Bad Credit Loans

Business Income Insurance is probably one of the least understood components of an insurance program, yet it is probably one of the most important. It is akin to what disability insurance does for us personally should we become injured and unable to work – it protects our income stream and our ability to pay bills.

The same applies to a business if it becomes injured in a way that interrupts its operations which will ultimately affect cash flow i.e. stream of income. To be clear, business income insurance is designed to replace income that would otherwise have been earned by the business had no loss occurred. Unfortunately, it has been found that businesses are not typically insured properly in this regard. Some businesses may be under insured, over-insured, have detrimental exclusionary language contained in the policy or they might not have the necessary endorsements in their policy that actually expand coverage to address specific exposures. A shortfall in coverage can have a disastrous effect on the future viability of the business.

Business Income is generally defined as net profit or loss before taxes, plus continuing normal operating expenses, including payroll. Coverage is usually limited to the loss of income sustained until the property is restored, or for twelve months following the physical loss or damage. Some questions to ask here would be what would happen if it takes longer than twelve months to repair the premises? What is meant by the term “restored”? Does that mean my business is fully operational just as it was prior to the loss? Coverage however must be triggered by a covered peril described in the business income coverage section. If the event was not as a result of a covered peril then there is no coverage. What is a covered peril? Are my exposures covered under my current policy?

Whether your business is a manufacturing, distribution, construction, ecommerce, public entity, not-for-profit or whatever your operation you have this exposure and it should be addressed with attention to detail. Outlined below are some areas to investigate to help you better protect your business with regard to a potential loss of income: Read more of this >>

Some business relationships are forged through blood and friendship. When you work for a company whose owner has a brother, sister, or best friend that sells insurance, your hands are usually tied when it comes to finding the best deal for your boss on insurance. Or maybe you are the boss, and you don’t want to upset that lifelong relationship. That’s understandable, but you aren’t doing anyone any favors by not asking your friend or relative to compete.

Every day, business people receive sales prospecting calls from a variety of industries. I have fielded many calls myself from copier sales people, office supplies distributors, magazine vendors, market researchers, computer technology vendors, and actually a few insurance agents. Prospecting calls are usually intrusive and ill-timed, but every good sales person knows it’s a numbers game. You keep calling people until you find someone who is ready to talk to you.

When it comes to handling insurance agents, though, most people make some wrong assumptions. For example, you assume that your agent has access to all the same markets (wholesale brokerages and insurance carriers) the person calling you does. Your agent may have access to more markets. Or the other guy may have access to more markets. You should not assume they are equals, because in many cases they are not.

Another assumption people make is that the agent can control the price. When you buy commercial liability insurance, at least, the price is controlled by the carrier. I’ve had more than one person say to me, “You should give me your best quote and compete on the basis of that, adjusting your commission.” I wish I could do that. In Texas, at least, it’s illegal for agents to give back part of their commission. “But I’m not asking for a kickback.” Not precisely, no. But an agent or retail broker is only a middle man. His job is to find the market that will underwrite your risk. The wholesale broker or carrier is the source of the pricing.

Retail brokers don’t compete on price. They compete on service and access to markets. In some cases, a retail broker can ask the market to adjust a quote and someone somewhere will sacrifice commission. The retail brokerage may, in some cases, be asked by the carrier to give up commission. But a wholesale broker (a middle man between your retail broker and the carriers) is more likely to give up some commission. The retail broker is usually restricted to selling the products at prices set by their originators. Read more of this >>

Do you get cold calls from insurance agents wanting to help you save money? How many times do you just say, “No thanks. I’m happy with my current broker”?

Studies of the insurance industry indicate that at any given time only about 3% of companies are unhappy with their insurance agents. That means that all the insurance agents who want to expand their book of business have to constantly look for those 3% of companies who are ready to make a change.

The sad fact is that most of the remaining 97% of companies could probably decrease their business insurance premiums by up to 10%. That 10% savings is an average. A small percentage of companies are already getting the best deal possible. I have only rarely seen insurance carriers decline to compete with existing policies.

While you may be happy with your current broker, rest assured your current broker is ecstatic with you. You represent money in the bank to him. He may even be charging you additional “placement fees” on top of earning a standard 5-10% commission. If you agreed to the fees in the first place, cool. But some agents become so complacent they just start increasing costs for their long-time customers.

The worst possible way of reducing your insurance costs is to ask 2 or more agents to compete for your business. Unlike manufacturers or distributors who can reduce costs and offer discounts, insurance agents don’t have much wiggle room on price. All they can do is cut their commissions. While that may seem okay to you, what you really want is for the agents to reduce the total premiums.

Do the math. If you’re paying $250,000 a year on business insurance, would you rather save $25,000 (10% of the premium) or just part of $25,000 (the agent’s commission less whatever he is willing to give up)? If you take the 10% premium reduction, the agent automatically gives up 10% of his premium, which is equivalent to only 1% of your overall cost. By working with the agent, you save more money but he doesn’t lose nearly as much commission.

That’s a win-win scenario.

When you send 2 or more agents out to get quotes, they immediately lose their ability to negotiate on your behalf with the entire insurance market. They cannot leverage the various underwriters against each other. Like it or not, you are in no position to negotiate for the best deal. You may think you are, but you’re not. Agents are at their most effective when they can work with all the markets available to them. Read more of this >>

You can provide affordable health care plans to your employees. If you feel overwhelmed by health care plan costs, you may be able to achieve far more than you believe. Here is how.

REAL NEEDS, REAL SOLUTIONS

Today, millions of EMPLOYED Americans depend on government aid, charitable organizations, and their own incomes to pay medical expenses. Until an extended illness or hospitalization occurs, these resources usually suffice.

When faced with catastrophic health expenses, people often turn to their employers. If your company provides insufficient insurance, will you pay someone who cannot work? To add insult to injury, this year Congress passed bankruptcy legislation that burdens millions of Americans in medically-induced financial crises.

Employers feel the pinch too. With every health insurance quote, numbers add up quickly: $150-250 per employee, $300-500 per family. Many businesses shift these costs to employees through higher deductibles and co-pays, partial premium payments, and other means.

And despite some television advertising, supplemental benefits are not well known in the workplace. Most providers rarely advertise or not at all. Supplemental health plans are separate from major medical and dental plans. A supplemental benefits broker brings you proven cost-reducing advantages.

The best supplemental benefits providers don’t require employers to pay premiums. The employees pay for most benefits. However, competitively priced plans are inexpensive and pre-tax options can make them extremely attractive and affordable. Be sure you find a competitive provider with truly low-cost products to maximize savings and benefits.

Most insurance brokers do NOT handle supplemental benefits. When a supplemental benefits broker contacts you, assume your regular broker knows very little about such products. Ask questions. Make an informed decision. Most importantly, find ways to give your employees options and flexibility to care for their families. You cannot do it all, but they have to.

Good brokers schedule employee meetings to explain plans in detail. You should insist on a group meeting.

Plans fall into two categories: insurance and spending accounts. I’ll describe them briefly, but you need to sit down with a knowledgeable broker to fully understand these programs. Read more of this >>

For many people and businesses insurance is something they would rather not have to purchase.

Most people don’t want Insurance. Most people don’t like insurance.

What you probably do want is protection for your family, your loved ones, your business and the things that are most important to you. The mere mention of Insurance may very well make a vast number of people think of words like:

Rip-off, too expensive, waste of money, doesn’t pay claims, annoying, boring and some much worse!

The truth is though for most people and businesses Insurance is required as it provides them with protection and peace of mind.

With literally thousands of insurance companies, brokers and providers you are faced with a massive choice. So faced with decisions at every turn finding the right cover for you, your Nursery, Pre-School or Kindergarten is sometimes difficult.

This article will therefore give you some free advice that insurance providers rarely share with their customers. These few steps should help you in your quest to find the cover that is best for you at the right premium and with the best service.

Secret Number 1

The first secret to making sure you get the right cover at the right premium is perhaps the one that most people will find hardest to believe but it really works.

Are you sitting comfortably??? Here it is:

When you find yourself ringing around for quotes (and for anyone looking for Nursery Insurance I would recommend buying face to face or on the phone rather than online) the chances are you will be asked “What’s your current premium?” or “What’s the best price you’ve had?” Read more of this >>

I have been a health insurance broker for over a decade and every day I read more and more “horror” stories that are posted on the Internet regarding health insurance companies not paying claims, refusing to cover specific illnesses and physicians not getting reimbursed for medical services. Unfortunately, insurance companies are driven by profits, not people (albeit they need people to make profits). If the insurance company can find a legal reason not to pay a claim, chances are they will find it, and you the consumer will suffer. However, what most people fail to realize is that there are very few “loopholes” in an insurance policy that give the insurance company an unfair advantage over the consumer. In fact, insurance companies go to great lengths to detail the limitations of their coverage by giving the policy holders 10-days (a 10-day free look period) to review their policy. Unfortunately, most people put their insurance cards in their wallet and place their policy in a drawer or filing cabinet during their 10-day free look and it usually isn’t until they receive a “denial” letter from the insurance company that they take their policy out to really read through it.

The majority of people, who buy their own health insurance, rely heavily on the insurance agent selling the policy to explain the plan’s coverage and benefits. This being the case, many individuals who purchase their own health insurance plan can tell you very little about their plan, other than, what they pay in premiums and how much they have to pay to satisfy their deductible.

For many consumers, purchasing a health insurance policy on their own can be an enormous undertaking. Purchasing a health insurance policy is not like buying a car, in that, the buyer knows that the engine and transmission are standard, and that power windows are optional. A health insurance plan is much more ambiguous, and it is often very difficult for the consumer to determine what type of coverage is standard and what other benefits are optional. In my opinion, this is the primary reason that most policy holders don’t realize that they do not have coverage for a specific medical treatment until they receive a large bill from the hospital stating that “benefits were denied.”

Sure, we all complain about insurance companies, but we do know that they serve a “necessary evil.” And, even though purchasing health insurance may be a frustrating, daunting and time consuming task, there are certain things that you can do as a consumer to ensure that you are purchasing the type of health insurance coverage you really need at a fair price. Read more of this >>

A vehicle is declared a total loss when the estimated repair cost is more than the present market value of a similar vehicle. Once the insurer decides that the vehicle is a write off then they take the steps detailed here.

1) The wreck will have been moved from the car repairers to a salvage yard. This is done to lessen storage costs imposed by vehicle repair shops for cars in their yards.

2) They will ask you for the vehicle documents. That is the MOT certificate if your car requires one, purchase receipts,V5 registration document, service records, keys and details of any outstanding finance. They will ask for your Certificate of Insurance to be returned. They will need the original paperwork before they settle your claim. Photocopies will be ok to start with but will slow down the process.

If you ask the insurers why they require these documents, they will probably tell you they want to check they have the right model of the car, that it possessed a valid MOT and proof of service record to make sure that is has been maintained. These are all appropriate reasons. However the insurers also need to check out your claim for fraud. Government documents have a number of anti-fraud measures designed by the issuing Government agency. A careful check on the originals will enable the claims official to establish quickly that these are indeed genuine documents and not fake. If there is doubt, they will use forensic science equipment to prove that the documents are fake or genuine. You would have to be a very clever crook to successfully forge this whole collection of documents. My advice is – let the company have the original paperwork as soon as they request them. Just sending copies delays your claim.

3) Whilst you are waiting for your settlement details, your insurers will be doing other things as well. They will enter the claim on the ‘motor insurance anti fraud and theft register’. (MIAFTR) This is a UK data base that has recorded all insurance total loss cars and stolen cars since the start of the 1980’s. It checks your vehicle against all the information in the database to see if it has ever been the subject of an insurance total loss before, or whether it has ever been stolen and not recovered. It checks against your name and address; post code; your car’s registration number and VIN (vehicle identification number). If there is a match further questions will be directed towards you, and your insurance company might enter ‘fraud investigation’ mode. Read more of this >>

The importance of insurance cannot be over-emphasized and neither can the danger of paying for insurance you don’t need. It is strongly recommended you solicit the advice of an in-dependent business insurance agent. Don’t forget to SHOP! Talk to three or four independent agents and compare notes and prices. An insurance agent will lay out a vast array of insurance coverage much of which you simply may not need. Your situation will be unique and you must consider each insurance element carefully to ensure comprehensive coverage.

Whatever your final insurance program looks like, you should review it at least every six months. Your business can change rapidly, especially in the first few years and insurance needs change with it. Keep your program up to date by calling in your agent and reviewing your coverage. Make changes where necessary.

LIABILITY INSURANCE

This is probably the most important element of your insurance program. Liability insurance provides protection from potential losses resulting from injury or damage to others or their property. Just recall some of the big cash awards you have read about that have resulted from lawsuits concerning liability of one kind or another and you will understand the importance of this insurance. Your insurance agent can describe the various types of liability insurance coverage that are available. If you will end up with a comprehensive general policy, make certain that the general policy does not include items you don’t need. Pay for only the insurance you need. For example, your business may not need product liability insurance.

Do not confuse business liability coverage with your personal liability coverage, both of which you need. Your personal coverage will not cover a business-generated liability. Check to be certain. Read more of this >>

Why home owners file insurance claims? The answer to this question is obvious; because of some kind of loss. Do you know what the leading reason property owners filed claims with their insurance companies? According to c 2005 fact book the answer is Fire and lightning counting for 32.42% of all loss claims. The second leading cause of damage claims is Wind with 22.8 % followed in third by Water damage with 21.74% and finally theft with 4.54%(these figures are based on 5 year averages from 1999 to 2003). What does this mean? It means that statistically speaking you have less to fear from your neighbor than you thought you did. Knowledge is power; you are now empowered to protect your home from these causes of home damage. How though?

One unsettling thought is how we are at the whim of natures’ wrath. Sure you can install a lighting rod on your home to protect it from lightning strikes but what do you do to protect you from the big ole tree next to our house that just got slammed by lightning and is now not only on fire but also falling onto your house. Cut the tree down, make a home out of asbestos and open up a whole other can of worms or do you just try to be prepared as best you can for disaster? Being prepared for disaster sounds like the best option to me.

How do I prepare for eminent doom? You would start by taking care of obvious holes in your homes safety net. For example if you don’t have a grounded lightning rod installed on your house do that especially if you live in a high risk area i.e. an area where there are frequent lightning storms. Make sure that when you do tackle a hole in that net that you fix it correctly the first time, otherwise you’ll learn the lesson my grandma ingrained in me “the lazy person winds up working twice as hard”. After patching up the apparent holes its time to shore up the not so palpable ones; what I mean is doing the little things that will pay back big dividends for your foresight. Or example making an inventory of all your possessions is a great place to start. If the unthinkable happens, with your home inventory you’ll have a record of everything you had and what’s more your inventory is just the tool you’ll reach for during the claims process.

The first thing your insurance company will ask you for is to compile a list of all the lost or damaged items. No problem for you because you have your home inventory! But what is this wondrous, magical tool? A home inventory is simply a list of all of your possessions, with photos and details such as make, model, serial number, all compiled in a neat and organized fashion for quick dissemination. Imagine the claims process without it; having to compile that list after the home was burned down. Could you remember everything? Would you be even in the right state of mind to be able to do this? Don’t wait if you haven’t done this act now, later will be too late. Read more of this >>

This might come as a surprise to some, but getting the right insurance for your business might be one of the most important decisions you’ll make as a business owner. The consequences of inadequate coverage, or no coverage, could be devastating. There is a whole world of things that can happen to you and your business. Not protecting yourself and your business with the right insurance could cost you in so many ways.

That’s why engaging in a process of obtaining business insurance right for you and your company is so important. Do you know what general commercial liability insurance is? Well, if you don’t, then it’s just another reason why doing it right is so important. Not doing it right might cost you when you need help the most — during crisis. It’s why people get insurance. It’s why smart business people get smart business insurance.

Doing it right essentially means avoiding some common mistakes made when trying to get the best insurance policy for your business. Knowing what some of these mistakes are, and avoiding them in the future, will help you in your quest to simply make the right business decision when it comes to insurance.

Top 5 Mistakes When Getting Business Insurance:

1. Discounting the importance of business insurance

Business people of all types, whether it be CEO’s of large business conglomerates, or even someone just working out of their home office, have their own set of reasons for getting insurance specifically for their business. But not all business people necessarily think this way. Some think it might be too costly. Some think it might not be necessary . Some may even think that they’re covered by other insurance policies that they have for their property or for themselves.

Not having the insurance specifically tailored for your business often comes as a result of simply not thinking that it’s necessary. But it is. Take general commercial liability insurance, for example. This kind of insurance protects businesses from the costs of lawsuits resulting from basic damages done to people or property that have even the slightest contact with what you do. Not having this coverage when someone decides to throw a lawsuit at you, even if frivolous, could cost you in terms of money and reputation. Read more of this >>