With today being February 29 is it Free Insurance Day! Due to 2012 being a Leap Year and the addition of February 29 to our calendar, today is Free Insurance Day. How does that exactly work? All policies that include February 29, 2012 within their policy term are really 366 day policies instead of 365 days - for no additional charge- aka FREE! Also, any policies bound effective today - 2/29/12 will expire 3/1/13. Still getting 366 days of coverage for no additional cost! Starting tomorrow, they will go back to 365 day policies. Fun Facts about Leap Year Leap Year comes about every 4 years. There are actually about 365 1/4 days in a year - 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds (to be exact) - so to keep our calendar in sync with the solar calendar, every 4 years we add an extra day - February 29. Egyptians were the first people to add a leap day every four years. However, the Romans were the first to choose February 29th as the official date. In 1288 Queen Margret of Scotland ordered t ...

Usually, a garage business has many exposures including auto, premises, operations, contractual and products completed. As a business owner of a garage or repair shop, you want to make sure your day-to-day business operations are not halted by faulty repair, damage to customer’s or non-dealer’s vehicles or bodily injury. In order to successfully cover all exposures your garage business may be vulnerable to, you must invest in the proper insurance coverage or else the financial and legal liability will be left in your hands. When you do your research, you find there are multiple coverages to choose from; Garage Liability Insurance and Garagekeepers Liability Insurance. So which one should you choose? Before you approach your insurer, you should educate yourself of the differences and similarities between the two because after all, you want to be informed before you make such an imperative investment within your business. Garage Liability Coverages: Garage Operations—Other Than Cover ...

It’s a nightmare that has befallen many small Asheboro, Boone and Southern Pines businesses. One of your best clients has just made a significant purchase, and it seems the world couldn’t be a better place. Then, on their way to their car, disaster strikes. A sudden trip, a slip and fall, and your happy client is now hurt, angry and a potential plaintiff in a lawsuit against your business, all in the space of a few disastrous seconds. Although you can wish it hadn’t happened, and you should always be certain to take any precautions about your business location to try and prevent such accidents, what happens from the standpoint of your insurance coverage? There are two extremely valuable provisions in a solid business insurance policy designed specifically to respond to incidents such as this. The goal of the provisions is twofold:  protect your business from the financial risk of such accidents—legal fees for defense, the potential for large lawsuit awards against you; and try ...

First Pioneer Insurance Agency has achieved the On Your Side® Master Farm Certification designation from Nationwide Agribusiness Insurance Company, Des Moines, IA. Master Farm Certification is the next step in Nationwide Agribusiness’ On Your Side Farm Certification program. Farmers can depend on a Master Farm Certified agent to have an in-depth understanding of their farming operations, provide detailed risk assessments, educate them about exposures, match coverages to meet their needs, and provide professional, knowledgeable service. “We’re excited First Pioneer Insurance Agency has become Master Certified,” said Clayton Evans, Agency Vice President. “We have made a commitment to help protect farmers with the highest levels of professionalism and service. Master certification tells our farmers that we’ll keep investing in training to be sure we’re positioned to help protect them now and into the future.” The Master Farm Certified designation is also in ...

We have officially kicked off our 4-H Facebook Event where we are giving 4-H’ers across North Carolina a chance to receive a $500 donation for their 4-H project or activity!  This event is open to all active NC 4-H members currently working on a project or activity.  To enter 4-H’ers or their parent/guardian’s simply need to email michellev@pioneerinsurance.com a photo of their project along with their name, county, and a brief description of what they’re working on. If the 4-H’er is under 18, please include the parent/guardian consent to participate.  We will then load it on our Facebook page where they can have family and friends “like it”.  The photo with the most “likes” on March 30th will receive a $500 donation to use toward their project or attending 4-H camp this summer! For every “like”, we will also donate $1 towards sending kids to 4-H camp (up to $1,000).  Entries will be grouped by county, and the money ...

Valentine's Day is special holiday celebrated by millions of Americans every year, unfortunantely it can be a dangerous holiday for their pets.  These are a couple of tips to reduce risk of illness or injury to your pet. Pet-proof Bouquets Many feline owners are not aware that lilys are potentially fatal if ingested. If your cat is showing systems of an as stomach upset, vomiting or diarrhea they need to be given medical attention in the case of lily poisoning. Consult an online toxic/nontoxic plant guide if you know that the recipient you are sending flowers too is a cat owner. Stay off the Sweets Pet owners should also know that chocolate can also potentially harm your pet. Baker’s, semi sweet, milk and darker chocolates contain methylxanthines, a caffeine stimulant that can pose a risk to your pet’s gastrointestinal, neurologic and cardiac systems. Vomiting or diarrhea, hyperactivity, seizures and an abnormally elevated heart rate are symptoms that your pet may have ingested chocolat ...

It is important that you know your rights and limitations of coverage as defined in your health insurance policy. It is your insurance provider’s job to know the laws, wordings, restrictions and regulations that may impact your policy. This is not an exhaustive list of terms and lingo you may come across in your policy. If you want to get the most out of your policy be sure that you are familiar with these terms so that you can effectively communicate with your insurer and healthcare provider. Traditional Health Insurance- a type of health insurance policy where the policyholder is cover by their insurer to choose any physician or hospital they would like the receive treatment at. This means that typically their premiums will be higher than other types of health insurance plans. Short-Term Medical Insurance- is an inexpensive type of insurance that runs for a period of time up to six months.  This type of insurance often has stricter pre-existing medical conditions limits and doesn’t cove ...

Understanding life insurance can be difficult at best, and we all know how imperative it is to have life insurance. There are several types of life insurance and terminology used in each that are often different across the board. When making such an important decision with deciding what insurance policy is best for your needs you need to know exactly what your coverage includes and address any questions you may have. Beneficiary- individual(s) designated to receive the death benefit in the event of the insured person's death Cash (Surrender) Value- money accumulated in a Life Insurance policy while the policy is in force Convertible Term Insurance- type of Term Life Insurance can be converted into a Whole Life Insurance policy or a Universal Life Insurance policy without evidence of insurability Death Benefit- sum of money paid to the beneficiary upon the insured's death regardless of the cause of death Dividend- additional monetary value you can receive from Participating Whole Life Insurance policy th ...

Every homeowner should understand their Homeowners Insurance policy in terms of its exclusions and extent of coverage. It will help your insurance agent if you are familiar with your policy and able to ask them any questions you may have about changes when you are reviewing it. Homeowners Insurance (also known as Home Insurance, Hazard Insurance, HOI) - is a type of insurance that protects the insured property against losses. Most often those losses occur from disasters such as fire, lightning, storms, explosions as well as theft or vandalism Personal Property- is defined as any property of an insured individual other than real estate. Include: personal effects, movable property, personal goods and chattels. (jewelry, equipment, cars, furniture, and pets) Real estate- is defined as any land, permanent buildings on the land Appraisal- is an evaluation of a claim by an authorized expert whose job it is to decide the property value or damaged property value Cancellation- is the termination of a home insur ...

These are some commonly used terms with definitions that you may come across when looking at your car insurance policy. Today is the first day of our Insurance Lingo Series, tomorrow we will be covering some Home Insurance Lingo. Check back each day this week for more information! Benefit- is the amount of money an insurance company pays you or the beneficiary when you file a claim due to an accident  Bodily Injury- type of liability within Car Insurance. It covers medical and rehabilitation expenses for injuries the policyholder causes to another party. Claims Adjuster- someone whose job is to investigate the claim, i.e. evaluate the damage caused to property or people when an insurance-related accident occurs and then make recommendations upon the findings. Collision- type of Car Insurance, protects against damage or loss resulting from any collision with another car or some object, independent of whether it was the insured person's fault or not. Comprehensive- type of Car Insurance, offers prot ...