Parents of Teen Drivers, What Is A DL 123 Form and Why Do You Need It?

In North Carolina, all drivers must provide proof of insurance in order to obtain a drivers license. This rule is designed to reduce the number of uninsured drivers out there on our roads and highways. The cross check mechanism for maintaining this rule is the DL 123 form and if you have a teen driver who is eligible to get his or her license, then you will need this form.

When you take you teenager in to the DMV to take the road test to get his or her license, one of the things you must have with you is a signed DL 123 form. This form will state your child’s full name and date of birth and will show your insurance company name and your policy number. Requiring this form is the way that the DMV makes sure that your child will be an insured driver when he or she leaves the DMV offices with that shiny new driver’s license. When you request this form from your insurance agent, they will set up the file to add your child as a driver to your policy as soon as you have your child’s new drivers license number.

Of course adding a teen driver to your North Carolina auto policy will mean a drastic increase in the cost of the policy. That’s because young drivers are inherently more dangerous and cause accidents more frequently with higher severity. Some people can be quite creative in trying to find ways around adding their child to their policy. The DL 123 form is designed to combat that behavior. And let’s face it, if you are paying the full freight for your teen driver on your policy, you should want everyone else to do it as well or else you will be subsidizing those that don’t.

At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC, we work hard to help our clients be informed insurance consumers. If you need help with your teen driver insurance or safety questions or if you would like help with your auto insurance or your home insurance or your business insurance policy, please call us toll free at 877-687-7557 or visit us on the web at www.ClinardInsurance.com.

The source information for this article was pulled from other articles and information which can be found at www.InsuranceAnswerGuy.com.

Construction and Building Contractors – How should you define an Independent Contractor?

It’s really the nature of the business in construction. Whether you are a brick mason, a carpenter, a painter, a plumber, or even a landscaper, from time to time you will find yourself in the position of needing to hire a subcontractor. But how you define an independent contractor and the way the law and the insurance industry define this term might be very different. It is important for you to get this right, not only for your workers compensation and general liability insurance, but also for the protection of your business and perhaps your personal assets. And here is a clue – you don’t get yourself off the hook simply by providing a 1099 instead of a W2.

It is very important that you handle the interaction of your general liability insurance policy and your workers compensation insurance policy with your subcontractors. I have covered strategies of this type in previous blogs, whether it be the impact on your insurance audits, or the increased risks that subcontractors add to your business. This article is not intended to tackle those areas. Instead, here I want to really focus on the definition of an independent contractor so that you don’t make the mistake of treating an employee as an independent contractor and increase your business risks as a result.

While there is no clear basis for making the determination of who is an employee and who is an independent contractor in the eyes of the law, here are a few relevant factors that you should consider.

Who sets the hours of work? If the employer does, then it is more likely that the worker will be determined to be an employee. Does the employer provide training for the job? If so, this points more to an employer/employee relationship. Is the worker paid by the job, or paid by the hour. Hourly workers are much more likely to be viewed as employees. Can the person work for more than one firm at a time? If not, perhaps they are really an employee. Who furnishes the tools or materials needed for the job? If it is your company, then you may be dealing with an employee, rather than an independent contractor. Is the work part of the regular business of the employer? This one seems a bit vague but if you are hiring people to do the regular and usual work of your company, then they are most likely employees.

At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC, we specialize in helping all types of construction contractors with their general liability insurance, workers compensation insurance and all other business insurance needs. We want our contractors to be informed consumer and help them run their business using best practices that help reduce risks to their assets. If you are in the construction business and would like help with your business insurance needs, please visit us on the web at www.TheContractorsHelper.com, or call us, toll free at 877-687-7557.

The source information for this article was drawn from articles which can be found at www.InsuranceAnswerGuy.com.

Used Car Dealers Insurance – Don’t forget your DOC protection

Used car dealers insurance is a specialized coverage and few agents understand it. So how many used car dealers are getting it wrong when it comes to drives other car coverage? The answer is most all of them. If you are a used car dealer and you operate as a corporation, partnership or LLC, you might be leaving yourself open to a huge exposure if you haven’t tackled the drives other car coverage.

Drives other car coverage is simply an endorsement that you can add to your garage liability policy to extend coverage for you individually to the cars that you may drive that you don’t own or that you rent. Almost every personal auto policy in almost every state provides this protection automatically. And the garage policy does as well if you have symbol 21 on that policy. For more information about the garage symbols and what they means, click here.

So what is the problem? The problem is that this protection for hired and non owned vehicles is extended to the named insured, not the driver. So, if your dealers insurance policy is written in the name of your corporation, or your LLC or partnership, then this coverage is only extended to that entity and not to you as an individual. Perhaps an example will help explain the real risk and pull back the veil a bit on this DOC mystery.

Let’s say you are a used car dealer and your garage insurance policy is written in the name of your corporation, Joe’ Used Car, Inc. Because you always drive a car with the dealer tag on it, you don’t worry about purchasing a personal auto insurance policy. Now, let’s say one day you need to borrow your neighbor’s car and while doing so you are involved in an accident that is your fault. Assume the costs of this accident are $100,000 and your neighbor only carries $50,000 coverage on his personal auto insurance policy. Now if you had your own personal auto insurance policy then that policy would step up and provide the excess coverage of $50,000 that you need personally for this accident. And, your garage policy will do this also, but, only in regards to protecting the named insured on that garage policy which is Joe’s Used Cars, Inc, not you.

This scenario gets even worse if your neighbor had let his auto insurance lapse because he forgot to pay his bill. Now you are on the hook for the full $100,000. And that would be a very nasty surprise for you.

So what is the solution? Well, you can purchase DOC coverage. DOC stands for Drives Other Cars. This will name you as the individual protected by this endorsement and will extend the coverage of your garage insurance to you individually for cars that you drive that you do not own or that you rent. Now, the odds of needing this protection are in some ways, admittedly long odds. But the cost of the protection is pretty low and the uncovered loss could be enough to bankrupt you. So, if you don’t have a personal auto policy in your name, and your garage policy is in a business name, take a moment to check your policy to be sure that you have purchased DOC protection.

At Clinard Insurance Group in Winston Salem, NC, we specialize in helping used car dealers in NC, SC, GA, VA and TN. We want all of our dealers to be informed consumers. If you need help with your used car dealers insurance, or if you just want to speak with an agent that specializes in your business, please give us a call, toll free, at 877-687-7557 or visit us on the web at www.TheAutoDealersHelper.com.

The source information for this article can be found at www.InsuranceAnswerGuy.com.

North Carolina Auto Insurance Policyholders – Your Adult Children Should Not Be Driving Your Cars

With the North Carolina auto insurance policy there is a relatively unknown loophole that could cost you or your adult child a lot of money. This loophole is triggered if they are driving a car you own and insure but they don’t live with you. The solution to avoid this coverage gap is pretty simple but most people just aren’t aware that they have this problem in the first place.

First of all, let me cover the exact situation that can trigger this coverage gap, then I will explain the gap itself and give you a solution. You will run into this gap in protection if you have a child who is over 23 years old and lives outside of your home but is still driving a car that is title in your name. This happens so often as we help our kids out with a car and then want to keep helping them by keeping the car on our insurance policy to pay the insurance costs on the vehicle. But this type of kindness is very dangerous. I will explain.

The problem is not that your child won’t have protection driving his or her car that you insure on your auto insurance policy. Not at all. After all, you have insurance protection for that car spelled out on your policy. The problem occurs when your child is driving a friend’s car and gets into an accident. You see, since your child is an adult, living outside of your residence, he or she will have no excess protection for cars that aren’t listed on your policy. So, assume your adult daughter is driving her friend’s car and has a bad accident where she is at fault. Her friend’s auto insurance policy will pay the claim but her insurance company can then subrogate against your daughter for those losses. Normally, your daughter could just have your insurance company pay for the losses, but since she is not a resident of your household and is over 23 years old, she will not have this protection. And this could be a very expensive mistake.

So what is the easy solution? Well, you should retitle the car into your child’s name, and have him or her purchase a personal auto policy in his or her name. This will give them the excess coverage protection needed when he or she drives someone else’s vehicle.

At Clinard Insurance Group in Winston Salem, NC, we want all of our clients to be well informed insurance consumers. If we can help you with your auto insurance, home insurance or your business or life insurance needs, please call us, toll free, at 877-687-7557, or visit us online at www.ClinardInsurance.com.

The source material for this article was drawn from articles originally posted at www.InsuranceAnswerGuy.com.