By Mike Vincent
Wesco Insurance Agency
I’m going to admit something here that is uncomfortable for me- I’m getting old! This last year has flown by and it seems I look up from my desk and its January 2019. My oldest son has gone off to college and my youngest has just one more year left in high school. I’m at the point where I don’t know how to do things with my phone and tv and need to ask my kids how to do things. I can remember doing this for my parents when I was younger and thinking, duh- why can’t they figure it out. I think I know the answer- it’s ignorance and apathy- I don’t know how to do it and I really don’t care either.
Track with me here as I go down memory lane. When I was in high school there were no cell phones (millennials gasp). There were however, pagers and eventually bag phones. I remember buying my first computer at age 19 when going to college. It was a 75mghz 150MB hard drive (the cell phone in my pocket has about 1000x more capacity and speed).
I remember when electric windows and locks in vehicles were optional. I remember when you only had to remember that there were 2 genders. Heck, my boys both informed me this past year that you don’t have to double space after the period anymore – Really??!!
Fast forward to today. My wife’s Toyota beeps at me if I swerve over the line and it actually stays between the lines by itself if I’m not touching the steering wheel. Our cell phones can take high quality images that the nicest cameras couldn’t do 10 years ago. My I-pad has virtually the same computing power that my office computer has. The I-watch monitors my heart rate, how many steps I take, and a hundred other functions. I can ask Siri on my I-phone any question I can think of and she will have the answer or direct me to a website for the answer. My home theater system has wifi and Bluetooth and my son can somehow play a song on my stereo from his house in Oklahoma City. He gets a kick out of that, but kind of scares his mom and I. For Christmas we got an Amazon Echo that has “Alexa.” You can talk to her like a person and she can do all kinds of things. So yeah people, I’m feeling old recently.
How does this relate to insurance you say? Well, along with these technological advances we now have Lyft, Uber, Bird & Lime scooters, air bnb, and cars that virtually drive themselves, drones that can fly 3 miles away and up into the transportation airspace. I can tell you I actually used Uber for the first time this Summer and its easy. I also have a drone. Do you know that your home owners policy will not cover liability if you crash your drone into something or someone? What if you were flying it and it caused a vehicle to crash in an intersection like what happened last Summer in Moore Oklahoma causing several vehicles damage and an electrical fire that got very close to a business? Yep, no coverage. How about liability from riding a Lime scooter? Or, if you are now using your house as an Air Bnb. Or, many of the other new and exciting things we have available to us? You could be exposing yourself to lawsuits or problems that you don’t have insurance coverage for.
My point is everyone still has a basic need to protect themselves from potential lawsuits and liabilities that can financially devastate you. In fact, even if you don’t own a drone or rent a Lime scooter, or do Air Bnb you still need to assess your insurance needs regularly. You and your family’s financial future depends on it. I strongly encourage you to get with your insurance agent yearly for, at the very least, a quick review of your coverages. As un-fun as that sounds, it is an important part of your financial well-being. Being properly covered only happens when you take time to review your potential risks and how you are insuring them. If you have more questions or need answers, we at Wesco would be happy to help you.
