William recently relocated to Alaska from Georgia to join Pippel Insurance Agency. With twenty years of commercial insurance experience, having worked both as a client in the electric utility industry and as an insurance broker with a large multinational firm, William is excited to use his experience and expertise to assist our customers. He has worked with clients of all sizes across numerous industries and in all lines of commercial insurance, and we are confident in his abilities to assist you with your business insurance needs.

As an outdoor enthusiast who loves to hike, William completed a full thru hike of the 2,178 mile Appalachian Trail last year and has found his way to a different trail nearly every weekend since arriving in Alaska. We are glad to have him as part of our team, and we’re thrilled that he is enjoying this beautiful state that we all call home.

Welcome, William!

We are pleased to recognize accountant Wendy Fredrickson’s sixth anniversary with Pippel Insurance this week!

Wendy, we truly appreciate all of your hard work and for what you contribute to Pippel. We are so thankful for you and look forward to many, many more years with you here!

This summer, we would like to remind you of the advantages of  letting us cover both your home and auto. Not only does bundling home and auto insurance products typically same you money, freeing up cash in the family budget for a wide variety of other basic necessities, but it tends to make dealing with insurance issues more simple and streamlined, freeing up your time for a wide variety of summer activities.

If you would like to learn more about bundling your home and auto insurance, please contact:

Casey Lewis, Insurance Consultant
phone: (907)745-3261
email: casey@pippelinsurance.com

Marnie Ehlers, Personal Insurance Consultant
phone: (907)745-3261
email: marniee@pippelinsurance.com

Personal Insurance Consultant, Casey Lewis, and Commercial Marketing Executive, Nina Gardino, CISR, CIC, just celebrated two years of service with Pippel Insurance.

Casey and Nina, thank you for being such valuable members of our staff. We are so excited to work with you each and every day, and are thankful for the wonderful service that you provide to our customers. We appreciate you so much.

We hope you have an enjoyable Memorial Day this year! If you have not yet made plans, Anchorage Daily News has a good list of Memorial Day Events to participate in. However you choose to pay tribute to the U.S. men and women who have died during military service and those who serve today, we hope you have an enjoyable weekend.

Below are a few tips for a safe Memorial Day Weekend:

Barbecue Food Safety - Simple guidelines for grilling food safely
Boating Safety - Learn from the U.S. Coast Guard how to prevent accidents, injuries, and fatalities while boating
Drive Safely - 5 Tips for Memorial Day Driving
Swimming Safety - Before you jump in, make sure you know the facts about water safety
Travel Safely - Tips for airline status, airport screening, foreign travel advisories and citizens abroad

According to a 2007 study by the Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) and Liberty Mutual Insurance Group, text messaging behind the wheel tops the list as the biggest distraction while driving. The study revealed that texting while driving is quickly becoming as dangerous as drinking and driving.

In an effort to discourage teens from texting while driving, parents should model good driving habits as well. Studies have shown that adults are also guilty of texting behind the wheel.

If receiving or responding to a text message is especially critical, find a safe place to stop and pull over before responding. Then put your phone out of sight and out of reach so that it is not a distraction.

In addition, there is a new application for the iPhone - iZUP - that will hold all text messages and calls while you’re driving. The technology is able to detect when the phone is in a vehicle traveling more than 5 miles per hour.  Calls during the drive will be automatically sent to voicemail, and emails and text messages will be held until the vehicle stops and the driver is capable of responding safely. Unlimited access to 911 and a list of authorized phone numbers, however, is allowed.

DriveSafe.ly™ is another useful application for BlackBerry, and Android mobile phones - and coming soon to the iPhone and Windows Mobile phones. DriveSafe.ly™ will read text messages and emails aloud in real time and automatically respond without the driver even touching the mobile phone. A similar application available on the iPhone and BlackBerry is Text’nDrive.

As always, please drive safely.

Three of our staff members celebrated anniversaries with Pippel Insurance this month.

Melanie Rudisill, of Business Insurance Servicing, and Business Insurance Consultant Adrienne Farring both celebrated their second year with Pippel Insurance Agency, and Bonding Associate Annette Troseth just celebrated her third year!

Melanie, Adrienne and Annette, your exceptional service to our customers is very much appreciated by all of us at Pippel. Thank you for all you do. We look forward to many, many more years with you here!

Research has shown that although it may seem like we have been experiencing more earthquakes around the globe recently, quakes of a magnitude of 7.0 or more have remained relatively constant throughout the last century. That being said, Alaska remains the most seismically active state in the United States by far, and is site of the second-largest earthquake ever recorded.

It is a common misconception that earthquake coverage is included in a typical homeowner policy. Again, we would like to emphasize that it is not included on most homeowner’s insurance policies and must be purchased as separate coverage, or an endorsement. This coverage requires that the earthquake is the direct cause of damage to the property. In many cases, natural disasters can initiate other events that may also cause damage to the property. An example of this would be an earthquake causing bodies of water to produce waves, resulting in flooding.

The Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions & Professional Registration explains, “Earthquake coverage pays for damage caused by the shaking and cracking that can harm homes. Other damage may be covered by other insurance. Fire and water damage due to burst gas and water pipes - even though it may be caused by a quake - is generally covered by the standard portion of the homeowners policy. Earthquake damage to vehicles is covered by the comprehensive portion of auto policies.”

Many factors help determine premiums, or whether your home is even insurable, including the materials used to build the home. “For instance, rates may be cheaper for wood-frame homes, which withstand tremors better than homes made of masonry (brick, stone, etc.). Single-story homes may also receive better rates as they tend to suffer less damage in the event of an earthquake. Age of the home can also affect premiums. Some insurers will not offer earthquake insurance for masonry homes.”

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us. We will be glad to help.

Last Friday, we held an Employee Appreciation Dinner for Pippel at Settler’s Bay. There was good news to share (more on that to come!), delicious food (as always!), much laughter, great music provided by Jared Woods… and entertainment provided by many excited and playful children fueled by adult-sized portions of extra decadent dessert (yum!).

We had such a great time together.

With most roads cleared of winter gravel, now is the time to bring your vehicle in to have those chips and dings in your windshield repaired. Not only are these blemishes unsightly, but they may be hazardous and obstruct your view while driving.

We would like to recommend one of our customers, Gator Glass Company in Palmer. Gator Glass is locally owned and operated, and has been serving the Mat-Su Valley and surrounding areas for thirty years. They are a full-service glass shop and are currently running a special to take care of those windshield dings that you may have accumulated this winter. Just bring in the coupon below for savings on your first chip repair.

For more information, visit Gator Glass Company, located at 1931 South Whiting Circle in Palmer, just off the Parks Highway and Trunk Road Exit, or give them a call at 907-745-1600.