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Liberty Mutual Holding Co. and several of its subsidiaries filed a lawsuit in a New York federal court last week challenging some amendments made to New York’s workers compensation law. The suit, filed Aug. 13 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, targets the New York State Insurance Fund, its commissioners and the New York State Workers Compensation Board. The Boston-based insurer takes issue with three amendments made to three aspects of the reform, claiming the amendments violate the contract, takings, equal protection and due process clauses of the U.S. Constitution.According to the suit, the amendments… Read More »If You Don’t Like Workers Comp Amendments – Sue The State

An “early offers” program in which medical malpractice and product liability lawsuits could be quickly settled would improve a tort system that is often slow, expensive and unfair, according to a new book co-authored by University of Virginia law professor Jeffrey O’Connell. n “A Recipe for Balanced Tort Reform,” published by Carolina Academic Press, O’Connell and Professor Christopher Robinette of the Widener Law School examine the shortcomings of personal injury litigation, especially as applied to medical malpractice and product liability cases, and propose reforms.The early offers plan would reduce the time it takes to pay losses by at least two… Read More »University Professor Says ‘Early Offers Program’ Could Improve Tort System

A flood loss is 30 times more likely to occur than a fire loss and the chance of a building located in a flood-prone zone being ravaged by a 100-year flood is 25 percent greater than the chance that fire will strike a building in the same zone. In addition, while floods typically occur in coastal regions, some of the nation’s most destructive flooding has occurred along riverbanks. In fact, the 1993 flooding along the Mississippi River left 70,000 people homeless and caused about $12 billion in damage to property and agriculture. Over 50% of flood claims occur in areas considered to… Read More »Flood Facts

Santa Cruz County District Attorney Bob Lee announced that on Aug. 12, 2008, a sting operation was conducted at nail salons in Santa Cruz County, Calif., that led to five citations. The operation was conducted to enforce laws concerning workers’ compensation insurance coverage. The operation was conducted by investigators from the California Department of Insurance and Santa Cruz District Attorney’s Office. The operation was in response to complaints of businesses failing to have required workers’ compensation insurance coverage on employees. Businesses who do not carry the insurance can undercut prices of the legitimate businesses because they have less overhead.Enforcement and… Read More »Santa Cruz Nail Salons Cited for Workers’ Comp Violations

The Texas Attorney General’s Office reports that a new identity theft scam is targeting users of the Texas Debit Card, or EPPICard, to access child support payments. should beware of that targets EPPICard users. The Texas Attorney General’s Office and government agencies in 14 other states use EPPICards, which are known in Texas as the Texas Debit Card. According to the Internet Complaint Center, EPPICard users nationwide have reported receiving e-mail, voice and text messages falsely indicating problems with their accounts. Card users are directed to update their accounts or correct a problem by clicking on a Web link included… Read More »New Identity Theft Scam

Faced with hundreds of big, hard-to-control blazes, California is struggling with what could be its most expensive firefighting season ever, burning through $285 million in the last six weeks alone and up to $13 million a day. With the worst of the fire season still ahead, lawmakers are scrambling to find a way to pay for it all and are considering slapping homeowners with a disaster surcharge that asks those in fire-prone areas to pay the most. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked President Bush to amend a June disaster declaration and declare the state a disaster area, in part because of… Read More »Bigger, Tougher Fires Bring Calif. to the Brink; Schwarzenegger Proposes Insurance Surcharge

The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California indicated it plans to submit a filing to the California Department of Insurance (CDI) recommending a 16 percent increase in pure premium rates effective Jan. 1, 2009. According to the association, nearly 11 percent of the increase would reflect increasing medical costs, about 3 percent would reflect increased loss adjustment expenses and about 2 percent would reflect an annual adjustment to the experience rating off-balance correction factor.If the WCIRB’s pure premium rate recommendation is approved as filed, the average Jan. 1, 2009 pure premium rate will be $1.95 per $100 of payroll,… Read More »California Proposes 16% Workers’ Comp Rate Increase

The California Supreme Court has upheld the state’s strict ban on most employee noncompetition agreements, ruling that companies cannot in any way limit a former employee’s ability to ply his trade. The high court’s decision nullifies previous appeals court rulings that allowed companies to require workers to agree not to compete with their former employer as long as the restrictions were narrowly tailored. The decision does not prevent employers from enforcing agreements to protect trade secrets, and should prompt California companies to take measures to protect themselves, intellectual property.

Deciding how much business income and extra expense coverage you need doesn’t have to be challenging. As long as you have the right tools—like this Business Income Calculator—it’s easy. Let’s get started. What You Need1. Your income statement(s) from the last one-year period.2. Your business plans in the event of a disaster. For example:Do you plan to continue operating at full capacity (100%) or in a more limited way (20% or 50%)?Do you plan to continue paying all employees or only key individuals?Do you plan to continue operating at a new temporary location while you rebuild your business property?Do you… Read More »Business Income Calculator by Safeco Insurance Company