You should always protect your jewelry purchases, like anything else you would buy that is expensive. It doesn't make a difference whether you have a single bracelet or enough jewelry to fill a vault. Sufficient funds to replace a lost item or receive cash reimbursement is imperative to jewelry insurance. Policies sometimes contain clauses making it mandatory to replace the item within a certain time-frame. Underneath are listed the steps to discovering the way to obtain coverage protection for jewelry.
You must get all of your jewelry evaluated. Insurers usually do not cover items for more than their appraisal value. By keeping up with regular appraisals and inspections of your jewelry, it will help you to be sure that you have enough coverage in the event of theft or loss. You should consider having your jewelry itemized by description and also estimated value on a document.
Quotes. Your residential or rental policy will insure your jewelry in cases of theft but not misplacement. Where and how your jewelry is kept will impact the item's cost. The majority of homeowner and renters insurance will only pick up a certain percentage of the value of an item, typically $1,000 to $2,000 for each item. You should know from the agent the cost and what is covered. Deductibles are an important part of purchasing insurance. If you don't have to worry about deductibles, replacing your jewelry will be easier.
Take pictures of your jewelry. Documentation should be done in words and photos. If you have a photo of your jewelry, you will stand a better chance to reconstruct or replace your damaged item.
If your homeowner's insurance or renters insurance doesn't cover it, you can buy a separate policy to cover your jewelry. Do your research; look into the company before you sign up for a policy. Make sure to verify with your agent whether your jewelry will be covered if you are travelling; not all policies have international coverage. A reliable firm like Jewelers Mutual Insurance is a nice representative of another option for coverage.
Keep jewelry secure. It is a really great idea to put your valuable jewelry in a fireproof box, or even in a safe deposit box at a local financial institution. There are a few insurance companies that will allow a discount if you keep your jewels there. Also if you keep the jewels in a box that needs a key and store it with a relative (provided only you have the key) it will make cash reimbursement or replacement a lot less difficult.
“Big Rig” insurance is essential for the independent owner/operator. In today's highly competitive commercial trucking industry, an owner/operator has to be a shrewd businessman, and get the best insurance for the lowest premium.
Are you a person that loves sun-drenched afternoons cruising on mountain roads or along the coastline? Can you close your eyes and see the highway stretch out before you all the way to the horizon?
Your big rig may be your family business. Do you hit the road with your wife as a driving team?
Are you a person who enjoys the freedom of being your own boss as an independent owner/operator? Or are you a leased operator?
Do you own more than just one truck?
No matter what your motivation is for owning and operating a commercial semi truck, you will need commercial truck insurance. But all commercial truck insurance policies are not the same.
Here are some features and coverages you should look for when shopping for commercial truck insurance:
• Only accept an A-rated insurance company so you'll have peace of mind knowing that your insurance company has the financial strength to take care of you when covered losses occur.
• Comprehensive Coverage - protection for non-collision losses, such as fire, smoke, windstorm, theft, lightning, hail, animals, vandalism, even low branches and overhangs.
• Replacement Cost coverage - on your personal property that is stolen, damaged or destroyed.
• Physical Damage/Collision coverage - when your vehicle runs into something.
• Replacement Cost Coverage on the vehicle, which pays to replace your vehicle with a brand new one of like kind and quality. Most policies only pay the Actual Cash Value for a total loss.
• Liability limits - buy high liability limits, it's inexpensive coverage. Skimp on other coverages but don't skimp here. Personal injury attorneys love truck accidents and get big jury awards.
• Attached Accessories Coverage - includes running lights, antennas, chrome, custom wheels, custom paint, satellite dishes, and such. Many insurance policies don't cover customizing equipment. Make sure yours does.
• Non-Trucking Liability, or "Bob-Tail" coverage - takes care of you when you're using your rig at times you're not under dispatch.
• Motor Truck Cargo Legal Liability - covers your load against damage from certain causes.
• Trailer Interchange coverage - if you have a trailer interchange agreement, you need this coverage to protect you while you're in possession of a container or trailer that you don't own.
• A trailer interchange agreement is a contract that arranges to transfer a trailer from one trucker to another in order to complete a shipment.
• Refrigeration Breakdown Endorsement - provides coverage up to a separate limit shown on the schedule for spoilage of perishable stock while the stock is in transit on a vehicle.
• Non-owned trailer - this is third party coverage for a trailer that you are hauling owned by another entity.
• Emergency Expenses Coverage - pays for lodging or travel back home if your unit is damaged or destroyed by a covered loss more than 50 miles from home.
• Towing and Roadside Assistance - first dollar coverage, no out-of-pocket costs for towing, flat tire changes, fuel delivery and locksmith services.
• Occupational Accident Coverage - pays your medical bills for certain covered accidents while you're working. Crucial coverage if you do not carry health insurance for yourself.
We may need more information from you such as driver and equipment lists, MVR's and loss runs.
Commercial trucking insurers also offer a variety of discounts, such as:
• Multi-Unit
• Multi-Policy
• Safety Course
• Prior Insurance
• Renewal discount for maintaining continuous coverage
You will also find a wide choice of deductibles and payment plans available. Choosing higher deductibles will lower your premiums. Flexible payment plans will help you manage your budget.
By using these strategies, you'll have the best chance at having fun cruising the roads in your "Big Rig!"
Let us now talk about the types of business insurance entrepreneurs should be concerned about:
Let us start with talking about the type of risks you should consider:
The first one is related to all damages that would cost a company to lose money and need business insurance coverage to start business again.
Second is regarding the consequences that accidents may have on employees and the owner. Think about those activities or profession for which business insurance is compulsory.
Finally, business insurance also needs to provide coverage for all damages caused to employees and the owner of the company. Coverage for illness, disability, death, or other risks that are also covered by welfare or health insurance. Some business owners consider adding the creation of pensions to the benefits they offer to their employees.
Business owners want to carefully choose what their commercial insurance will cover. Some policies are legally binding. Car insurance and others are legally mandatory. Sector like leisure, health and legal there are other mandatory insurances. Business insurance is important to have even if not mandatory cases like liability risks. All businesses are vulnerable to risks at one point in time and their financial implications are never foreseeable.
It is the responsibility of your business insurance company to carry out a comprehensive analysis of all risks. Business owners should, in addition to this assessment, evaluate on their own the risks involved in their daily activities. By doing this, the business owner will get a better understanding of what consequences he or she needs to be pre financially prepared for and which ones can be transferred to the employee.
Pay attention to the following factors before deciding for business insurance:
Company owners should never underestimate the risks involved in its day to day activities. All business carry some sort of risk, none is exempt. There are little risks that may end up in accidents, like someone hitting him or herself with the door of a car. Take the following information into consideration when buying business insurance:
First, a company should give insurance for those risks that would cost the company too much money to cover on their own. And second, determine which risks can be transferred to the insurer.
Take into consideration that some risks may be easily covered with the company's money. However, bigger risks may carry important consequence when not being looked at properly. Remember that all new companies are vulnerable to risks and it could cost the company too much not being ready to face them.
If you own or manage a business, either large or small, you will require some type of insurance to protect your company against the various risks and potential multitude of claims, that your business will face.
Commercial insurance or Business insurance as it is commonly known, is a complicated area of underwriting and because all businesses are different, and face different risks depending upon the nature of the company, various packages and combined policy covers have been introduced by insurance companies and commercial broker schemes, to make the process easier.
An example of a small business insurance package which is commonly sold online is the Tradesman's insurance package, which includes all elements of cover required by a small business or self employed trader such as basic liability covers and theft of tools.
Other small business insurance packages that are trade specific and can often be obtained online are available for shopkeepers, offices, surgeries, hotels and guest houses, restaurants, public houses and builders.
Large companies will be offered what is known as a commercial combined policy which has many different elements of cover which can be combined to make a bespoke policy for the enterprise. Most large companies will require some degree of risk assessment before the policy is underwritten, which may often include a visit to the business premises or site, and for this reason these types of larger business usually employ the services of specialist commercial insurance brokers.
Business Risks
The largest risk that a business faces is from liability to others, and the potential costs and damages a company could face if a claim was made against it.
All companies are required by law to have in place liability cover, called Employers liability insurance or EL, to protect their staff against all potential risks and accidents while in the workplace.
Business liability insurance is usually sold as a package and will always include Public Liability, often just known as PL, which protects the company against claims from the public whilst on the business premises.
A further type of liability insurance called Product liability is also available to companies under a commercial liability policy which protects the company against claims made for design or manufacturing faults in the product.
Company directors can also protect themselves against liabilities with Directors and Officers insurance (D&O) cover.
Property Damage
Most business large and small will have premises that need protection against buildings perils such as fire and flood and commercial property insurance is available to cover all buildings insurance risks. Similarly commercial contents insurance for business premises is available which covers office and business equipment including files and data processing against the common perils. For companies that carry stock, this type of business contents insurance can be extended to cover risk such as deterioration and damage.
For the small businessman who works from home these covers are often available with strict limits of indemnity, as a bolt on to a standard home buildings and contents policy. This type of cover is often effective for self employed people with just a computer and a home office.
Business Contingency Cover
One of the largest problems faced by a business is that of how to continue in business should the worst occur, for example a fire that destroys the premises. In order to deal with this Insurance companies have devised a cover called 'Business Interruption Insurance'. Based on your previous years annual turnover, this protection insurance covers your company against all losses caused by interruption to trading due to any of the perils mentioned on the policy and will pay out on a indemnified basis for the period of cover agreed in the policy. Most policies will also offer some type of alternative trading accommodation to enable you business to continue whilst the premises are being repaired.
Additional Commercial Risks
Because commercial insurance is designed to cover all classes of business, there are many various trade or business specific covers available which can be added to a combined policy. Examples of these covers include loss of license to trade, glass cover, goods in transit cover, book debts, commercial vehicle insurance, haulers cover, warehouse cover, engineering insurance and plant inspection services, and theft by employees.
Outside of most combined policies are additional risks more often sold under separate policy covers, that should be considered to protect your business against all eventualities.
Examples of these are, Commercial Legal Expenses insurance cover which protects the company against claims made by employees for unfair dismissal and allows you to bring cases against suppliers.
Various protection policies are also available for businesses including Keyman insurance which provides cover against the loss of key people within your organization. Business mortgage protection provides a monthly payment for business premises should you suffer and accident or sickness. Group ASU policies are also available to protect your staff and employees.
Purchasing Business Cover
Purchasing commercial risks insurance can be a daunting experience for the uninitiated small business owner and unless the risks are straightforward and can be underwritten online, it is advisable for all companies to approach the services of a local or regional commercial insurance broker. Insurance Brokers will not only be able to assess the complete range of risks that your business is exposed to, and provide the correct levels of cover, they will more often than not have a unique local knowledge of the risks involved and will be able to negotiate premiums that reflect the nature of the risks. Furthermore, in the event of a claim, and as most businesses will be faced with claims at some point in their trading life-cycle, the broker will handle all the settlement negotiations with the insuring company and allow you to continue what you do best - running your business
There are a number of measures you can take to minimize your risks and keep your insurance premiums low. Following good business practices to lower the chances of property damage or bodily injury is one measure.
General insurance premiums - liability insurance, for example - will be lower if you have effective health and safety policies and procedures to help ensure a safe working environment. Such policies will also help reduce the possibility of an insurance claim.
You can minimize other business risks by ensuring that equipment and machinery is safe and in good working order and that you have all the necessary quality certification and licenses. The use of equipment free of defects or maintenance needed will help reduce the risk of damage or injury and bring down your premium.
Training staff to follow correct health and safety procedures will also help to prevent accidents and lower your insurance premium. Many insurance companies offer great loss control services free of charge to their clients or at a much reduced cost. These services greatly reduce the likelihood of claims and encourage underwriters to allow more credits when reviewing the risk. Encourage key employees to have regular health checks and vacations. Your previous insurance claims record will in part determine the size of the premium you pay. In other words, if you have submitted a claim or claims in the past this will be reflected in the size of the premium the insurance company will quote. It's very important to have a qualified commercial insurance agent review your claims report along with a history of premiums paid. They can help close out claims, lower or eliminate reserves and show a better loss ratio to the underwriters.
It is essential to keep detailed records of accidents, loss control recommendations, resolutions and equipment purchases, as insurance companies require documentation if you do submit a claim. The clearer your records, the more likely it is that your claim will be handled without difficulty.
Work with an independent insurance agent. These agents work for their clients, not the insurance companies. They generally have more flexibility with the ability to research a number of different insurance carriers for their clients to find the best coverage at the most attractive premium cost.
The term liability has always been placed in negative light. However, employer's liability insurance is a good thing. It means protection of the employers as well as protection to the employee. In fact, government is making sure that each company has this insurance to cover them or else the employers who do not have them have to pay the penalty set by government. Not to mention law fee expenses and lawsuits that will cost the company millions if something should happen.
They say regrets always come in the end. Let us say your employee has met an accident while doing his work or a superior unconsciously harasses his subordinate. Can you imagine the lawsuit that comes after and the cost that it would entail will be enormous. With the employer's liability insurance, you are assured that you are covered. Your insurance will take care of it even the damages that the company has to pay the employee will be covered by the insurance. If you do not get the insurance, you know you will regret it in the end.
So when you have a company and you have employer's liability insurance. One thing is for sure, you can definitely sleep at night. You know you are taken cared of. However, as much as you know you are protected, you also have to know that this type of insurance does not come cheap. Although, if something ever happens, the insurance cost will definitely be smaller than if compared to your company not having the employers liability insurance. So in the end, you know that it is worth it.
Its no secret that today’s society is increasingly litigious. We've all heard the stories of outrageous settlements for hot coffee that burned someone, a gun that went off when the trigger was pulled and flammables that burned when they were set on fire. One result of this litigious tendency is warning labels on entirely innocuous items; another, and far more significant result, is financial ruin for a company that suffers a judgment that is not covered by active liability insurance.
There are some professions that have dealt with liability suits and liability insurance for any number of years; doctors, architects and builders would be examples of companies or professionals who have long required protection from the financial effects of an error or oversight. But in a country where lawyers outnumber engineers by wide margin, today we find that ANY business can find itself embroiled in a fight for its financial life over the most trivial of causes.
So what can create liability for your company or yourself in your professional duties? It goes far beyond the obvious, like a surgeon removing the wrong limb or an architect designing a building that falls down when it rains. Do you, or your employees, ever give customers advice? Do they precede, or follow, that advice with a disclaimer that it be used at the customer's discretion and without warranty, expressed or implied, from your organization?
Of course not.
But giving advice, especially advice given in a professional capacity, can open you up to liability claims. Say you own a small tire shop, and one of your employees recommends a specific brand and model of tire to a customer for a particular application. The customer, based on that advice, purchases the tires and has them mounted to his vehicle.
Let's say that your employee, with the best of intentions, had accidentally recommended a tire intended for a passenger car to this customer, who wanted tires for his light truck. The tires, used inappropriately, fail prematurely and cause a crash. Could you be sued?
Absolutely. And while no one can predict the outcome of a court case (especially a hypothetical one), it's within the realm of possibility that a judge or jury could decide that your employee, who speaks for you as an agent of your organization, was negligent in not checking the proper model number of tire your customer required. It's further possible that the jury could decide that the customer, having based his decision on your professional advice, is entitled to compensation for any loss he suffered by your (or in this case, your employee's) error.
How much will that judgment be? Well, if the customer lost his vehicle in the accident, it may be tens of thousands of dollars. If, on the other hand, the customer lost several family members in the accident, it may be tens of millions of dollars.
Hopefully, you're starting to realize that the normal, everyday running of nearly ANY business involves a risk of incurring a liability claim. You can't do business without giving advice, selling products or providing services, and there is always a chance that the advice could be wrong, the product defective or the service insufficient. When that happens, you must think not only of the value of the service or product you've provided, but also the potential harm or injury that could result from its failure. If the .03 cent disposable cup you're selling is found to be tainted with lead, the value of the claim can exceed the value of the product by many orders of magnitude.
You have probably started to recognize ways your own profession or business could become vulnerable to a liability suit. The only reasonable response is to insure oneself, with the help of an experienced underwriter, against all foreseeable claims. The expense, however unpleasant, can one day save your business from financial ruin.
