Providing the Best Options To Your Employees

Category : Staff Insurance

These days, employees of businesses are looking for more than stable work environments when seeking jobs. Since the task of providing health insurance falls on the shoulders of business owners in the United States, applicants are opting for career options that include as many useful benefits as possible. If you want to give your employees an experience that proves you care about their happiness and wellness, you need to think about what should be included and what to offer. 

Reviewing Your Options

The main point to understand surrounding employee benefit plans is that you have a wealth of options to consider. There is no one-size-fits-all policy that magically works across all industries. You should base your decision around factors like the needs of your employees, the budget you are working with, and the capabilities of your HR staff. You can gain more insight on this by reviewing a few general policy options and taking time to dive further into the details of the breakdown of each. Other insurance options that benefit employees can include: 

  • Ample workers’ compensation coverage 
  • Life insurance options

Finding the Most Appropriate Fit

When it comes to finding the best coverage to benefit your employees, there are several angles to take into consideration. As long as you understand the options available to you, it will be much easier to find a plan that fits your needs.


Mitigate Your Excessive Fees Risk

Category : Business Insurance

If your business offers a 401(k) there’s a new risk of which you should be aware. Excessive fee lawsuits filed under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, ERISA, claim business fiduciaries have engaged in imprudent retirement plan management. The rise in these lawsuits can make it difficult to get fairly priced fiduciary liability insurance, but there are steps you can take to reduce your risk and keep your insurance premiums fair.

Remove or Reduce Common Risk Factors

The excessive fee lawsuits generally fall under one of these categories:

  • Paying excessive recordkeeping fees
  • Investing in money market funds instead of stable value funds
  • Failing to reduce fees where possible
  • Offering too many expense fund share classes
  • Ignoring fund performance, and
  • Continuing to offer poorly performing funds.

You can’t change what has already happened, but by acknowledging past mistakes and immediately improving how your fiduciaries handle these six categories, you’ll mitigate your risk of a lawsuit.

Cover Yourself

It’s important to realize that you don’t have to be a huge company to fall victim to a lawsuit. Besides taking steps to account for the most common types of lawsuits it is imperative to document every decision made. Hold regular fiduciary meetings and keep notes in an accessible location. Keep copies of all due diligence and requests for proposal. 

Don’t assume that your 401(k) offerings will run themselves. Actively manage accounts to do your best for your employees and you’ll be prepared for any potential lawsuit. 


Cover Your Auto Repair Business With the Best Insurance

Category : Business Insurance

When you love what you do, going to your job never really feels like work. If your passion is fixing cars, for example, then you probably feel most at home in the garage of your business. Though you may have a knack for fixing what’s under the hood of an automobile, the success of your business depends on more than just your skills. You also need to know what steps to take in order to protect your company from whatever threats await down the line. 

Protect Your Assets

One of the best ways to protect your business and its assets is by taking out an appropriate insurance policy. When it comes to mobile auto repair insurance, there are a few key points to think over. For one, you want to make sure that the policy you take out covers the exact risks of your business. A policy that only covers garages where vehicles are stored will not be useful if your daily operations include bodywork. Take time to review your options and be sure to consider points like:

  • Coverage for ATVs and specialty vehicles
  • Policy options for dealership garages
  • Coverage for essential equipment like lifts

Put Your Fears To Rest

While you might love your job, you want to always be mindful of the future. Taking time to review your options with insurance can provide you with the insight you need to take out a policy that fully covers all of the possible threats you’re likely to encounter. 


A Short Guide To Courier Insurance

Category : Insurance Marketing

Couriers play a very important role in the transport of goods. They are the final link in the delivery process and are responsible for transporting goods from businesses to their customers. However, couriers face a certain amount of risk while they are transporting these goods. To prepare for the worst-case scenario, it is important to have couriers insurance.

What Is Couriers’ Insurance? 

Couriers’ insurance is a type of insurance coverage that is designed to financially protect couriers and their cargo. It is a must-have to protect against liability issues and cargo damage.

What Types Of Coverage Can You Get With Couriers’ Insurance?

Couriers’ insurance offers coverage for many different risks. First, there is breakdown coverage that kicks in when a courier gets stuck by the roadside due to a flat tire or mechanical issues. You can also obtain coverage for the goods in transit to protect them against damage, loss, or theft.  

For liability coverage, couriers’ insurance offers public liability insurance. This type of coverage kicks in when you are required to compensate someone due to legal liability. You may need employer’s liability as well to deal with employee injuries.

Couriers play a very important role in the delivery process. To keep everything running smoothly, it is vital that you have couriers’ insurance.


Two Great Reasons to Consider Whole Life Insurance

Category : Insurance Coverage

The sages of old have long decreed that death and taxes are two inevitable certainties. Ok, then. But, what they didn’t know was that whole life insurance can be part of a solid financial strategy for mitigating the sting of each. While taxes can be negotiated, death cannot. And, while death cannot be negotiated, life insurance policy structures and premiums can. Premiums come in all shapes and sizes. Premiums, like those of a 20 pay life insurance policy can be satisfied in a relatively short period of time, while other premiums can be amortized over a much longer period. Regardless of how you satisfy your premiums, doing so will satisfy your reasons for paying them in the first place.

Death and Taxes – The Two Great Reasons

On par with the inevitability of death and taxes is the contractual inevitability of your whole life insurance policy – as long as you pay the premiums. A well-structured policy addresses the inevitable by providing:

  • Lifetime coverage
  • Tax-free death benefits to beneficiaries without probate
  • Purchases of policies within a trust to be designated to pay estate taxes upon someone’s death
  • Policyholder ability to increase the cash value savings component through tax-deferred interest accumulation, excess premium payments designated toward the cash value and reinvestment of earned dividends into the cash value.

Be confident that you can protect and preserve the fruit of your hard work with a well-designed whole life insurance policy. Start planning today.


Parental Leave Basics

Category : Employee Benefits

If you’re expecting and gainfully employed, you need to educate yourself about parental leave laws and policies. You may think you know everything, but both company guidelines and employee expectations are reshaping this type of benefit. There can be vast differences between maternity leave in the staffing industry and paternity leave in the tech sector. Over the last few years, many employers have been extending parental leave benefits to attract and retain a younger pool of talent. Let’s take a quick look.

Staffing Industry Basics

If you work in the staffing industry as a temporary worker you may or may not be entitled to job protection under the Family and Medical Leave Act. Ask specific questions of both your temp agency and the company with which you’ve been placed. It depends on how many people both the company and the temp agency employ, as well as the number of staff the temp agency has placed with the company to which you’ve been assigned.

Full-Time Trends

If you’re a full-time employee somewhere and considering parenthood, look closely at the benefits your employer is offering as compared to their competitors. Many companies are increasing paid time off for:

  • Expectant mothers
  • Expectant fathers
  • Prospective adoptive parents
  • Surrogate mothers
  • Foster parental leave.

Your benefits may extend beyond what FMLA dictates you get. Be sure to know how much time off your employer offers.


Know the Risk of a Trailer Interchange Agreement

Category : Insurance Marketing

It is extremely common for drivers to make use of someone else’s trailer during trucking operations. Individual truckers need trailer interchange coverage to protect themselves from liabilities that arise in such situations. Those who know the risks of entering an agreement concerning the use of another’s equipment will be prepared for common issues. After learning the potential pitfalls, the necessity of coverage will be clear.

What Is a Trailer Interchange Agreement?

A trailer interchange agreement is a written contract of sorts that states one trucker has custody and control over another driver’s trailer. A trailer can be loaned out without such a formal agreement, but liability coverage is much more narrow under those circumstances. Broader insurance protection can be offered under a written trailer interchange agreement.

Liability in a Trailer Interchange Agreement

Truckers will certainly be held liable for damage done to a trailer that they do not own. Without proper trailer interchange coverage, the financial repercussions could be disastrous. The potential consequences can be mitigated with a proactive attitude towards insurance coverage.

Truckers should be aware of possible liabilities that they can incur when operating another driver’s equipment. The importance of entering into a formal agreement when taking control over someone else’s trailer can not be overstated either. Under such an agreement, the protection of trailer interchange coverage will secure the financial assets of those who are prudent enough to become insured.


Protect Your Nonprofit’s Volunteers

Category : Insurance Coverage

Volunteer workers are the backbone of many nonprofit organizations, and protecting them is an obligation because without their contribution, your work would not get done. Robust risk management solutions for nonprofits need to take into account the unique risks associated with relying on volunteers in addition to paid staff. Those risks change according to the nature of the volunteer workers’ contributions, so you need a variety of nonprofit volunteer risk management resources. A wide range of support helps you calibrate your insurance and safety practices to take care of your volunteers while protecting your organization from the financial repercussions of exposure to financial liability.

Minimize Risks & Modify Practices

The right insurance policy is only the first step to making your organization safe and welcoming for volunteers. It is also essential that your activities follow best practices for safety, no matter what the work of the day happens to be. Using a risk management checklist curated by your insurer or an industry organization is a great way to catch up on the state of the industry practices you should be using. Most of the time, it’s just a matter of a few minor policy changes to bring your organization’s procedures in line with nonprofit volunteer risk management best practices. Following through with those changes may even save you money on your premium costs.


How Builder’s Risk Insurance Protects Your Project

Category : Insurance Coverage

If you are a contractor or a builder, you are likely well aware of the many hazards of the trade. Things can go wrong even for skilled contractors, and unexpected hazards do arise in the course of projects. Ensuring your client has a comprehensive builders risk coverage policy will help ensure building projects are protected in the “under construction” phase, and help you safely bring a project to completion.

What Does Builders Risk Insurance Cover?

Builders risk insurance is generally carried by a property owner, but can in some cases be carried by the contractor working on a given property. Essentially, builders risk coverage protects the physical project being worked on.

This distinction is important: builders risk insurance may cover materials, supplies, equipment, and other structural components of a project that is in progress. However, it will typically not cover workers or contractors themselves, nor “adjacent” risks, like transporting workers or supplies to a building site. Consequently, this type of insurance is only one component of a comprehensive insurance package that protects projects under construction.

As a builder, it may be in both your interest and your client’s interest to carry builders risk insurance. Speaking to an experienced insurer to ensure you are well-protected will help your project come quickly and safely to fruition.


Why Every Library Needs a Risk Management System

Category : Risk Management

Whether you’re a book lover or not, it’s hard to deny that libraries are pivotal to the success of any community. From summer programs for kids to free internet access, they offer something for everyone. Their public-facing nature, however, means libraries face a greater risk of experiencing profound losses and damages. Fortunately, having a library management system in place helps minimize the impact of these threats. 

Prevent Theft 

Most libraries are stocked with more than just books. Video equipment, computers, and informational CDs and DVDs are available for in-house use and usually can be rented. This access increases the chances that thieves can covertly steal any of these items, all of which are expensive to replace. 

Avoid Cyber Attacks

Any business or community space with public computers are vulnerable to cyber attacks. A patron can introduce a virus to the computer, intentionally or accidentally, and hackers can access the databases that contain personal information on the library’s patrons. 

Reduce Opportunities for Harassment 

Unfortunately, due to their private nature––complete with nooks, crannies, and study rooms––sexual harassment is not an uncommon occurrence within library walls. To avoid legal trouble, libraries must put in place strict policies that ensure the emotional and physical safety of all patrons. 

These are just a few threats that the average library faces on a daily basis. To ensure long-term success, it’s critical that every library develop a management plan to assess and account for these risks.