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Forward Helps Keep You Warm

Forward Mutual offers protection against furnace breakdaown

In the midst of cold January the last thing you want happening is an equipment breakdown. Unfortunately, sometimes furnaces and other necessary equipment malfunction when they’re needed most. When they do, Forward Mutual is here to help.

Our homeowner and farmowner policies offer affordable breakdown coverage for today’s technically advanced equipment. With breakdown coverage, you’ll have specialized insurance to either repair or replace your furnace, heat pump, milking equipment and the many other appliances you need to carry on.

How much coverage do you need?

When planning your coverage, it’s important to consider not only the value of your equipment but also what further damage might occur to your property as a result of its breakdown. This is especially true for dairy farmers, whose livelihood is dependent upon their operation’s milking equipment. Now is a good time to discuss coverage with your agent or Forward Mutual.

Give us a call at 920-261-6616, or drop us an email.

Happy Holidays from Forward Mutual

Happy Holidays from Forward Mutual

All of us at Forward Mutual wish you a blessed holiday season.

We thank you for the privilege of serving you and wish you the best in 2017!

Snow Removal Protects You and Your Guests

TIme to shovel snow!It’s a given: The holidays and snow go hand in hand. Similarly are safety and liability. As we plan our holiday get-togethers it’s important to remember a most important task: snow removal.

If you own property, it’s your responsibility to ensure its driveways and sidewalks are safe for people to walk on. Failing to do so enables risk of people falling and hurting themselves and you being held liable. This is true whether you’re city folk and the sidewalk in front of your home is considered public right of way, or you’re country dwellers and the only one coming to your door is a deliveryman.

The Scoop on Snow Removal

  • Communities commonly have specific policies for snow removal. Many require the occupants, whether owners or tenants, to remove all snow and ice within a given time frame, perhaps 24 hours after the snow has stopped. Check your municipal’s website for its requirements.
  • Keep your downspouts and roof free of ice. Icicles often melt, causing puddles to form near your door, which then refreezes into icy patches.
  • Keep salt or sand on hand for ice that’s difficult to remove.

If you have any questions on safe snow removal or your liability as a property owner, please give us a call.

From Real Houses to Gingerbread Houses: A Tradition of Care

Howard Wiedenhoeft crafts gingerbread houses with detail and love.

These days, Howard Wiedenhoeft is safeguarding houses of a different kind, that of gingerbread houses. Retired as CEO and president of Forward Mutual Insurance Company, Howard now enjoys time for a variety of hobbies, including baking and decorating gingerbread houses during the Christmas season.

“I first made a gingerbread train, maybe 25-30 years ago,” says Howard. “I made it with my kids’ 4-H club and we raffled it off to earn money for the club. About ten years ago, I started making houses and now I make them every year.”

Howard handcrafts each of his houses completely from scratch and with lots of love. He mixes a molasses cookie dough, rolls and cuts out pieces of the house, and then bakes them. After the pieces have completely cooled, the real fun begins.

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“I decorate all the pieces while they’re flat,” says Howard. “It’s easier to do, otherwise gravity makes it too hard to keep the decorations in place. After the frosting has dried, I then put the houses together. The whole process takes several days.”

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This year Howard decorated his houses with a sports theme. He’s bringing the Green Bay Packer house to the Forward Mutual office for clients and agents to enjoy. He’s sending the UW Badgers and Milwaukee Brewers houses to Donny’s Girl Supper Club, where his son is a chef. And he’s giving the Virginia Tech house to his grandchildren because their father, Howard’s son-in-law, is a Hokie alum.

“My grandkids can’t wait until after Christmas to take apart the house and eat it. It’s a molasses cookie, so it holds its moisture long enough to stay fresh. I always put a special treat inside the house for each of them. This year they’re really going to be surprised!” laughs Howard, in his fun-loving way.

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While Howard is busy with many activities, he still dedicates time to the home and farm owners of Forward Mutual. He now works part-time as Forward’s claims manager and assists insureds in filing their claims. You can bet he does this with the same detail and care he gives his gingerbread houses!

Looking to try your hand at making a gingerbread house? Howard generously shares his recipe source for molasses cookies and icing. Have fun building!

 

Frozen Pipes Are No Fun

Frozen Water Pipes are easily preventable

“Frozen” is only charming as a movie. This winter, don’t “let it go” — don’t let cheerful movie tunes and apple-cheeked Nordic princesses distract you from winterizing your home properly. There are plenty of easy, inexpensive ways to prevent winter damage. For instance, a burst pipe can cost you upwards of $5,000 in repairs, but pipe insulation costs as little as 50 cents per linear foot.

Here are some tips for keeping your home dry and your checkbook in the black

  • Insulate your pipes. You can find inexpensive insulation at any hardware store. In a pinch newspapers or blankets can do the trick.
  • Use a space heater. If you have an area of your home that is prone to frozen pipes, run a space heater on the coldest days.
  • Let your faucets drip. It might seem wasteful, but pipes with moving water in them are less likely to freeze.
  • Disconnect outside water sources. You’re unlikely to need your hose during the winter, so empty it, store it, and turn off the valves that go to outside faucets.

If you’ll be away from home

  • Keep cupboard doors open. Open the doors of cupboards that contain pipes so the warm air of the house can reach them.
  • Know how to shut off your water. If you’re going to be gone for an extended period of time in the winter find out where the water shut-off to your home is. And use it.
  • Call on a friend. Ask someone you trust to check your home daily if you’ll be gone for more than a few days. If a pipe does burst, the sooner its discovered the better. Thousands of gallons of water could end up in your house if a break goes unnoticed.

For more information

Use this handy checklist or Grinnell Mutual’s Front Porch blog to see what else you should be doing to weatherproof your home for the winter. And for any questions you have, contact us at Forward Mutual. 

This article is reprinted with permission from Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Company. The information included was obtained from sources believed to be reliable, however Forward Mutual, Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Company and its employees make no guarantee of results and assume no liability in connection with any training, materials, suggestions or information provided. It is the user’s responsibility to confirm compliance with any applicable local, state or federal regulations. Information obtained from or via Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Company should not be used as the basis for legal advice or other advice, but should be confirmed with alternative sources.

Daylight Savings Emphasizes Fire Safety for Modern Homes

Modern homes need extra fire safety measures

Daylight Savings Time ends this Saturday, October 6, meaning it’s time to change your clocks and your smoke detector batteries. It also means it’s time to review fire safety within your home. We often consider older homes to be more susceptible to fire, but did you know modern homes have actually proved to burn faster than old homes?

In her article for National Underwriter magazine, Sheila Courtney, director of risk management at PURE, says homes today burn an estimated eight times faster than in past decades. Changes in building materials, open-concept floor plans, and larger homes all play a factor in the shorter time it takes for a home to become engulfed in flames.

Courtney offers the following advise to homeowners:

Building or Renovating Your Home

  • Use only traditional building materials. Concrete, steel, masonry, solid wood and other traditional building materials have a lower burn rate than manmade materials like particle board, composite wood and veneers. For the home’s frame, use either concrete or solid wood with metal studs. For walls and siding, select a fire -rated material like stucco or fiber cement.
  • Choose a more fire-resistant window. Tempered glass is four to five times stronger than standard glass and it’s more heat resistant. For window framing, steel offers the best fire protection, followed by woad and aluminum. Vinyl is the least effective.
  • Install a dry sprinkler system with a centrally connected waterflow alarm. In the event of fire, this will automatically turn on and alert a central station. And unlike a wet system, the pipes of a dry sprinkler system do not contain water, so the risk of a burst pipe is eliminated. A sprinkler system can be installed at any time but it’s much more costly to retrofit an existing home with one than to add it during the building process.

Living in Modern Homes

  • Keep flammable items away from fireplaces and heaters, and exercise caution around lit candles.
  • Install smoke detectors at least once per every 1, 000 square feet and on each level of the home, including stair landings and hallways.
  • Heat sensors should be placed in the kitchen, laundry room, garage and mechanical uses.
  • Space out furniture in rooms to slow the spread of fire, and have your chimney professionally inspected each year.

If you have further questions on insurance for your newly constructed home or practicing fire safety, contact Forward Mutual.