail, although
in these examples they may just not pay.

the broker just wants the comission

On Sun, 31 May 2009 07:57:55 -0700 (PDT), bob haller
wrote:

On May 16, 6:44?pm, "scorpster" wrote:
We're shopping around for homeowners insurance as it appears we can find
policies these days a lot cheaper than the one we have (might have something
to do with the real estate crash and insurance companies trying to boost
their business). ?When I received the binder in the mail from our broker, I
had to correct some details that he wrote down incorrectly. ?For example
that the pool is in-ground (like I told him) and not above-ground (as in the
app) etc. ?I told him that we have two dogs (both gentle breeds) but he just
noted one of the dogs on the binder application. ?I haven't corrected the
dog part yet and I'm not sure if I should bother to do so.

My question is, to what extent should I nit-pick about this form to have all
the details 100% correct? ?I have the feeling that the broker is not as
concerned about that as I am. ?But he has 1,000 times more knowledge about
the homeowners insurance industry than I do. ?I am just concerned that if
there is an incorrect detail if we have a major claim, like if the house
burns down, then I don't want the insurance co. to refuse to cover it
because of some "seemingly" trivial question on the original form is not
correct.

if you have a claim the company can claim insurance fraud and not pay
anything.... insurance fraud is serious. you can go to jail, although
in these examples they may just not pay.

the broker just wants the comission

My daughter is a registered broker - and this kind of practice is
SERIOUS. There are unscrupulous brokers out there who will do ANYTHING
to write a policy, for the small commission involved.

They can lose a LOT by pulling those tricks. They want to be sure
their E&O insurance is paid up - and if they get caught once too
often, they may be unable to GET E&O insurance in the future.