Our Blog

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_column_text] Your parents may have said “never ride with strangers” but Uber, the new cashless ride sharing app, has taken urban regions by storm. Though there are many virtues of the on-demand travel service, liability insurance coverage remains a question mark. What should you ask before tapping the app for a ride? Let’s back up first (after looking both ways and in the rearview mirror). Here’s what ride sharing is all about. This is a smart phone application designed to...

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_column_text] Ticks are nasty little buggers. They are raising havoc on both animals and people in Maine and New Hampshire. The moose population in both states is dying off due to winter ticks. Humans and pets are being sickened by the hard-to-see deer tick. So what should we know and what can we do to avoid tick-borne illnesses such as Lyme Disease? In Maine and New Hampshire, the increase of reported Lyme Disease infections is staggering. A disease that first...

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_column_text] Rub your hands in lotion, sprinkle them with glitter and then go about your work day. It’s a kids’ game to demonstrate how quickly germs spread through our places of work, schools and at home. With flu season upon us, there are a lot of steps we can take to protect ourselves and co-workers from getting “the bug.” Here are some interesting developments in flu prevention. The first is to actually try the glitter germ game with your co-workers....

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_column_text] This is not a call to retain your employment but a chance to improve your health. Most office workers spend nearly six hours a day sitting and about seven hours a day in bed according to the British Psychological Society. That does not include the hours we log in front of televisions and computers at home. As I write this article, I am standing at an elevated work surface with a much happier musculo-skeletal arrangement. So what are...

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_column_text] My mother’s life was like a drop of water on a hot skillet. She never stood still – always looking for the next great adventure to engage her time, energy and creativity. When our father died unexpectedly, “Ma” was sixty years old with lots of mileage ahead of her. What she didn’t have was a solid grounding in all that our dad had assumed as his responsibility (e.g. finances, taxes, investments, insurance). Gratefully, she learned from others and...

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_column_text] Businesses large and small that accept credit cards in the United States are facing a harsh reality when it comes to fraud liability. In October 2015, most all major credit card companies will shift liability for data breaches and fraudulent purchasing onto businesses that have failed to adopt upgraded card security technology. What does that mean to businesses and their consumers? For some time, there has been technology considered more secure than the old magnetic stripe on credit cards....

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_column_text] The leading cause of death among young drivers in the United States is traffic accidents. Though people between ages 15 and 24 are about 14 percent of the total population, they are involved in more than 28 percent of accidents involving injuries. Those injuries can be avoided or minimized by putting teens in cars that have high safety ratings. But how many families can buy a brand-spanking new car loaded with safety features when their teens take to...

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_column_text] If you are a business owner, prospective buyer, CFO or partner, you’ll want to discover five easy-to-understand reasons why every business should have a solid buy-sell agreement. You’ll learn Register today for this complimentary session! Thursday, September 11 7:30 ~ 9:30 a.m. Marriott at Sable Oaks South Portland Contact Sandy Trottier strottier@clarkinsurance.com (207) 523-2254 The 5 “Ds” of a successful buy-sell agreement The three common mistakes in succession planning How to put an effective agreement in place [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]...

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_column_text] Hackers can guess 76 percent of the passwords in a data breach according to Agent & Broker magazine. As noted in recent local and national news stories, people always are scratching at your online door to obtain your data either directly or through someone else – like a big retail chain or a local merchant. If your account becomes vulnerable, your next and best line of defense is your password. Its strength can save you a lot of...

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_column_text] I was a middle-aged, balding guy carrying too much weight when my doctor threw the flag on my cholesterol. With his encouragement, I changed to a vegan diet more than a year ago. Though I am not “a vegan”, I made a personal, non-judgmental choice about my health and my wallet. By choosing to avoid meat and dairy products and eating a whole food, plant-based diet, I took a deliberate step in a positive direction. I didn’t go...