May 2017 – Welcome to MAX

Ostego Knights in Shining Armor Receive Grant from Area Insurance Agency

(May 30, 2017) – If you thought knights were a thing of the past, you aren’t familiar with the Knights in Shining Armor from Otsego High School.

This group of community minded students provides aid and support to families suffering from property loss or serious illness. To recognize their great work, a local insurance agency has joined with one of its insurance providers to donate $1,000 to help the group continue its good works.

“I am extremely proud of these students, seeing past themselves to address the needs of others,” said Joseph Schroeder of the Robert K. Miller Agency of Weston, OH. “They recently provided gift cards and other support to a school district employee who was suffering from lung cancer. These are great young men and women, doing meaningful things for our community.”

The Miller Agency received funding for its gift from MutualAid eXchange (“MAX”) Insurance, a fair, faithful and socially responsible provider of home, auto, business and related insurance. The company’s Mutual Aid Ministries program offers Community Grants to its network of independent agencies to support worthwhile programs.

“We are pleased to recognize the Knights in Shining Armor and to support the Miller Agency in this recognition,” said David Wine, President and CEO of MAX Insurance. “We are sure these funds will be used in a meaningful way.”

More about Robert K. Miller Agency: Address: 13161 Main Street, Weston, OH 43569. Phone 419-669-2004. Email: Joe@rkmilleragency.com.

More about MAX Insurance: Address: 2400 College Boulevard, Suite 250, Overland Park, KS 66211. Phone: 877-971-6300. Website: www.MAXInsurance.com or www.MutualAidMinistries.com. Email: bmusgrave@maxinsurance.com.

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InsureItOhio of Madison Wins Top Honors

Tom Petti of InsureItOhio with his MAX Premier Agency Award plaque

A Madison, OH insurance agency has earned the highest award from insurance carrier MutualAid eXchange (“MAX”).

InsureItOhio has been designated a Premier Agency for its commitment to MAX’s fair, faithful and socially responsible values and business practices.

“MAX was built on faith, strong values and service to others,” said David Wine, President and CEO of MAX. “InsureItOhio is a great example of the kind of trusted, community minded agency we want to associate with. We’re proud to call them a partner.”

Tom Petti heads the agency. “We believe in treating the customer the way we would want to be treated. We always try to have patience with everyone we deal with.”

When not running the insurance agency, Petti and his staff donate their time and talents to Asa’s Angels, a local charity that helps families in need.

To earn the award from MAX, InsureItOhio met several criteria including:

Commitment to the MAX values of:
- Treating others as you would like to be treated
- Faith in a higher power, and
- Doing good in the world.
Support for MAX’s Mutual Aid Ministries program that provides emergency grants to communities, families and individuals facing unexpected challenges.
Ambitious sales and retention targets.

InsureItOhio is located in Madison, OH. Phone: 440-487-4100. Website: www.InsureItOhio.com. Email: tompetti@insureitohio.com.

MAX is headquartered at 4400 College Boulevard, Suite 250, Overland Park, KS 66211. Website: www.MAXInsurance.com.

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Home Inventory: How to Prepare for a Total Loss of Your Home

By Sam Schoutko, Personal Lines Underwriter

What do you own? Let’s play a game:

Take a second and think about all of your belongings in your house. Can you list every single item of personal property? Of course not. How about just everything in your bedroom? All the clothes, toiletries, random items…it would be pretty difficult, right? What about just one drawer in your dresser? Or just the clothes in your closet? Don’t even try that junk drawer in the kitchen unless you have a penchant for headaches. If push came to shove, most everyone probably couldn’t even do that either. So what happens when your home burns down? Or a tornado whisks it away to Oz? Do you have a way to recollect everything you own? Have you kept an inventory anywhere to help restock your belongings? How will you know what to buy at the store and will my insurance pay for everything?

Most people are completely unprepared for instances like this and while they are extremely unlikely to happen to you, they do happen – and it makes a world of difference to be even a little prepared for them. I hope that I can outline a couple quick and easy things you can do that will help you in the very unlikely instance of a total loss of your home.

Obviously, the most important piece of this is to make sure you have insurance on your home and belongings. However, that by itself isn’t enough, it is important to make sure your personal property is covered at replacement cost and not actual cash value. This is insurance lingo and I won’t explain all the differences but if there is any question of that you need to contact your insurance agent to find out what your policy has or members of our Sales and Service Center team (877-971-6300) are always available to talk through that with you. You would be amazed at the out of pocket expenses you will incur if you don’t have replacement cost on your personal property. Even if you have a renter’s policy this is extremely important, don’t assume it is there!

Once you are sure that is in place, what can you do keep track of the stuff you own?

One tip that I have always thought was a good idea and not difficult to do is to open all the drawers in your home and simply take a slow sweeping video of every room in your house with your camera phone. Most camera phones nowadays have incredible resolution and will do a perfect job of recording what you need. That way if anything were to happen you could pull up the video and simply pause it over each drawer as a freeze frame and an aid to remember what you have there.

Another easy thing to do is after you buy a major item simply take a picture of the receipt. Most phones have a way to automatically backup photos to some cloud service and then they are always there and accessible to you.

One of the most important tips to this I just mentioned is online cloud storage. There are tons of websites that offer free storage online (Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Dropbox, etc.) and all you need to do is simply upload the sweeping video you took of your home and/or any photos you have taken of receipts or rooms in your house to that service. You can certainly buy fireproof safes or store important items and documents offsite but cloud storage will give you the ability to have something available anywhere you go no matter the circumstances.

The fact is a total loss event like a fire or tornado will most likely never happen to you but I hope that this will help give you peace of mind and prepare you a little in case it does happen. Obviously, nothing can prepare you for that devastation but the point of insurance is to help make you whole again after a loss. You pay your insurance company for this service and MAX is so very happy to help you in this time of need – it is literally our pleasure and the reason we come to work every day! The fact is it can be difficult (but not impossible) to make you are whole again if you aren’t adequately prepared and as I have outlined a tiny bit of preparation will go a long way.

About Sam

Sam enjoys spending time with his wife Krista and their Siberian Husky, Ecko, while not at work. Krista is a wonderful cook and baker so their relationship works well as he is a wonderful eater of the food she cooks and bakes. They enjoy keeping up to date on the latest movies and traveling to see family. As new homeowners, there is always a project to tackle around the house as well.

Horizon Insurance/Hawk Insurance and MAX Fund Replacement Playground at Fairview Church of the Brethren

(CENTERVILLE, IA) – The children had barely used the new playground set at Fairview Church of the Brethren in Unionville, IA when the March 6^th tornado destroyed it. Church members had donated the money for the equipment, but now—with a damaged church roof and a high deductible policy—it was doubtful the congregation could afford another playground.

That’s when Susan Houser at Horizon and Hawk insurance shared the church’s story with one of its providers, MutualAid eXchange (“MAX”) Insurance. MAX operates its own non-profit program called Mutual Aid Ministries which helps communities and families after unexpected financial crises. In response to Houser’s request, MAX stepped in with $2,500 for a new playground set.

“Our agency and our people love this area and want to do our part when tragedy strikes,” Houser said. “With MAX as our community partner, we can’t wait to get the new playground up and ready for the youth of Fairview Church.”

MAX Insurance of Overland Park, KS, is a unique fair, faithful and socially responsible insurance enterprise. Founded on religious principles, the company’s mission is to restore wholeness to communities and individuals in need. It lives out its mission through a variety of quality, fairly-priced insurance products, outstanding personalized customer service and its non-profit Mutual Aid Ministries (“MAM”) program.

“MAX is more than an insurance company. We truly care beyond the contract,” said David Wine, President and Chief Executive Officer. “That’s why we are excited to partner with Horizon and Hawk Insurance on these important projects for their communities. We think that’s the way insurance should be.”

Horizon Insurance and Hawk Insurance
Susan Houser
Hawkins_susie@outlook.com
641-856-2084
www.centervilleiowainsurance.com

MAX Insurance and Mutual Aid Ministries
www.MAXInsurance.com

Photo left to right: Mark Files, Regional Sales Manager at MAX; Susan Houser, Kayla Scott (holding Check), Mary Boyd (in Pink) Jeff Kulmatycki, Owner Hawk Insurance, Dale Brinegar holding check, his son Ryan Brinegar in blue plaid, wife Ashley Brinegar and 2 boys, Denver and Lincoln.

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MAX Mindfulness: Self-Discipline

by Dave Wine, President & CEO

I’d like to share a bit today on the subject of self-discipline. Or we could also say self-initiative, drive, or even passion. All of these are a part of mindfulness – paying attention to our thoughts and feelings, and when we have our greatest resources and strengths working well in our life. Here are some questions for your to “mindfully” consider:

What time of day is your ‘best time’ for certain activities? When are you the most productive? When are you the most creative? When is it easiest to achieve your goals and tasks? (For example, I’m a morning person, while Sharon is an afternoon and even late night person!)
What context (location, environment, etc.) feeds your self-discipline the most? (Some persons like coffee shops; others their office; others a home; garden setting; etc.)
Further on context – what mood suits you the best? (I like solitude and quiet for my best work, so working at home fits my productivity well; Sharon likes people and hustle/bustle around her – that gives her energy – and if she can’t have that, then the music is always on. We are fed by different settings and moods – neither one being right or better – just different.)
Who or what provides you the greatest energy? Maybe it is a fellow worker, a friend, something you read, listen to – anything that energizes you and helps you stay on track or inspires and increases your energy and passion. I personally keep quotations and readings at my desk to turn to at different times of the day to recharge.

Why is all of this related to mindfulness? Because true self-discipline (our ability to stay focused, perform, have initiative) comes to us best when we are self-aware of what nourishes us and when we are at our best. And being aware only comes to us from being mindful of what we are thinking and feeling in the moment. And being in the moment means taking time to pause, breathe, and reflect. Otherwise we are simply on auto-pilot. And self-discipline comes from being in the alignment and the flow of our lives – when we really are at our best. And MAX and we together succeed best when we are all in that flow. So I invite you to mindfully consider your “best times and contexts” for self-discipline and then plan your most important work and tasks around those times. Don’t forget, too, that reflection and mindfulness should also be incorporated into those ‘most productive times’ –it is not all about checking off tasks and ‘to do’ lists. Taking the time to be mindful will save time.

David Wine

David is the President and CEO of the MAX enterprise, having served in that capacity since its formation in 2001. He has forty plus years of leadership experience in the business and faith-based worlds, being an ordained minister, having been elected to the highest position in his denomination, and receiving numerous awards and recognition for his leadership in the insurance industry. He currently serves on numerous boards in the church and insurance sectors. His hobbies include hiking, biking, skiing and snowshoeing as well as being an avid reader. David and his wife, Sharon, have three daughters, a son, and four grandchildren.