Author: AgentInsure

Tips for North Carolina Drivers to Increase Gas Mileage

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Getting the most miles per gallon while driving in North Carolina should be a priority. Not only will reducing gas mileage help save you money, but also lower your carbon footprint. Driving efficiently and keeping your vehicle up to date will make the most significant difference in fuel economy.

Drive Smarter

Avoid certain driver behaviors that decrease your car’s gas mileage. This includes excessive braking, rapid acceleration, and cruising over the speed limit. After a car reaches speeds above 50 miles per hour, fuel economy decreases. Cruise control helps you maintain a consistent speed to avoid these issues. Idling can also burn up gas and should be avoided when possible.

Lighten Loads

Pulling cargo or storing items on your roof can both have a detrimental effect on your vehicle’s gas mileage. Not only does the weight from the loads affect fuel economy, but also cargo stored on the roof makes your car less aerodynamic.

Maintain Your Car

Check your tire pressure at least once a week to ensure the pressure isn’t too low since this could hurt fuel economy. Always use the recommended grade oil for your car too when it’s time for an oil change. Changing the car’s air filter can keep the car running efficiently in order to avoid excessive fuel consumption.

Get a New (or Newer) Vehicle

Ditch your old gas guzzler for a more fuel efficient car. Within the past decade, car manufacturers have made tremendous strides in increasing vehicles’ gas mileage. Compare your current car’s average highway and city MPG to newer models on the market.

If you do decide to upgrade your car, make sure you have the right amount of insurance coverage. Contact the independent agents at Cross Creek Insurance to discuss either your current auto policy or make arrangements to take out a new policy on your vehicle. 

Great Ways to Give Back to Your Fayetteville Community

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You can give back to the community you live in by doing all types of great things, from adopting a shelter pet, to giving blood, to feeding the hungry and helping the homeless. If you’re interested in getting involved with the people of Fayetteville, there are plenty of choices for you to consider. Nearly all of those choices are great ways for you to focus on how you can help your community and how you can make some friends at the same time.

A lot of people think that giving back means they have to hand over money, but that’s not always the case. You can certainly donate cash to worthy local causes, but there are plenty of other options. Items you don’t use, food for the food pantry, and your time are also great things to donate. A lot of organizations need volunteers, and giving your time to help those who are less fortunate than you can provide a good feeling that you just can’t get any other way. Helping people also goes a long way toward making a better community, and that benefits everyone who lives and works in the area.

When you’re insured by someone in your community, like Cross Creek Insurance, you have that personal feel that you’re looking for in a Fayetteville insurance company. You help out a local business, and you also get the chance to see that business grow and develop, to serve you even better in the future. That can be a great feeling, and a way to really get to know more people throughout your community.

The Importance of Home Insurance in Hope Hills, North Carolina

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If you’re considering purchasing a home in Hope Hills, North Carolina, then it’s important to also figure in the cost of homeowner’s insurance. Not only is this a financial issue, as it will be more expensive on a monthly basis to cover the bills to pay on your home in general, but homeowner’s insurance is also something required by law in North Carolina and serves a number of important benefits for keeping you financially solvent in the event of a catastrophe or unexpected event at your home, as well as keep you in a house in the event one of these unexpected events occurs. Below are some of the more important reasons to have home insurance in Hope Hills, North Carolina.

UNEXPECTED WEATHER 

North Carolina gets it’s fair share of weather, especially from hurricanes which blow into the state with a vengeance for a season each year. Homes are regularly destroyed or flooded when this occurs and if there is no homeowner’s insurance policy to speak of on the house itself, there will be no money set afforded to you to rebuild. This can be a catastrophic loss to a family and something that is incredibly difficult to recover from. Other things protected by homeowner’s insurance are figurative acts of God, like fires or a plane crashing out of the sky into the home and destroying it. A homeowner’s insurance policy will at least provide some financial assistance when something like this occurs to help the homeowner get back on their feet.

CRIMINAL ACTIVITY

If someone breaks into your home and steals anything inside the home itself, most homeowner’s insurance policies also cover this. While this isn’t a real concern in Hope Hills, it’s just nice to have piece of mind.

A PLACE TO STAY ANYWAY

If any of these events do occur, some time will be needed to rebuild or repair your home. In this situation, home owner’s policies will usually pay for a place for you and your family to stay until your home can be lived in again.

So if you need a homeowner’s insurance policy contact a local company like Cross Creek Insurance, who serves the greater Hope Hills area.

Finding the Right Protection in Life Insurance for Hope Hills

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Protecting your life is not exactly like protecting your home or car. You likely have very different feelings about life insurance, but that’s not a reason to ignore the need for it. The financial support from a well-designed life insurance policy is what can keep a family going during an extremely difficult time. Your city is all about having the right attitude, so learn more about the kinds of protection available in Hope Hills. 

Term Insurance: A Good Choice for Those With Young Children 

When you have young kids, you already know it’s common to worry for their future. However, you also know that you want them to be able to provide for themselves at some point. Life insurance protects them against an emergency for the time they need it the most. Typically, this policy is set up to expire when a parent decides that their children will come of age. That could be 18 for one parent or 25 for another. Whatever you decide upon, this is a good way to set them up without overdoing it. 

Permanent Insurance: Excellent Coverage for Life 

If you want to be a continuous provider for family or even beloved friends, then permanent insurance will likely be for you. While these policies typically cost more, they give you the piece of mind that everyone will be covered should something happen. They can also be used as a type of savings fund as well, so you know you have fall-back funds if you should need them. 

Cross Creek Insurance serves the people of Hope Hills, and we can help you decide on a plan that works for both you and the people you love. Give us a call today for more info.

What to Do in the Event of an Emergency When House Sitting

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House sitting is typically straight forward. You have a few important duties, yet while watching the house you can watch TV and just give the home a lived-in feel. However, what happens in the event of an emergency? There are a few important bits of information you need to know about before hand, just in case something goes wrong. 

Contact Numbers

Before the home owners leave, make sure to grab all of their contact information. This not only includes their cell phones but the hotel they are staying at. This way, if you need to contact them for an emergency you have many different options available. 

Smell Gas

During the winter months it might start to smell like gas. Should this happen you need to leave the house right away. Even the smallest spark can cause an explosion in the house. Contact the fire department and have them inspect the house. They can fix a leak, locate the problem area and determine if the house is safe. 

Call the Police

Is something suspicious going on around the house? Maybe you think someone is lurking around the house? Contact the police. Unless you know it is someone actually trying to break in only call the police and avoid 9-1-1. However, if someone is breaking in call 9-1-1, then call the home owners after everything is straightened away. 

Power Outage

If the power went out you have a few different chores you need to take care of. First, if it goes out in the summer, leave everything in the fridge and freezer for the time being. If it looks like the power is going to be out for longer than a few hours fill up coolers with ice and the food. If it goes out during the winter time, Cross Creek Insurance recommends turning on a few faucets so it drips, which prevents the water from sitting still and freezing. 

3 Important Ways to Manage Business Risks

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To be successful, every business owner must learn to cope with risk. While it is probably not possible to totally eliminate risk, there are some basic ways to cope with it.

 

Stick to Your original Plan

When starting your business, you should draft an outline of every aspect of it from sales and marketing to projected revenues. You should consider several different perspectives as you go about running your business. Once your original plan is drafted and survives the first quarter, stick to it. You may be tempted by the opinions of others and trends to change horses mid-stream. Resist this temptation.

 

Purchase Insurance

Interacting with the public or even dealing with business to business commerce always comes with an element of risk. It’s possible that your product could be involved in an accident that causes injury or damage. No matter how well designed, or labeled your products are- you should protect yourself by purchasing liability insurance. If you are the target of a frivolous lawsuit- even if you win- you could lose an unacceptable amount of money in lost profits and court costs. Discuss a liability insurance policy with your insurance agent before you begin offering any products or services to customers.

 

Carefully Monitor Your Business

In order to manage risk, it is necessary to take steps to determine when risks may occur. These risks include the activities of your competition, marketplace fluctuation, trends in fraud, and weaknesses in your organization’s safety procedures and operations. It may be that your quality-control isn’t thorough enough and that defects are reaching the marketplace. These potential risks must be identified and remedied in order to help mitigate the total risk to your livelihood.

 

Cross Creek Insurance
The professionals at Cross Creek Insurance, are dedicated to giving clients the best insurance plans available. Our goal is to make your insurance purchase fast, simple, and productive.

Call or click today and the insurance experts help to protect your business when disaster strikes.

 

How You Can Help Following a Car Accident

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Many people are traumatized following a car accident. The jarring movements from the accident can cause injuries and leave victims discombobulated. If you witness an accident, you play a critical role in ensuring that everyone is safe and emergency personnel are on their way. The following are a few steps you can take to make sure traffic accident victims are safe.

Remain at the Scene

After you’ve witnessed an accident, it’s important that you remain at the scene until the authorities arrive. Your perspective is important to everyone involved in the relationship. Without giving your statement to the police, the victims may have to pay for damages they incurred.

Make Sure You Are Safe

When you stop to check on those involved in an accident, you have to do so safely. Your safety should be your primary concern. To ensure that you are not in an accident from distracted onlookers, make sure you park a safe distance from the accident and always observe your surroundings to ensure you are not in danger.

Call 911

After ensuring you are safe, you have to contact 911. When you call emergency services, they will contact all necessary personnel. By making one phone call, you could potentially save the lives of individuals involved in an accident.

Ensure Victims Are Safe

There are a lot of things going on following an accident. As a result of this, you must make sure that everyone is safe. You can help people out of their cars and to the curb to ensure they are no longer in danger.

Give Victims Your Contact Information

After giving the authorities your statement, you should give the victims your contact information. Additionally, taking down their information will help you keep your statements straight. With their information, you can properly identify each driver involved in an accident. 

Witnessing an accident is a great time to ensure your car insurance policy is comprehensive. If you live in Fayetteville, NC or the surrounding area, Cross Creek Insurance is happy to assist you with finding the perfect insurance policy for your vehicles.

Things To Consider When Buying a Vehicle as a Gift

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Vehicles are a crucial and almost necessary part of modern life, and for this reason many people consider a vehicle as a very thoughtful gift that could impact someone’s entire life. However, there is more involved than simply the exchange of keys and a title when you give someone a vehicle as a gift. Here are a few things to consider before giving a vehicle as a gift.

Residual Costs

You should remember that there is more cost to the vehicle than just the vehicles price. There will be annual tags, taxes and insurance. You should consider whether or not the individual to whom you are giving the gift will be able to maintain these other yearly costs. Repairs and maintenance  can also vary from model to model. Some cars are much less expensive to maintain and repair than others. Factors these costs in when choosing a gift vehicle.

Taxes

Because the bulk of tax paperwork must be filed in the name of the recipient, not the purchaser, it is necessary for the purchaser and recipient to work together to get all of the correct information filed with the state and country in which the car will be registered. There are strict rules which vary from state to state concerning whom may hold the registration and under whose name the insurance must be filed. Be sure to do your homework so that you are in compliance with all applicable laws.

Insurance

Regardless of who buys the vehicle gift and who receives it, insurance is paramount to legal driving and operation of the vehicle. Be sure that insurance arrangements are made quickly, so that there is no lapse in coverage or temptation to operate the vehicle uninsured. Make the title, registration and insurance are all under the correct name to avoid any confusion in the event of an accident.  

If you have further insurance questions please contact Cross Creek Insurance now serving Hope Hill, NC.

How Independent Insurance Agents Can Help Finding The Right Insurance Coverage For You

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Independent insurance agents can make your life a lot easier, if you allow them to. They know about the industry and have spent a lot of time researching the different insurance companies and what they all offer. They have that ability to explain coverage, obtain the best discounts for you, and much more.

Instead of having to navigate through the complexity of insurance on your own over the Internet, you can work with an insurance agent who is going to help you every step of the way. Agents are often the pillars of the community and have your best interest in mind. They want to help you save money, and know how to accomplish this.

Whether you need insurance for your home, your car, or anything else, they can make sure that you have coverage that you can depend on. They will tell you what’s out there, what’s required in North Carolina, and show you what is going to fit your needs the most.

Insurance is a must to provide protection. It isn’t something you want to guess at. It could be very easy to spend a lot of money on insurance and there are affordable premiums out there – you just have to know how to get them.

Independent insurance agents are your gateway to getting the right insurance coverage. Let them help you with the options, the quotes, and everything else. This way, you can enjoy peace of mind knowing that you have sufficient and affordable coverage in place for all aspects of your life.

At Cross Creek Insurance we have friendly and experienced independent insurance agents to help you find a policy you can rely on in Hope Hills. Call now and let us help you every step of the way so that you’re not left alone.

 

 

Don’t Get Tricked by a Thief This Halloween

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On October 31 most people enjoy a few treats. Kids go around trick-or-treating and adults gather together for parties. Even those of us who primarily hand out candy are known to sneak a piece or two for ourselves. A few people, however, plan tricks for Halloween. Make sure you don’t get tricked by a thief this Halloween. Here are a few tips to keep your home safe.

Deter Thieves with Locks and Lights

Most thieves who are prowling around on Halloween night aren’t planning a detailed and involved robbery. Instead, they’re looking for easy targets that they might steal from without exposing themselves to much risk.

Therefore, you don’t need to protect your home against a movie-worthy heist plan. You simply need to exercise some basic precautions that will deter thieves. Specifically, you might want to:

  • secure any valuable items you leave outside with padlocks
  • place decorations around your yard that will light it up
  • leave your home’s exterior lights on all night long

Insure Your Belongings Against Theft

In addition to securing your outside possessions and lighting up your yard, you should also make sure your belongings are insured against theft. Home insurance policies afford protection against loss due to theft, although their specific protections vary. If you own a home, this is a final line of defense against burglars that you must have.

For help finding home insurance, contact us at Cross Creek Insurance. Our independent insurance agents are able to compare home insurance policies from every insurer in North Carolina. No matter what company offers the best protection against thieves, our agents will make sure you get the best protection at the most affordable rates. To get in touch with them and discuss insuring your home in Hope Hills, NC, send us a message on our website.