Insurance Coach Radio

Loyalty, Consistency, Dependability and Integrity.

A Tribute to Barbara Fulton:                                              Slosek Insurance Office Manager.

The way I see life after my 46 plus years on earth is, to be glad when you meet individuals that are exceptional people. And be even happier when you get to spend some time with them. When you can share 8 years with an exceptional person it grounds you to the true beauty and value of life. I feel that way about Barbara Fulton. Barbara joined my agency back in April of 1997. She has never called in sick, missed a day or has ever shown up late. If anyone should ever be nicknamed the "Rock", it should be Barbara. We have never had a cross word between us and our respect level for each other is enormous. I have been blessed. Barbara will go down in the Slosek books as the "Best of the Best of all Time". Barbara has hinted that she is about ready to enjoy the finer side of life and leave this work to another person. She is an incredible person. I thank you for everything.

Early Picture of Insurance Coach Hosts

This is an early picture catching Joanne as she first casts her eye's on John. She is thinking to herself " He is the cutest guy I have ever seen, even better looking than the Six Flags Guy!!"

John & Joanne Slosek began the Insurance Coach Radio Show on April 1st 2000. Their goal: Hand out common sense consumer information every Saturday Morning on AM 1250 WARE between 8AM and 10AM.

Knob & Tube Wiring

Knob & Tube Wiring

Older electrical systems can have many interesting aspects to them. Knob & tube wiring gets its name from the knobs (or insulators) used to keep the wires isolated from objects & the ceramic tubes used to line holes, for example, through wooden floor joists. This type of wiring can be found in homes over 50 years in age unless it has been updated. You may find it with older 60 amp (or less) services.

Some differences with this type of wiring and that used today? -- although the actual wire used may largely be no different from that used today, it consists of only a hot (black) and neutral (white) wire. That is, there is no ground wire. Both wires must run separately to fixtures as opposed to those used now which are contained within one plastic sheathing. In addition, junction boxes for housing electrical connections were seldom, if ever, used.

Although it is a workable system, and safe when installed and used properly, there are some concerns with this system. For example,

(a) there is no ground wire (for more modern lifestyle requirements and safety),

(b) a fear exists that the black and white wires can make contact (a potential fire and safety hazard),

(c) the rubber and cloth insulation around the knob & tube wiring breaks down over time (a potential fire and safety hazard),

(d) it would be too costly to maintain, or even, install this type

Older Homes Beware

There is a BIG difference with insurance coverage and how you would insure a home built in 1905 vs 2005.  There have been significant changes by the Insurance Industry that could cause huge gaps for unsuspecting customers. Let's use a home built in 1905. Let cover some of the differences that will take place to a home on its 100th birthday. The first area I will cover is "Building Codes" Have building codes changed in the last 100 years. Of course! Innovation has occurred with wiring, piping, foundations, roofing, and even how the structures are being built.  Big changes. They don't use horse hair any longer to dry the fresh plaster that was just applied to your walls and ceilings. John,"Did you say, horse hair" Yes I did. Horse hair was used over 100 years ago to accelerate the drying process of the plaster. From time to time I will cover this topic on the radio show because for those who own a home in this time period have potential gaps if they do not close them with proper coverages. The coverage I will mention in this Older Home segment is "Ordinance & Law Coverage".  I have nick named this building code enforcement coverage. This will provide coverage to you if you sustain a loss to a section of your 1905 home and damage was cause to your wiring. The type of wiring used back in that time period was a grade called Knob & Tube Wiring. (Please view the next segment that describes Knob & Tube Wiring)

    Let me use an example of damaged done to your (Knob & Tube Wiring) in your kitchen due to a small kitchen fire. When the building inspector arrives also known as: Code Enforcement: This inspector will advised the kitchen must be replaced with newer up to date wiring for the entire kitchen. The problem occurs if he determines that the adjacent rooms will have to be replaced due to their condition. He may advise the entire bottom floor or depending on the condition of the wiring, the entire house.

If you do not have the proper limit of "Ordinance & Law Coverage" you will be paying for this entire job (with exception to the kitchen) out of your pocket. This could be very costly. In a future segment I will discribe Coinsurance and how it could drastically effect you at the time of a claim if you under insure your older home.