OTHER DEFINITIONS

General Aggregate:
This is simply the maximum dollar amount your policy will pay out towards all claims you may experience during the entire 12 months policy period.

Products & Completed Operations:
This is defined as the maximum amount the policy will pay for your completed work which was performed during the 12-month policy period.

Each Occurrence:
This is the maximum amount of money the policy will pay for any one claim. General Liability insurance covers a variety of losses, but among the most significant are losses relating to property damage and bodily injury you cause others in the course of your work on job sites (not you or your employees). Special Note: the loss of your tools or equipment is not normally covered under a general liability policy, unless the policy and your quote state otherwise. Business Auto coverages also do not include losses of tools & equipment. If you want this valuable coverage, please be sure to discuss this with your agent.

Personal/Advertising Injury:
The definition of Personal Injury includes such things as false arrest, libel & slander. Advertising Injury is defined as offenses committed in the course of advertising your goods or services.

Damage to Rented Premises:
This specifically deals with your liability for fire damage to premises you rent or temporarily occupy with the permission of an owner. For instance, if you rent or lease an office or storage facility for your equipment, supplies, etc., and cause a fire—this amount of money comes into play to pay for items such as your landlord’s deductible on their insurance policy, their loss of rents while repairs or reconstruction is taking place, and other related expenses.

Medical Expense:
This coverage pays for medical expenses incurred as a result of bodily injury caused by an accident on the premises you own or rent for your business activities. This does not cover injuries to you or your own employees and does not apply to injuries sustained inside of an automobile, aircraft, or watercraft. Example: a client comes into your rented or leased office and trips over a box and sustains a cut on their arm that requires medical attention—your policy under this section would cover reasonable expenses for first aid, X-rays, necessary ambulance & hospital services, etc. The interesting feature of this portion of your coverages is that it pays this payment regardless of fault and with no deductible. This is important to realize, because your other coverages (listed above) pay off only when you are at fault.
Important Note: this coverage is in addition to the Bodily Injury Liability limits you receive under the per occurrence limits of your policy. For instance, your Medical Expense limit is $5,000 and you caused an injury to a third party that is covered by your policy and the injury amounts to $100,000. If you have at least a $100,000 per occurrence policy, your policy would cover the incident, less any applicable deductible.

Owners & Contractors Protective:

Also known as “OCP” or “Subcontractors Protective”, this is simply coverage that serves to protect you from the liability in hiring subcontractors. While all insurance companies want you to make a good faith efforts to obtain certificates of liability insurance from your subcontractors (that name you as an additional insured)—the fact remains that should a claim occur that involves your subcontractor, it is customary for your subcontractor’s insurance company to involve your own general liability policy. This is know as subrogation and even if the claim is less than the limits carried by your subcontractor, you could still face liability issues and legal costs and that is why you must carry this coverage on your policy if you even think you might hire a subcontractor anytime during the 12 month period. (When a policy does not charge for this coverage, we will we may add this coverage to your policy as a professional courtesy, so you are covered in the event that you hire another licensed contractor on a subcontracted-out basis—and you then decide to hire a subcontractor—please notify your agent to add this coverage to your policy!)

Subcontractor Limits & Your Responsibility:
Under most policies, whether you realize it or not, all subcontractors must supply you certificates of insurance naming you as an additional insured & must sign subcontractor contracts containing a hold harmless clause in favor of your company. Failure to obtain additional insured certificates from subcontractors could cause the insurance company to levy additional premium as if such subcontractors were employees of your company, possibly deny a claim and/or you may fall responsible for claims over their limits of liability. In many cases subcontractors must have the same or higher limits.

Occurrence Form Policies vs. Claims-Made Policies:
Occurrence form policies, in short, cover you now and into the future for work that you performed during that policy period. In the case of a claim, if you built a home during your 2007 policy and a claim arose in 2011 regarding the home you built, you would tender the claim for coverage to your 2007 policy carrier. In most cases, a contractor’s standard type of policy would be on an Occurrence form.
A Claims-Made Policy form provides coverage for those claims which are the result of wrongful acts occurring after the prior acts date stated (in many cases from Policy Inception) and which are first made against you and reported to the Insurance Company in writing while the Insurance is in force. This basically means that the work would have to be done during the policy period and the claim would have to arise and be reported during the policy period to be covered.

Modified Occurrence Form Policies (Sunset Clause & Manifestation Clause/Trigger):
Many policies out there claiming to be Occurrence form policies have been modified to restrict the insurance carriers liability and responsibility to pay for a claim unless it meets certain criteria – and will offer you an attractive discounted premium to go along with it. A Sunset Clause is a clause in the policy that pretty much says that the policy will only cover claims that arise and are reported within a given number of years after the policy expires. (Say your policy has a 3-year Sunset Clause. This means that if you did a room addition in 2007, you have until 3 years after the policy expires to submit a claim if one came up for that work. If a claim came up the 4th year because the framing moved or drywall cracked, you would be out of luck). As for a Manifest Clause/Trigger policy, it basically resembles a Claims-Made policy where any claim to be covered for work you did under the policy period would need to ‘Manifest’ itself or show up (this is the trigger) during the [most likely 12-month] policy period. This means that if a defect showed up 1 day after the policy expired it would be too late to report it to the carrier and you are in essence self-insured. In most cases, unless coverage does not even matter and just getting a certificate of insurance at the cheapest possible price is the only concern, then you might consider a Manifest or Sunset clause policy. It’s wise not to be Penny Wise and Pound Foolish.

Excess (Umbrella) Limits:
Most standard policy limits can go up to $1M/$2M/$1M or $1M/$2M/$2M. If coverage needed is higher than that, then an Excess policy is needed. They usually come in layers of $1,000,000 and can be excess over various underlying policies such as General Liability, Worker’s Compensation/Employers Liability and Business Auto Policies. This type of policy is often referred to as Umbrella.

Pollution Exclusion:

Total Pollution (along with Nuclear, EIFS, Mold, Prior Operations, Aircraft/Airport, Railroad, Professional Liability, Employer’s Liability, Employment Practices Liability, Subsidence/Earth Movement, Asbestos, etc.) is a common exclusion from almost all General Liability policies and coverage must be purchased separately or with a carrier that specializes in writing them on the same policy form. Limits often range from $1,000,000 to $10,000,000 or more because Excess Policies will not normally be willing to cover Pollution Liability.

GENERAL LIABILITY INSURANCE

"What is Liability Insurance." Comprehensive General Liability (CGL) insurance is a two-party contract with payments made to a third party. Every business has certain legal liability exposures that must be covered. A General Liability policy protects commercial insured's from those liability exposures.

Product Liability is usually covered in the General Liability policy. It covers bodily injury or property damage incurred as a consequence of some defect in the product sold or manufactured. Product Recall coverage may be added with a sub-limit for an additional premium.

Coverage is available to indemnify the insured for work performed off site. This would include installation work, construction, servicing or repair work. Completed Operations coverage would pay for bodily injury/property damage cause by negligent or faulty work by an insured. Deductibles of $1,000 and upward are commonly found on a Completed Operations policy. Most General Liability insurance policies exclude Insured's Own Work, or Property in the Care, Custody, or Control of the Insured.

Owners & Contractors Protective (OCP) liability insurance is designed to cover a party that has hired an independent contractor for claims brought against the hiring party that arise from the independent contractor's work on its behalf. Coverage for independent contractor liability is automatically provided under the Commercial General Liability (CGL) insurance policy.

Admitted vs. Non-Admitted
Most contractors believe that it is preferable to use an insurance company which is 'admitted' in California (as opposed to non-admitted) but the truth is, it is not always necessarily better. Insurance companies which are California 'admitted' carriers are required to place a certain amount of funds in to a special account, governed by the California Insurance Guaranty Association (CIGA), to protect policy purchasers (you) if the carrier were to go out of business, and/or file bankruptcy, and/or just plain flake out.

Insurance companies which are not California 'admitted' carriers do not place funds in to this special account, therefore you are not protected by CIGA if the insurance company has problems however, sometimes new contractors with no business experience, and/or particular types of subcontractors, may find it difficult, if not impossible, to find an admitted carrier to write their general liability.

Surplus lines (or non-admitted) carriers fill this "need" for many contractors. It is the agent/broker's responsibility to offer coverage from well respected, financially stable insurance companies, whether they be admitted or non-admitted. It could be better to be insured by an A++, non-admitted company, than a B+, admitted company. If the B+, admitted company goes 'belly-up', CIGA would only pay up to $500,000 of a liability claim - with the subcontractor/ contractor left, uninsured, for any additional liability.

Certificates
For most every project you work on, you will be required to provide an original 'certificate of insurance' from your insurance agent. Some of these insurance agents excel in how quickly they supply the certificate to your customer, and other agents do not.

Many times you cannot step foot onto a project until the general contractor has that certificate of insurance from your agent. If your agent makes a mistake and does not supply the certificate soon enough, it could feasibly throw you into breach of contract with your general contractor because you are unable to man the job when you are supposed to because you have not provided the certificate of insurance. It is not unreasonable to expect that a certificate of insurance be processed on the same business day that you have made the request, provided you're not trying to "slip it in under the wire".

Some agents will automatically mail you a copy of the 'cert' (certificate of insurance) at the same time that they mail an original to your customer, but if you have a quick job you may need a copy quicker than the postal service can deliver one to you. A suggestion here is: when you request your agent to mail a 'cert' to your customer, also request that the agent fax a copy to you. The reason for this is two-fold: a) peace of mind that your request has been processed and b) in times of urgency, general contractors will usually accept a fax copy with your promise that an original is in the mail to him.

Chances are that the 'cert' is being mailed if you have received a fax copy (without the fax copy you really don't have any assurance whether or not the certificate is being processed in a reasonable amount of time, until and unless your general contractor and/or owner calls you and tells you that they have not received the certificate).

COMMERCIAL AUTO POLICIES

WHEN TO GO COMMERCIAL AUTO:
A private passenger auto policy rated as business use will not cover true “commercial auto” claims. Generally speaking, someone should consider a commercial auto policy when the vehicle is:

Used for business and owned by a corporation or partnership;
Driven by employees;
Used to haul tools or other equipment weighing more than 500 pounds;
Used to deliver thinks like pizza, newspapers or used in the courier business and;
Heavy enough that it is required to have state or federal filings;
Required by Contract to drive that vehicle onto construction site.

Business Use:
If your use your vehicle at all in some type of business you should be rated as business use or have that endorsement on your private passenger auto policy. Otherwise, if you are found to have a claim while using your vehicle for business use, your claim will most likely be turned down. Yes, it will cost more, but it will afford coverage to the vehicle while being used for business.

ADDITIONAL COVERAGES WITH COMMERCIAL AUTO:
Commercial Auto policies generally provide a higher level of liability limits, something most commercial enterprises need. For example, construction companies and other require higher liability limits before certain vehicles can be driven on the property and if the vehicle requires a state or federal filing, those vehicles require higher limits as well. Other advantages of a commercial auto policy include specialized coverages such as: Hired Auto and Employer’s Non-Ownership Liability, bobtail or non-trucking liability; on-hook towing liability, garagekeeper’s legal liability and drive other car coverage – coverages you’re definitely not going to find on a private passenger auto policy. Commercial Auto carriers also have specialized claims people skilled in writing estimates and overseeing repairs of larger, more complex vehicles. Don’t underestimate the need for claims specialization as a commercial auto valuable asset. Also realize that Commercial Auto policies do not usually have many of the other incidental coverages (i.e. towing, rental vehicles, etc.) that personal auto policies may have and all drivers and vehicles must be named on the policy to be covered.

NON-OWNED AUTO:
Covers you when your employees use their own vehicles for company related errands, tasks, etc. and covers liability only. This is an extremely important coverage to have because most personal auto policies simply will not pay claims when an employee uses their personal vehicle for running a company errand—making you potentially liable for any property damage or bodily injury the employee causes. This coverage will only apply if the employee is scheduled on your policy and their driving record meets the approval of this insurance company. In the event that the employee is not approved by the insurance company, you should have your employee sign an agreement that states that they are not to ever use their personal vehicle or company vehicle to perform any task or errand on behalf of your company.

HIRED AUTO:
(This is liability only coverage when you rent a vehicle for business use and covers bodily injury or property damage you cause another person. This coverage will not pay for the damage to the actual vehicle you rent; therefore, be sure to purchase the Collision Damage Waiver from the rental company anytime you rent a vehicle.)

DRIVE OTHER CAR:
Drive Other Car coverage provides personal auto coverage for certain named individuals by adding an endorsement to a commercial auto policy. This coverage is critical for certain individuals that have a company car but do not have their own personal auto policy and are not named on a personal auto policy of another household member. Without Drive Other Car coverage, this individual would have no personal auto coverage when renting or borrowing a car.

With Drive Other Car coverage, the named individual, and his or her spouse, will have personal auto coverage for the limits and coverage shown on the endorsement or declarations page of the policy. (Be sure to include comprehensive and collision coverage!) Coverage is provided for any auto which is not owned by the named insured on the commercial auto policy or owned by the named individual or other household member.

RISK RETENTION GROUPS

What Is the Liability Risk Retention Act?

The Liability Risk Retention Act (LRRA) is a federal law that was passed by Congress in 1986 to help U.S. businesses, professionals, and municipalities obtain liability insurance, which had become either unaffordable or unavailable due to the liability crisis in the United States.

How does the Risk Retention Act work?

In passing the Liability Risk Retention Act, Congress provided insurance buyers with a marketplace solution to the liability crisis, enabling them to have greater control of their liability insurance programs.

What is a risk retention group?

A risk retention group (RRG) is a liability insurance company that is owned by its members. Under The Liability Risk Retention Act (LRRA), RRGs must be domiciled in a state. Once licensed by its state of domicile, an RRG can insure members in all states. Because the LRRA is a federal law, it preempts state regulation, making it much easier for RRGs to operate nationally. As insurance companies, RRGs retain risk. RRGs, as Insurers, Issue policies to their members and bear risk. RRGs require members to capitalize the company.

Who can be a member of an RRG?

The LRRA requires that members be homogeneous, i.e. engaged in similar businesses or activities that expose them to similar liabilities.

What kinds of insurance coverage do risk retention groups provide?

The type of insurance coverage permitted is set forth in the Liability Risk Retention Act's (LRRA's) definition of 'liability," which includes all types of third party liability, such as general liability, errors and omissions, directors and officers, medical malpractice, professional liability, products liability, and so forth. The LRRA does not extend to workers compensation, property insurance, or to personal lines insurance, such as homeowners and personal auto insurance coverage.

What are the advantages of risk retention group?

As insurance companies owned by their members, some of the key advantages offered by risk retention groups (RRGs) to their members relate to the control members obtain over their liability programs. This control often translates into lower rates, broader coverage, effective loss control/risk management programs, participation by RRG members in favorable loss experience, access to reinsurance markets, and stability of coverage, notwithstanding insurance market cycles.

What are the possible disadvantages or differences of risk retention groups, if any?

As with any other insurer, there is always a possibility that an insurance carrier can go insolvent (go out of business). Also, similar to many other insurance companies, many risk retention groups may not be rated by AM Best rating service, so it is extremely important to make sure you feel comfortable with the company’s financial strength, reinsurance, etc. and that they will be able to meet their financial obligation. Also, in many cases, risk retention groups will give blanket additional insured certificates for contractor risks, but may not provide any types of special wording (i.e. primary, non-contributory wording, waiver of subrogation). Risk retention groups do not have an option of participating in the state’s guarantee fund similar to many other surplus lines carriers and non-admitted carriers.

How many risk retention groups are there?

At the end of 2003, there were approximately 141 risk retention groups operating in the United States, according to the Insurance Journal.

How much premium do risk retention group generate?

According to surveys conducted by the Risk Retention Reporter, RRG annual premium in 2001 was estimated to be $895 million.

Who forms risk retention groups?

Risk retention groups (RRGs) are often formed from trade and professional associations, which serve as the sponsor for the RRG liability insurance program.

Who regulates risk retention groups?

Although the Liability Risk Retention Act is a federal law, it has no enforcement mechanism of its own, and relies wholly on state insurance departments for its implementation. For risk retention groups (RRGs), the state in which the RRG is domiciled has primary regulatory authority over the entity.

PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY (E&O)

"What is Professional Liability Insurance."

This policy indemnifies the insured against liability damages (and the cost of defense) based on alleged or real professional errors and omissions or mistakes when acting on behalf of another. Those that may benefit from this type of policy would be: architects/engineers, physicians, attorneys, law enforcement officers, realtors, escrow agents, accountants, stockbrokers, directors and officer of corporations.

Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI)

EPLI is an essential for Attorneys, Medical Offices and Legal Practices. This insurance policy provides coverage for employment discrimination, sexual harassment, and wrongful termination. Coverage includes defense costs as well.

E&O (Errors & Omissions):

Errors and Omissions Insurance helps protect our professional service firm clients from claims relating to an error or omission (mistake) in providing professional services that can lead to a lawsuit. An error or omission can occur on almost any transaction. It doesn’t matter how long you have been in business or how good you are. All Professional Service Firms are at risk. Our E&O insurance programs help provide protection for the busy professional from the liability associated with such errors, mistakes or omissions.

Claims-Made Policy:

Provides coverage for those claims which are the result of wrongful acts occurring after the prior acts date stated (in this case from Policy Inception) and which are first made against you and reported to the Insurance Company in writing while the Insurance is in force.

Retroactive Date:

You may notice each year that the premium may increase by a little bit even though you did not have any claims or additional exposure. What you need to realize is that each year for your E&O policy, in addition to coverage for the next 12 months work you are doing, you are also purchasing coverage for any claims that might come up from your past operations (coverage to your retroactive date). Including this coverage is always recommended for any business.

SURETY BONDS

Contract surety bonds are an effective tool for shifting the risk of subcontractor failure to a surety company or companies. Surety bonding is a careful, rigorous, and professional process in which surety companies prequalify the subcontractor, providing the general contractor the assurance that the subcontractor will perform according to the terms and conditions of the contract. This essential assurance is provided by the performance and payment bond. The Performance Bond protects the general contractor (obligee) from financial risk should the subcontractor default or fail to perform the job according to the terms and conditions of the contract. The Payment Bond guarantees that the subcontractor will pay laborers and suppliers associated with the project.

Construction is a risky business. In spite of their prequalification efforts, surety companies paid out $514 million in losses last year alone and over $7 billion dollars since 1985! These losses would have otherwise been borne by general contractors- and in some cases, by owners if they led to default of the contractor.

Many sureties encourage, or may even require general contractors to bond subcontractors, especially on large, complex projects or one where a few subcontractors represent proportionally large or critical segments of the work.

Sureties favorably view general contractors who have an established policy of bonding subcontractors over a certain threshold. Of course, this is only one of many underwriting considerations, but it can be a very important one when the surety is asked to consider a stretch situation. Does the subcontract bond reduce the general contractor's bond exposure on a dollar-for-dollar basis? Keep in mind that each bond is specific to a contract. The general contractor's bond is specific to the subcontract. Therefore, in the eyes of the general contractor's surety, there is no such correlation. The general contractor and his or her surety are still obligated to the owner for the terms and conditions of the general contract. The owner is not a party to the subcontract and does not benefit directly from the subcontract bond.

Many general contractors, especially larger companies managing numerous projects with several different subcontractors, have an established subcontractor bonding policy. The most common thresholds are $50,000 to $100,000 with exceptions to meet the realities of the marketplace. On hard-bid public work projects with listed subcontractors, the low bidder often must list subcontractors that may be unable or have limited capacity to provide subcontract bonds. Other considerations, such as type of work, duration of the subcontract, bid spread, size, financial strength, and reputation may provide reasons to waive the requirement for subcontract bonds.

But size alone is not a reason to waive subcontract bonds. Many large, well known contractors have failed. A little research may uncover important information about the financial condition of the subcontractor. Your professional surety agent is an excellent source of information about subcontractors and their ability to provide bonds.

WORKERS COMPENSATION

Worker’s compensation coverage is mandatory in all states. Benefits are afforded in accordance with the laws in each state. In order for Workers Comp coverage to apply, the injury must arise from and be related to the injured worker’s job duties. Workers Comp also covers related costs for disease or death that occurs as a result of the accident.

A Workers Comp policy is packaged with an Employers Liability policy, in order to provide coverage for an employer’s common law or tort liability. Employee injuries that fall outside the scope of the state laws or acts that are separate and distinguished from the liability imposed by Workers Comp laws are addressed by an Employers Liability policy.

However, Workers Comp can be quite complicated. Often times we find that the classifications are incorrect for employees who conduct work beyond the most basic classification.

There are several different classifications that most employers don’t realize they can use to receive a better rate on their insurance. This can be a problem for demolition contractors, sheet metal contractors, plumbers, grading and other construction employees who work in more than one trade.

With our extensive experience and thorough understanding of the construction industry and worker’s compensation rating systems, we can often reduce insurance premiums for our clients by hundreds and even thousands of dollars. We have been very successful in lowering overall worker’s compensation insurance costs by ferreting out the most competitive classifications that apply to individual contractors. At the same time, we have served our clients by going back to prior insurance policies and getting substantial refunds by correctly presenting the exposure for worker’s compensation to the insurance carrier.

COMMERCIAL PROPERTY/IM

Commercial Property Insurance is a first-party insurance that protects the insured against loss of property already accumulated or loss of property to be earned. Property insurance coverages may include physical damage or loss, loss of income and extra expenses, inland marine, boiler and machinery, and crime coverage.

COC or Builder’s Risk Hard Costs coverage is provided on structures under construction including: foundations, temporary on-site structures, materials, supplies, and equipment intended to become part of the permanent structure or building. COC Soft Costs coverage may be available and would include such items as: loss of interest, permits, engineering fees, and any other re-occurring costs or fees. Typical covered causes of loss include: vandalism, malicious mischief, windstorm, aircraft, fire, and theft.

Equipment Floater Property Insurance covers equipment that is often moved from place to place while being in the care, custody and control of the insured. This coverage would include mobile equipment, tools, construction machinery-steamrollers, blacktopping machinery, etc.

Electronic Data Processing Floater is a special form of policy written to cover external risks of direct physical loss to computers, word processors hardware, and software. This may also include: extra expense and business interruption coverage for the insured to continue normal operation of his or her business, following damage to or destruction of the data processing system, component parts, and/or data processing media.

A Boiler and Machinery policy is used to cover almost every kind of equipment for containing pressure, heating or cooling, or generating or transmitting power. Boiler and Machinery insurance covers accidental breakdown that could destroy or damage the machine, as well as an explosion of the steam equipment and the subsequent damage caused to other property as a result of the accident.

A Difference In Conditions policy is a special policy typically purchased to cover the gaps not covered in a standard property policy. DIC policy coverages can include: collapse, flood, and earthquake.

An Installation Floater is a true floater where coverage starts when the items to be installed are transported to the customers premises and remains in place until the interest of the contractors ceases or the owner accepts whichever comes first. Contractors who regularly install items off premises should consider this coverage.

Jewlers Block Insurance was originally developed at Lloyd's of London in the late 1880's by a diamond merchant's clerk named Thomas March. Mr. March, who was concerned at the inability of his employer to obtain insurance against theft, was friendly with one of the leading Lloyd's Underwriters of the day and between them they devised the first Jewellers Block policy. The Jewellers Block Policy is an "all risk" coverage, which means that the insurer must specify what is not covered. If a risk is not in the list of exclusions, it is covered. Typical risks that are covered are Burglary, Robbery, Shoplifting, Grab and Run, Trick Loss, Substitution and Accidental Damage, in addition to the usual risks such as Fire.

What Risks are Not Covered.

The most important exclusions are Employee Dishonesty, Damage to Goods Being Worked Upon and Mysterious Loss or Unexplained Loss. Most other exclusions can be bought back if required or they are "common sense" exclusions.

What Extensions are Available?

Coverage is based on stock at your premises but may be extended to follow your stock almost wherever it goes, including:

Jobbers And Outworkers
Memo Of Consignment To Other Jewelers
Bank Or Safety Deposit Boxes
Commission Sales Representatives
Travel By Principals Or Employees
Shipments
Trade Shows And Exhibitions
Personal Residences
While Being Worn

What are the Requirements?

Must be working from business premises
A burglary resistant safe according to the following maximum levels of stock:
Burglar alarm connected by a direct line to the alarm company's monitoring station and certified by Underwriters Laboratories as Extent 2, Level II or better. The system must include at least one hold up button and a door contact on the safe. These are the minimum requirements and insurers may have further requirements. If you are located in an area where ULC certification is not available, a specification schedule from your alarm company may be acceptable.
Closed Circuit Television with a monitor is mandatory by most insurers except where values are low. VCRs are only mandatory in retail stores.
Normally not more than 10% of jewellery and watches may be left out of safe outside business hours.
Physical inventory must be taken at least once a year and records maintained of all sales and purchases. A perpetual inventory is the best system to operate, this can be based on a computer or books or a card system.

UMBRELLA/EXCESS POLICIES

Contractors, Attorneys and any Professionals may find the need of additional coverage for their business. The Commercial Umbrella policy provides additional layers or limits of coverage and extends the occurrence and aggregate limits of the Primary insurance policies. Typically, Commercial Umbrella policies provide additional limits over Commercial General Liability policies, Commercial Auto policies, and Garage policies. Commercial Umbrella policy limits range from $1 Million up to $100 Million with Self-Insured Retentions typically set at $10,000. Commercial Umbrella policies are offered by many admitted and non-admitted insurers. It is recommended that the Commercial Umbrella policy period be written on a concurrent basis with the underlying policies.

Similarly, the Commercial Excess policy provides additional layers or limits of coverage and extends the occurrence and aggregate limits of the Primary insurance policy. Typically, Commercial Excess policies provide additional limits over Commercial General Liability policies, Commercial Auto policies, and Garage policies, but only on an individual basis. Commercial Excess policy limits range from $1 Million up to $100 Million with Self-Insured Retentions of $10,000. Commercial Excess policies are offered by admitted and non-admitted insurers. It is recommended that the Commercial Excess policy period be written on a concurrent basis with the corresponding underlying policy.

BUSINESS OWNERS POLICIES

Basically, three types of insurance are available to protect your business: property, liability and workers' compensation. Workers' compensation insurance is required by law in all 50 states. Although property and liability insurance are not always mandatory, it makes sense to protect all of your company assets with property and liability insurance.

Business owner's policies (BOPs) are insurance packages that provide both property and liability coverage at one affordable premium. These packaged policies are available to most small and medium-size companies and can be a good alternative to purchasing separate policies for liability and property insurance.

Large companies and businesses that are considered high risk usually don't meet the criteria for a BOP. The criteria for BOP eligibility include the size of the premises, the required limits of liability, the type of business and the extent of offsite activity. Premiums for BOP policies are based on similar factors, including business location, financial stability, building construction, and security features and fire hazards.

LIFE INSURANCE

Life insurance is unique among financial instruments. It is one of, if not the only financial instrument that is based on caring and love. Even though there can be personal advantages to having life insurance, the real impetus is love for those one cares most about – to make sure they are taken care of. So, applaud yourself for taking the time to learn about this subject (and please follow up with action whether through us or the organization of your choice.)

Interestingly, while one is taking care of the financial needs and wants of a spouse or the next generations, life insurance can also develop and build one’s personal financial goals while living. For example, because you have sufficient life insurance, you might be able to use more of your assets to enjoy life in retirement. Why is that? Because if you know you have sufficient life insurance you won’t feel that you are lowering the inheritance by spending some of your principal. You may actually “pay down principal” to some degree to yourself, especially if you have lifetime permanent life insurance as a backup.

There are various types of life insurance but they all have some common attributes. You pay an insurance company what are called premiums. At your death, the life insurance company pays an amount to the people you named in your policy, called beneficiaries. Also it’s interesting that if you named a beneficiary(ies) they’d receive the insurance amount free of income tax.

Some types of life insurance have cash benefits available while you’re living. In these types, a portion of your premium goes into a cash reserve and builds on a tax deferred basis. You can access this money, called cash value. Some people use it to help education costs, enhance retirement cash flow or for any reason. Two of the most common types of “permanent life insurance” are called whole life insurance and universal life insurance.

If you would like to learn more about the different types of life insurance, and what is right for you, please speak with one of our representatives, call us at (800) 407-0373 or contact us.

Whether you get it from us or not, please take care of this important and caring financial concern.

HEALTH INSURANCE

Nearly 16 percent of Americans -- about 47 million people -- are uninsured. The people without health insurance aren't just the poor -- they are all of us. Medical bills are the cause of more than half of all personal bankruptcies in the United States. Access to health insurance and health care that is safe and affordable is easily the biggest domestic crisis facing us.

Finding affordable coverage for your family can be confusing. We can help you and your family with those concerns. We will do the work for you, so you, your spouse, your children, and your employees can be protected. Depending on your needs, we will find the right coverage for you. Fill out our application to get started.

Disability Insurance
Disability insurance pays an insured person an income when that person is unable to work because of an accident or illness. There are two types of disability policies: Short-Term Disability (STD) and Long-Term Disability (LTD).

Short-Term Disability policies (STD) have a waiting period of 0 to 14 days with a maximum benefit period of no longer than two years.

Long-Term Disability policies (LTD) have a waiting period of several weeks to several months with a maximum benefit period ranging from a few years to the rest of your life.

If you depend on your income to pay the bills, you need to seriously consider buying disability income insurance. Disability income insurance can help you pay your bills by replacing a portion of your income. It can help you maintain your current lifestyle, and help protect you and your family from going into serious debt.Your chances of being disabled at some time during your working career are probably higher than you think. According to the Social Security Administration’s Disability Benefits brochure, "Studies show that a 20-year-old worker has a 3-in-10 chance of becoming disabled before reaching retirement age"

LONG TERM CARE

When a person requires someone else to help him with his physical or emotional needs over an extended period of time, this is long-term care. This help may be required for many of the activities or needs that healthy, active people take for granted.

The need for long-term care help might be due to a terminal condition, disability, illness, injury or the infirmity of old age. Estimates by experts are that at least 60% of all individuals will need extended help in one or more of the areas above during their lifetime. The need for long-term care may only last for a few weeks or months or it may go on for years.

ESTATE PLANNING

Estate planning is the process of accumulating and disposing of an estate to maximize the goals of the estate owner. The various goals of estate planning include making sure the greatest amount of the estate passes to the estate owner's intended beneficiaries, often including paying the least amount of taxes and avoiding or minimizing probate court involvement. Additional goals typically include providing for and designating guardians for minor children and planning for incapacity.

The tools involved in estate planning include the will, various types of trusts, beneficiary designations, powers of appointment, various forms of property ownership (Joint tenancy with rights of survivorship, tenancy in common, tenancy by the entirety, etc), gifting, and powers of attorney, specifically the durable financial power of attorney and the durable medical power of attorney. After widespread litigation and media coverage surrounding the Terri Schiavo case, virtually all estate planning attorneys now advise their clients to also create a living will. Note that many people (and even some attorneys) confuse a living will with a durable medical power of attorney. The former controls solely those decisions that must be made at the end of the patient's life, while the latter is used to give decision-making authority to someone else (usually a family member or close friend). This person, the attorney-in-fact, then makes all medical decisions leading up to the person's death, but has no such power to make end of life decisions for the patient. Those decisions are made by the patient in the living will; in the absence of a living will, and where the patient is incapable of making end-of-life decisions for him or herself, such choices are left to family members.

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