I’ve Been Robbed – Now What Do I Do?

For most people, their home is their sanctuary. According to the Department of Justice, about 9.5% of homes in the US are broken into by thieves each year. Discovering that a thief has broken in and stolen from you can be very upsetting. Most people make the first call to the police. The second call should be to your insurance agent. This blog will discuss what you the claims process on your homeowners insurance should be like after a theft claim.

When you call your agent to file the claim, they may transfer you to the company claims department or they may take the claim information directly for you. Either way should be fine, we give our customers the choice. Generally speaking, if a company has a claim number that you can call, then your claim should proceed a bit faster as the agent will simply have to turn around and file the claim by fax, email or some other electronic system to the company claims department.

Here is a list of the information that your agent or claims processor will need from you.

· When did the loss occur?

· How did the thieves get into your home?

· Is your home currently secured?

· If not, what are you doing to secure the home now?

· What items were stolen?

· What authority or police department did you contact and have they made a report?

· What is the police report number?

· Did the police come out to the scene?

· What phone numbers are best for the company to contact you?

Ok, so what should you expect next? Well, you should expect that a claims adjuster will come out to your home and inspect the premises to better understand the claim. This is normal and your cooperation here will speed up the process. Also, the adjuster will want to take a recorded statement from you. This too is normal and to be expected as the claims adjuster needs to have a complete understanding, from your point of view, about exactly what happened at your home.

The insurance adjuster, and very often the police department, will require that you complete an inventory of the personal property that was stolen. This may seem difficult to do and you may need to amend this list as time goes on and you discover more items that are missing. One thing you can do in now, before you have a loss, is walk around your home with a video camera, opening cabinet doors and drawers and talking to the camera describing the property and when you got it and what you may have paid for it. This video can be very helpful later for remembering what you had so that you can better determine what might be missing.

Most homeowner policies have an endorsement providing replacement cost protection for the personal property that is covered. People are often surprised to learn that in most states this endorsement to the policy will not pay the replacement value unless and until you have actually replaced the item. Until you replace the item, the company will only pay the actual cash value which is determined by subtracting the depreciation for the age of the item from the replacement cost of the item. Knowing in advance how the replacement cost provision works for your personal property on your homeowners insurance can help you plan ahead.

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

Data Compromise Coverage – Does Your Business Have This Protection?

All businesses, from restaurants to landscapers to car dealers, collect some data about other people. This data collection is personally indentifying information from employees, customers or even suppliers and vendors. Right now, there are laws in place in 47 states that govern when and how a business must respond to a potential data compromise. There are also federal laws such as the recently enacted FACTA and Red Flag laws. In addition, it is estimated that the average cost of repairing a data compromise is currently $203 per compromised client. With the number of clients, employees and vendors that a business has, it becomes imperative that each business owner understand and give some consideration to data compromise insurance.

Despite your best efforts to protect the data that you collect, data compromises can happen in 4 different ways. There are electronic compromises where your electronic files are hacked, phished or pharmed. Your data is also vulnerable to physical compromise which includes theft of physical files or a device which contains personally indentifying information such as a laptop or backup drive or a computerized cash register. Also, your data is vulnerable to procedural compromise where someone in your organization makes a procedural mistake. Examples of this could be mistakenly posting personally indentifying information on the internet or perhaps accidentally including the social security number on a mailing label. Last of all your data is vulnerable to fraud related compromise where a sham third party company may purchase your data under fraudulent pretenses.

So what is this data compromise insurance? Well, this protection is a relatively new form of coverage and is usually simply added to an existing businessowners insurance policy. The coverage forms will vary greatly from company to company so you should read the form carefully to be sure that you know what you are purchasing. One important point: Most of these coverage forms will only pay for damages if the personally indentifying information is information that is not already public knowledge. If the only information compromised is the name and address or phone numbers, then the protection will typically not apply.

Also, while coverage forms do vary, generally this protection will pay for one of more of the following three things:

Legal and Forensic Technology Review – Provides professional legal advice as to what is required to respond to a suspected data breach. This can include the cost of the attorney as well as the cost of the computer experts to find out what was lost and how to protect data in the future.

Notification to affected individuals – Reimburses you for your expenses of notifying the people whose data has been compromised.

Service to affected individuals – This coverage is to help the affected individuals repair their credit of take necessary steps to fix any problems that were created for them when your business experienced a data compromising event.

There are several things to consider when purchasing this protection. Always check to see if this extra protection has its own limit of liability that is different from the businessowners general liability policy limit. This is usually the case. Next, check to see if this coverage form has a different deductible than your businessowners policy. Last of all, check to see if this is a claims made type policy form or an occurrence based policy form.

At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC, we work hard to help all insurance buyers become better informed consumers. If we can help you with your business insurance, please call us, toll free, 877-687-7557 or visit us online at www.ClinardInsurance.com.

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

Painting Contractor’s Insurance – Don’t Forget The Workers Compensation Policy

NC Painter’s insurance plans can be found in many different forms. One coverage that every painting company with employees should have is workers compensation. In North Carolina, the law states that if you have fewer than 3 employees you don’t have to purchase workers compensation insurance. But what this rule doesn’t tell you is that not buying a policy could wipe you out.

In NC, the workers compensation rules and regulations are controlled by the NC Rate Bureau. And the rules do give you an out when it comes to buying a workers compensation insurance policy if you have less than 3 employees. In fact, there are no real teeth in the law that will catch and find employers who have 3 or more employees who also don’t purchase a workers compensation insurance policy. So, yeah, you could go years without purchasing a workers compensation policy for your painting business. But that would be a very dangerous choice. Here’s why:

Although the law may not require that you actually purchase a workers compensation insurance policy, it will require that you pay all of the claims yourself just as if you were the insurance company. Workers compensation benefits in North Carolina are statutory and claims are governed by the NC Industrial Commission. That means that exactly how much gets paid for each type of illness or injury has already been determined by state law. Therefore, if you are paying out of your own pocket for a claim, you will not have the opportunity to determine how much you are going to pay. And in the case of a long term disability the amount you might have to pay out is staggering.

So, using the loophole in the law to avoid buying a workers compensation policy only gets you out of paying the policy premium. In fact, it puts you in the unenviable position of being the insurance company and on the hook for all claims. And these claim costs can be enormous. Imagine coming up with $100,000 to pay for injuries that resulted in permanent disability, then paying disability payments for years after that for one of your employees. Pretty scary huh? So even if work comp insurance seems expensive, you should realize that purchasing it is a no brainer because going bare means you are pretending to have the assets of an insurance company. For most painters, that just isn’t the case.

At Clinard Insurance Group in Winston Salem, NC, we specialize in helping painters with their insurance needs. If you have any questions about your general liability insurance, your workers compensation insurance, your business auto insurance or any other insurance policies, please call us toll free at 877-687-7557 or visit us on the web at www.LowRatesForPainters.com.

The source information for this blog can be found in articles located at the blog found at www.InsuranceAnswerGuy.com.

Safety Tip - How To Extinguish a Grease Fire In Your Kitchen

As an insurance agent working directly with customers to help them with their home insurance and auto insurance, I see lots of accidents that turn into insurance claims. The most common type of kitchen fire that I see in this business is the fire that is started by grease catching on fire in a pan on the stove. The danger of this kind of fire is often exacerbated by the way people attempt to put it out. This blog will show you a safety tip that you should share with all of your friends and relatives. This knowledge could save a life or at the very least, might save a kitchen or a home from total destruction.

Grease fires are a special type of problem. And the ways in which you approach this fire can make the difference between a small isolated event in your kitchen and the loss of your home and your personal possessions. If you throw water onto a grease fire, the water, which is heavier than the oil, will sink to the bottom, then become superheated and the steam will push its way up and out of the pan. The force of this kind of explosion can be quite stunning and worst of all, this explosion will smear burning oil all over the kitchen from the ceiling to the walls. After this has happened, the best course of action would be to get out of the house and call the fire department.

Often people unknowingly spread misinformation about how to put out a grease fire. These include throwing flour or sugar on a grease fire in a pan. Both of these are very dangerous strategies, in fact it is estimated that throwing one cup of flour or sugar on a burning grease fire in a pan can create an explosion with the force of up to two sticks of dynamite.

Fortunately, there is a simple and low tech solution for putting out this type of fire.

Step 1 – Turn off the heat on the burner.

Step 2 – Rinse a dish towel fully in water and then wring it out.

Step 3 – Carefully place the wet dishtowel over the burning pan of grease and wait for it to cool down.

I have found a short video on youtube that you can watch to see a demonstration of this technique. Please take 30 seconds to watch this short video and then teach this to your children and those you love. This knowledge could save the life of someone you love. To see this 30 second video, please click here.

At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC, we want all insurance consumers to be informed buyers. But beyond that, we want people to have the safety knowledge that can save lives in an emergency situation. If we can help you with your auto insurance, your home insurance, or your business insurance or life insurance, please call us, toll free, at 877-687-7557 or visit us on the web at www.ClinardInsurance.com.

Source data for this article was pulled from other articles which can be found online by visiting www.InsuranceAnswerGuy.com.

Warning – Before You Shop Your NC Auto Insurance Around…..

We see so many ads on TV today exhorting us to call the 800 number and get an auto insurance quote. Save money they all say. But it’s what they aren’t saying that should be screaming the loudest in your ears. Because what they aren’t saying should warn you not to call them.

Ok, so what is it they are leaving out of the call me now messages? In short, you don’t hear them asking you to call them to save money on your homeowners insurance. And if you live in NC, that is an important distinction. Because in NC, you see, insurance companies are pretty reluctant to write homeowners insurance due to the way the legislature has preloaded the system to protect those with beach properties at the expense of everyone else. If want to read about how this problem developed, please read my blogs on the homeowners insurance crisis Part I and Part II. To better understand how it all turned out, read my blog on house bill 1305. The bill passed by the way.

So what does this mean for you? Well, I can tell you that when someone calls our office and wants us to quote or write only their home insurance, we are left with a diminished marketplace for their protection. Most insurance companies in NC will now not write a homeowners policy without the auto insurance policy to support it. Of course, those that have just their home insurance in place with an insurance company are pretty safe for now. I have not heard of many cases of mass cancellations of standalone homeowners policies in NC at this time. But there has been some activity that comes in the form of consent to rate letters. To learn more about that, read my blog on consent to rate letters in NC.

So this diminished marketplace means higher rates on homeowners policies that are being moved around without the auto policy for support. So, if you take the advice of the ads on TV, and move your auto insurance to a new company to save money, the homeowners policy that you now leave behind, unsupported by your auto policy, might be non renewed at the end of the policy term or you may see dramatically higher rates on that policy at the next renewal.

The hard market for homeowners insurance in our state means that you as an insurance consumer must play your cards carefully when making changes. If your home and auto insurance are with the same company now, then you should be careful to keep these policies together until the homeowners insurance market in NC softens. Separating them can end up costing you a lot more money and grief over time. And it’s not likely that the auto insurance company that is screaming for you to save money on your auto insurance by calling them is going to let you in on that secret. For the most part they would love to take your very profitable (for them) auto insurance and leave behind your more problematic homeowners insurance.

At Clinard Insurance Group in Winston Salem, NC, we take pride in working hard to help every insurance buyer become a better informed consumer. We still have open markets for standalone homeowners insurance but they are closing up over time as the market continues to harden in this area. If you need help with your home insurance, your auto insurance, your business insurance or even your life insurance, I hope you will feel free to call us, toll free, at 877-687-7557 or visit us on the web at www.ClinardInsurance.com.

Source data for this article was pulled from other articles which can be found in their entirety at www.InsuranceAnswerGuy.com.

NC Work Comp Insurance – Not All Rates Are Created Equal

If you have a business with employees in NC, then chances are you are have at least a passing familiarity with work comp insurance and how it is set up. In my conversations with lots of different types of business owners all across North Carolina, I have found that many wrongly assume that workers compensation rates are the same from one company to the next. Nothing could be further from the truth. This article will go over the rating process and how the rates are established and what this means for you, the business owner and insurance consumer.

Let’s start with the easy part, the policy coverage itself. In NC, all workers compensation policies have the same coverage form. The coverage is statutory, which means that it follows the current NC workers compensation statutes. Therefore, with the exception of a few items, all policies are basically the same. The rates however, are not the same.

Each insurance company has to file their rates with the NC Rate Bureau for each different classification of labor that they write. And while company A may love to insure landscapers and their rate would reflect that, company B may not want to write this class of business, so their rates might be higher for that classification.

So what does this mean for you? Well, if you own a business in NC and are buying workers compensation insurance, then you should take some time to understand the marketplace and make sure that you have purchased your coverage from a company that is eager to write your business and has the rates to reflect that eagerness. Also, in the past it may have been wise to always place your workers compensation insurance with the same company that handles your general liability insurance, your business auto insurance or your commercial property insurance. The workers compensation marketplace in North Carolina has changed quite a bit over the past 15 years and now there are many insurance companies out there that write only workers compensation insurance. We call these monoline work comp companies and they are a good choice for lots of NC business owners because the are not only able to offer very competitive rates on the classes of business that they want to write, but also, they often have loss control and back to work programs that are more effective and more helpful to small businesses.

At Clinard Insurance Group in Winston Salem, NC, we specialize in helping small businesses all across NC with their workers compensation insurance policies. We have created special insurance programs for plumbers insurance, HVAC insurance, carpenters insurance, painters insurance, restaurant insurance, floor and tile installers’ insurance, landscapers insurance and electricians insurance. If you need help with your workers compensation insurance or any other insurance policies, please feel free to 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 which can be found at www.InsuranceAnswerGuy.com.

Same Sex Couples and Unmarried Couples Auto Insurance in NC

North Carolina law and the NC auto insurance policy language regulated by the NC Department of Insurance, requires that the named insured on the policy be the same as the name on the title of the vehicles insured on that auto insurance policy. This particular law creates an unfair advantage for those in a legal marriage over those in a committed relationship that is not recognized as a marriage by the laws of their state. This article will tell you how to overcome this disadvantage and allow those who are in committed relationships to obtain the same discounts as married couples.

First of all, let’s discuss what that unfair advantage is that married couples have over all other couples in committed relationships. In NC, if you have more than one vehicle on your policy, then you are entitled to a discount which is called the multi car discount. This discount is substantial, ranging from 15 TO 20 percent.

If you are in a committed, long term relationship with another person, and you both have cars in your own names, then in most cases in North Carolina, you will have to purchase 2 different auto insurance policies and because of this, you will miss out on the multi car discount. In addition, if you purchase a home together and want to apply the multi policy discount to your homeowners and your auto insurance policies, which will be another 10 to 20%, you will probably only be allowed to apply that to one of your two auto policies.

This position is inherently unfair but times are changing. At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC, we have found several insurance companies that will allow us to apply the multi car and the multi policy discounts to both auto policies, thereby obviating this inequity. If you are in a committed, long term relationship with another person, be it same sex, or opposite sex, you owe it to yourself to investigate your situation and do what it takes to beat this price discrimination. The easiest way to do this is to give us a call, toll free, at 877-687-7557 or visit our web site at www.ClinardInsurance.com.

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

Replacement Cost Protection - Is It Missing In Your Insurance Policies?

Almost any type of insurance policy that you purchase that has a property insurance element will either include or exclude replacement cost coverage. This article helps you understand what it is and isn’t and where you may want to double check to be sure it is there for you when you need it.

Let’s start with a definition of replacement cost coverage. This is essentially a valuation clause that determines how your lost or damaged property will be covered under your insurance policy. The common choices are either replacement cost or actual cash value. There is also a functional replacement cost coverage but it is rarely used. For more information about functional replacement cost, please click here. Replacement cost is usually defined as the cost to replace the lost or destroyed item with a new one of like value and construction. For example, if lightning ran in on your 45 inch flat screen television, and you had replacement cost coverage on the contents on your homeowners insurance policy, then the replacement value would be what it would cost to purchase a brand new 45 inch flat screen TV. When policies don’t carry replacement cost protection, then the claim is usually settled using the actual cash value of the damaged or lost item. Actual cash value is usually defined as the replacement cost of the item minus any depreciation based on the age and past use of that item.

It is important that you take the time to review your insurance policies that include coverage for property to determine if you have bought replacement cost coverage or actual cash value (ACV) coverage. The difference in the size of the claim check that you will receive after a loss can vary a great deal, depending on which of these you chose. Most homeowners policies provide replacement cost coverage on your home automatically and allow you to choose RC or ACV coverage on your contents. There may be an additional charge for the RC coverage. Business property insurance policies rarely charge extra for replacement coverage, you just need to be sure that you are carrying high enough insurance limits to avoid any coinsurance penalties that might result from your policy form.

One oddball policy when it comes to RC versus ACV coverage is the auto insurance policy. If you carry collision coverage on your auto insurance, then you might have an opportunity to purchase replacement cost coverage on your newer vehicles. This form often allows you to replace your old, totaled vehicle with a brand new one even if the wrecked car is up to 5 years old. For more information about replacement cost coverage on the personal auto insurance policy, read my blog on that topic by clicking here.

If you are unsure about where you do and don’t have replacement cost coverage on your insurance policies, please take a moment and pick up the phone and call your agent. This could make a huge difference in the amount you might receive after a large loss and it is always easier if your expectations more nearly match what will really happen if and when you have a large property claim.

At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC, we strive to help all insurance buyers become more informed consumers. If we can help you with your auto insurance, your home insurance, your business insurance or even your life insurance, please feel free to call us, toll free at 877-687-7557 or visit us on the web at www.ClinardInsurance.com.

You can find the source article for this document at www.InsuranceAnswerGuy.com.

Social Media Becomes a Tool In The Fight To Reduce Insurance Fraud

A young man brags on facebook about sinking his car in a lake before he reported it stolen. A carpentry company creates a promotional video for youtube which shows their workers installing roofing material. Another youtube video shows people ramming a van into a tree over and over again. You can even view some stage accident videos by NICB here. For some reason, people just don’t think that social media is a tool that insurance claims adjusters can use.

Studies indicate that at least 10% and perhaps more of all property and casualty insurance claims are fraudulent. The National Insurance Crime Bureau estimates that workers compensation fraud alone costs as much as $5 billion per year. This cost is added into so many of the products that you and I purchase every day. But fraud has a new enemy now and it is called Social Media. The social media sites like youtube, twitter, facebook and others are a great place for claims adjusters to spend time checking up on their claimants. And underwriters use them as well. In the case of the carpenter showing his employees working on a roof, he now has some explaining to do to his underwriter since he signed an application indicating that he does not engage in any roofing activities.

It is surprising how people are willing to incriminate themselves on these social media sites. Underwriters are now better able to identify the types of customers who are prone to fraud by studying their social media and internet footprints before they agree to write a policy for them. And of course today’s claims adjuster is finding the social media universe to be easy pickings for proving fraudulent behavior on some claims.

Over time, the fraudsters out there will be a bit smarter and in truth, social media is not the place to catch the real professional crook. But it is having an impact on helping to keep your insurance rates just a bit lower over the near term.

At Clinard Insurance Group in Winston Salem, NC, we work hard to help insurance consumers out there become better informed buyers. If we can help you with your home insurance, your auto insurance, your business insurance or even your life insurance, I hope you will 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 which can be found in their entirety at www.InsuranceAnswerGuy.com.

Crash Taxes – They Could Make You A Double Victim

Imagine you are cruising on the interstate in a driving rain and you lose control of your car and slide into the guardrail. Thankfully you are ok and you don’t feel any pains as you get out of your car to see the new shape you created out of your front bumper. A passing motorist sees your accident and dials 911 as he drives on through the rain. 5 minutes later a police car, a fire truck and an ambulance arrive to check on you. 3 weeks later you receive bills from each of these organizations for their time and trouble checking on you. You turn in the $2763 in emergency response bills to your auto insurance company and they decline to pay them. Welcome to the brave new world of crash taxes.

Crash taxes have been on the books of many local governments for years but until this recent economic downturn, they have not been used. Now we are seeing a trend sweeping our country to apply these charges for emergency responders to those involved in the accident. While there are some creditable arguments in favor of crash taxes, I see more running against.

First of all, let’s start with who pays. In most cases your auto insurance is not going to pay for these crash taxes. That could leave you holding the bag and if you don’t pay you can damage your credit or possibly even face misdemeanor charges. If we do choose to have our insurance companies cover these costs, then the costs of insurance will go up and we will have just one more expense being paid by an entity with little control over the costs that go into this expense.

Another possible problem with this approach is that some people may become reluctant to call for emergency services if they know they will have to pay for them. This failure to call or even a delay in calling may cost us dearly in lives lost as well as property damaged, the latter especially in the case of chemical spills on our highways.

I also have a fundamental problem with this approach in that some cities are amending their program to only charge the out of state, at fault parties. While this is politically expedient for the local politicians, it has a ring of unfairness to it and leads to a lot of uncertainty for travelers as they leave their home territories.

Last of all, is the idea that local taxes already go to pay for these services and those are controlled, if distantly by the voters in that area. Why should they be charged again?

Currently, 10 states have banned crash taxes, so you can travel safely in them. They are: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Tennesee.

So, what should you do if you get billed for an accident response of some sort after an accident? First of all, contact your insurance agent and forward on the bill to determine if there will be coverage for the charges. Then get a copy of the police report detailing what medical assistance was actually provided. Last of all, if your insurance company declines to pay for these charges (and in most cases they will), check with an attorney to understand what criminal liability you may incur should you decide not to pay the bill yourself.

My sense is that crash taxes are generally going to be disliked by most of the public. This will probably mean that they don’t last long and of course if the economy gets better they should go away. A rising tide floats all boats after all. In the meantime, as you travel, be aware that this trend could catch you in its trap.

At Clinard Insurance Group in Winston Salem, NC, we work hard to help our clients become informed insurance consumers. Knowing about crash taxes before you get a bill in the mail is just one small example of our knowledge outreach program. If you need help with your NC auto insurance policy, your NC home insurance policy or even your personal umbrella or life insurance, 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 articles which can be found in their entirety at www.insuranceanswerguy.com.

Workers Comp Back To Work Issues – Avoid These Common Mistakes

Workers compensation insurance is a necessary evil for most employers. How you handle on the job injuries and more importantly how you handle the out of work situations that you will face with your employees will go a long way toward impacting your future workers compensation costs. Read below to see some common mistakes that some employers make in this regard and what you can do as an employer to avoid these mistakes and minimize your future workers compensations costs.

The first step towards understanding back to work issues is to understand why it is important for you to be involved. Some employers take the attitude that the claim has been filed and it is the insurance company’s money now so why worry about it. This belief couldn’t be farther from the truth. This is in fact your money as your future rates are determined by today’s claims experience. And to make matters worse, you will pay over a 3 year period for any one year’s mistakes to the impact is essentially tripled. Click here to read my blog about the workers compensation experience modification factor and how it affects your bottom line now and in the future. Now bear in mind that workers compensation rules are different for every state but this is a guideline that can help you avoid some common errors that employers often make.

Mistake #1 – The Economy is bad and I can’t afford to keep employees on the job who are not able to do the job. Actually, you can’t afford not to. Remember, if you are not able to make an offer of light work to an injured employee then your employee will likely continue to receive a good part of their salary as work comp benefits from your insurance company while contributing nothing to your company. Other employees will have to pick up the slack or you may have to hire and train new workers. Research shows that healing happens faster for employees who are productive and that a transitional duty program can get them back to work quicker and save you more money in the long run.

Mistake #2 – My injured employee wasn’t all that productive before the injury so I’d rather not keep him on with light duty now that he is injured. Don’t fall into this trap. Dealing with non-productive employees is a human resource issue, not a workers compensation issue. You should always deal with this type of problem through your HR department. Also, a less productive employee is more likely to take a case through the long and costly workers compensation legal system. Get them healthy and back to work first, and then deal with their lack of productivity.

Mistake #3 – I don’t think my employee is hurt as bad as he says, in fact I saw him out fishing last week. This is an example where the insurance company you choose can help or hurt you. You are often best served by a dedicated workers compensation company with a structured back to work program. One of the insurance companies that we use, Summit Insurance Group, has a back to work tool kit and structured back to work program to help you as an employer get your injured employees back to work and off the work comp rocking chair paycheck as quickly as possible. This is not something you should tackle on your own and you need an insurance company that is dedicated to this process so that your premiums stay low in the future.

Mistake (Concern type) #4 - My employees doctor says she should stay at home but she just has a desk job. You should work with your claim adjuster and your employee to make sure that the doctor has a clear understanding of the job requirements to see if the person really must be written out of work. Constant and clear communications between you, the employee, the doctor and the claims department can help you resolve these issues and some job modifications may make it possible to get your employee back to work sooner. Remember to get your employees job description to their physician as quickly as possible and ask for any medical restrictions that need to apply to any transitional duty.

Mistake #5 Losing touch with workers once they are injured increases the fear of a lawsuit. This is true and many employers find themselves in a nether world where they are afraid to contact their injured employee and wanting to know what is going on with the injury. This is why having a back to work program in place before the injury occurs is so important. A good back to work program will encourage you to reach out to your injured employee and help you know what you can and can’t say and how to say it. They even include greeting cards that you may want to send to let your injured employee know that you are thinking of them.

It is clear that having a plan for injured workers before they are hurt will help you make the transitions more smooth and over time will reduce your workers compensation costs tremendously. You should choose an agent who understands workers compensation insurance well and can help you gain access to specialized workers compensation insurance companies with back to work plans, dedicated claims staff and even nurses on call, all of which will help you reduce downtime and out of work time for your employees. Don’t just chase the lowest priced workers compensation rates, rather consider carefully what support you will have after a claim when choosing your workers compensation agent and company.

At Clinard Insuranc e Group in Winston Salem, NC, we specialize in helping all kinds of businesses with their workers compensation insurance needs. Our specialization can help you not only find extremely low rates on your workers compensation insurance, but also will help you minimize claims and out of work time, thus saving you money over the long haul as well. If you need help or have questions about your North Carolina Workers Compensation 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 various sources, one of which is www.InsuranceAnswerGuy.com.

Garage Insurance – Making The Audit Easier

If you have a garage liability insurance policy for your repair shop insurance, or for your used car dealer insurance program, then you know that your policy must be audited each year. Garage liability insurance audits can be a huge hassle or they can be a quick and easy process. Some of what determines that is up to you. Here are a few tips to make your garage policy audits go as smoothly as possible. Some of this information is based on audit requirements for Auto Owners Insurance Company garage policies and may not necessarily be part of every insurance company’s garage audit process.

Start with an accurate estimate. You will have to estimate your payroll and number of employees when you first take out the policy. Start out by making this an accurate estimate. Estimating too high takes money out of your pocket and crimps cash flow now. Estimate low makes you vulnerable to the audit trap and can hurt cash flow later. Don’t forget that clerical employees are often required to be included in the total employee count. Also, remember that active owners, partners or members are included in the total as one full time equivalent employee.

With the Auto Owners Premier Garage Policy, there are caps on the payroll basis for owners, officers, partners or members as well as for employees. Your insurance company may or may not have caps on payroll so be sure to find out well in advance about this as it can limit your preparation time and may reduce your garage liability insurance costs in the long run.

Most garage policies will not charge for strictly clerical employees. But they are also usually quite strict about the definition of clerical workers. When they say clerical, they mean that employee only engages in clerical work. Few garage operations have a strictly clerical person, but if you do, you don’t want to include them as an employee in the employee audit count and in the payroll count.

Know your categories of employees as defined by the garage policy and have those numbers ready for the auditor. Category 1 employees are usually defined as owners, officers and members as well as salespersons, sales and service managers and anyone who operates vehicles on and off premises. The payroll amount for this type of employee is usually capped and most of your payroll will fall into this category. Category 2 employees are usually defined as all other employees. Typically the payroll for this category will be very small or even zero.

By knowing what your insurance company needs from you at audit time, you should be able to reduce the time and costs of having your garage liability insurance audited each year. At Clinard Insurance Group in Winston Salem, NC, we specialize in helping used car dealers and garage and repair and body shops with their insurance policies. We write garage insurance for dealers as well as repair and body shops in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia. If we can help you with your garage insurance, please call us toll free at 877-687-7557 and we will be glad to answer your questions.

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

Car Dealer Insurance – The Blanket Reporting Form

Used Car Dealers with large inventory should always carry dealers open lot insurance as a part of their used car dealer insurance program. This section of the garage policy is designed to protect your inventory from losses such as wind and hail as well as collision. If you have a large inventory, especially one that fluctuates in value from time to time, then you should consider a twist to the dealers open lot coverage. The twist is a form called the dealers blanket reporting form.

With the standard dealers open lot coverage, you must choose a coverage amount that reflects your highest inventory value at any given time during the policy period. And of course, your premium is based on the amount of coverage that you choose. If you purchase too little coverage, then you run the risk of having a loss that isn’t fully covered. If you choose too high, then you might be buying more insurance than you need. This is where the dealer’s blanket reporting form can help.

When you use the reporting form on your policy, you must complete an inventory report once each month. Now the procedures and the rules for this form may vary a bit from company to company. For this example I will use the rules used by Auto Owners Insurance Company, one of our largest markets for used car dealer insurance. To start this program the insurance company will want for you to base your original limit on the average inventory value for the previous 12 months. If you are unsure of that number, then you can start with 75% of your current inventory.

There are several strong advantages of this form over the dealers open lot fixed amount form. First of all, as long as you complete and return your monthly reports on time, and as long as they are accurate, then you will have unlimited coverage. This helps smooth out the peaks and valleys in your inventory. Second of all, this form provides true blanket coverage. So if you have more than one location it won’t matter as long as your inventory report each month has the total inventory for all locations combined.

While the dealer’s blanket reporting form is not for everyone since it requires a monthly inventory report to the insurance company, it can save you money and provide more seamless protection on your inventory if you have fluctuating inventory amounts or if you have multiple locations.

Your average insurance agent will know very little about garage insurance in general and insuring used car dealers in particular. It is very important that you find an independent insurance agent who specializes in used car dealers to help you. At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC, we insure over 250 used car dealers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia. If we can help you with your garage insurance or any other policies for your used car business, please call us, toll free at 877-687-7557 or visit us on the web at www.TheAutoDealersHelper.com.

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

Painters Work Comp Insurance – Pay As You Go, Saves The Cash Flow

Painting Company Insurance plans should all include a workers compensation policy for your employees and subs, unless of course you work alone and have no employees. And if handled incorrectly, work comp policies can tear a huge hole in your cash flow. For more information on how this can happen, please read my blog on the audit trap. So it is important to understand your cash flow process vis-à-vis your payroll. What if you could time your workers compensation policy to match the slower cash flow and lower payroll times?

In fact you can. With a little understood tool called pay as you go. Now you need to know that not every insurance company that insures painters can or will offer this feature, but if you can find one that does and their price is right, this can be a nice benefit for painters and painting companies.

So how does it work? Well, these plans vary some from company to company, but the very best of them will send you an email or a mail reminder each month. You then log on to their web site and enter your payroll totals for the past month. The web site will then calculate your premium for that month and you can pay your bill on line right then and there with a credit card. What this means for you is that now your workers compensation expense tracks your payroll with only a 30 day delay. And since your revenue from jobs is always running just a bit behind your payroll costs, now your workers compensation expenses will more nearly track your revenue and this means you will have less wild swings in your monthly cash flow.

There are a few things to watch out for here. First of all, there are some payroll service companies out there offering pay as you go workers compensation to go with their payroll service. On the surface this sounds great but there is a problem with this approach. One huge factor in your workers compensation insurance costs is your experience modification factor. And you need to work proactively to protect that mod to keep future costs lower. Companies that specialize in payroll services and sell work comp as a sideline are rarely as good at keeping claims costs low as companies whose prime mission is workers compensation insurance. These dedicated work comp insurance companies by contrast, will often have nurses and case managers on staff to help reduce your overall claims costs. And keeping your claims costs low will keep your rates low over time. To learn more about this read my blog on protecting your experience mod. In addition, if you purchase your workers compensation insurance through a payroll processing company, you will usually have only one choice in terms of the insurance company that handles it. This is stripping you of your free market shopping tool as a way to reduce the overall costs of workers compensation insurance. Instead, consider finding an independent insurance agent who represents many insurance companies, and more importantly, find one who specializes in insuring painting contractors so that you get the expertise that you need for your business.

One last thing to mention here is that the pay as you go feature offered by some companies is often only available to painters whose premium exceeds a certain level, often as high as $5000. There are a few companies out there who can offer this feature at a much lower premium level, but you will need to find an agent who specializes in painters insurance to find them.

At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC, we are the Painting Contractor Insurance Specialists. We have companies that can write pay as you go workers compensation policies for painters with annual premiums as low as $1000. If we can help you with any of your painters insurance policy questions, please call us, toll free at 877-687-7557 or visit us on line at our Painting contractors’ insurance program policy page.

Some of the source material for this article was drawn from other blog articles which can be found at www.InsuranceAnswerGuy.com.

Landscapers Insurance Help – How To File A Workers Compensation Claim

Savvy landscaping contractors buy workers compensation insurance as part of their landscapers insurance program. If you don’t and you are paying someone to work for you, whether you consider them a subcontractor or not, then you shouldn’t go a day more without a policy. But assuming you already have a workers compensation policy, how exactly do you file a claim?

Filing a workers compensation claim is easy and simple. You want to do this as soon after the employee injury as possible. In NC the claim form states that you must file the claim within 5 days of the injury. To do so, you must complete a Form 19 claim form and mail, fax, or email it to your insurance company claims department. The Form 19 is a standardized claim form to be used for all workers compensation claims in North Carolina. The reason for this is that the policy and claims payments are all overseen by the NC Industrial Commission.

If you don’t have a form 19 on hand, check your policy as most insurance companies will insert a few blank ones in the policy that they send to you. It’s ok to make copies of this form when you run out. You can also get one in pdf form from the NC Industrial Commission website.

The Form 19 will ask for contact information for you and for your injured employee. They will also need to know the details of the injury, how and when and where it occurred. This information usually comes from the injured employee’s supervisor. Next you will need to fill in the occupation of injured person and information about how many hours they work each week and what their wagers are per hour and per day. This information will help settle the disability portion of the claim.

The rules require that you provide a copy of the completed Form 19 to the injured employee or the employee’s representative (read lawyer) at the same time that the Form 19 is submitted to the insurance company. Last of all, you must give your injured employee a blank Form 18 which is a form they can use should they wish to contest the claim settlement. You can obtain blank Form 18 copies the same way you got the form 19, by clicking here, or you may call the NC Industrial Commission at 800-688-8349.

At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC, we work hard to help all of our clients become informed insurance consumers. Understanding how to file a workers compensation claim for your landscaping company is important as you will want to move fast in the event of an accident or injury and spending time trying to figure out how to file a claim will only slow you down.

Should you need help with your landscapers insurance policies, from workers compensation to your general liability, commercial auto and equipment insurance, please consider us as we specialize in insuring landscapers of all types and sizes all across North Carolina and South Carolina. We can put our extensive knowledge to work for you with one quick phone call. Call us, toll free, at 877-687-7557 or visit us online at www.LowRatesForLandscapers.com.

The source information for this article was pulled from articles which can be found in their entirety at www.InsuranceAnswerGuy.com.

Teen Driver Insurance – Watch Out For The Bias Against Your 19 year old.

Most parents out there who have a teen driver are well aware of the additional costs on their auto insurance while their child slowly gains experience behind the wheel. In NC these extra charges go on for the first 3 years of driving and then suddenly are dropped completely from your policy. To understand exactly how North Carolina allows the insurance companies to add these inexperienced operator surcharges, click here. Most parents of course think that they are free and clear of these charges once their child reaches the 3 years of driving experience. And for the vast majority of them, this is true. But some companies have a hidden bias against the 19 year old driver and they find other ways to collect extra premium for them. Knowing the tell tale signs of these techniques can help you avoid these extra charges.

First of all, you have to have a clear understanding of the NC auto insurance marketplace and how it works vis-à-vis teen drivers. There are some companies out there that have recognized that they can make money on the teen driver family segment during the 3 year experience period. Why is this true when the risk seems so high? Well, of course they know that this is a time when otherwise stable insurance accounts go shopping due to the additional cost of the teen driver. And the surcharges that the state allows give them the extra cash they need to turn a profit. But these companies are also very shy of a 19 year old driver. They don’t believe, and rightly so I suppose, that on the day the teen has 3 years driving experience that that teen is suddenly as good of a driver as their parents. Yet the rate is the same as they can charge for the parents who may have been driving 20 years or more. For more general information about how auto insurance in NC works, visit the NC Dept of Insurance web site.

So more and more companies are suddenly seeing the newly experienced driver as a huge risk compared to the money that they can charge for that driver. So what do they do? Well the most common technique is to increase your rates, often to those above what is allowed by the NC Rate Bureau. But to do this, they must have your permission. So they will send you a consent to rate letter. If you get one of these, please do not sign it and return it. Call your agent first to understand what you are signing and agreeing to. For more information about consent to rate letters and what they mean for you, please read my blog about consent to rate letters by clicking here.

If you fail to sign and return a consent to rate letter, then the remaining option open to the insurance company would be to cancel your physical damages coverage, ie your comprehensive and collision insurance, and then to cede your policy to the NC Reinsurance Facility. If they do this, then you will see a large increase on your liability insurance rates and you may even see a reduction in coverage to go with it. At the same time you will lose your physical damages protection.

The take away from all of this is that you will do well to keep a close eye on your auto insurance policy rates as your child reaches the 3 year driving experience period to make sure that you are not treated as a sudden high risk from the standpoint of your insurance company.

At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC, we help thousands of families with their auto insurance policy and we work hard to help our clients become informed insurance consumers. If we can help you at all with your auto insurance or even your home insurance, your life insurance or your business insurance, please feel free to call us, toll free, at 877-687-7557 or visit us on the web at www.ClinardInsurance.com.

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

Teen Driver Safety – Summer Months Are High Risk

The Summer months are a high risk time for teen drivers. Parents must be more vigilant during this time to insure the safety of their teen aged drivers. There are several reasons why the Summer months present special challenges for parents of teen drivers.

First of all, many parents tend to raise the curfew times during Summer months. I know I have done this. This is a good thing to do as your child earns your trust and has begun to gain some experience behind the wheel, but as you do this, keep in mind that there are some tipping points where extended curfews may put your child at a greater risk. Try to decide exactly what your teen will be doing with this extra time and determine if the rewards are worth the risks.

Another reason that Summer is so dangerous is that teens now have more and more nights to do things without school in the morning forcing them to come home earlier. Over time this opportunity can lead to some dangerous behavior from teen drivers.

Even during the day the danger for teen drivers is increase during Summer. This is because teens have more time to drive around without specific purpose. While it is great for them to log more hours behind the wheel and gain experience, it is best done if they are driving for a purpose besides time wasting.

I highly recommend that each parent consider getting a GPS device installed in their teen driver’s car to help them with the temptations that driving brings on. You can find out more about these devices by visiting www.teensurance.com.

At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC, we help thousands of families with their auto insurance all across North Carolina. We work hard to help our customers become informed insurance consumers and we want all of you with teen drivers to have the tools that you need to help keep your teen drivers safe. Please visit our teen driver web site or call us, toll free at 877-687-7557 for more help with your auto insurance, home insurance, business insurance, or life insurance.

This article was pulled from source information which can be found in its entirety at www.InsuranceAnswerGuy.com.

You Might Be Due A Refund On Your NC Auto Insurance Policy – And That’s Not Necessarily A Good Thing

The NC Insurance Department has finally come to an agreement with the Insurance Companies selling auto insurance in NC to settle their differences on the 2008 rate changes that applied to auto insurance and motorcycle insurance policies. There are a few things you should know about who will get a refund and when those checks will be mailed.

First of all, this refund affects all auto and motorcycle insurance in NC with policy terms from January 1, 2009 to October 31,2009. In most cases, checks will be issued only if your refund due plus interest is greater than $5.00. You should receive an explanatory memo with your refund check. If you are due a check for more than one policy term, then most companies will combine all of those into one check. Companies will be mailing out checks between either the May1 – July 31 time window or the November 2010 and January 2011 time window. The timing here will depend on whether that company was writing 6 month auto policies, or 1 year auto policies or both. Interest will be added to the checks through October 31, 2010. The total amount of the refunds will be more than $50 million.

These refunds are the result of a dispute between the N.C. Department of Insurance and the N.C. Rate Bureau (NCRB) over rates ordered in 2008. During the appeals process, the NCRB implemented an interim 9.4 percent rate increase that went into effect on Jan.1, 2009. In cases where insurance companies charged policyholders more than the rates determined by the 2009 settlement, insurance companies are required by statute to refund the difference between the rates charged and the settled rates, with interest.

The 2009 auto settlement did away with the NCRB's implemented 9.4 percent 2008 rate increase and denied their 2009 request for an additional 1.4 percent rate increase and included an additional 0.5 percent decrease. Under the settlement, the NCRB may not file changes to auto rates until 2011, which means that the maximum allowable auto rates are locked in until Oct. 1, 2011 at the earliest.

While you may get a refund, my take on it is that most of our companies were charging much below the maximum NC rate allowed at the time and so a refund indicates that at that time you were viewed as a high risk to the insurance company and charged a higher rate. If you get a refund check, then the next thing you should do is contact your agent to see if you are still considered a high risk due to either your driving record, your credit or some other factor. This check, while fun to get really indicates that your insurance company is charging you their highest rate and perhaps you should take some time to shop for less expensive car insurance.

At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC, we work hard to help all of our clients become informed insurance consumers. If we can help you with your auto insurance, home insurance, life insurance or even your business insurance, 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 can be found in other articles at www.InsuranceAnswerGuy.com.

NC Negligence Laws May Change And The Result Will Be Higher Car Insurance Rates

The NC House is now considering a tort reform bill that could dramatically increase the amount you spend on your auto insurance policy as well as on your home insurance policy and business insurance policies. The reason this bill is so bad for your insurance rates is that it aims to change our current law of contributory negligence to one of comparative fault.

So what does this mean? Well, with our current laws, if you contribute in any way to the accident that causes damages, then you cannot recover these damages from the other party. Comparative fault permits a plaintiff to recover from a defendant if his negligence does not exceed that of the defendant. Now, if we adopt comparative negligence as our state law, then as you can imagine, more claims are going to have to be handled by the court systems because now we have to determine who had the most fault in any accident or event as opposed to saying both parties were somewhat at fault so everyone settles their own claim with their own insurance company. And as you can imagine, having all of these claims settled by our court system will slow down the claims and increase the costs of the claims. And you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that those costs are going to be passed down to the consumer.

Here are some of the findings by the IFNC (Insurance Federation of NC) regarding this bill.

It is estimated that this change in the law will increase auto insurance premiums by 3% to 16% right away. The long term increases in costs could dwarf these numbers.

81% of voters surveyed said that they are opposed to any legislation that increases their taxes or their household expenses.

69% of those polled said the trial attorneys would benefit if the law were changed.

$150 million annually will come out of consumers’ pockets if rates rise just 5% on auto insurance alone. But this change will increase the costs of all policies that have a liability insurance element. This includes homeowners insurance and business insurance policies.

A substantial majority of voters believe that under our current system our courts are open and fair for those who have been hurt in an accident or injured on the job.

Actuarial studies show that states with comparative fault systems have higher auto insurance rates than state that use contributory negligence.

Let’s face it, there are two industries that will make more money of this change goes through. One is trial attorneys and the other is insurance agents. That’s right, I would personally stand to gain from this decision but I still think it is the wrong decision and I urge you to take action to stop it. The appropriate step for you to take to oppose this legislation is to write to your State Senator and ask him or her to vote NO on House Bill 813. For more information or sample letters to send or email to your State Senator, visit Home | Insurance Federation of North Carolina.

At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC, we want all of our clients to be informed insurance consumers. We want you to have the information you need to make wise decisions about how to protect your assets. If we can help you with your auto insurance, your home insurance, or even your business insurance or your life insurance, please call us toll free at 877-687-7557 or visit us on line at ClinardInsurance.com.

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

Garage Insurance – Body Shops and Spray Booths

The automobile body repair business is changing quickly. This industry has seen rather slow and evolved changes over the past 30 years or so but recently the pace of change has accelerated. These changes are shrinking your marketplace of clients as well as constricting how you perform your work. Staying ahead of these changes should give you a strong edge over your competition and help to insure that you remain in business for years to come.

One of the biggest systemic changes to affect body repair shop owners is the shrinking customer base. For instance, the high expense of replacing air bags in wrecked cars, combined with the greater availability of less expensive vehicles means that many wrecked cars are now considered a total loss by the insurance companies and as such are not repaired.

In addition, there are changes taking place in the auto body repair industry that drive the way that you operate. There are both environmental and safety issues that will force body shop owners to invest in new equipment and spray booths. Each step forward requires that you carefully evaluate the costs of improvements against future income.

Recent changes to the International Fire Code and the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) codes that the vast majority of states and local jurisdictions use now mandate that spray paint booths and mixing rooms have automatic fire suppression systems. This has been a substantial change, resulting in greater protection of spray painting operations, but it increases the cost of the spray booth system. Existing manufactured booths can often be retrofitted with automatic suppression systems, but even that expense can be high. These systems fall squarely in the realm of life safety of those who must work in and around the spray painting operations, where explosive fires are rare but very severe.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has made a new rule, National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) (Subpart HHHHHH), that mandates by January 10, 2011, those that engage in spray applications to motor vehicles must comply. These standards also mandate a spray booth that contains and filters the emissions from spray operations, as well as spray guns that comply and training to the operators of the equipment. The point of this regulation is to protect the environment, but it does mandate the use of an approved spray paint booth. A summary of these regulations may be found on the Internet at http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/area/paint_stripb.pdf and http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/area/autobodybs.doc.

All of these choices will also drive your insurance costs. If you take the time to keep your spray booth up to date and protect both your environment and your employees, then you will be able to qualify for body shop insurance programs that will offer you the best rates and wider protection. Over time, these changes will begin to pay for themselves in reduced insurance costs.

At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC, we want all of our clients to be informed insurance consumers. We specialize in helping automotive repair and body shops all across North Carolina and South Carolina with their insurance needs. If you need help with your garage insurance, your workers compensation insurance or any other insurance needs for your auto repair or body shop, please call us, toll free at 877-687-7557 or visit us on the web at NC Garage Insurance Helper.

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