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Insurance Companies

What “Sunset clauses” in Insurance Policy Means?

The idea of limiting the reporting period for claims is old and relatively self-explanatory. You, as insured have a limited period in which to report a claim potentially covered under your liability policy. Any claim reported after a certain period of time may not be covered. The amount of time a claim may be reported differs between policies and carriers. The operative language is typically attached to a policy as an endorsement. However, a new “statutes of repose” related to residential construction defects was announced recently. These relatively new statutes, that took effect Jan. 1, 2003, provide the time in which… Read More »What “Sunset clauses” in Insurance Policy Means?

CarFax Vehicle History Data Use in Insurance

Carfax Inc. reported that federal officials have approved its patent applications for its auto insurance underwriting and rating system based on vehicle history attributes. CarFax said it expects the patents to be issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office within the next month. Insurance companies use CarFax reports in their underwriting and rating, claims prioritization, total loss valuations, and fraud investigations. CarFax’s systems that are being patented include the access to the vehicle history data and a method for insurers to follow in using that data. According to Carfax, its vehicle history database has more than 10 billion records… Read More »CarFax Vehicle History Data Use in Insurance

Earthquake Deductible Buyback in California

A few facts about earthquake insurance: Fact I:  Most residential insurance policies do not cover earthquake damage – a separate earthquake policy is required. Without earthquake insurance to help you cover the costs of repairs and other expenses that come with catastrophic damage, you will pay out-of-pocket to fix your home, to replace your personal property, and to live and eat elsewhere. Fact II:  Most earthquake insurance policies feature a high deductible, which makes this type of insurance useful if the entire home is destroyed, but not useful if the home is merely damaged. Rates depend on location and the… Read More »Earthquake Deductible Buyback in California

Laws Regarding the Recording of Phone Calls

Many businesses and other organizations record their phone calls so that they can document business transactions, train their employees, and improve customer service. It is extremely important to seek legal advice from an attorney if you are considering recording telephone calls or oral communication between parties. This article is not meant to serve as legal advice. However, we want to remind that there are federal and state laws regarding this practice. Florida, for example, is a “two-party consent” state, which requires that all parties of a conversation must give consent when one party wants to record a phone conversation. This includes the… Read More »Laws Regarding the Recording of Phone Calls

California – New Auto Insurance Rates Now Available

Our new California Auto Product delivers more than just rating changes…  In addition to providing a wider range of pricing tiers, we have made other changes to our Auto Product to become the total account solution for your small business customers. We’ve introduced a 10% account credit on Auto when there is an in force Spectrum policy (includes property only policies) – reinforcing our desire to become the total account solution. Only available in California! We have lowered the threshold for schedule rating from 10 vehicles to 1 – providing greater pricing flexibility when warranted. Automatic reporting proof of coverage… Read More »California – New Auto Insurance Rates Now Available

Heat Exhaustion and Heat Stroke

When working outdoors in hot weather, workers who do not take precautions can suffer from heat exhaustion or heat stroke. Heat exhaustion is caused by prolonged exposure to high temperatures and Inadequate fluid replacement. Heat stroke is the most severe of heat-related problems. It is potentially life threatening because the body’s normal mechanisms for dealing with heat stress, such as sweating and temperature control are lost. The following are the symptoms of these diseases and the steps needed to help the victim. Heat Exhaustion Symptoms: The first signs of heat exhaustion are dizziness, weakness, headache, blurred vision, nausea, and staggering.… Read More »Heat Exhaustion and Heat Stroke

Customer of Size Policy

A woman suing Southwest Airlines Co. over its policy regarding overweight passengers says she’s not interested in the airline’s money. Back in spring of 2011, miss T. allegedly was told that she would have to buy a second seat to board a SW  flight, according to her website. T. alleges she was “humiliated and harassed” by a gate agent who asked for her weight and clothing size before determining that she was too big for a single seat. In her blog T. said she offered to demonstrate that she could fit in a single seat, but reportedly was denied the… Read More »Customer of Size Policy

Insuring Cloud Computing

While cloud computing may seem vague and confusing, the National Institute of Standards and Technologies recently completed a working definition for the term after years of work and 15 drafts. So what is Cloud Computing? According to the official NIST definition, “cloud computing is a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction”, with the following 5 characteristics: • On-demand self-service • Broad network access • Resource pooling • Rapid… Read More »Insuring Cloud Computing

Zurich Insurance launches apps for risk managers

Zurich Insurance Co. Ltd. has launched two apps for risk managers, the insurer announced Wednesday at Risk & Insurance Management Society Inc.’s Annual Conference and Exhibition in Philadelphia. The Zurich Risk Room app is a limited version of the larger risk modeling software Zurich offers clients. The app shows scenarios for natural catastrophe and disaster management, supply chain disruption, regulatory imbalances, social value of insurance and economic value of insurance. Each has 10 to 12 preselected risks offering a comparison of different countries’ stability as well as modeling the interconnection among risks. New risks and scenarios will be added as… Read More »Zurich Insurance launches apps for risk managers

National Interstate Expands Transportation Program to Taxi Operations

National Interstate Insurance Co. has expanded its community & medical transportation (CMT) insurance program to include best-in-class fleet taxi operations. The product will be offered exclusively through National Interstate’s network of independent retail brokers. Originally launched in 2003, the CMT program focuses on providing specialized insurance products to local community passenger transportation companies including paratransit, non-emergency medical transportation, as well as fixed-route and demand-response public transit providers. The CMT product is underwritten and serviced through National Interstate’s Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania office by an in-house staff with nearly 50 years of collective CMT experience.