In life, we have many important milestone events, such as graduation, starting a career, marriage, the birth of our children, and buying a home. Purchasing a home is an important and exciting process, but it's also a big financial commitment for individuals and families. For this reason, it's critical to do thorough research before buying a home. To help potential homebuyers, we're starting a three-week blog series focused on the areas to thoroughly research before and during the home buying process.

In our previous blog post, we looked at how to protect our family and property by making smarter everyday choices, such as using more caution while cooking, or being careful to not leave lit cigarettes near flammable materials. In today's blog post, we'll look at property fire hazards that can cause personal injury and major damage to homes, apartments or other nearby property.

From a young age we're taught the many dangers of fires, and how to protect ourselves if we're ever near a fire. Unfortunately, as adults we can sometimes forget to use caution around fire, or we may be unaware of hidden fire dangers in our homes or apartments. To help protect your family, home and possessions, we're going to look at personal fire hazards and property fire hazards so you and your loved ones can stay safe.

In our previous blog posts, we looked at the many life events that occur that require the need to increase or amend insurance coverage. Our first blog post discussed the more common personal life events that create a need for additional property insurance, such as marriage, buying a home, or even divorce.

As adults, we often experience a variety of major changes in life, including marriage, starting a family, buying a home, a death in the family, opening up a business, or even divorce. When life changes happen, there are usually adjustments and financial decisions to be made, but insurance coverage is often not reviewed and adjusted to reflect these changes. Assessing life changes and adjusting insurance coverage is a simple but important part of protecting assets and financial stability for the future.

If you watch the local or national news for even just 5 minutes, you're bombarded with images of disasters or tragic events here in Houston, across the U.S. or overseas. In our turbulent world disasters can strike at any time, from home burglaries, mudslides, apartment fires, plane crashes, car accidents and more. We can't always avoid the dangers that exist in this world, but we can do our part to minimize their impact in our lives, and in the lives of our loved ones.

As one the largest states in the country, Texas offers a wide variety of scenic landscapes and fun travel destinations within driving distance. For this reason, thousands of people each year decide to travel throughout Texas in Recreational Vehicles, such as motorhomes, camper vans, and travel trailers so they can enjoy the beauty of a road trip, but with the convenience of a bed, kitchen and other amenities.

As warmer weather makes it way back to Houston, many boat and watercraft owners begin preparing for fishing and sailing in the Gulf Coast and area lakes. Preparation will often include routine maintenance on their engines, fishing equipment, safety gear, sails or other equipment. One important preparation that should never be overlooked by boat and watercraft owners is ensuring that they are fully protected with Watercraft Insurance. Not having Watercraft Insurance coverage for watercraft vehicles can leave owners adrift if disaster strikes.

Houston recently experienced another blast of icy weather, leaving many trees covered in ice, and thousands of homes and businesses without power. Although the city escaped with minor damage, the effects of the icy weather can be lasting and financially devastating for businesses and homeowners. However, there are important proactive steps property owners can take now to ensure their personal safety and assets are well protected even after icy weather.

In the last few decades, there has been a staggering increase in safety improvements, resulting in safer homes, vehicles, baby gear, product packaging, food production, construction, toys, tools, and more. Although we live in a much more safety-conscious world, the reality is that accidents still happen at home and on the road. Accidents that occur in our lifetime are often minor ones, but there is always the possibility of a major accident that can cause devastation physically, emotionally and financially.