Monthly Archives: August 2019

Transportation Insurance Explained

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Transportation Insurance

Theft, fire, and damages are some of the common devastating perils faced by distributors, wholesalers, retailers and other business owners that convey goods from one place to another. Thankfully, a customized transportation insurance policy can cover any of those damages, and help keep your business afloat. Transportation insurance covers goods and property in transit. The coverage includes transport by land, water, and air.

How Does Transportation Insurance Work?

Transportation insurance pays compensation for your damaged, delayed, or stolen goods in transit. You may choose to get the basic or go for more comprehensive coverage, depending on the kind of protection you want for your business. The cost of insurance and coverage amount will be based on some factors, such as the value and nature of goods you are transporting, and the distance, whether domestic or international.

Types of Transportation Insurance

Each means of transportation and goods has its own peculiarities, and as such, will require a customized policy that will best suit the business. Transportation insurance products include:

  • Taxi Insurance, Limousine Insurance, and Bus Tour Insurance: Needed to cover your vehicle and your passengers. It should also include a business interruption coverage, which pays for income loss when your vehicle breaks down, and require a service or repair.
  • General Cargo Insurance: This can cover both the goods in transit and the container. It comes in three basic clauses, namely, A, B, C. Clause A is the most robust category that offers the widest coverage, followed by clause B, while C offers the lowest coverage. The wider the coverage limit, the higher the premium rate.
  • Goods in transit insurance: This product provides coverage for goods against fire, accidental damage, or theft when in transit. The coverage includes when the goods are being loaded or offloaded. It has two types, which are

–          All risks, which covers goods from the loading stage till the final destination, and

–          Restricted cover, which only provides coverage if the conveying vehicle is involved in an accident.

  • Marine Cargo Insurance: Covers goods transported by water or air. It comes in different types, which include voyage policy, open cover.

–          Voyage Policy covers goods from a specific point to another and ends when the goods get the covered destination.

–          Open Cover is particularly essential for businesses that transport goods frequently. It offers blanket coverage, which covers all shipments made for one year, and as such help saves cost getting a new policy for each journey.

  • Rail Insurance: This provides coverage for those who …in rail business, such as passenger and freight operators, locomotive owners, storage facilities, etc.
  • Airfreight insurance for goods transported by air. The premium rate is calculated based on the value and nature of goods and route to the destination.

Why Your Business Needs Transportation Insurance

Casualties and theft are commonplace in the transportation business, and can sometimes bankrupt a company if there’s no reliable coverage. Transportation insurance is a risk transfer plan that can help you weather the storm of adverse financial effects capable of ruining your business.

ISO Releases National Building Code Assessment Report

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(Jersey City, N.J. – Insurance News 360) – On March 19, ISO released the National Building Code Assessment Report,  which examines code enforcement efforts by more than 25,000 building departments across the U.S. It offers key insights into how building codes can help prevent losses from disasters.

“We have seen heightened incidents of natural disasters during the past few years that have put the nation’s building codes to the test,” said Robert Andrews, vice president and chief field operations officer, ISO Community Hazard Mitigation. “Hurricanes, flood, and wildfire have caused billions of dollars in losses across multiple states. Our new report provides valuable insights about building codes throughout the country and how well they are enforced, which is vital information for communities, municipalities, and insurers.”

The report was developed by the ISO Building Code Effectiveness Grading Schedule team. The report also features analyses of natural hazards and catastrophes in each state and diverse perspectives on catastrophe mitigation from the federal government, nonprofit organizations, and academia.

Source: Verisk.

Workers Compensation Insurance

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Worker’s compensation insurance is mandatory coverage for business owners in most states in the United States. Apart from being a requirement of the law, it is an essential risk management plan that can help you achieve business sustainability, as it covers your business against claims for:

–          Lost wages

–          Medical treatment

–          Death benefit claims

–          Disability

–          Accidents at work

How Does Workers Compensation Insurance Work?

Regardless of how you make your business environment safe for your employee, you can’t completely rule out events of work-related injuries, illnesses, or even death. Cases like these are what Workers Comp helps to mitigate by providing coverage to any affected worker in the following ways:

Disability

Workers compensation insurance replaces a specified portion of an employee’s loss of income while recovering from a work-related injury or illness. Disability definitions under this policy are four types, namely:

–          Temporary partial disability: A short-term disability that partly makes a worker unfit to work

–          Temporary total disability: A short-term disability that completely prevents a worker from working during a short period.

–          Permanent partial disability: A permanent injury or impairment that partially limits an employee’s performance and earning power

–          Permanent total disability: A permanent impairment that completely prevents the affected workers from ever doing the same job……….

Worker compensation for disability is sold with a specified waiting period – meaning a disability must last beyond the period before an employee could be eligible for claims. The benefit payment is typically based on the specified percentage of the current income, usually 66% in many states.

Medical Expenses

Workers compensation pays for an employee’s cost of treating a work-related injury or illness. The policy covers bills for hospital visits, surgery, and necessary aids for recovery, such as crutches, wheelchair, or braces. Depending on the state, the covered expenses may also include therapies, chiropractic or biofeedback.

Rehabilitation

In some states, workers compensation covers the cost of rehabilitative therapies needed to help an employee recover from a work-related injury. The coverage could also include psychological rehabilitation for those who suffer mental injury.

Death

The policy pays death benefits to relatives of an employee if the worker dies on the job or from an illness or injury sustained at work. The death benefit is to provide the dependent children or spouse of the deceased worker with a financial safety net to help cushion the effects of their loss. It may also cover burial cost.

Employer’s Liability Insurance

Employer’s Liability Insurance

Employer’s liability is a significant component of worker’s compensation designed to protect you against damages claims from your employees. Workers comp is generally responsible for a work-related injury or illness claims. However, if employees feel the injury or illness was caused by an employer’s negligence, they may file a lawsuit for additional damages specifically against the employer. Lawsuit cost such as court costs, lawyer’s fee, and settlements are what employer’s liability arm of workers compensation will help you cover.

What Determines Workers Compensation Insurance Cost?

Number of Employees: Almost all states require a business to buy workers compensation insurance immediately after hiring the first worker for your business. The number of employees will be considered by your insurer for the policy’s price.

Payroll Size: Your payroll unavoidably increases as you hire more hands. This will mean a periodic review and increase of your worker compensation insurance needs and budget.

Your Industry: Some businesses are considered as high-risk industries due to the rate and severity of work-related injuries and illnesses they are known for. If your company operates in such, expect to pay a higher premium for your policy.

The 55+ Housing Market still strong in second quarter

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(Washington, DC – Insurance News 360) – According to release by National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) 55+ Housing Market Index (HMI) the single-family housing market edged down from 72 to 71 in the second quarter keeping the builder’s confidence solid.

Single-family and multifamily condominiums are the two segments measured by HMI 55+ housing market. The survey measures builder’ sentiment inquiring if recent sales, potential traffic of buyers and expected sales of 6 months are good, average or poor  for traffic.

“Although the single-family HMI fell slightly, builder sentiment remains strong for this segment of the market,” said Karen Schroeder, chair of NAHB’s 55+ Housing Industry Council and vice president of Mayberry Homes in East Lansing, Mich. “The reading of 71 is just one point off from the all-time high of 72 from the previous quarter. We expect the 55+ housing market to continue on a positive path moving forward.”

For 55+ single-family HMI’s three index components, current sales remained unchanged at 76, one point raise in anticipated sales for the next six months at 78 and potential buyers traffic dropped five points to 56.

There’s an increase of two points to 59   in HMI of the multifamily condo. There’s raise in two out of three index components as compared to last quarter. Current sales increased three points to 61 and forecasted sales for the next 6 months rose to three points at 65. However, traffic of prospective buyers dropped two points and fell at 50.

There is an increase from the first quarter  in all four components of the 55+ multifamily rental market: Current production and future anticipated production both rose six points at 64, while current demand increased  12 points to 73 and future expected demand increased 10 points to 73

“Demand for 55+ housing remains solid, as demonstrated in the surge for 55+ rental demand,” said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. “Builder sentiment for the for-sale 55+ housing market also remains in positive territory, supported by low inventory of existing homes. However, it is being constrained by development costs and their impact on affordability.”

Source: National Association of Home Builders.