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J Coyle & Associates Blog

All You Ever Wanted to Know About Insurance

How to Choose Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detectors

Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are essential for any home, so you should ensure that your house is equipped with them. You should have detectors in the main living areas on each floor, including in every bedroom...

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How to Make a Fire Safety Plan

No one likes to think about the possibility of a fire in their home, but this is one situation where it definitely pays to be prepared. This is especially true if you have children or pets in your home. Read on to learn...

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How to Decide If Solar Panels Are Right for Your Home

Solar panels can provide clean electricity for your home, helping you to save money on energy costs while also doing your part to help the environment. However, not all homes are suited to solar energy. Here's what you...

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How Independent Agents Are Different from Captive Agents

When it comes to buying insurance, you have two primary options available to you: independent agents like us, and captive agents. While both can provide insurance services, these two types of insurance agents are not...

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Benefits of Using a Dash Cam

More and more people these days are choosing to add dash cams to their vehicles, and for good reason. These small cameras can be highly useful to you, especially in the event that you get a traffic ticket or are...

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Swimming Safety: 10 Tips for Summer

Summer is here and people are flocking to the water — whether it’s the beach, a lake, a river or a backyard pool. But, wherever there’s water, there’s also danger. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and...

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Why You May Need Personal Offense Coverage

In today’s digital world, slander and libel lawsuits are more common than you may think. Comments made in haste or anger on social media can have lasting and far-reaching effects on a person’s reputation or character,...

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10 Tips to Help Prevent Identity Theft

Shopping online. Visiting the doctor. Buying gas. In nearly all of the things we do from day to day, there’s the risk of identity theft. You could unknowingly give your information to a fraudster thinking you’re...

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Inexpensive Fixes for a Safer Home

Home improvement: It’s a never-ending process for many people, and for those of us who aren’t necessarily handy, it can be a hassle, too. But there are plenty of simple maintenance tasks and other improvements you can...

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Own a home? Here are two policy options you should know about

If you have a homeowners policy, you probably expect it to cover all the costs of rebuilding your house in case it’s damaged or destroyed by a covered hazard. But are you certain you have enough coverage? Read about two...

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Porch Safety: Should You Leave the Lights On?

It seems like a no-brainer to leave the lights on outside your home to deter burglars while you’re away (or even while you’re asleep). But does that really work? Or is it just a waste of electricity — particularly this...

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Don’t Delay — Start Thinking About Winterizing Your RV Today

Unless you’re headed to a warmer climate for the winter - or you live in one already - fall is the time to start preparing your RV for winter (as long as you’re done using it for a while, that is). And just because you...

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Why a basic Homeowners policy isn’t always enough

Sometimes a basic homeowners policy just isn’t enough. So as your career advances and your income increases, it’s important to keep your insurance protection up to date. This helps you avoid expensive gaps in coverage...

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10 Things to do to Prepare Your Home for Fall

Fall is a wonderful time - if your home is ready for it. So enjoy the last few weeks of warmer weather, but do a little preventative maintenance while you’re at it. You’ll fix small problems before they become big, and...

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It’s Back-to-School Time — Is Your House Ready?

We’re not quite sure where summer went, but if you haven’t noticed, the new school year is upon us. And as you get your kids organized and ready, consider doing the same thing for something else - your home. It won’t...

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Tips for Power Tool Safety

What would you do without power tools? Well, you’d probably take on fewer home-improvement projects — and probably have a lot more calluses on your hands. Thankfully, you don’t have to do without. But you do have to use...

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What is water backup coverage and why is it important?

Water damage can be disastrous to your home. Imagine discovering that your entire basement is filled with brown water and sewage from a backed-up water main or other pipe. It’s not only disgusting and potentially...

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How to Update your Home — Without Spending Thousands

It doesn’t take a massive remodel, or a big budget, to make your house feel a little more like home to you. Inside or out, small improvements can make a significant difference - and whether you’re handy or not, you can...

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Why You Need Service Line Coverage

Let’s spare a moment for something most of us use every day yet probably take for granted: our service lines. We rely on them for access to water, electricity, gas, Internet connection, and more, but only think about...

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What to Consider When Choosing Auto Insurance

Carrying a minimum amount of auto insurance is required by state laws, so you can’t legally drive without it. Yet while the minimum amount keeps your premiums lower, it can also put you at great risk if you have an...

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5 Carbon Monoxide Safety Tips

Every year, unintentional carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning (not linked to fires) sends 20,000 people to the emergency room and causes more than 4,000 hospitalizations. And, you might consider them the fortunate ones. CO...

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When Roadside Assistance Isn’t Enough

If you’ve ever been stuck on the side of the highway with an RV issue, you know what a life saver roadside assistance can be. Whether you need a battery charged, a tire changed, or a tow you’re often back on the road in...

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Why You Might Want to Live Like a Minimalist

Decluttering is having a moment these days. Organizing guru Marie Kondo has her own show on Netflix, people everywhere are going through their things and asking, “Does this bring me joy?” and many are even exploring the...

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What Car Drivers Need to Know about Motorcycles

Fall is here, and there are still plenty of motorcycles on the road. And the key word here is “see.” People driving cars and trucks often fail to notice the motorcyclists around them, partly because they’re not...

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How to Ride Your Motorcycle Safely in a Group

Group riding is a favorite activity among many motorcycle riders. Whether you’re part of a riding club, a social event, a charity ride, or out for a leisurely cruise with friends, group riding can be a rewarding way to...

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How to Make Your Family Vacation a Great One

Summer is here, which means it’s time to think about family vacations! (If you haven’t been thinking about them all year, that is.) The family part of family vacations, however, can make things a little complicated. You...

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Boating Season is Here – Are You Up to Speed on Safety?

With spring in full bloom and summer just on the horizon, prime boating season is upon us. And you might notice more people on the water than ever, because sales of recreational boats have been growing at a steady clip...

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Five Tips to (Finally) Get your Garage Organized

There’s perhaps no organizing task more daunting than the garage-it’s often the dumping ground for the stuff that has no other place in the house, or the things you don’t use but just can’t bring yourself to toss. How...

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Three Ways to Lower Your Carbon Footprint

April 22 marked the 49th annual Earth Day, when more than 1 billion people in nearly 200 countries were expected to take part in what the Earth Day Network calls “the largest civic-focused day of action in the world.”...

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Spring Cleaning Tips

Spring is a time for new beginnings, and cleaning and organization around the house are very popular this time of year. If you’re ready to tackle the monumental spring cleaning chore, read on for some helpful...

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Home Security Technology: Keeping you ahead of the burglars

Back in the early days of home security “systems,” around the end of World War I, it was common for homeowners to hire “door shakers”-night watchmen who would literally walk around and check doors to make sure they were...

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