Why You Need Underinsured Motorist Coverage (UIM) Today!

I want you to take action today. Literally, today. Call your auto or motorcycle insurance agent and ask him/her the following questions:

• Do I have Underinsured Motorist Coverage?
• Do I have Medical Payments Coverage?

If the answer to either of those is, “No,” tell him/her to add it TODAY. I will tell you why in a second. First, be aware that they may tell you that you don’t need that coverage but you need to INSIST on it.

Insurance agents aren’t bad or dumb people, but I often (very often) hear that they tell their clients not to purchase Underinsured Motorist Coverage (UIM) or MedPay and that makes no sense. I sincerely believe that they don’t understand the interplay between your health insurance and your auto or motorcycle insurance.

A good friend of mine recently called her agent to add UIM and he told her she didn’t need it. This is typical, except that this agent was her good friend! He truly didn’t know why she would absolutely need UIM in the event of an accident.  He said, “Do you have good health insurance? Well, then you don’t need UIM!”

So, now, let me explain why you need Underinsured Motorist Coverage and MedPay.

Why Buy Underinsured Motorist Coverage (UIM)

If you are like most people, you probably have a health insurance plan with an annual deductible and co-pays. Imagine that you’re in a catastrophic accident (or even a fender bender with moderate injuries): those expenses will be your own burden to pay. Now, what if you can’t work? And what if the other person was driving uninsured or underinsured, providing very little (or nothing) to help you cover those expenses?

Your Underinsured Motorist Coverage coverage can cover your medical deductibles, lost wages, unpaid medical bills, co-pays, and help compensate you for your pain and suffering, plus more.

If you DON’T have UIM, and the other driver only has $25,000 (the minimum required by the law), you will only get $25,000, which won’t even come close to covering your medical and other expenses.

Keep in mind: UIM helps you only if you are injured by a driver who has no insurance or insufficient insurance; it will not help if you are more than 50% at fault. To protect yourself in nearly any kind of accident, you also need Medical Payments Coverage. Read on!

Why Buy Medical Payments Coverage?

Medical Payment Coverage, also called MedPay, is a premium that your car insurance company must offer you. In fact, in order to forfeit the coverage, you must sign a waiver. The value of the coverage can range from $5,000 to $25,000.

MedPay is also known as “no fault” insurance. It will pay medical bills up to the policy limits regardless of how the accident happened, with the caveat that it may not pay if you intentionally caused the accident (which arguably is not an accident).

Your MedPay coverage can be used to pay for first responders, such as ambulance companies. It also covers emergency room bills or any other medical bills related to your injury as a result of your car accident, whether or not you were at fault. (Liability coverage only helps if you were at fault.) MedPay can cover co-pays, deductibles, doctor visits and therapeutic treatments such as chiropractors, massage therapy and physical therapy. In essence, it may cover a lot of things that your health insurance may not!

If you have any questions about your coverage, or about something you learned from your insurance agent, please don’t hesitate to call us at (303) 388-5304! We live and breathe this stuff, so we will likely have a quick answer for you.

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Motorcyclist Lives and Heals after Horrific Accident – Motorcycle accident survivors often suffer terrible and life altering injuries. This biker has some words of wisdom for other riders.

Great Denver Nonprofit Organizations and Philanthropists

Urban Peak

Founded in 1988, Urban Peak is the only non-profit organization in Denver that provides a full convergence of services for youths ages 15 through 24 experiencing homelessness or at imminent risk of becoming homeless. The organization’s goal is to help these youths to overcome real life challenges to become self-sufficient adults.

Urban Peak provides five essential services at little or no cost:

• Overnight Shelter
• Daytime Drop-In Center
• Street Outreach
• Education & Employment Programming
• Supportive Housing

Urban Peak’s programs and services are founded on the principles of trauma-informed care and positive youth development. Trauma-informed care is an approach to engaging people with histories of trauma that recognizes the presence of trauma symptoms and acknowledges the role that trauma has played in their lives.

Learn more about this special organization (or to volunteer/donate!).

5 Elements of Passive Solar Design

A strictly passive solar design uses no costly mechanical elements to distribute heat. In other words, a passive solar design relies solely on the strategic placement of windows, walls and floors to absorb and distribute heat from sunlight. The savings in heating bills resulting from a well-planned passive solar design can be significant. The five interconnected elements of passive solar designs are more about planning and positioning than costly devices.

Aperture or Collector

An aperture is the space through which light passes. The aperture (collector) in a complete passive solar design is the glass window area through which sunlight enters interior space. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the apertures in a passive solar design should face within 30 degrees of true south.

Absorber

The absorber in a passive solar design is the hard, darkened surface that absorbs the heat of entering sunlight. This surface can be a wall, floor or partition. The darker the surface of the absorber surface, the more sunlight that is absorbed.

Thermal Mass

Thermal mass is the material underneath or behind the absorber surface. The absorber surface and the thermal mass of a passive solar design are usually part of the same wall, floor or partition. While the absorber brings the sunlight into its surface, the thermal mass retains and stores it for longer periods of time.

Distribution

The distribution element of a passive solar design is the method by which absorbed and retained solar heat is distributed to various areas of the interior. A true, non-mechanical passive solar design utilizes the natural heat transfer methods of conduction, convection and radiation to distribute absorbed and stored solar heat.

Control

Control in a passive solar design is used to regulate any under-heating or overheating that can occur. Control elements can take the form of roof overhang shading, vents, blinds, awnings or fans.