The Butler Blog

Living in middle Tennessee, we see our fair share of floods, tornados, and snow. In 2010 we had two massive floods. It was interesting to see a house floating down the interstate. However, most of the time floods consist of a few flooded fields, creeks, androads. Driving on flooded roads is dangerous.  Let’s consider a few things.

Last year, Chester Butler wrote an article on this subject. You can read it HERE. However, we receive this question frequently, especially from homeowners looking to have some type of construction project done at their home. Therefore, I thought I would briefly revisit this topic in a “Cliff Notes” version. However, I encourage you to go back and get more detail from Chester’s article.

I love dogs! Man’s best friend, right? Small, medium, large; they are all cool to me. Although using them as an accessory is a bit much.

Damage to the roof of your home is nothing to be taken lightly, and neither should be choosing the right people to repair it. Unfortunately, roof repair scams are very common in today's world. That means it's more important than ever to be careful. After all, you are entrusting the safety of your home to them. Fortunately, there are a few simple precautions you can take to ensure that you're never the victim of one of these scams.

Tommy writes a Valentines letter. He is so thoughtful…it hurts!

If you are a Tennessee driver, pat yourself on the back! Why? Because the data is in and Tennessee had less than one thousand traffic related deaths in 2011. But the news gets better. Alcohol related deaths are down 32% according to the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security. We have not had such a low number of traffic related deaths since 1963. Sadly, it took us 48 years to get the number of fatal car crashes to fewer than 1,000.

In my last blog, I described three outside parties that may put your business at risk. They are your vendors, your subcontractors and outside contractors. What can you do to determine if your business is at risk from uninsured contractors? How do you know if a vendor is underinsured? Your best tactic is to ask for an Acord Certificate of Insurance.

Have you verified the insurance coverage for your contractors, subcontractors and vendors? When an insured business does not take the time to determine if their contractors, subcontractors and vendors are insured, they enter The Danger Zone. They are putting their business assets and perhaps their personal assets at risk. These kinds of business insurance risks vary so let's sort them out.

Tennessee homeowners insurance rate increases are arriving in mailboxes across the state. Although not every homeowner or renter will receive a rate increase in 2012, many will. It has been obvious to many insurance industry observers for some time that personal property insurance of all kinds were headed for a spike in premiums. The natural disasters of 2011 provided the tipping point.

In December I wrote several articles on how to lower homeowners insurance costs. I did this because my research indicated that Tennessee homeowners insurance rate increases were just around the corner.  Of course, I had a little tip from The Insurance Prophet so I can’t take all the credit as an insurance fortune teller. Nevertheless, the rate increases are here!