Posts Tagged ‘business insurance’
Written by admin on 04 June 2010
In a modern society, it is sad to have to protect yourself against litigation. You would always hope people would naturally become more forgiving of mistakes and accept modest compensation for the losses they have suffered. Sadly, the US is one of the most aggressively litigious societies in the world and, for a small business, even a small claim can be the difference between success and bankruptcy. It is not just the value of any award of damages. It is the costs payable to both your own attorney and the attorney on the other side if you lose the case. Although it is an extreme example of the problem, you may remember Pearson v. Chung in which a judge sued his dry cleaner for a lost pair of pants. The amount claimed? Only $54 million. The problem was the $100,000 cost of the defense. Fortunately, public fund-raising covered those costs with the Chung’s attorney acting pro bono in the appeal hearings. Not every attorney will act without payment. The public does not often rally round to help a small business. That is why you should review your insurance portfolio.
In general terms, almost every business should carry property insurance, e.g. to cover fire damage, general liability to cover third party claims, a reasonable amount of workers’ compensation in case your employees sue you, and Errors and Omissions to protect you against the kind of mistakes you make when following your standard business routines. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: business, business insurance
Posted in Finance & Insurance | 5 Comments »
Written by admin on 12 May 2010
Those in the realty business say location is everything. Whether you are buying or selling, a good location always commands a good price. When you apply this to the insurance industry, location is also a vital part of the assessment of risk. Excluding California which had the wisdom to exclude the use of zip codes in calculating auto insurance premiums, almost all the other states allow insurers to price risk based on where you and your vehicle live. If this is a high-crime area where vehicles are more routinely stolen or vandalised, and there is a higher than average number of traffic accidents, the premiums will reflect the higher risks. This will be so even though you are a driver with long exprience and no claims history. When it comes to business insurance, the same principles apply, but the detail is slightly different.
When you are planning a new business or making one of your routine assessments of the prevailing risks, one of the key decisions is the value of the liability coverage you put in place. Although there are some types of liability policy specific to areas of business or trade, the majority of the general commercial policies offer coverage against the risk of injury to employees and third parties who are injured by the way the business is run. Because the cost of medical treatment has been rising faster than inflation over the last five years, premiums have also been rising fast. When you add in the risk of having to pay incidental and consequential damages for losses flowing from the injuries, the total value of coverage may have to be quite significant, particularly if the net worth of people using your business may make them expensive to injure. So where does this leave the assessment of your business location(s)?
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Tags: business, business insurance, insurance, insurance policy
Posted in Finance & Insurance | 4 Comments »
Written by admin on 10 May 2010
Probably you have already heard about Errors and Omissions Insurance (E&O Insurance) from your insurance agent. Now you may think whether it’s useful to your business or not. No matter how big or small your company is, whether it’s a small home business or a large production facility you own, not having any insurance is a risk that you just can’t afford. Moreover, if you produce products or services, your business is automatically exposed to Errors and Omissions. Even if you already have Commercial Liability Insurance policy you still aren’t fully protected against liability due to personal negligence. General liability simply doesn’t pay for errors and omissions you or your workers make when producing goods or delivering services.
Why should you buy E&O Insurance?
Errors and Omissions Insurance is quite simple to understand if you refer to it as “Malpractice” or “Professional Liability” Insurance. The list of professionals who should purchase E&O Insurance include lawyers, engineers, doctors, accountants and any other enterprises that work with clients, providing either services or products that may become the cause of liability if there is a professional error. As you may understand there are countless types of businesses that fall into this category, ranging from real estate to advertising agencies, financial consultants to hardware manufacturers, from appraisers to repair shops. Errors and Omissions Insurance is delivered through a separate policy and assures financial protection against any claims that are filed by third parties, who are dissatisfied or injured by your products or services that were the subject of professional negligence. Thus, this type of business insurance will pay for the court fees, attorney fees and any settlements that the court will stipulate you to pay to the third party.
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Tags: business, business insurance, insurance
Posted in Finance & Insurance | 11 Comments »
