9 Tips for Surviving an Earthquake

You've followed precautions and made your home safer if an earthquake strikes. So what happens if an earthquake happens?  In the chaos, split-second decisions could be the difference between peril and safety. Home insurance with earthquake will replace everything, just save yourself and loved ones Remember to stay as calm as possible, one rash choice is one too many.  Louisville based DolackInsurance would like you to keep these tips in mind when the ground is crumbling beneath your feet.

·          At the first sign of an earthquake, drop and take cover under a sturdy piece of furniture or against an inside wall away from objects that may fall on you.

·         Sit or stay close to the floor and hold on to furniture legs for balance.

·         Use your arm to cover and protect your eyes.

·         If there's no sturdy furniture nearby, kneel or sit close to the floor next to a structurally sound interior wall away from windows, shelves, or furniture that could fall and place your hands on the floor for balance.

·         Stay away from doorways, violent motion could cause the doors to slam against your body, crush your fingers or inflict other serious injuries.

·         Do not run outside.

·         If outdoors, quickly move into the open, away from electrical lines, trees and buildings.

·         If driving, bring your vehicle to a stop at the side of the road away from traffic.

·         Do not stop on or under bridges, near or under power lines or road signs.

After the earthquake is over, it's important to be alert for aftershocks. Once you feel safe, look for injured victims and help administer first aid.  Be sure to pay attention to damaged utilities. Avoid loose or dangling electric power lines and report all gas and electrical problems to the proper authorities. Turn off any damaged utilities that you find.
Thanks for visiting our blog.  Visit our website DolackInsurance.com for a FREE QUOTE or call us at 502-333-0577 for a consultation.

5 Tips on How To Prevent Identity Theft

I started looking into what criminals can do with your personal data and realized just how damaging and common it is. Scam artists often use stolen personal information, like Social Security numbers, bank account numbers, PINs and other sensitive information to commit various types of fraud, from taking out credit cards in a victim’s name or using a stolen identity to get a job. In 2012 alone, about 28 million Americans became identity theft victims in one way or another. Hopefully with these tips you can protect yourself from a growing threat to our privacy, courtesy of Dolack Insurance.

1. Get security software that updates automatically. As the efforts to outmaneuver identity thieves evolve, so do the thieves’ tactics. One way to combat this is to make sure that the security software, operating system and browsers on your computer are up-to-date. You can usually set these programs to update automatically.
2. Set up an external drive for data storage. Also back up your computer data with an external hard drive. You may also want to consider printing off your most important files, such as financial documents and family photos, so if your digital copies are compromised, you’ll have hard copies. Store the drive or hard copies in a fireproof safe or emergency kit.
3. Put it in the cloud. Like your laptop, computer or smartphone, external hard drives are vulnerable to fire, flood or theft. Back up your data to an online data storage server, also known as keeping it “in the cloud,”which means that it is protected no matter what happens to your home. A paid storage provider will archive all your files, which you can access via a user-friendly website. 
4. Strengthen your passwords. Never use the same password for more than one account login. Be creative with your passwords Think of a phrase or word and then substituting numbers and symbols for some of the letters.
5. Encrypt your data. Guard online transactions by using an encrypted, secure connection. Not sure if a site is encrypted? Check your browser’s status bar. A “lock” symbol means that your data can be safely exchanged. Save personal financial transactions, like checking a bank account balance, for secure networks. 
6.  Be careful about unsecured wifi.  An unsecured network means anyone can see what data you send and receive.  Public wifi is convenient, but be careful not to visit any sites where you give out your personal information. It's also wise to keep your home wifi secure, anyone can sit in a car and access your information if they desire.

Above all, use common sense when on the internet. Criminals disguise the malicious contents as free offers, giveaways, to good to be true advertisements, and e-mails from unfamiliar contacts.  By following all these precautions, hopefully one accidental click won't crash your computer or, more importantly, destroy your identity.

Thanks for taking the time to view our blog.  We try our best to provide information content on how to protect yourself from some of the more expensive problems life can throw our way. For a Free Louisville Insurance Quote, visit DolackInsurance.com, or call us at 502-333-0577 for a Free Consultation.