Don't be a Scrooge!

"At the ominous word 'liberality', Scrooge frowned, and
shook his head, and handed the credentials back." -- A Christmas Carol

On Black Friday last year, I posted the many ways you could donate to The Library. The ways haven't changed, though the various wishlists have had additions of subtractions. I mentioned in another post that after several years of having it on the wishlist, we were the lucky recipients of a lap top. We also had several individuals step forward in the past year to adopt books (we showed off the re-furbished History of Insurance in Philadelphia at this week's Annual Meeting). In case you wanted to donate to a charity as you shopped on amazon, or you wanted to make sure to get a donation in to one of your favorite charities before the end of the year, we thought we'd publish the three main ways to donate in one easy to find place!

The Annual Fund is where general monetary donations throughout the year go. The money is spent on up-keep of the library as well as focusing on one or two projects for the year. Companies and individuals who donate to the annual fund get their name published in our newsletter (we're a non-profit so your donation may also be eligible for a tax deduction -- we're not tax experts though). This year, a portion of the money went toward cleaning the library and putting finishing touches on rooms that had been damaged in the flood. If you take any classes from the library, you'll notice the basement classrooms have been spruced up!

Another way of supporting the library and its collection is through the "Adopt A Book Program" which provides for preservation of our historical publications and documents. The money donated goes toward a specific item --you can read some background about the books and look at them online in their tattered state to pick which one you want to adopt. We make sure a personalized book plate is put in the front of books, when requested, so users know whose generosity ensured future use of the material. The book plate can be donated in honor of someone in case you want to buy it as a gift for someone else. Your recipient can come into the library any time they want and admire the book-binder's handiwork and their name emblazoned on the inside cover.

Finally, the library has an Amazon Wishlist. While you're completing your other shopping on amazon, you can click over and skim the list. If anything catches your fancy, you can simply add it to your cart with the rest of your purchase and Amazon should know to send it to us. You'll notice there are items on the list for general office upkeep. We're currently using the 2004 version of Quicken and would love to upgrade to a more recent version. As you would expect, the rest of the list is filled out with books. Many of these books have been requested by patrons or are for very specialized areas of insurance interest but aren't in our budget. If you find something that falls within your particular area of interest, we'd love it if you'd donate it to our library so we could share it with many more people.

We are very grateful for all the ways in which our membership supports us, without your generosity we would not be able to offer the services we do!

Annual Meeting

The library had its annual meeting today and welcomed a new trustee, Patrick Quinn of Quinn Group Insurance, to the board.

Patrick Quinn and Frederick N. Nowell, III

Three awards were presented at the meeting as well. Sara Hua of Ironshore earned The Frank W. Humphrey Award. Joe Sciacca, her instructor, presented the award after a heartfelt speech about all of Sara's hard work. Her acceptance speech almost brought the group to tears!

Sarah Hua and Joseph Sciacca

Marc Cleary presented The Barbara W. Thornton Award to his colleague and student, Samantha Frank of Liberty Mutual. She spoke highly of Marc in her acceptance speech mentioning his excellent track record in preparing her for the national examinations.

Marc Cleary & Samantha Frank

Finally, Marc Cleary received an award as a teacher of excellence, for the above average passing ratio of students in his classes. It is the highest level of award from The Institutes, and Marc seemed both surprised and very pleased to be the recipient! He commented that it's the students who do so well, he merely encourages them to take the tests. "You can't pass unless you try."

We are very proud of all three award winners and pleased that they could attend the meeting this morning!

Steps to Gain Effective Home Insurance Quotes

It takes many precious years and hard work to build a house of ones dreams; therefore, it is natural to protect it from life’s unexpected events. A good way of protecting homes and their contents is in the form of home insurance. Home insurance policy is aimed to protect the house from any thefts, natural calamities and damages.

There are different ways by which one can avail reasonable home insurance quotes and these have been discussed below.

1 Comparing:

Compare the insurance rates provided by various providers over the internet; this can help in not only finding the cheapest quotes but also getting various benefits or offers. The insurance business is highly competitive and involves many players; therefore, it is important to invest a little time to obtain a few quotes before investment in a specific company.

2 Reviews and guides:

Reviews can be helpful to compare past and present insurers and their services. Therefore, research over the internet and even talk to friends and relatives will help to find a good provider. Consumer guides can also provide valuable insights to those who shop for insurance with various quotes and helpful ideas to buy an effective home insurance policy. A proven track record of good support and timely claim settlements are a must to hire any insurer as it guarantees better service and transparency.

3 Alertness of the Homeowners:

Installation of home safety devices such as smoke detectors, locks and burglars alarms can help to avert fire thefts. These increased levels of safety can spell lesser protection and can lower the insurance premium for any house in a remarkable manner. Many people have a habit of filing smaller claims; this can deter the insurance provider in the long run as they can reject renewing the services. Therefore, it is important to avoid taking small claims. Many insurance companies also provide reduced premiums in case of additional policies; for instance it is advisable to insure automobiles with the same company which provides home insurance.

There are several companies, which compete to offer competitive home insurance quotes to those who desire it; a home insurance is not only an added surety for the landlord and the lenders like banks, but also a way to ensure peace of mind.

It is easy to avail home insurance quotes , visit http://www.campbellsolberg.com for affordable quotes and better services.

Cheap Car Insurance

The reason behind this is the increase in the number of accidents in these states. U.S. is among the most populated city which makes it necessary for the government to take essential steps to avoid the accidents and mishaps and protect the citizens. There are lot of companies and establishments in the United States due to which people living here has their own car and its insurance. If a person own a car and has a valid license plate, then he must have the car insurance.

If one has the city auto insurance, then the individual can cover the cost of medical expenses and damage that has been caused during the accident. Thus, the person does not need to pay the bills from his pocket at the time of financial crisis. The huge costs will be covered by the insurance. A new law has been passed which makes it compulsory for the automobile owner to have the automobile insurance. Since, this has been made compulsory so people try to get the automobile insurance at the low rate. There are various ways by which you can get the cheap car insurance. Insurance companies are present in the market that offers the outstanding customer services; insurance policy at the low rate and good premiums.

By making research for the multiple insurance quotes from different companies and then comparing them, you can get the best automobile insurance at the low rate. Internet is the best medium to get the quotes. You can make the search online to get the best deal. Also, you can instantly compare the automobile insurance affiliate. For getting different insurance policies from the best insurance companies, you can customize the auto insurance feature.

Auto Insurance Codes

We realize that not everyone has taken the time to explore the resources we've posted on our website, so we thought we might highlight some here on our blog.


From time to time, we get calls asking for the name of a company based on a company code. While we're more than happy to answer these calls, we do have links on our website to the Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey insurance company codes. While there may be other states that use auto insurance company codes, these are the three we get asked for most frequently.


These codes are codes that are assigned by the department of motor vehicles (or, in Massachusetts, by the Commonwealth Auto Reinsurers). They should not be confused with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners codes or with the codes that A. M. Best assigns companies. For one thing, the NAIC and AM Best assign company codes to more than just auto Insurance Companies.


If you're interested in finding the company name associated with an NAIC code, you can go to their consumer information source and look it up. You can also find out information on the company's financials and consumer complaints. If you're interested in recent Annual Statements, you can find that information there as well.


For A. M. Best Company Codes, you can go to the Company and Rating Search section of their website and look up a company by their A. M. Best Number (or by the NAIC number if you care to). Not only will it tell you the company name, but it will also provide you with contact information and, if you're a subscriber, related articles.



We hope that this information makes your research easier!

Insurance Library Annual Meeting

This year's Insurance Library Association's Annual Meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 22, 2011. The meeting is open to all of our members (member companies may send a representative). If you'd like to attend the meeting or assign a proxy, you can email Jean Lucey, or fill out the form found here.

Eight Important Steps to Gain Effective and Economical Home Insurance Quotes

Protecting the much beloved property has now become very essential in the modern world where trembles and damages to it can happen any time. Home insurance is loosely defined as, a policy aimed to protect the immovable property from thefts, natural calamities and other damages and to find the best one, seek home insurance quotes from different companies as per the requirements.

In order to avail a financial assurance of the total cost of the property, home insurance policy serves the purpose under varied conditions and circumstances. People who are thinking to buy a protection plan for their property, analyzing requirements, affordability and returns becomes important and to get the most appropriate insurance plan for the home, start getting quotes from different insurance companies in the region.

Eight Important Steps:

• 1 Compare the insurance rates provided by different companies over the internet, as this would help to find the affordable quotes along with the various benefits provided by a specific company.
  
  
• 2 Try to find reviews and feedback from friends and relatives, as this will help to compare present and past insurance providers and effectiveness in their services.
  
  
• 3 Consumer Guides may provide valuable insights to those who shop for insurance with quotes and helpful ideas to buy an effective and economical home insurance policy.
  
  
• 4 A proven record of accomplishment is necessary to guarantee better service and transparency.
  
  
• 5 Installation of home safety devices such as smoke detectors, locks and burglars alarms would help to avert fire and thefts. This increased safety would lower the insurance premium in a remarkable manner.
  
  
• 6 A habit to avoid smaller claims also guarantees lesser premium from any specific insurer.
  
  
• 7 Any insurance company can provide reduced rates in case of additional policies; it is advisable to insure automobiles with the same company that provided home insurance policy.
  
  
• 8 The insurance business is highly competitive and involves many players; therefore, it is important to invest time to obtain quotes before proceeding with an investment in a specific insurance company.
  
  

Nowadays, insurance companies compete and offer competitive home insurance quotes to those who desire it; a home insurance is a great assurance for the owner of the property for receiving financial compensation if damage occurs to the property under the listed terms and conditions of a policy.

To receive best home insurance quotes , visit http://www.campbellsolberg.com.

11-11-11

Unlike Memorial Day, Veterans Day is designed to honor all of those in our armed services, not just those who died in service.

Though Veterans Day is a U.S. National Holiday, Britain celebrates Remembrance Day on the same day (both holidays began to honor the Signing of the Armistice at the end of World War I). We thought you might be interested in this link to Lloyd's During World War 1. Not only does it provide information on the many ways that Lloyd's was involved in the war effort (and honors those who lost their lives), but it has examples of telegrams sent shortly after the Armistice was signed.

Onward & Upward

Sandra Glaser Parrillo, 2011 Insurance Professional of the Year Award Winner

Donald F. Vose, President of the Board of Trustees for The Insurance Library Association of Boston

I'm afraid this blog languished while we worked on the Education Fair in September and the Insurance Professional of the Year Event in October. November is suddenly upon us and we're shocked at how quickly our annual meeting is approaching.

I mentioned last year that after The Insurance Professional of the Year Award Ceremony it often feels like a new year around here (perhaps it's no coincidence that our event occurs in the same season as Rosh Hashanah). So I'm sure you'll pardon us as we reflect a little.

A lot has happened in the last year:

1. We've worked harder on maintaining our website and blog. We've started a LinkedIn profile for the library and we're exploring ways to make our library even more available electronically.

2. We've added more items to our adopt a book program, and to our wishlist (and we finally got the laptop we'd put on there several years ago!).

3. We held our first ever Education Fair (with a lot of support), and had our 10th Insurance Professional of the Year Award Ceremony (which included a lot of firsts as well).

4. We put on our first ever (though, not last) silent auction during the social hour at The Award Ceremony -- thanks to a lot of support for that, we raised about $6,300 for the library!

Some staff changes include:

1. Our Director, Jean Lucey, changing her schedule to working three days a week.

2. Our "other" Jean, Jean Osborne, increasing her hours to three days a week (we don't ever want to be short a Jean).

3. Meagan completing another two CPCU tests on her way toward earning the designation.

It really does feel like a whirlwind, but we are glad that you were here for the ride!

Obtaining The Best Auto Insurance Quotes Online

The ever increasing number of vehicles on the rods has also increased the number of mishaps and accidents that people get into. In such a scenario, having an automobile insurance can be a life saver for people who own and drive a car. The cost of repairing a vehicle damaged in an accident together with the medical bills in case of an injury can sometimes cause serious financial crisis. With a majority of insurance companies providing their services online, people are increasingly looking for auto insurances quotes online to save time and money.

Most people want to have insurance quotes which not only provide the maximum coverage and benefits but are also reasonably priced. For finding such auto insurance quotes online, one needs to do some research and compare the estimates offered by diverse providers along with the type of coverage and other benefits provided by them. Investing a little time in learning about the different types of policies being offered by the numerous providers can help you save a good amount of money that is otherwise spent in paying higher premiums.

Searching for affordable auto insurance quotes online, also eliminates the need of middlemen who take a good percentage of the insured amount as their commission. Moreover, personal involvement makes the insurer well aware of the finer details of their policies as well as the various terms and conditions involved, which are generally overlooked while obtaining the quotes from a middleman. This reduces the chances of complications and rejection at the time of filing claims and causing distress to the policy holders.

For obtaining the most suitable and inexpensive insurance quotes online, it is vital to look for the quotes from insurance companies known for their transparent and honest dealings with their clients. In addition, it is also advisable to clearly outline your coverage requirements and the estimated budget while seeking the quotations from such providers. Enquiring about any additional discounts that you might be eligible for, depending on a large number of factors such as the type of vehicle, its usage and even its period of ownership, can also help bring down the premium rates by a significant margin.

Accidents can happen anywhere and at any time and good auto coverage plans provides the much needed financial assistance to cover the unexpected costs of vehicle overhauling. As such it is vital to get the proper policy for your vehicle even before you get to drive it home for the first time.

Campbell Solberg Associates are one of the foremost and reputable insurance agents renowned for their economical, honest and genuine auto insurance quotes online. For more information on their services you can logon to their website http://www.campbellsolberg.com.