We all want our teens to return home safely for the holidays – and every day. Unfortunately, research tells us the holidays are one of the deadliest times of the year for teen drivers, and texting is one of the most dangerous distractions facing teens today.

Recently launched is the "X the TXT: Thumbs Up to the Safest Holiday Ever," a national public awareness campaign aimed at minimizing texting while driving.

You can go online to get involved and find teen safe driving resources from Allstate. Click here where you can download a family pledge brochure to help you start a discussion about safe driving. You and your teens can also pledge not to text and drive at http://www.facebook.com/thumbsuppledge.

We hope teens and parents will take personal action to help save lives this holiday season and beyond. This campaign is the latest in our long-standing commitment to promoting teen safe driving.

As always, I am happy to discuss safe driving with your teen. I wish you and your family a safe and happy holiday season.

Happy Holidays!

We would like to wish you all happy holidays! We want to thank you all for your business and express our gratitude to you for your friendship, loyalty, and memories that we have created over the years. We hope that you will tak ethis time of year to appreciate the relationships that you have in all aspects of your life, and appreciate the this that you do have! It is a tough time in the world today. We hope that this holiday season will, if anything, give you a break from the turmoil and heartache that so many are experiencing, and give you that small glimmer of hope for the future and that your heart will be filled with joy, if only but for a short moment in time.

Thank you for everything that you bring to our lives!

-Steve & Troy Sherman

Renters Beware!!

Renters insurance is the most inexpensive form of insurance yet the least amount of people seem to purchase it. Here are a few more statistics that may interest you:

• People who rent homes, condos or apartments are 79% more likely to be burglarized that those who own their home.
• According the FBI, 2 out of 3 burglaries occur in homes, condos or apartments
• The average residential loss exceeds $1,000.
• Burglaries occur every 10 seconds!

Take a look at this link for more information on Renters insurance and dont be one of the many who dont think you need it, because if you get home tonight and your home is wiped out, then what are you going to do?

Also be sure to take a look at the "Coverage Options" link as well as the "Discounts and Savings" link for additional information. Another fact that most people dont know is that if you have both a renters policy and auto policy, the discount on your auto policy will more than likely pay for most, if not all, of your renters policy. That means "free" insurance! Dont take that risk your self, put that risk on our shoulders!

If you like the information provided in this blogpost, check out our resource library for information just like it!

Dont buy a car without using these tools first!

New or used? Lease or finance? Do the math and decide what makes sense for you. Click on the link below and you will have the answers you need plus much, much more.


• Which is better: a new or used vehicle?
http://partners.leadfusion.com/tools/allstate/auto01/tool.fcs

• How much should depreciation cost me?
http://partners.leadfusion.com/tools/allstate/auto02/tool.fcs

• Should I lease or purchase a vehicle?
http://partners.leadfusion.com/tools/allstate/auto03/tool.fcs

• Should I finance or pay cash for a vehicle?
http://partners.leadfusion.com/tools/allstate/auto04/tool.fcs

• How much will my vehicle payments be?
http://partners.leadfusion.com/tools/allstate/auto05/tool.fcs

• Which vehicle loan is better?
http://partners.leadfusion.com/tools/allstate/auto06/tool.fcs

• What term of vehicle loan should I choose?
http://partners.leadfusion.com/tools/allstate/auto07/tool.fcs

• Should I use a home equity loan instead of an auto loan?
http://partners.leadfusion.com/tools/allstate/auto08/tool.fcs

• Which is better: a rebate or special dealer financing?
http://partners.leadfusion.com/tools/allstate/auto09/tool.fcs

• How long should I keep a vehicle?
http://partners.leadfusion.com/tools/allstate/auto10/tool.fcs

• What vehicle can I afford?
http://partners.leadfusion.com/tools/allstate/auto11/tool.fcs


If you like the information provided in this blogpost, chekc out our resource library for information just like it!

Protect your family!

Do you have a life insurance policy for you and your spouse? Many people think that they only need life insurance on the breadwinner of their family and not their stay-at-home spouse. However, consider who would take care of your children, who stayed at home with your spouse, if he or she died. Chances are they would have to go to a daycare facility. Are you prepared to pay for it if that becomes the case? Is your spouse going to have enough money to replace your income if something happened to you, the breadwinner of the family? Life insurance can be very inexpensive while providing much needed peace of mind! Take a look at the following information to decide what kind of life insurance policy best meets your needs.

http://www.allstateagencies.com/SteveSherman/AllstateProducts/article.aspx?binderid=192965365056&prodid=6

If you like the information provided in this blogpost, check out our resource library for information just like it!

Do you own a condo or townhome?

Many people do not understand what they are responsible to insure when it comes to their association vs. unit owners. It is assumed that the unit owner protects their personal belongings inside their home and that the association covers the rest. This is not true. Many associations will only rebuild up to the drywall, without paint or texture, leaving the cabinets, bathtubs, flooring, and other improvements up to the unit owner to replace. Make sure you take the time to understand how the CCR's for your association read and what your responsibility is as a unit owner. Also take a look at the following information as to how to properly insure your condo so that you can get everything back in the event of a loss.

http://www.allstateagencies.com/SteveSherman/AllstateProducts/article.aspx?binderid=191498483160&prodid=4

If you like the information provided in this blogpost, check out our resource library for more information just like it!

Are you insuring your business properly?

Many people do not even know that Allstate Insurance agents offer commercial insurance products. However, Allstate provides you the peace of mind that you are insured by one of the most financially stable insurance companies in the nation. Take a look at the many ways that we can insure your business, as well as the wide variety of products that we offer, to ensure that your business stays intact when you have a loss.

http://www.allstateagencies.com/SteveSherman/AllstateProducts/article.aspx?binderid=387609912996&prodid=23

If you like the information provided in this blogpost, check out our resource library for information just like it!

Most Common and Costly Claims

Take a look in your area and see what some of the most common and most costly claims are.

http://www.allstate.com/landingpages/common_and_costly_claims.aspx

If you like the information provided in this blogpost, check out our resource library for more information like this!

Making Sense of Coverages and Premium

Many people think premium first and then what coverages can I get. This does not make sense! First determine what risks you do not want to take. Those are usually the catastropic losses to your property or catastrophic liability claims. These are the losses you could never recover from.
Keeping in mind that policies do have limits, how much risk do you have and how much insurance/protection should you buy. A stolen bicycle may be inconvenient, but your home burning down would be unrecoverable. Another thought is an automobile accident where you have injured another party. The legal fees alone to defend yourself can easily be above $300/hour and these cases can last for years.

Again think castophic losses first. The premiums can be controlled by higher deductible, which generally only impact minor losses like the stolen bicycle. Even in the event of an earthquake, where the deductilbe are fairly high. Over time you can recover from the deductible, where you could never recover from the overall damage to your home.

So let's be clear. What are the catastophies your family faces. Get them covered first! Your agent can show you how you can control the premiums with higher deductilbe.

Build a relationship with your agent and discuss what risks you are taking and what risks you are paying the insurance company to take. He can help you apply sound principles to you insurance program. If you are not building that relationship, or you have several policies with several different agents, you are not making sense of your insurance.

It is better to discuss this with you agent before a loss rather than finding out after a loss that you were not covered properly.

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Make Sense of Insurance

Having been an Allstate agent for 31 years, the opportunity avails itself to help people make sense of insurance, in a very general way. There are many different types of policies, some which you pay for and some that are provided for you or that your employer may pay all or part of the premium for you.

I have yet to have a complaint about premiums from someone who had a loss and had the right insurance coverages.

So how do you get there? First of all, understand that insurance is really about sharing risks. Some risks you are going to take your self, some you are going to want to pay an insurance company to take for you.

If my bicycle is stolen, I am OK taking that risk myself. If my house burns down, I don't want to take that risk, so I pay an insurance company to take the majority of that risk for me.

Also keep in mind, just because you have a policy and pay a premium, does not mean everything is covered. You need to discuss with your agent what is and is not covered by your current policy.

You need to build a relationship with your agent and discuss what risks you are taking and what risks you are paying the insurance company to take. If you are not building that relationship, or you have several policies with several different agents, you are not making sense of your insurance.

It is better to discuss this before a loss rather than finding out after a loss that you were not covered properly.

If you found this blog of value please send it to a friend.