The recourse in a situation like that, if you are injured, is to make a claim under your underinsured/uninsured motorist coverage. Your own insurance company will pay for “damages which an insured person is legally entitled to recover from the owner or operator of an uninsured auto or underinsured auto because of bodily injury sustained by an insured person.”

There are several options in Connecticut:

1. Maintain Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage at the same limits that you have bodily injury limits.
2. Increase the uninsured motorist coverage to twice your bodily injury limits. For example if you have $100,000/300,000 bodily injury limits the uninsured limit would be $200,000/600,000.
3. Add uninsured/underinsured motorist conversion coverage. That coverage reduces the damages, not the amount of coverage available, if money is collected from another insurance carrier.

Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage can be complicated, please call us at The Haas Agency in order to make sure the right choices are made for your situation.

Ice dams are lumps of ice that form on gutters, eaves and valleys, that prevent melting snow from running down and away from the structure. As the snow melts, the water backs up behind the ice and seeps under shingles or tiles and eventually into your home causing a lot of damage. This type of damage can be prevented.

Tips to protect your home from ice dam damage:

• Keep gutters and downspouts clear of leaves and natural debris.
• Use a snow rake or soft broom to clear snowfall from gutters, clear about three feet from the edge of the roof.
• Avoid using any sharp tools or ice picks on gutters or downspouts.
• To avoid getting hurt by falling icicles or snow,  don’t climb on your roof or work on a ladder beneath a roof that has large amounts of snow on it.

If damage is in progress immediate action needs to be taken:

• In an emergency situation where water is flowing into the house,  making channels through ice dams allows the water behind the dam to drain off the roof.  Using a hose with tap water on a warm day will do this job. Work upwards from the lower edge of the dam. The channel will become ineffective within days and is only a temporary fix.
• Fill the leg of a discarded pair of pantyhose with calcium chloride ice melter. lay the pantyhose onto the roof so it crosses the ice dam and overhangs the gutter. If necessary, use a long handled garden rake or broom to push it into position. The calcium chloride will melt through the snow and ice and create a channel for water to flow off the roof.

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Paul, Peter and Tim Haas

Many folks – several of my neighbors and I – are investing in quartz infrared heaters to get by this winter. These are safe electric heaters that can help cut your heating bill when you turn your thermostat down this winter. With the quartz heater you can heat the one room the family gathers in for the evening, while the other parts of the house will be cooler.

I investigated the EdenPure and Comfortzone, and I went with the sligthly more expensive, but better warranty, Comfortzone. The Comfortzone also has a digital thermostat readout and ionizer that the EdenPure didnt’ have.

The 1500 Watt model was $479 shipped and my thinking was that the unit might help save $50 to $100 per month on the heating bill. That would pay for itself before the season is out. Lastly, with a power generator, we’d be in OK shape plugging this into it, should electricity fail in a big snowstorm.

Ugh! Here comes winter. I’m glad I’m a skier.