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Julie (00:05):

Tyler, welcome. Tis the season, my man. How you doing?

Tyler (00:09):

Ho, ho, ho. You like my little Santa hat here? Getting in, getting into fest festivities right now.

Julie (00:15):

I am and, and I see the little elf on the shelf and everything in the

Tyler (00:18):

Hey, when you got little kids, I've got one, two Elf in the shelf. I got a couple reindeer right here. Yes, we are getting festive and in the season.

Julie (00:26):

And I gotta tell you, the hat looks good on you, my man.

Tyler (00:29):

That? You like the little Santa hat? Yeah. We got this last year and I thought I'd showcase it off on today's podcast.

Julie (00:36):

I love it! I love it! Well, I want to welcome everyone to today's podcast. If you have not, uh, gotten the gist of it already. Today is “Tis the season for risk: holiday hazards you may have overlooked.” So, Tyler, we are going to talk about the holidays today and things that maybe for insurance geeks like us that we kind of think about during the holiday season.

But first and foremost, um, I want to thank Tyler Banks for joining. And also I wanna kind of get to know you a little bit. So I want to ask you just a couple quick questions.

Tyler (01:07):

Me, you wanna get to know me even more?

Julie (01:10):

Even more. We haven't had these conversations about the holiday.

Tyler (01:13):

I'm gonna take the hat off for this one because it's making me feel a little claustrophobic.

Julie (01:18):

Okay? Are you ready?

Tyler (01:20):

Let's go!

Julie (01:21):

All right. Holiday movies or holiday songs?

Tyler (01:25):

Oh, holiday songs for sure.

Julie (01:27):

Are you, we talking about holiday candy or holiday pastries?

Tyler (01:34):

Oh, holiday pastries.

Julie (01:36):

Really? Which one is your favorite?

Tyler (01:38):

Oh, pumpkin. Pumpkin everything. Pumpkin pie. Pumpkin rolls, you know, pumpkin muffins, you name it. Pumpkin candy. Anything with pumpkin in it? We, we are huge advocates for pumpkin.

All right. Julie, you got me with a couple of this or that? Items your turn.

Julie (01:54):

Okay, I'm ready.

Tyler (01:57):

Sun or snow?

Julie (01:58):

Sun.

Tyler (01:59):

Real Christmas tree? Or artificial Christmas tree?

Julie (02:03):

Artificial that might be controversial, but I'd say artificial.

Tyler (02:07):

All right. Ginger or pumpkin?

Julie (02:09):

I would say pumpkin until December one, and then I'd go, ginger.

Okay.

Julie (02:14):

Is that okay?

Tyler (02:15):

That works. That works. Favorite reindeer?

Julie (02:19):

I would have to say Rudolph,

Tyler (02:21):

Pajamas or sweaters?

Julie (02:23):

Definitely pajamas all day long—not just in the mornings—but all day on Christmas day and matching pajamas throughout the entire family.

Tyler (02:31):

All right. Last favorite holiday movie?

Julie (02:33):

Elf.

Tyler (02:37):

Oh, that's a good one.

Julie (02:39):

Yes, I love me some Will Ferrell.

All right, well let's get into the gist of it. Let's get in the meat of this podcast. Um, around the holidays, there's so much going on. There's a lot of gift giving going on. There's people that are traveling, there's people that are having parties, and there's a lot that we can kind of, um, unwrap.

Do you get that? “Unwrap” um, in this podcast? So, I kind of want to talk a little bit and kind of give scenarios to our viewers about things that they might not think about. And one of the things that a girl always loves is some good jewelry, right? And it's something that as our clients are, um, thinking about the holidays and gift giving—if it be around the holidays or if it be around any other special occasion—you know, we need to make sure that people are insured properly for their jewelry.

And I know that that has been probably the last on their list to to take care of when they're purchasing a very expensive piece, but don't you agree it's something that we need to think about and our clients need to think about? About making sure and calling and getting that added to the valuable articles policy because if something happens to that piece of jewelry, or it might even be an expensive piece of art or whatever it might be, I mean, it could be devastating.

You know, for that, for not only the gift giver, but also the receiver,

Tyler (03:58):

Have you been talking to my wife, Julie? Because I feel like this is something that she just set you up on talking about jewelry because, yes. You know, yeah, just speaking of personal experience, absolutely. As soon as I, you know, if, if I'm getting something nice for my wife, even for something nice for my child—if they're graduating from college, graduating from high school, we like to give them something you know, to memorialize that event.

And the, the first thing we do is I, I get the receipt and I send it to my insurance carrier to make sure that it's a scheduled item on the policy. Because I will tell you. One of those items—we were in Hawaii this past summer, and guess what? Took off the necklace so that we could go, you know, snorkeling, go in the ocean—and we never saw that necklace again.

So, it's something that happens frequently and after you get the item, you don't think about insuring it. So, it's always best to just come and practice. As soon as you purchase the item, just send that receipt off to your insurance broker, to your carrier, and make sure that that item gets scheduled.

Julie (05:03):

I think it's easier sometimes with jewelry and especially an expensive piece because the jeweler will many times say, make sure and get this insured right, or call your insurance or add that to your policy. But I don't think that once the excitement has kind of worn off and you, you know, the gift is given, it kind of goes to the wayside and it's kind of forgotten.

So, I think that's something that we really need to kind of think about when it comes to adding and insuring, the presents or the gifts that you're giving or getting.

Tyler (05:31):

And I would also clarify as well, Julie, because not all fine art or jewelry policies are created equally. And what, what does that mean? Um, for instance, the price of gold. If you look at the price of gold now versus just five years ago, we are hitting an all-time high right now as we speak for gold prices.

So, with gold prices skyrocketing, if you bought a nice cart bracelet. Wedding ring, earrings, necklace, and you know, you're stuck at that price. If it's lost or if it's stolen and you go to replace that item, there's a very good likelihood that you're not going to be able to get that same item. So, some jewelry policies allow for an appreciation, right?

So, it's built in some appreciation at the item, the price of gold goes up, and now they've, they've got an appreciated asset that they need to go out and acquire. There's some movement there and/or we also recommend how often—I mean, let me ask you this, how often do we, do you recommend your clients to go out and get items appraised, especially for those high valued items?

Julie (06:39):

I would say once every three years at a minimum.

I think that because the, especially when you're talking about metals and gemstones they fluctuate and value so much. And to your point, right, that, the insurance companies—some, not all—will give that cushion, which you said the appreciated, valuation as a guaranteed replacement cost many times up to 50% of what that item is valued at.

So, it is something that you, you have, you might have a little bit of a cushion, but it's not going to be a cushion if you don't add it. Right? So, it's a moot point if it's not even on the policy.

Tyler (07:19):

So, so you say three years. You say three years is what you recommend clients. I'm curious. How often do you think clients actually appraiser items? What we recommend versus what clients are actually doing.

Julie (07:26):

I would be generous if it was once every 10 years.

The other thing that kind of goes out, oh, you know that that happens a lot around the holidays are. Our people's parties, right?

And people coming over to, celebrate either a holiday party before the actual holiday or the evening of. And so, that's something that we need to talk about with our clients as well, is making sure that when they're inviting those people, if it be just a small gathering of just close friends and families, or if it be, you know, a hundred people having, you know, a, a holiday party at their house. We need to have those conversations with our clients.

Tyler (08:03):

You know, I'm a big advocate of the ugly sweater parties. That's one of our favorites that we can go and we can match and just have fun and, and listen. Holiday parties are just, this is what we, we have, this is what, um, one of the benefits of being a social environment, going out there and celebrating the holidays with your loved ones. but what that comes risks and exposures that you should be aware of. You know, if there's alcohol being served at the event, at the party, um, that's, uh, an additional risk component that you need to be careful. And make sure that you're aware of those individuals coming to your home. Another item that you need to be aware of is also if you have individuals in your home, and maybe they're friends of friends and they go around the home and they start snooping around, and that's where you can get mysterious disappearance of items, you know, jewelry, other kind of valuable items go missing in those types of events.

So locked doors. Keep your party into a location where everyone's located so people can't go off into other parts of your home. Those are just some common things that people should be aware of, um, as they, you know, go and celebrate the holidays.

Julie (09:07):

I know like with our family, with my immediate family, my husband and my two children, we don't have family, like other family members that are close in proximity. Um, they're all states and states away, right? So, we had a tradition of we went and traveled during the holidays. And it was always a good time to travel because the boys were out of school.

It was always their break, and we were able to go and do our family trips around the holidays, and that was something that I taught them early on was—it's all great to go travel and see all these different places, but we don't post anything or document anything on social—especially on social media or tell anyone that we are anywhere other than home until we're after, after we actually get back home.

Because that's when you know. Crime occurs and people, people stalk, you know, social media and they look at social media and they look at things and see when people are gone. And holidays are a big time for that.

Tyler (10:04):

Wise council, Julie. You know, unfortunately some high profile athletes last year, you know, were burglarized while they were playing games. I mean, the, this was widely publicized as they knew they were going to be out of the home.

They were playing a professional—you know, uh, in this, in this situation it was a professional football game. They knew they were going to be out of the home, and that was prime time for these individuals, for these, you know, burglars to go in and, and, you know, take advantage of that situation. So, don't give individuals like that an opportunity or reason to come visit your home. Burglarize it when you're out of town.

Uh, I know like within my own community, there was a very sophisticated group of individuals that were parking their cars and they were monitoring when people were coming and going. So, they had actually monitored—this was a, you know, a couple right down the street from us monitoring what every day. They had soccer practice at the same time, and the family was gone for two hours.

So they went in and burglarized this family when they knew they were going to be away at their soccer game, you know, and it was a smash and grab in and out in 30 minutes. So in these types of situations, you need to have a security system, right? And I'll say probably a lot of people have security systems and don't activate it.

They don't think, well, I'm going to go away, you know, a soccer game for two hours. Do I need to activate my security system? They probably aren't thinking of that. So there are things that you should, number one, you're right. Let's not advertise to the world where we're going to be in real time, which is hard to do.

You know, where everyone in social

don't think, well, I'm going to go away, you know, a soccer game for two hours. Do I need to activate my security system? They probably aren't thinking of that. So there are things that you should, number one, you're right. Let's not advertise to the world where we're gonna be in real time, which is hard to do.

You know, where everyone in social media

Julie (11:43):

Especially for children. Especially for children when they're so excited, right?

Tyler (11:39):

I, I have no idea, Julie, what you're talking about.

Julie (11:43):

None, none.

Well Tyler, I want to thank you so much.

Um, thank you so much for, your insights with the holidays. I know that you're a big holiday person and I appreciate you spending time and giving, um, our viewers some tips and tricks. And it's always good to kind of have a checklist around the holidays so you don't forget because there's a lot going around, going on, um, around that time of year.

So, I just want to thank you again for joining. me   

Tyler (12:08):

Don't forget guys, Santa's watching. He knows if you're naughty or nice, so make sure you're on the nice list guys.

Julie (12:16):

Always the comedian. Always the comedian. Thank you so much, and for those viewers, please stay festive and stay protected.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

00:05 — Welcome

Julie and Tyler play a fun holiday edition ‘This or That game” and introduce the overlooked insurance exposures that tend to appear this time of year.

03:30 — When should you insure gifts like jewelry or fine art?

The team discusses how and why valuable gifts like jewelry, art, and collectibles should be added to a valuables policy right after purchase.

05:31 — Are all jewelry & fine art policies the same?

Tyler and Julie explain how not all valuable articles policies are created equally and why market volatility matters for insured items.

06:39 — How often should fine jewelry be appraised?

Julie recommends appraisal frequency and discusses how updated appraisals ensure accurate replacement value and appropriate coverage.

07:36 — What risks should homeowners consider when hosting holiday parties?

Tyler discusses large gatherings and how these events create overlooked liability and property exposures. He goes on to discuss how homeowners can help prevent theft during these gatherings.

09:07 — What are the risks of posting holiday travel on social media?

Julie explains her family’s rule never to post vacation content until after returning home. Tyler bring up how burglars also use predictable schedules to target affluent homes.

12:08 — Final thoughts and takeaways

Julie thanks Tyler and remind everyone to stay festive and stay protected.