Author: Melvin

How Does Electrician Liability Insurance Differ From General Liability?

Posted on by Melvin

If you are an electrician, you may have wondered whether there is a specific type of electrician liability insurance, or whether general liability will do. Here is an explanation of what professional liability covers, and how it differs from general liability insurance.

Professional Liability 

While there is no policy specifically named electrician’s liability, professional liability coverage is tailored to the unique needs of the policyholder. It is also known as errors and omissions insurance because it protects you when someone claims you made a mistake. For an electrician, the incidents covered include things such as the following:

  • Electrical shocks
  • Fire
  • Breach of contract

General Liability

General liability is less customized than a professional liability and is appropriate for anyone who works with the public. It is always a good idea to have it because you never know what kind of claim someone might bring against you, and the resulting bills you might have to pay. Types of incidents covered by general liability include the following:

  • Injuries at your place of business or related to your equipment
  • Copyright infringement
  • Property damage

Discuss with your insurance agent the risks you face each day at your job. That way, he or she can help you select the liability coverages that best protect you.

Insurance Policies for Contractors

Posted on by Melvin

Contractors are self-employed business men and women who must learn the in’s and out’s of the construction industry. Aside from taxes, insurance is the most complicated aspect of running the business. Here are some of the basic types of contractors insurance policies that any contractor should acquire before beginning a new project.

General Liability

Not specific to the construction industry, general liability is the bare minimum that any business owner should have. It protects from a wide range of accidents and claims made by the general public, including copyright infringement.

Commercial Property

In the same way your homeowner’s insurance protects the place you live, commercial property insurance provides coverage for your place of business. Even if your building itself is not very valuable, chances are that the tools and equipment inside would be hard to replace without coverage.

Workers’ Compensation

Every employee must be covered by workers’ compensation insurance. The specifications of this coverage vary from state to state, but the purpose of the policy is to provide financial resources to employees to compensate for injuries that happen on the job.

By maintaining these contractors insurance policies, you can be sure that your business is protected from devastating financial loss. With coverage in place, you can focus on other important details of your job.

What Does a Hammer Clause in a DO Policy Protect Against?

Posted on by Melvin

Directors and Officers liability insurance programs protect managers from lawsuits that arise due to actions and decisions that fall within their jobs’ regular scope. A hammer clause in a D&O policy helps protect the professional reputation of a business.

What Is D&O Insurance?

This policy type covers the directors and officers of a company against potential lawsuits. It enables managers to carry out their job obligations without the fear of financial loss due to legal claims. These policies help cover the resulting defense and settlement costs.

What Does a D&O Policy Cover?

This insurance reduces the risks associated with claims against executives within your organization. It helps negotiate settlements and cover defense expenses. This coverage saves both time and money and enables your company’s decision-making members to conduct business as they deem appropriate. It also protects the personal assets of directors if legal issues arise.

What Protection Does a Hammer Clause Provide?

A hammer clause in a D&O policy caps the insurance company’s liability if the insured rejects a settlement during a claim. Defendants in claims involving D&O insurance typically do not admit guilt, yet the compensation often consists of an allocation based on an admission. A settlement rejection triggers the hammer clause, limiting the liability for the settlement and defense of claims amounts.

With this clause, the insurer has the power to force a settlement, making it an executive protection plan your business may want to consider.

What Is Insurance Management?

Posted on by Melvin

Insurance needs for individuals, families or businesses are diverse so it’s important to give people a wide range of coverage options. Mountainside Insurance Management will customize programs that are flexible and ensure that clients get the specific types of coverage they require.

How Does Insurance Management Work?

Insurance management is a network of brokers, consultants and providers who work together to offer a broad spectrum of insurance products to buyers through personalized programs. These insurance solutions are designed to meet the specific needs of consumers and are competitively priced. These are three reasons people use managers:

  1. Risk management: Risk management involves a strategy to mitigate possible losses by finding the proper protections as needed. The right insurance tools can lessen financial impacts that come as a result of adverse life events.
  2. Business losses and claims: Companies have numerous factors to consider when it comes to losses and claims that include property, employees and customers. The risks consistently change, and an insurance management team alleviates the burden by staying on top of necessary and timely policy modifications.
  3. Individual and family protections: Clients need insurance policies for property, life, health and auto.They may also need additional products, such as umbrella coverage to protect personal assets.

Insurance managers work with clients to ascertain risks and make certain their insurance products keep them personally and professionally covered throughout their lifetimes.

Stay Covered in the Social Services Industry

Posted on by Melvin

When you’re someone who works in the industry of social services, you know how complicated your job can be. While you are dedicating your life to helping those in the most need of assistance, you are also putting yourself at risk in a number of ways. To stay protected at all times, you absolutely have to take out a plan of insurance that meets the exact risks you face on a regular basis. Professional liability coverage is one way to get started on this task.

Protecting Yourself in a Practical Way

Taking out professional liability in social services is absolutely required for your long-term success. In the event of an error or omission, this coverage makes sure that you are not held responsible on a financial or legal level. Beyond this, your insurance plan will be invaluable should you ever receive a subpoena involving a client from the past or present. Not only will this be a huge asset, it can calm your nerves and give you the focus you need to get through this complex legal scenario. Other points to consider include:

  • Coverage that meets the specific risks of your job
  • D&O coverage for larger firms
  • Protection from claims of negligence

Help Yourself as You Help Others

Though you provide a fantastic service to the world as a member of the social services force, you need to remember to take care of yourself. Find coverage that makes sense for your line of work and stay on the right track for your success.

Have You Considered Group Captive Insurance?

Posted on by Melvin

Business insurance can be tougher to shop for than it seems on the surface. Most insurers do their best to predict your risk, but very few employ people who have been in your line of business, at a company with your exact business model. That’s why more and more businesses are turning to alternative risk management options like captive insurance. Captive insurers are owned by the companies they insure, and they provide bespoke insurance solutions whenever you need a form of coverage that just isn’t cost effective in the general marketplace. Some companies even use them as a total insurance solution.

Group Captives Control Cost

While you can start a captive on your own for maximum control over its processes and costs, group captive insurance solutions significantly lower the investment up front while expanding the insurer’s risk pool, a move that usually saves on the cost of policies in the long run as well. The key to managing a group captive situation well is to work with companies who are well-matched to yours in terms of the depth of coverage and kinds of risks covered. By working with businesses whose needs are very similar to your own, your captive company winds up with a more specific insurance mandate and your partners wind up being able to understand your needs, making it easier to build the new captive together.

Protect Your Company Against Sexual Misconduct Allegations

Posted on by Melvin

Most general liability policies do not cover sexual abuse or allegations of sexual assault. Business owners need policies that can account for sexual assault and related allegations. Most employers don’t want to entertain the possibility that sexual assault or misconduct might happen in their business. The problem is that it is always a risk and you are better off if you are prepared for it.

How Can You Cover Sexual Misconduct?

Coverages like sexual molestation liability insurance or improper sexual conduct are usually endorsements to a professional liability policy. These are add-on coverages. The coverages that these add-ons offer include:

  • Allegations of negligent hiring practices
  • Investigations of sexual harassment or assault claims
  • Failure to report sexual misconduct
  • Negligent employment practices

Adding an endorsement to your liability coverage is the best way to cover sexual abuse liability.

What Costs Do the Policies Cover?

If there are allegations of sexual misconduct, what will the policy help pay for? Most of the time, these policies will cover legal costs and also reputational damage. If there are allegations of sexual assault or molestation, it can hurt your reputation. The policies can cover losses due to the damage to your reputation.

Most employers hope that they will not have to use their sexual misconduct coverage. However, there is always a risk and all employers must have coverage. Every industry and business carries this type of risk.

Understanding the Differences Between Boat Motor Designs

Posted on by Melvin

When you operate a business on the water, your choice of boats becomes very important, and your insurance needs to reflect that choice in detail. The size of the vessel, purposes to which it is being put, crew configuration, and motor design all play a role in the cost of insuring it, so your insurer needs to understand the difference between sterndrive and inboard motors as well as you do.

How Motor Type Affects Insurance Costs

Sterndrive or inboard outboard motors have a few cost-saving advantages over full inboard motors because they are easier to clean and to access for maintenance. Often, they’re also less expensive to repair and replace, too. When considering whether to invest in an inboard vs inboard outboard boat, you need to consider the cost of the investment in full, including the cost of keeping it insured and the cost of keeping it operating. Lower repair and replacement costs save you money in both those arenas.

Using Your Business Insurance Provider as a Resource

When you have the right insurer, one who really understands your needs, you can inquire about these cost comparisons ahead of a purchase to help you better understand the full costs of an upgrade. That’s just one of the many ways you benefit from working with professionals who focus on offering insurance to maritime businesses like yours.

When Do You Need Tail Coverage Insurance?

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Identifying the right times to use specialized risk management resources can be a huge help to your business, and not just because they keep you covered, but because they keep you covered the right way. Take tail coverage insurance for example. Standard policies only allow you to make claims during the policy’s coverage window. Losses identified after the policy ends that took place before it ended are simply unrecoverable under most circumstances, unless you use tail coverage or maintain a policy continuously. Since tail insurance is cheaper than maintaining an active policy, it is the cost effective choice for many projects as they end.

Examples of Tail Coverage Scenarios

Whenever you wind down a project or leave a job, there’s a potential need for tail coverage. Professionals who maintain liability insurance often need tail coverage to protect them during the transition, especially when changing states and insurers. Physicians commonly rely on it for this purpose, and sometimes lawyers as well. Financial professionals with exposure due to fiduciary obligations should also look into the ways tail coverage can protect them when moving between occupations. Less commonly, businesses that provide contracted services on the B2B market also need tail insurance. Talk to an agent who specializes in this kind of coverage to learn more about whether you should invest in a tail insurance policy.

3 Litigation Concerns for Human Resource Professionals

Posted on by Melvin

Working as a human resource professional exposes you to a significant number of risks, making professional liability a must-have. Though the financial impact of a lawsuit or claim brought by a former or current employee can be devastating, carrying an HR insurance policy can defray the costs away from you as an individual.

Common Liabilities

While you try to do your best to help employees, hire the right people, and administer benefit plans, you may make a few mistakes. These errors can lead to lawsuits. The following are some of the most common liabilities facing HR professionals.

  1. Errors on employment paperwork: While it is the responsibility of new hires to fill out their paperwork, HR staff are to keep individuals accountable for completing the paperwork in its entirety and turning it in on time. Forms must be kept on file for a minimum of three years.
  2. Hour and wage disputes: Remote employment has made it difficult for employers to ensure compliance with wage and hour laws. Establish clear parameters for schedules and wages, including overtime compensation.
  3. Worker classification errors: There are different benefits and protections afforded to different classifications of workers. Failing to classify the employees can lead to lawsuits over unemployment insurance, disability insurance, workers’ comp, or health insurance.

These are just three of the common litigation problems you may run into as an HR professional. Protect yourself with professional liability insurance.