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Celebrate Earth Day with Paperless Insurance

Even if you haven’t made a mistake, defending a lawsuit could be a big cost for your small business. Whether it’s a dissatisfied customer, someone who gets injured in your store or property damaged at a job site, a lawsuit or claim can be expensive to defend. The right liability insurance can protect your business, whether you are at fault or not. At Paperless Insurance, we encourage small business owners to have the courage to do more and be more by offering customized insurance to protect your business. Your $1,000,000 liability insurance coverage could start as low as $35/mo*.

8 Key Considerations for a Builder’s Risk Policy ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

8 Key Considerations for a Builder's Risk Policy ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​As owner of the new manufacturing facility building project, Thyme Manufacturing Co, Inc. has recently hired the project’s general contractor – Perkins Construction, Inc. In addition to developing the minimum insurance requirements to be used with Perkins Construction and its subcontractors, as Thyme’s newly appointed director of risk management, Jennifer is also responsible for arranging the insurance for the building during the course of its construction. This “course of construction” insurance is commonly known as builder’s risk insurance.

Thyme’s legal counsel has used the American Institute of Architects (AIA) construction contract documents with Perkins Construction – including the 2007 A201™ General Conditions of Construction.1 Of particular interest to Jennifer is Article 11.3 entitled “Property Insurance” – as this section will serve as Jennifer’s starting point to determine Thyme’sminimum builder’s risk insurance requirements.

Who Purchases Builder’s Risk?
Because of its market clout Perkins may be able to obtain the builder’s risk insurance for the benefit of Thyme at either a lower cost or with better coverage terms – charging any premium for the insurance back to Thyme. While the option of having the general contractor purchase the builder’s risk is permitted under the AIA A201™- 2007, Thyme opts to purchase the builder’s risk coverage itself. Thyme’s owner Justin concludes that Thyme should control the builder’s risk insurance because the new facility represents such a large investment by Thyme – Justin directs Jennifer to purchase builder’s risk insurance directly.

Read More »8 Key Considerations for a Builder’s Risk Policy ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Creating a Safety and Wellness Culture in Your Company

Creating-a-Safety-and-Wellness-Culture-in-Your-CompanyBeyond attracting and hiring qualified job candidates and onboarding and training staff into an organization, there are many steps that employers can take to promote both safety and the continued wellness and productivity of their workforce. A process to support and engage your workforce that focuses on safety and wellness can help employees adopt a healthier lifestyle, both at home and at the workplace.

Employers have long recognized the importance of programs to retain talented and experienced employees. Increasingly, employers are also adding workplace wellness programs as a tool to help promote their employees’ overall wellness.1

According to the 2015 Travelers Business Risk Index, 60% of U.S. businesses worry about medical cost inflation. Given that the average worker can spend up to half of their waking hours on the job, employers are recognizing the role they can play in promoting the health and wellness of their employees, including helping them prevent or manage some chronic health conditions.Read More »Creating a Safety and Wellness Culture in Your Company

How to Onboard and Train Employees into a Safety Culture

How to Onboard and Train Employees into a Safety CultureOnce you attract and hire qualified job candidates to your open positions, having an onboarding and training process can help employees work safely and effectively. A continuous onboarding program will help orient employees not only to the functional details of employment, such as appropriate safety procedures, but also to the safety culture of the organization.

Employee retention strategies, such as onboarding and training programs, can also help protect the considerable time and expense invested in recruiting and hiring new employees. According to the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE) at the University of California at Berkeley, the costs of replacing an employee are approximately 9% of an employee’s annual wage. In addition to any lost productivity and institutional knowledge, those costs include recruitment, selection, the costs of learning on the job and any separation costs.Read More »How to Onboard and Train Employees into a Safety Culture

What is D-1 Disclosure Form in Insurance

What-is-D-1-Disclosure-Form-in-InsuranceSeeing the words “not licensed”, “insolvency” and “payment of claims may not be guaranteed” on an insurance policy can, understandably, cause concern with insureds, especially those with little to no experience with the excess and surplus (E&S) marketplace. Let’s take a closer look at required disclosure wording used on surplus lines policies so when your insureds have questions, you can put them at ease.

What is D-1 Disclosure Form in Insurance

Prior to binding insurance coverage with a non-admitted carrier, you are required to sign the Disclosure Form (D-1 Form), formally making you aware of the insurance policy being issued by the non-admitted insurance company.

1. “The insurance policy that you are applying to purchase is being issued by an insurer that is not licensed by the state of California.”

Wording on a policy that references an unlicensed carrier means that the policy was issued by a non-admitted insurance company. A non-admitted insurance company is not licensed in the state where the risk or insured is domiciled and does not file rates in that state. “Not licensed as an admitted carrier” does not mean unregulated. Each insurer must meet certain criteria to be an eligible non-admitted market, including regulations for solvency. It does mean that the carrier has the ability to set their own rates for the classes of business they write, leading to the flexibility in rate and form that is a key differentiator in the E&S marketplace.

Read More »What is D-1 Disclosure Form in Insurance

Liability Gaps with K-12 Schools Student Accident Coverage

While more than 1.35 million kids suffer a sport-related injury that requires emergency room treatment each year, at an estimated cost of $935 million, student accident coverage is what can help to mitigate the “out of pocket” losses. At K-12 schools, these accidents are frequent and sometimes severe. In today’s rapidly changing health insurance landscape, out of pocket medical expenses are growing, creating financial burdens for families and exposing schools to contentious liability claims. We offer the combination of Student Accident for everyday injuries and Catastrophic Medical for the most severe sports-related injuries (with the same carrier). This can help… Read More »Liability Gaps with K-12 Schools Student Accident Coverage

Cyber Coverage for Bank Assessments: What Merchants Need to Know

Cyber Coverage for Bank Assessments What Merchants Need to KnowCoverage under a cyber liability insurance policy with respect to assessments levied on behalf of a financial institution or payment processing entity varies quite significantly throughout the marketplace. The nuances of the coverage differences will continue to grow as more and more companies begin to recognize the exposure inherent in electronic payment processing.

Monetary fines are levied by the card brands against merchants as a result of non-compliance with the payment card industry data security standards (PCI-DSS) which are set by the payment card industry security standards council (PCI SSC). A very important distinction lies within the definition of fines, costs or expenses as respects common cyber policy language. “Fines” are often merely reserved for costs levied directly against an insured for the breach of PCI standards set by the PCI SSC. The fines, which are punitive in nature, result from failing to comply with the standards. On the other hand, “assessments” are costs specifically associated with liabilities arising out of a Merchant Service Agreement (MSA). The card brands are looking to recoup expenses that resulted from a security breach by the merchant. Assessments can be costs resulting from a breach of the card brand rules, costs passed along to the merchant through the withholding of funds by a merchant bank, card reissuance expenses, fraud losses and a number of other liabilities arising out of obligations under an MSA.
Read More »Cyber Coverage for Bank Assessments: What Merchants Need to Know

Winter Driving Tips

winter-driving-tipsGoing to Tahoe for a weekend? Read these 10 winter driving tips and have a safe journey:

1. Winterize your vehicle – Check your battery, front and rear defrosters, fill up the washer fluid and antifreeze, inflate your tires to the correct pressure, and keep your gas tank at least half full to avoid frozen fuel lines.
2. Clear your windshield – Never pour hot water over the windows to melt the ice and snow. This will typically shatter the windshield. Use a plastic scraper to avoid scratching the glass and use the front and rear defrosters to melt the ice. Avoid using your windshield wipers until after all the ice and snow have been removed.
3. Don’t just clear your windshield – Don’t forget to clear all of the other windows, as well as the roof, hood, mirrors, headlights and tail lights, license plates and the exhaust pipe. This will prevent accumulated ice and snow from becoming an airborne hazard for other drivers.

Read More »Winter Driving Tips

Prepare for El Niño

With peaking El Niño conditions, weather experts are predicting heavier than normal amounts of precipitation for many areas of the Southwestern U.S. We are providing the information below to personal and business insurance customers in California, Arizona and the southern counties of Nevada. For Personal Insurance Customers: Proper maintenance is key. This includes keeping gutters free of debris, ensuring downspouts are clear and water drains away from the foundation of your home. Also, be sure to check the soundness of flashing around chimneys and other roof protrusions, as well as caulking around windows and doors. Strong El Niño storms may be… Read More »Prepare for El Niño