See our generous group below!

National Denim Day is put on annually by the CURE Foundation and is held the first Tuesday after mother's day. See here for info on the CURE Foundation or to make a donation.



* Remember every insurance company may have different regulations so we strongly recommend that you speak with your automobile insurer* 

1. ANY licensed drivers living in your household
2. The registered owner of the vehicle
3. ANY licensed driver who has frequent or regular use of the vehicle. In example, driving the vehicle to school or to work several times a week
4. ANY person using your car as a part of a car pooling arrangement 
5. A car that is insured on your policy, but is garaged elsewhere with another driver; this driver must also be named on your policy. In example, your child who is away at school and using your vehicle while he/she is studying. 

Written By Geneviève St-Denis, Account Executive, Rhodes & Williams Insurance Brokers.

 



Regarding: Policy Holders of Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance

The Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) has issued a consumer warning about an entity holding itself out as "Royal Insurance". This entity is NOT affiliated with Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance and is NOT licensed to do Insurance business in Ontario.

Policyholders questions or concerns with regards to their policies are encouraged to contact the Complaints Liaison Office at info@rsagroup.ca or 1-888-877-1710. If illegal activity is suspected, please report this to FSCO at 1-800-668-0128.

For more information, please visit FSCO's website.

It is that time of year again!  When you look out your window, it may not seem like it, but boating season is just around the corner.  The Ottawa Boat and Sportsmen's show is on at the Ernst & Young Centre (formerly the CE Centre).  Great exhibitors like Renegade Bass, Hurst Marina, John's Marina, Len's Cove Marina, and of course - your boat insurance expert - Rhodes & Williams Insurance Brokers.  You will find us at booth 123 - right beside our partner and friends - Renegade Bass (also check out renegadebassinsurance.com).

This Year's show looks to be just as fun as the many past year's we have been at the show - with expert's talking about boating, fishing and all outdoor fun! You can check out the list of all exhibitors at their website.

"It's not everyday that a dream becomes a reality, but today is one of those days, and somehow thank you just doesn't seem like enough."

said Helen Meinzinger as she frantically posted the news to her loyal Facebook following.

Helen has been working hard the last few months on her submission for the Aviva Community Fund. Her goal was to earn funding to launch a pilot of her program "Kaiden's Care kits" which will provide supplies, information and resources to families with newborns diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. The inspiration for this program is her son Kaiden, who was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis.

With help from Rhodes & Williams Insurance Brokers and many loyal supporters, Kaiden's Care Kits was awarded $35,000 worth of funding.

"We are ecstatic that we have helped Kaiden's Care Kits succeed and look forward to seeing the strong impact it will have for those affected with CF"

- Tyler McDougall, Rhodes & Williams Insurance Brokers.

Have a look at Helen and Kaiden's "Thank You" video below.

"It was great to be a part of this exciting process.  I am so proud of Rhodes & Williams staff for rallying around this great cause.  We love helping out in the communities in which we serve.  Congratulations goes out to Helen Meinzinger for following her dream, and never giving up!" said Cory Young - Chief Operating Officer - Rhodes & Williams Insurance Brokers.

Keep an eye out for an update on Kaiden's Care Kits in the near future, to see how this money helps them, to help others!

For 16 years, Raising the Roof has been helping homeless people in Canada. They have contributed close to $3.3 Million to help homeless in 70 communities across the nation. The funds are earned by selling their special "Raise the Roof" toques.

At Rhodes & Williams Insurance Brokers we're happy to make a generous donation this year and have also decided to donate the toques we purchased back to the homeless community. We are certain that our donation will make a difference in lives of those less fortunate and we encourage others to do the same.

Click here to buy a Toque

Click here to make a Donation

"..driving alert is driving safe"

A recent tragedy has hit close to home. A tour bus crashed killing seven Canadians on a trip from British Columbia to Las Vegas. The bus, carrying 47 passengers, crashed near a cliff after veering off icy roads.

Image by "Salvatore Vuono" from www.freedigitalphotos.net

The Vancouver travel company is now being sued by two survivors of the accident.  They claim the bus driver violated American federal laws by working 90 to 100 hours during the first eight days of their trip.  They indicate in the lawsuit that the tour company's driver seemed extremely fatigued and ignored evident dangerous road conditions.

After the driver lost control, the bus spun and crashed through the guard rail. There were 9 fatalities and 38 others were hurt.  Although this is an extreme case of getting behind the wheel of a vehicle without acknowledging ones mental and physical capabilities to drive, this is a subject that relates to all Canadian Drivers......

Continue Reading

Rachel McCullys' trip to Nicaragua has concluded. She has arrived back to her home in Ottawa and also back to the Rhodes & Williams Office.  Below is a blog that Rachel has written about her final day of helping to build a School for the community of El Sasle.

We knew the day would be good when breakfast was served: pancakes and watermelon salad.  After breakfast, Gregorio the engineer took us back to the job site on the scenic route (otherwise known as mud alley). Along the way we saw royal lemons the size of a grapefruit, a variety of cacti and a plant that shrinks to the touch.  Kelly McKinney also led us through a surprise session of "Kelly-thetics", otherwise known as a massage circle to get our shoulders ready for the day.

Then Gregorio numbered us off and we were put into 3 teams: Team 1 Rebar, Team 2 Leveling the classroom floor and surprise, surprise, Team 3 Cement!

Team 1 Rebar, powered through creating the forms for the back slope and finished in record time!  Despite finishing their assigned task early, they were soon asked to move 1,200 clay tiles. When moving one stack, a scorpion emerged. Before we could get a clear photo, our local hero swooped in and eliminated the threat.

Team 2 Levelers, MacGyver'd some much needed tools to help level and stamp the sticky red clay used to form the floor in the classroom.  Here's something funny about that clay.  Most of you will recall that expression "Ants in your pants," well Christine understood the literal meaning of that expression when she sat in the pile of clay on the return trip from the quarry. Upon this discovery, Chico advised the best remedy was to stand under running water. Christine sprinted to the shower only to find there was no running water.

Team 3 Cement,  mixed 8 pans and finished the back slope all while incorporating cement mixing competitions and humorous exchanges all day long. By the end of the day, all teams were working together on the cement.

We finished the work day a little early and had time to visit with a local family. Rachel McCully, Rhodes & Williams, was impressed with the tight knit family values.  "It was interesting to hear from the 75 year old patriarch who fathered 15 children, each of whom worked together to ensure family priorities were met. Two of the sons were Contra soldiers in the war, while their home was located in the Sandanista territory, placing the family in a dangerous position. The father's response was to this unfortunate arrangement was "war is not delicious" which left us all in tears."....

Continue Reading This Blog

Last month we posted an article about one of our team memebers upcomming journey to Nicaragua. If you havent had a chance to read it you can do so here

Rachel McCully has arrived in Nicaragua where she will be helping to build a school for the community. A blog has been posted each day since the team arrived to Nicaragua, they can be read below.

 
We are very proud of Rachel. We are looking forward to seeing the progress of her and the other indivuals who are helping build this school. Please stay tuned for future updates.

"...I am very excited to be part of this amazing project and know that this will be a life changing experience"

-Rachel McCully

It is with great sadness that we say good-bye to a dear friend and colleague. James Bowie passed away on December 20th after battling a number of ailments.

James worked at Rhodes & Williams for 11 years in the role of Commercial Account Executive. James had a great sense of humor and built great relationships with Co-workers and clients alike.

James will be missed by all that knew him.

See more about James

We did it again! Rhodes & Williams is proud to annouce that for the second year in a row our sponsored charity, Kaidens Care Kits, has reached the final round of the Aviva Community Fund. By reaching the final round this gives Kaiden's Care Kits the opportunity to be reviewed by a panel of Judges to decide if the idea will receive funding.

Regardless of the Judges final decision, Kaidens care kits will receive $5000 worth of funding for reaching the finals. We couldn't be happier and we would like to sincerely thank everyone who voted and contirbuted to the success.

As a team, we have made a difference.

Here is a little bit about the project:

Why Nicaragua? Nicaragua is the 2^nd poorest country in the western Hemisphere, with political instability and poverty. 50% of the population are unemployed with an income for the average family being only $500 annually.

Bridges to Community brings together teams of business leaders to live and work in these communities from buildings homes (100 homes built in the past 5 years) to schools and playgrounds for the children.

The Jinotega Partnership was launched in Nov 2012 with a 5 year plan to raise $1,000,000 and transform the small community of El Sasle. We will be building a brand new school, playground, showers and latrines which will also serve as a Community Centre for the area.

This opportunity I have been given is not just building a school, but a brighter future for the children of El Sasle. Today, their school is a one-room hut with a corroded tin roof. By February 2013, there will be a school with classrooms enrolling children for their first day.

I am very excited to be part of this amazing project and know that this will be a life changing experience."

Please check back in the future as we will be posting about Rachels experience in Nicaragua.

Although Rachel has been given this opportunity, she is trying to further help the cause by raising money through donations. If you would like donate you can do so via Paypal at:

http://www.bridgestocommunity.org/canada/projects.htm

If you would like to donate through other means please contact:

Tyler McDougall (Rhodes & Williams, Office Administrator)

Bruce worked at Rhodes & Williams for 15 years in the role of Marketing Manager. He took his job very seriously. He was a wealth of insurance knowledge and could spend hours explaining the intricate details of this world he loved.

Bruce will be missed by all that knew him.

See more about Bruce

It is now 5 days into the competition and Kaiden's Care Kits is in 2nd place for the small-budget category. Although we are off to a fantastic start we need continued support to help us reach the finals. Voting is simple and every single vote makes a difference.

Register Here
Vote Here

For more information, here is a video of Helen on CTV talking about her charity:



If you wish to make a donation to Kaiden's Care Kits please contact Tyler McDougall from Rhodes & Williams

See more photos

For more details please see the event poster below or contact Brent MacDonald.   

If you are willing to donate or help sponsor the tournament, please contact Cory Young at Rhodes & Williams Insurance Brokers.

Thank you to all those who contribute and we wish you the best of luck!

Reigster here!

For this and other aricles by Lorne, visit his column

In this series of articles, we've been digging through the myriad of potential gaps in your business insurance coverage; gaps which could place your company at risk. Many of the gaps might not be obvious at first glance but when you think about some of the limits of coverage outlined in a typical insurance policy and consider today's costs to repair or replace certain items after a loss, it suddenly becomes apparent that you might be underinsured in certain areas.

One good example of this is your company's outdoor signage. Now, it might be the case that every day you drive past your company sign which is out in front of your parking lot and you've seen it so often you never give it a second thought. But that rather innocuous sign could end up causing you big headaches if it is ever damaged. It might have been erected a decade ago or more and perhaps you figure it's not worth a whole lot of money. But if you ever have to replace it, you could be in for a shock.

Let's suppose that one of your customers backs out of their parking space and smacks it hard. The sign, which was mounted to a concrete slab anchored into the ground, is now listing to the south. You disconnect the power to it because you are unsure if any of the wiring has been damaged. You report the damage to your insurance company and low and behold, the sign guy who comes out to examine the damage estimates the total repair cost at $40,000. You can't believe it. It's just a simple sign with a couple of fluorescent tubes in it. But when you add up all of the costs to fix it, that's when it begins to make sense. The old footing needs to be dug up and replaced. A new pole has to be installed. A small crane is rented for the installation. A new wiring harness is required. But you have insurance, right? You even saw the words "Sign Coverage" on your policy so everything should be cool. But if you look closely, you might see that the limit of insurance for your signage is only $10,000. (Remember, when you look at the extensions on your policy, the limits shown are not in addition to your general property coverages, those are often stand alone amounts of coverage for those individual risks which may not be otherwise covered.) Ten grand is sometimes the basic amount stated for outdoor signage and unless you purchased additional insurance, in this case you'd be out of pocket $30,000.

While something like a business sign might seem like small potatoes when compared to the grand scheme of your business risks, if you end up having to write a cheque for repairing it, suddenly it will become a much bigger deal. If you aren't sure how much sign coverage you have, now would be a good time to contact your insurance broker.

Insurance fraud is problematic because it drives up insurance premiums, ties up emergency services, can be dangerous to innocent victim's well-being and costs them more in their insurance premiums. The video below illustrates how we can recognize and eliminate insurance fraud.