Over the past month, AArdvark Insurance Agency has made efforts to become a LGBT Business Enterprise (LGBTBE) certified business through the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) Supplier Diversity Initiative.

We recently received word that our application has been approved and we are now officially certified as a LGBT Business Enterprise.

This is another step for AArdvark Insurance Agency in engaging the LGBT community within the Chicagoland area as well as the other 4 states we represent (Arizona, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin).

Don’t forget to check us out on facebook and twitter.

If you have any questions about insurance or would like us to run more free quotes for you, please do not hesitate to send us an email or call our office 773.961.8781.

-TGW

For those of you who do not know what The Dock is, it is a restaurant at Montrose Harbor that features a bar, chef, seating patio area with umbrellas, and a small stage for musicians. The patio overlooks Lake Michigan, and with a small breeze, it is a great place to hangout during the summer evenings after work. Aside from the excessive heat, it was a great little gathering, although Lu and I only stayed for about an hour before we had to move on to our next event.

We then proceeded to go to the Best Western Plus Hawthorne Terrace Hotel located on Broadway Ave in Wrigleyville. Although that area is quite popular, the hotel sits back from the street and could go completely unnoticed if you were not looking for it. That being said, the place was great. The event was a social mixer hosted by the Chicago Area Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.

The spread was fantastic: veggies and humus, crab cakes, steak burgers, and chicken on a stick. There was plenty of food for everyone, and within no time, people were full, drinking, and chatting amongst each other. People balanced chatting outside near the drink table and standing indoors in the a/c where the food was. For how hot it was, it was a fairly even split between the number of guests outdoors and inside. We also had the chance to tour one of the ‘loft suites” at the hotel. They were incredible. If you ever get the chance to stay in the suite, they are reasonably priced. All in all, it was a great event and a good opportunity to speak with local business representatives from the Chicago area.

AArdvark News:

We are continuing to expand our social media horizon via Twitter and facebook.

Furthermore, we are in the works of creating an outdoor B2B on our lawn next to the AArdvark office. More news to on this topic to come soon.

NGLCC Conference for 2012 will be in Chicago this August. Someone from AArdvark Insurance Agency should be in attendance.

As always, if you have any questions about insurance or want to learn more about AArdvark, please do not hesitate to give us a call or send us an email.

-TGW

First: list every room in your apartment
Second: write down 3-5 of the most expensive items in each of those rooms.
Third: estimate how much it would cost to replace each of those items and
Fourth: add that total up.

Amongst some of our carriers, the lowest minimum deductible can be as little as $250. So if your total value from the fourth criteria of the activity is more than $250, then renters insurance is something you should not just consider, but immediately act upon. Furthermore, renteres insurance can cost as little as $15 per month. Now you may be telling yourself, this is great but I do not need it because of xyz.

A good friend of mine who lives on the 23rd floor of a high rise in downtown Chicago, recently had his apartment robbed while he was out. Thankfully, because of his renters insurance, he was able to replace everything that was stolen. That being said, incidences can happen anywhere.

Have questions about renters insurance? Give our office a call or shoot us an email. We would be thrilled to help set you up with the best possible policy to service your needs.

AArdvark Insurance Agency is expanding its social media grasp as we are now tweeting. Follow us on twitter @AArdvarkchicago. Also, friend us on facebook

The idea upsets privacy advocates in a state whose plates bear the nickname  “The Constitution State.”

A Connecticut Senate committee recently approved a bill to explore putting  radio frequency identification tags, known as RFIDs, in the state’s license  plates so cars can be tracked and tickets automatically generated for drivers  with lapsed vehicle registration, emissions or insurance. A lobbyist for the  program estimates the state would collect $29 million per year by fining  uninsured drivers and other lawbreakers.

Former astronaut Paul Scully-Power, now representing the RFID industry, also  envisions a future in which the same technology could be used to more easily  identify those who break speed limits and run red lights.

Electromagnetic radio waves from an RFID tag give up data to an electronic  reader. The data can include registration, insurance and emissions information,  along with make, model and color of the vehicle.

One in 10 drivers uninsured

Like every other state except New Hampshire, Connecticut  requires insurance or some other proof of financial responsibility. About 10  percent of Connecticut’s 2.5 million licensed drivers were uninsured as of 2009,  according to the Insurance  Research Council, somewhat better than the national average of nearly 14  percent. The minimum fine for driving without insurance is $100.

Proponents say RFIDs would help increase the number of people caught  violating the law. From 2005 to 2007, only 68,232 drivers were cited for not  having insurance, and only a fraction of those actually paid the fine, according  to data gathered by Scully-Power.

The Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) used to require license  plates or windshields  carry colored stickers that identified the vehicles as  being registered or having had updated smog testing. But the DMV no longer has  that requirement. RFID tags would instantly identify cars that weren’t insured  or emissions-tested and issue a citation automatically.

Of course, states already verify insurance information. Police can ask for  proof of insurance during a traffic stop and write a ticket if the driver  doesn’t have it. In some states, where insurance companies report policy  information to the DMV, officers can check plates of suspicious vehicles against  a state database, or an automated scanner can look up every plate in a parking  lot. (See “Do  you look like you have car insurance?“)

Your data, up for grabs

With a $200 RFID reader, a car with an RFID license plate could be scanned  from about 10 feet away to get the driver’s address, driving record or other  information, says Robert Ellis Smith, a privacy expert and publisher of The Privacy Journal.

“A lot of people couldn’t resist using it to keep track of people,” Smith  says of the tags that work like a barcode. Smith says he hasn’t heard of any  state tracking vehicles through license plates and worries it’s a dangerous  road.

“It would mark the first time that the identity of a vehicle or its owners  could be known outside of the vehicle,” he says.

Smith says Connecticut’s plan has the potential to allow stalkers to track  victims.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut also thinks the bill is a  bad idea.

“Using RFID technology to track the movements of drivers and their cars is so  incredibly invasive that we don’t see how it could fail to violate the right to  privacy,” says Andrew Schneider, the organization’s executive director, in a  written statement. “The chips broadcast individually identifiable information to  anyone with a receiver, and the potential for abuse, by the government or by  private industry, is staggering.”

“The loss of privacy for every driver for a few million dollars for the state  is absurd,” says Birny Birnbaum, executive director of the Center for Economic Justice.

OK, you’ve got insurance — how about a pizza?

RFIDs came into broad use helping stores to keep track of their  inventories.

Today, it’s likely you’re already carrying one.

They are used in passports, in corporate ID and access badges, in hospitals  to track patient records and in libraries to ease self-service checkouts. The  U.S. military has used them to verify identification of vehicles that approach  its bases. Many cities use RFIDs for contactless payment of transit fares and  highway tolls.

If all cars had RFID chips in their license plates, a business owner could  scan the tags of customers in his parking lot and send ads or coupons to them,  says privacy expert Smith.

“That would be a dream come true to many businesses and many marketers,” he  says. “That’s the holy grail — to get information about your customers.”

Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2012/04/03/license-plate-could-broadcast-your-insurance-data/#ixzz1r0Fh1Y75

If you don’t like knowyourstuff.org, there are a few other phone apps out there. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ site, insureuonline.org, has an app called scr.APP.book. MyHome Lite is another free app you can use. No matter which you choose, having a comprehensive list of your belongings will make it much easier determine how much personality property coverage you need.