Lightning and related fires account for more than a quarter billion dollars in property damage every year.  Here are some tips to help reduce the likelihood of a loss or damage to your property:

Property Protection

A number of specialty firms in your area can help you design a protective system to install on your property and safeguard it.  Any system you choose should comply with the guidelines set forth by groups such as the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) or the National Fire Protection Association (NFA) and may include:

• Installation of lightning rods on your roof and/or on the trees surrounding your property.  This helps control and redirect the lightning's damaging effects.
• Installation of voltage surge suppressors to limit the exposure of electronic equipment to excessive voltage spurts.
• Installation of surge arrestors to help divert power surges along utility lines away from source equipment.

Personal Protection

Your chances of getting struck by lightning during a thunderstorm are extremely limited, but these precautions can reduce your risk even further:

• Get off high ground and away from trees.
• Avoid contact with metal fences and other metal objects.
• Head for the shore at once if you are swimming or in a boat.
• Never ride a horse or a bicycle in a thunderstorm. If you are driving, stay inside your car. It is one of the safest places to be during a thunderstorm.
• Lightning may enter a residential property through anything that conducts electricity. Do not handle electrical appliances during a storm and stay away from the plumbing system. It is also not advisable to use the telephone during a thunderstorm.

This information is courtesy of Chubb Insurance and is advisory in nature.

In all the commotion of Lindsay Lohan's fall from grace, little attention has been paid to the impact her risky behavior will have on her insurance — auto, home, life, and health. But consumers can learn from her mistakes, according to the Insurance Information Network of California.

Using Lohan's profile, ZIP code, vehicle model and current record of two DUIs and an at-fault car accident, IINC determined the average insurance premium difference she could pay for automobile insurance because of her risky behavior.

A single, 24-year-old female who lives in Beverly Hills ZIP code of 90210 (she lives in a condo in West Hollywood) and drives a 2009 Mercedes SL550 convertible would have access to 100 percent of the insurers offering auto coverage in California, IINC said. With a clean driving record, Lohan would pay approximately $2,075 every six months for a full coverage policy. But because of the at-fault accident and two DUIs on her driving record, the six-month premium jumps to $7,408.90. Worse yet, she would only have access to less than 10 percent of the companies in California offering auto coverage because most of the major insurers in the state would not want to insure her. Instead, she would probably have to purchase coverage for bad drivers through the Department of Insurance, IINC said.

Furthermore, her risky behavior also could affect the premium she would pay for life insurance, as some life insurers will pull a DMV record when determining a customer's premium, the association indicated.

"Before we initially did the analysis, we thought her insurance would double," said Pete Moraga, communications specialist for IINC. But, the increase in her premium because of her driving record is 350 percent more because she made some bad choices, compared to if she had a clean driving record.

"The big picture is that all of us can learn from her mistakes," Moraga said. "People don't always understand that what they pay for insurance is based on their own risk profile … and risky decisions we make in our daily lives will impact that cost."

A DUI stays on a person's driving record for 10 years, for instance.

Lohan might be able to afford paying nearly $15,000 for auto insurance, but for the general public, it's important to know that the decisions we make and risks we take will affect your pocketbooks, Moraga said. "If we take risks and make bad decisions, our insurance will be much more expensive."

Courtesy of: Insurance Journal

From everyone here at Brownstone Insurance and our affiliate company, Murphy and Jordan Insurance, learn from Lindsay Lohan's mistakes.

The U.S. House of Representatives has a measure extending the federal flood insurance program for five years.

The bill, H.R. 5114, the "Flood Insurance Reform Priorities Act of 2010," sponsored by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), has the support of both the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (the Big "I") and the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA National).

Agents now hope the Senate will follow the lead of the House, while insurers hope lawmakers will strike a provision eliminating anti-concurrent clauses from flood policies.

"The recent series of expirations and temporary extensions is negatively impacting the market," said Robert Rusbuldt, Big "I" president and CEO. "The Big 'I' commends the House for passing this bill which is a step in the right direction to a long-term extension of the NFIP [National Flood Insurance Program] and includes much-needed reforms to the critical program."

The NFIP was recently resurrected from a month-long expiration and is currently set to expire on Sept. 30, 2010. The Big "I" has noted that the program has worked for more than 40 years to help protect consumers from flood risks, and Congress has traditionally extended the program for five year periods in order to provide stability and security for the marketplace. Congress has recently only extended the program for short periods, from 30 days to six months.

Prior to passage, PIA National sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader John Boehner urging that the House quickly pass H.R. 5114.

"This bill contains many provisions that PIA has consistently advocated," said PIA National Director of Federal Affairs Mike Becker. "Perhaps most significantly, H.R. 5114 extends the flood insurance program through the end of 2015. This would finally end the uncertainty that has resulted from a series of short-term NFIP reauthorizations."

The insurer trade group, the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI), has said the House was correct in extending the flood insurance program. It opposes, however, an amendment to the bill that would require "Write Your Own" (WYO) insurers to eliminate so-called "anti-concurrent causation" language from their homeowners insurance policies.

"The House has taken the right step forward for homeowners and the American economy by crafting a strong, comprehensive extension of the National Flood Insurance Program. This action helps provide a greater degree of certainty for property owners and a real estate market that was left vulnerable by previous lapses in the government program," said Ben McKay, PCI's senior vice president, federal government relations, in a statement released by PCI.

"At the last minute, Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.) succeeded in attaching a concurrent causation amendment to the flood bill that could make private insurers pay for the obligations of the federal government," McKay continued. "Ultimately, the language Rep. Taylor added would prove unworkable, and we will work to convince the Senate to remove this troublesome language. But it is never a good idea to throw out three-quarters of a loaf of good bread, and overall, we are pleased that the House has taken a much-needed step toward extending and preserving the NFIP."

The American Insurance Association (AIA) has said it also opposes the Taylor amendment, which it says would negatively impact WYO companies and significantly alter the way in which claims are processed by the NFIP.