Definition of a World Class Operating Model for Insurance

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There is no common certified definition of an operating model for Insurance. An operating model is a representation of the reality of the implementation of the company's business and IT processes supporting the business model. A business model defines how a company makes money; an operating model defines how the company is organized to ensure it actually makes money.

A World Class Operating Model is the best possible Target Operating Model for an organization, defined based on the external market and internal governance and culture. World Class defines an excellent organization able to deliver shareholder value, stable high profits and growth with an agile organization able to adapt quickly to market changes.

A World Class Operating Model supports a company to streamline all improvement efforts to ensure the promised return on investment and prevent the introduction of new problems due to incomplete or wrong changes caused by a lack of overview or ability to deliver complex solutions.

There are many examples of World Class organizations globally with an excellent service and optimized internal processes and IT; however, in the Insurance industry it is hard to find a World Class organization. Ask customers, distributors and even internal management and staff of Insurance companies and the overall perception is quite bad. There are of course examples of substantial improvements, most of the time covering only parts of the organization.

The objective of a World Class Operating Model is to define an organization able to deliver excellent service and products with a low cost, reliable, scalable and sustainable Operations and IT organization, which is fast and flexible in adapting market changes.

Where in most cases the operating model of an Insurance organization is a complex maze of processes, IT and governance implemented in a dominantly manual organization, a state of the art World Class Operating Model is based on a full digital service organization with high skilled experts for product development, marketing, product advice, claims management and customer service.

A World Class Operating Model for Insurance is based on the following principles:

Availability of real time information

One often heard complaint of customers and distributors is the lack of up-to-date information in the service processes, especially in case of a claim. Call centers and internal staff simply have no access to the latest data and have to wait until paper files become available. An important principle of a World Class Operating Model is that all information is digitalized, up-to-date and real time available creating excellent service, fast underwriting & claim processes, and a real time view on company's production and productivity.

Fully digitalized self-service capabilities

Today, all information should be available real time, anywhere, anytime, on every computer and mobile device used by customers, distributors, internal management and staff and third party service providers. It will save tremendous time and money when customers and business partners have access to all information via internet, on tablets, phones, etc. and are able to get quotations for new products and renewals, submit customer and products details, policy endorsements and changes and upload claims information. In the World Class Operating Model, the digitalized self-service capabilities are fully integrated with comprehensive sales support and customer relationship management systems.

Straight Through Processing

The complex manual processes in Insurance organizations are causing most of the service problems. Backlogs, lack of overview, re-entering of data, manual mistakes are the cause of service deterioration and high expense ratios. A World Class Operating Model organizes all processes in a standard, simple model. This model is fully automated without any manual interference except for decision making like underwriting and claims assessment. All data will be entered in one of the systems and will be transferred straight through to other systems where no re-entering of data is necessary.

Fast time to market

The time to market of Insurance products is long, even small pricing changes will take months to deploy in most Insurance companies. This is in most cases a result of the complexity of the IT environment. Even when companies use advanced product development tools, the problem of changing the policy administration system remains. The World Class Operating Model aims for a time to market of 1 day to 1 week, depending on the change and including the product approval governance and IT changes.

State of the art IT architecture and solutions

Starting point of the World Class Operating Model is to automate all sales, customer service, new business, renewal, expiry, claims, endorsement and policy change processes based on a robust loosely coupled, flexible IT architecture with best of breed system components integrated using an Enterprise Service Bus and one central database. The state of the art IT architecture is scalable to cope with company's (fast) growth, is flexible, sustainable and prepared for all market developments in the coming years.

Culture of engagement and continuous improvement

All today's processes and IT are defined by people and "we will not solve today problems with the same thinking that created them" (Albert Einstein). This means an implementation of a World Class Operating Model is more than only an IT transformation. As Insurance is a very traditional industry where risk avoidance is the main objective, every transformation change will create resistance and when not managed well, will destroy the outcome of transformation projects. A World Class Operating Model implementation includes a culture change towards continuous improvement, stakeholder and employee engagement and is in most organizations the hardest nut to crack.

Simple and lean organization and governance

Apart from the technology and culture challenges, organization and governance design are as important to ensure a successful outcome of a World Class Operating Model transformation. Insurance organizations have many different representations caused by past and present management preferences, which are not necessarily the most efficient and effective structures. Usually these organization structures are causing more complexity, inefficiency and a slow time to market. The World Class Operating Model includes a straightforward, simple and lean organization structure and governance delivering optimal customer, partner and employee satisfaction.

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Source by Paul De Bruijn

Reasons Why Your Two Wheeler Insurance Claim Is Rejected

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Two wheeler insurance offers excellent financial cover to protect your vehicle from unexpected events such as road accidents / collision, damages, third party liability, etc. but a denial from your insurer to settle the claim can be the big jolt. Therefore, it is imperative to be careful while buying a plan and you must also re-examine the details of the policy held by you.

Here are five common reasons why your claim can be rejected.

  1. Getting your vehicle repaired on your own after the accident: It is the most common mistake that many of you make. You tend to repair your bike on your own and then inform the insurance company about the settlement. As a result of this, the insurer can not trace back the accident and the repairs and eventually reject your claim. To avoid such situation, always inform the insurance company before getting the car repaired. The company professional will inspect the damage from their end, evaluate the cost of damage and help you get the best deal for repairing the damage caused to your bike.
  2. Drunk driving: If a person is found drunk at the time of an accident, then an insurance company has all the right to reject the claim. Many times, people try to hide that they were drunk while riding a bike. This may work in some cases where the accident is minor and the driver does not get to see any police or hospital. But in the other case, hospitals exhibit this information to police and then you can not expect insurance coverage. Rather a tough criminal action can be instigated against you if you hide such a thing.
  3. When you miss transferring your name in the policy copy: People keen on buying used bikes invest can face a claim rejection in future if they forget to transfer their name in the policy copy. In such cases where transfer formalities have not been done, the policy is considered invalid and will not help you to settle the claim.
  4. Forget to notify the claim within specified time : Always notify the claim within 48 hours to 72 hours of the damage. If you fail to do so, insurance companies can reject your claim. Also, if you damage your car in a crash and the engine gets damaged too, but you continue driving it, thus causing further damage to the car. The policy claim will automatically be rejected by the insurer.
  5. Driving License: Driving licenses are valid for a longer duration. After this period, you need to renew it. It is important because if your vehicle meets an accident during the time and your driving license is not valid, then two wheeler insurance will be rendered useless and it can be the prime reason behind the rejection of your claim too.

Though buying two wheeler insurance is an extremely smart step as it can save you from much unaccounted for and sudden costs, but they do not make you or your bike bulletproof. Be honest and safe, instead of being careless and reckless. Insurance companies will love you for it and help you the most.

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Source by Sahil Doshi

Is My Insurance Company Trying to Cheat Me?

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Let's be honest, anyone who has had an insurance claim has had this or a similar thought run through their head. For many years insurance companies have done things to earn a bad rep. I've been in the insurance restoration industry for the last 10 years, and during this time I can honestly say that I have rarely met an adjuster or contractor that wanted to skimp on the settlement. The few times I've seen this is when the policyholder has been extremely difficult to work with. Yes, bad estimates happen, however, most of the time the feeling of being "shorted or cheated" comes from not understanding your policy and how it pays out.

The biggest misunderstanding is most often the issue of matching. Insurance policies are specifically written with terminology and phrases to avoid matching. Homeowner's coverage is to replace the damaged items with like kind and quality. While as a homeowner and contractor I often do not agree with this and I will fight it to the best of my abilities. To explain this policy the easiest is to give you situations where you will most likely run into this situation. Let's say you have a flood where the carpet has to be removed in the hallway. The same carpet runs throughout the home. The living room opens and connects directly to the hallway with the same carpet and you have 3 bedrooms directly off of the hallway and an office with french doors off of the living room. The carpet in the hallway and living room will be replaced but the carpet in the bedrooms and office will most likely not be replaced as most insurance policies are written to stop at doorways.

The other situation is most often with kitchen cabinetry. If water damages your lower kitchen cabinets (or a fire, your uppers) most insurance companies will allow replacing the run of damaged cabinets (meaning all of the lowers or all of the uppers). If you have specialty / custom cabinets you will most likely be given a custom price to rebuild that run of cabinets to match what was there. Very rarely is matching kitchen cabinets likely these days, however, it is not impossible. Over the past 25 years, there are hundreds of cabinet styles and specialty finishes, from dozens of manufacturers. Unless you recently replaced the kitchen, it will take countless hours of research to find the cabinet manufacturer that made your cabinets (a good place to locate the manufacturer is on the inside of the door. Let's say you've managed to find the manufacturer, companies usually discontinue a line every 4-7 years, or they make considerable changes to it. on top of the possible discontinued issue, it is very likely that the elements have changed the finish on your cabinetry. Perhaps your contractor has pointed the issues out to your adjuster, depending on the difficulty they may add extra money to allow to get a close match, perhaps a custom cabinet.

This is where you have several options:

1) You can take your budget and get quotes from cabinet places on a less expensive cabinet to replace all of your cabinetry. Remember that by using less expensive items elsewhere in the reconstruction you will have that money to allocate towards your new cabinetry budget.

2) You can certainly create a unique custom kitchen by finding an opposite finish cabinet to replace your lowers or uppers with. It is very common today to mix cabinetry finishes to give a unique custom look to fit your style. For example, let's say your cabinets are a stain cherry cabinet in a shaker style. You could go with a complementing stained or painted finish cabinetry, perhaps in antique white or black.

3) If the mix / match is not your style consider a paint treatment. My best example of this is a fire I did in Durham, NC in 2007; my client had a small grease fire that scorched the finish on 3 of her upper cabinets above her stove. The insurance company allowed for replacement of these upper cabinets. She was not happy with that. (Now to be fair, this was an extremely smart professor at Duke University and as soon as the fire happened she started dreaming of her new kitchen.) When I broke the estimate down into our budget for the cabinets she was highly disappointed. She wanted her new kitchen. I replaced the 3 damaged parts of the cabinets with unfinished stock pieces that matched in style and repainted all of her dated oak cabinetry to a new beautiful modern black. We added new hardware, repainted the walls and I was able to get new countertops for her, by choosing a less expensive replacement floor. Within 2 weeks she had a brand new remodeled kitchen with nothing more than her deductible out of pocket.

4) You could order the cabinets to match your existing cabinetry and if they do not match well enough you can go back to your insurance company and have them come back out to assist you with another option. PLEASE NOTE: if you're set on getting a kitchen completely different than what you had and you opt to try and match your existing cabinets and fail, the insurance company is not going to pay to replace the newly replaced cabinets again. Do not go out and get cabinets that clearly will not be a match to your cabinets and then call the insurance company and say "I tried to match the cabinets but they do not match." This is fraud and you can be charged.

The best advice I can give anyone is to understand your policy. Look at your declarations page thoroughly. Understand your coverage. If there are any changes in your home update your insurance as necessary, to protect your home, yourself and your family.

Understanding your claim can be both easy and confusing. It's easy if you listen, take notes and ask questions (to both your insurance company and your contractor). I've seen homeowner become completely befuddled by a claim when they try to make sense of it without knowing enough or by trying to break down the estimate line item by line item and add up the totals to "checkup" on the contractor or adjuster. Just remember that life becomes unsettled when it's least convenient. There is never a good time to have to file an insurance claim. However, life is unpredictable and it will slap you in the face when you have all your balls in the air. I recommend to all of my clients to get a spiral notebook or notepad the moment they have to file a claim. Write everything down because if you're like everyone else as soon as you think of a question for you adjuster you'll forget their name and lose their contact information and / or your claim number. Keep track of everything. Start collecting pictures of things you like that will have to be replaced, it's good to dream but do not be unrealistic. Do not assume that because something got wet it will be replaced. Carpet is one of the most argued for items. Most homeowners assume that because the carpet was wet for several hours before it was discovered it will be claimed as unsalvageable. In a general Class 1 / Category 1 (Clean water) loss most carpet can and will be saved. Restoration companies are HIGHLY trained to dry these items. Carpet is replaced as a last resort. It may need to have the pad replaced and be restretched / rekicked and cleaned but in rare situations does it require replacement. Delamination is a reason for replacement. Delamination is when the primary and secondary backing of the carpet separate. One of my favorite arguments for carpet replacement was from one of my homeowners in Virginia who said that her carpet was not wet before and therefore should be replaced. I had to laugh on the inside when she said this because while I am confident that the 83 gallons of water which we removed from her living room were not present prior to the loss; the water did not damage her carpet. She argued her point (I think she was a law student) for nearly an hour and a half. She did not win. She argued that water damages fabric and since it was not wet prior to her loss it should be replaced to prior condition. I agree that water does damage some fabrics but her carpet was not made of silk or wool. It was average nylon carpet, and after checking the tags of 8-10 pieces of clothing (looking for nylon) that she normally wears and washes, she dropped that argument. She rebutted that the carpet color changed / darkened where the carpet was wet. Yes, it was darker where the water was, because it was still wet! Two days later upon completion of drying the carpet, the homeowner confirmed that the carpet color returned to its original shade. Nonetheless, her next argument was that by getting wet, the carpet's structure was now damaged. She could not really explain what she meant, but I was confident I knew where she was trying to go. When I explained to her that during the manufacturing process carpet is routinely exposed to several "water baths" in order to manufacture it. When she learned that water is used in the manufacturing process she had no further arguments. Feel free to use any of her argument should you want to try and get your non-damaged carpet replaced. If you're carpet gets wet with clean water and is not found to be delaminated, look for staining from furniture feet. Staining IS a valid reason to replace carpet.

Drywall and trim are the other most commonly damaged items in a home during a water loss. Drywall patches are 100% acceptable in restoration. The insurance company does not owe to replace all of the drywall in a room because there was a section that had to be removed. Understand that drywall can usually be dried without any relating issues. If a section has to be removed a patch fit to the squared-up removed section is acceptable. Once properly taped and mudded that patch will not be noticeable, if it is than your contractor needs to have another drywall crew redo the repair. Yes, drywall is hung in 4×8 or 4×12 sheets but that does not mean that you need an entire new sheet of drywall "because it was not previously patched." Any new drywall will be sealed and painted to match.

Insurance companies / adjusters are starting to release the reins on painting of a room. It varies company to company- adjuster to adjuster- and on the clients' attitude. For years the standard has been to apply two coats of paint to the new drywall and 1 coat to the remaining section of wall (corner to corner). The corner to corner theory is that when painting a room you can / typically stop in the corner once you have an entire wall painted. You never want to stop mid wall because that will be noticeable. Also with corner to corner if the paint shade is slightly off it will not be visible as it stops in the corner and light casting shadows will affect the paint shade as well. Having been met with so many contractor arguments over painting the remaining walls, during the last 2 years we have seen the corner to corner rule relax. Typically now, if I have a 12×12 room and I patch one of the walls, I will apply two coats of paint on top of two coats of primer to the new drywall. I can usually get the adjuster to approve repainting the remaining walls, to match. This does not mean that you get to change your 12×12 powder blue dining room to Victorian red. This means that you get a fresh coat of powder blue paint in your dining room. However, if you're nice to your contractor you can update that powder blue to a similar tonal value color such as a grey blue. Cultivating and fostering a good relationship with your contractor can only benefit you.

One of the other biggest items homeowners do not understand that do not get covered are the source repair costs. Example: the ring between your toilet tank and bowl rots, causing your toilet to leak. The insurance coverage will be to repair the damage that the toilet caused. It however, will not cover the cost of fixing or replacing that toilet, or your cost to hire the plumber to come out and shut off the water and remove the toilet. In short, your insurance company is not trying to "stick it to you". It is important to note that any form of water damage should be cleaned in a timely manner. Damage can spread Water to mold damage, and your insurance company is not Likely to pay for a mold inspection the if they 're you feel View That aided the progression of the mold by vBulletin® in delaying the drying area Hotels . If something does not make sense. Ask about it. If you do not understand the answer or are having difficulty with your adjuster ask for their supervisor. If something raises a flag in the supervisors head they can and often will either send out another adjuster / field reinspector or come out and investigate. Do not be afraid to ask if you truly feel that you're not being treated fairly. Your insurance agent can also help to explain your policy to you.

Regardless of what you feel you're owed, just because you've been paying into you policy for x number of years does not mean you get everything and anything you want. Indemnity is a basic insurance principle that states that you, as an insured should not be allowed to profit from an insurance loss. This principle is important and helps to protect both the insurance company and you.

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Source by Daniel L Hoover

Key Highlights for Insurance Bill in India: Increased Consumer Safety & Scope of Investment

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The Insurance Bill passed in March 2015 in both the houses is expected to have a deep impact on the Indian Insurance industry. Much anticipated and awaited, this amendment offered a bunch of benefits to both the Insurance Company and the policy holder. Increased power to regulatory bodies, more protection to policy holders and increased level of foreign investment in the sector are some of the key features of the Insurance Bill.

Listed here are some major highlights of the bill and how they can affect you:

Increased Foreign Investment: The new amendment allows up to 49% foreign investment in Indian Insurance companies from now onward. This increased capital flow is expected to revitalise the industry all together. The national players now will be able to invest in new products and expand their portfolio manifold.

What does this mean to you: how is this going to effect you as a policy holder? Well, at a glance it may seem of no significance at all, but increased foreign participation means, increased competition, wider product range and more professionalism. The increased competition in the market will also reduce malpractices such as miss-selling and misleading the policy holders. So, in long run this move can actually change the entire scenario of Indian Insurance market.

An Empowered IRDAI: This act goes a long way in strengthening the fist of IRDAI. This governing body will now onward be involved in the grass root level, such as appointing insurance agents and monitor their eligibility, capability and professionalism.

Also this governing body is now empowered to regulate the key areas of Insurance Companies such as expenses, investments, commissions payable to agents, code of conduct etc.

What does this mean to you: This enhanced power to IRDAI is sure to curtail many malpractices that are rampant today in Insurance market in India. So, as a policy holder your money will now be safer than before.

Consumer safety: Indian Insurance market was never as safe as it is now from consumers point of view. If you are worried about being misled by the insurance agent, then this act will give you peace of mind. In an effort to curtail the malpractices, the new amendment levies penalty ranging from INR 1 Crore to INR 25 Crore on any Insurance Company that indulges in mis-selling and misrepresentation.

What does this mean to you: In view of this high penalty, companies are likely to enforce stringent norms for their agent, which will in turn give you more protection as a consumer.

The Bill will also make the payment process easier for the nominees of any policy holder.

Another very significant amendment that the Bill brought is the shortening of repudiation time period for any policy. Repudiation time is the particular time period within which a policy can be declared null and void in light of wrong information furnished by the policy holder. The new bill has shortened this time to 3 years, to keep the consumer interest intact.

Health Insurance: Health insurance in India never quite received the status of a separate business vertical. But this Insurance Bill identified and addressed the problem. The amendment defines "Health Insurance Business" in full details and includes personal accidental coverage and accidental coverage while traveling in it.

What does this mean to you: This move will definitely forge a path for many robust insurance products related to health.

Empowered Industry Council: The two Insurance industry councils The Life Insurance Council and General Insurance Council are now given the status of self-regulatory bodies under this Act. Now, these two industry councils are entitled to frame bye-laws for their meeting and elections. Also the bodies can levy fees and collect them from its members.

What does this mean to you: Empowerment of these bodies has now opened up the ways of communication between the stakeholders of the industry.

Opening up the Reinsurance business front in India : The new amendments in the law have opened up the reinsurance segment quite broadly. With 49% foreign investment cap, the foreign investors can now insure a portion of the Insurance Company.

What does this mean to you: A re-insurer takes away a major risk factor from your insurance company. Re-insurance companies are generally more knowledgeable about international insurance practices. Thus opening up the re-insurance possibilities will bring in knowledge and expertise from the international players as well as make the insurance companies much more stable.

With all this key points, the Insurance Bill, 2015 was robust and actually could stand up to most of the expectations.

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Source by Ekta Jain

Insurance For Coach Houses

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Coach Houses are built over 3 floors; similar to town houses, except the ground floor is a single garage. This is a popular and space-saving option for house builders to incorporate all the facilities a modern family needs using smaller plots of land to provide it. It is therefore considered financially economical house building. Economical house building means economical house prices! Everyone is a winner with this new space-saving concept!

This design of property is typically smaller, boasting just 1 or 2 bedrooms – 3 bedroom coach houses are unusual, but we are seeing them being built more so lately.

The Coach houses are typically 3 connected properties (although in some cases can be more), one property owner will be responsible for insuring all of the garages upon which the block of coach houses are built, and can request that the other home owners – who will have access to their garage with a 999 year leasehold, pay a contribution to the insurance costs, even though the policy is not exclusive to the garages and will include their house too !. It is deemed reasonable however, that the policy holder can request around 25% from each of the other coach house owners towards his buildings insurance costs.

This is an effective way of sharing the cost of insurance and protecting every body's legal liability. The other house owners will also have to have their own Coach House buildings insurance policy however, to insure their own home (excluding the garage of course which is on leasehold through their neighbour) Tricky to follow? It can be unless you have been given good advice! You will need to clarify detail of how everyone should protect themselves and their property against being uninsured in the event of a claim! This tends to be when policy holders realize they are uninsured, in the event they make a claim!

There are usually significant areas of shared driveway space with these plots too, and this liability has to be included in the policy of the coach house owner who is insuring the garages also.

There are policies available to cover these risks, although they can be difficult to find! There are not many available on the market so it can take time to find the right policy for you. The most important thing is to ensure that the insurance policy you choose includes all of these risks and the insurance provider is fully aware of the build, set up of lease holds, and the shared liabilities involved. Without investing the right time, ensuring that you purchase the right buildings insurance policy, could result in you finding out that you are, in fact, uninsured in the event you come to make a claim!

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Source by Hayley Connolly

Auto Settlement or Insurance Claim? How to Decide

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Bet you that the German mastermind and inventor of the first working car, Karl Benz, never imagined the full extent of where his life-transforming brainchild would take those involved in accidents.

While there are various opinions about who actually thought of auto insurance, there is evidence that it was Herbert Stanley Morrison who was responsible for the federal government to require every driver to have an insurance policy that would protect them from associated liability risk exposure.

Despite the obvious great benefits to owning auto insurance, every driver is aware of the pitfalls to filing too many related accident claims: a subsequent peak in coverage rates!

It is for that very reason that many consider settling on a private arrangement between the drivers involved in a collision. If you are the one at fault in an accident and you have a history of insurance claims that name you as the guilty party, it may be wise to opt for this type of settlement. Before making any decision about it, though, it is wise to review a few particulars.

Disclaimer: Prior to agreeing to any form of private settlement, always exchange insurance information so that if you decide to opt out of the plan, you have the necessary info to share with insurance companies.

When a Settlement Makes Sense

If you are the one who caused the accident:

• Make sure to get a mechanic's honest estimate for the repair. Will the auto repair cost less or a little more than your insurance deductible? If so, it's sensible to pay out of the pocket for damages.

• Is the other driver a complete stranger? Can you trust him to be honest in regard to true damage and price evaluation? Only agree to a settlement if you understand you are not being 'taken for a ride'; that damages on the car are the ones your accident caused and that you are not being asked to pay for extraneous fees.

• Make sure no one has been injured. Remember that medical costs can and often do exceed your cost expectations. In addition, if the other party is unscrupulous, he or she can bill you for a phony health problem, adding thousands of unnecessary dollars to your bill.

If you are the victim of the accident:

• Is the at-fault driver someone you know? If he is stranger, you may be taking a risk in trusting him to make payments on your losses.

• If you have been injured, your medical bills could very well exceed any amount the other driver is willing or can afford to pay.

• Establish that you will be the one selecting the mechanic to do repairs. Do not trust any agreement based on the other driver's offer to do self-fixing or his repair shop preference.

• Refuse any cash deal settlement before getting a thorough evaluation of true damage.

• Refuse any settlement if the at-fault driver does not respond immediately to your attempts to contact him.

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Source by M Wyzanski

Difference Between Employers' Liability Insurance (ELI) and Workers Compensation Insurance (WCI)

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Employers' Liability Insurance (ELI) and Workers Compensation Insurance (WCI) are two important insurance covers to protect the interests of employees, as well as employers. There are, however, certain differences between the two. Due to these differences, it may result in wrongful litigation and consequently anxiety to parties involved. The differences between ELI and WCI are relating to where they apply and what they cover. We will discuss about them here briefly.

Where they apply
Employers' liability insurance
As an employer, it is mandatory for you in UK to purchase employers' liability insurance. Not purchasing attracts penalty under law. In certain situations your employees may feel that you are liable for job related illness / injury which they may sustain and they sue for this. If it is really a case, it may bring in expenses such as hospitalization, financial compensation and the like. ELI helps you under such circumstances.

While it is mandatory for you as an employer to have ELI, your employees need to prove that the job related injury / illness is because of your negligence. Imagine yours is a lumber business. While working, your employees should have the necessary equipment, training and skills to operate them. If you employ them without teaching the safety norms, imparting the training and checking the fitness, and they sustain injuries, it will amount to your negligence as per rules framed under Employers' Liability Insurance Act and employees are likely to feel appropriate to sue you, because you are liable.

Workers compensation insurance
On the other hand, workers compensation insurance is a cover for the welfare of the employees. It depends on the circumstances that are the tone of relation between employer and employees. Thus, if you are more concerned about employees' health and safety, you need to purchase this insurance. It does not matter whether it was your fault or your employees' fault that resulted illness, accident or death, this insurance comes to your help.

Coverage
Employers' liability insurance
As an employer, you have to go to court of law if the affected employee sues you. You need to pay financial compensation and bear the hospitalization and medication. ELI covers all these expenses.

Likewise, for employees ELI covers the permanent and temporary disability, injury and wrongful death at workplace. It covers the cost of litigation as well.

Workers compensation insurance
For employers, WCI is a Good Samaritan. In most cases, it ensures that your employees do not resort to litigation. However, in such unfortunate event, WCI covers the expenses because of litigation. It covers the financial expenses to be given to the affected employee for work-related injury, illness or even death.

Employees when inured at workplace, under WCI, are guaranteed to get compensation from the employer to cover medical and hospitalization expenses and certain portion of wages. In most cases, it is two-thirds or more. WCI covers the expenses on litigation, by the employee. In general, WCI takes care of the situation and makes sure that litigation on the part of employees is avoided.

WCI covers compensation (wages) in case of a temporary disability for the period of absence. If the individual got permanent disability, and not fit for employment in current occupation, WCI covers the expenses of vocational training and rehabilitation and cost of searching a job, if he wants.

Despite both ELI and WCI are meant to protect the interests of employees and employers, there are differences in the way they apply. You need to understand them and purchase a cover according to the need of your business.

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Source by Nate Rodnay

Mobile Oil Change Business and General Liability Insurance Considered

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Not long ago, I got an email from a gentleman wishing to set up a mobile oil change business in Florida. He was concerned about what sort of insurance he might need and was under the impression that a 1 million dollar commercial liability policy was needed up and beyond his work truck vehicle commercial auto policy. Okay so, let's talk about this; is he correct?

It turns out that he most definitely is, you see commercial auto is not the same as completed operations or the potential liability while working. For instance, if a car catches on fire that you are working on, your commercial auto policy is not going to cover it. Do you see that point? So, this is the advice I explained to him;

You will need most likely want to get a commercial insurance policy; $ 1 million aggregate, 300K per occurrence general liability, with a "garage keeper's liability" notation, and there will be some customer who may demand more, and also demand to be additionally insured, not just a certificate of insurance on file.

Commercial Auto Insurance is another need, but most commercial business policies will write them together as one. Find a good "commercial insurance broker" and have them scout out their sources, usually the broker-agent knows the underwriters very well (as in speed-dial) and can get you a good rate and the underwriter will understand the difference between mobile and fixed costs. Generally the commercial liability insurance is partly based on your estimated gross income.

Do not over estimate or you will pay too much, and do not underestimate or you may get audited by the insurance company or they might simple decide you are not a viable risk. Believe it or not most commercial insurance policies do have a clause in their insurance contracts that they may audit you and by signing the policy you pre-agree to those audits. Thus, it's unwise to falsify information or underestimate. If you find that you may have underestimated you need to call your agent-broker and explain that, sometimes they will add to the premium, sometimes up the next year's estimates for gross sales.

Now then, Florida is a great market for mobile oil changes, however, let's not forget there is some competition there, some long-standing 25+ years in fact and so, insurance is only one aspect or piece of information which one needs to consider before starting a business of this type. Please consider all this and think on it, and develop a strong business plan.

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Source by Lance Winslow

Do Childcare Facilities Need Employment Practices Liability Insurance?

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Protection for You

You've got a state-of-the-art child daycare built around a warm, clean and safe atmosphere. The teachers are handpicked professionals that give kids undivided attention, stimulation and fun learning. Children are happy. Staff is fulfilled. Parents are proud. What could go wrong?

Unfortunately, a lot of things – that your general business liability insurance does not cover.

Childcare Claim Examples that Really Occurred!

• Third Party Liability: After a Montessori School stated they could not admit a child due to licensed limited capacity, the parents sued for racial discrimination. The parents insisted that the school had a non-admission policy for African American children and mentioned the fact that the student body did not contain even one African American. Defense and Settlement costs totaled: $ 67,000.

• Internet / Email Liability: An administrative assistant for a childcare facility sent an email to all employees instead of her intended single recipient. The email contained an embarrassing inappropriate joke. The center's director instructed the employee to send a subsequent apology email to everyone. Just 2 months later, an employee that was laid off due to company downsizing, sued because of a hostile work environment and cited the inappropriate email as proof of an atmosphere that did not respect her religious principles. The facility was discomfited and uninterested in having this lawsuit revealed to the parents.

• Retaliation: An Indian childcare employee objected to the racial insults directed at him by some of his fellow workers. As a result, the owner assigned him to another room where there was less of a staff presence. The new situation warranted less work-time and therefore his hours were reduced. The slighted employee sued the childcare center for discrimination and retaliation for relating the discrimination. Defense and Settlement costs totaled: $ 125,000.

• Wage and Hour: A Non-Exempt head teacher was covertly tracking hours as she worked the overtime that was requested of her. As a salaried worker, this teacher never mentioned any grievance about the additional workload. When the owner was served a wage-and-hour lawsuit by the teacher, he was caught by surprise. Although there was no way to discern if the teacher's calculations regarding her work hours were precise, the center was guided by their lawyer to settle for the presented amount rather than take the risk of other present and past employees joining the lawsuit.

Employment Practices Liability Insurance

Employee-related claims come at a steep price. Protect your childcare center from a lawsuit with an EPLI plan that's tailored to you.

EPLI

An EPLI policy protects you against lawsuit claims made by current, past and possible employers, as well as visitors. It's coverage for a wide range of suits that stem from:

1. Wrongful termination

2. Discrimination

3. Sexual harassment

4. Service refusal

5. Other employee claims

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Source by M Wyzanski

Insurance For What !? The Oddest Things Ever Covered

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At some point in everyone's life, insurance becomes a necessity. Whether coverage is required by law, like an auto policy, or by prudence, it is a virtual certainty that you will need to hedge against loss. The run of the mill policies (life, home, auto) are understandable. If you lose your home in a flood, you're going to be glad you had coverage. But then there are others that make you scratch your head. The fact of the matter is, if you're willing to pay the premiums, no matter how strange or even impossible the scenario, someone will cover it. Here are some examples of the odd, outlandish, and otherworldly things people have insured.

Alien Abduction

Yes, this exists. And it's not just a one-off occurrence; there are companies in parts of the Southwest that make their revenue almost exclusively off of covering people in the event that they are taken into a spaceship by extraterrestrial beings. In most cases, it operates as a special form of life insurance. If someone is abducted by aliens and never seen again, the family they leave behind will be compensated, assuming they can prove the abduction happened. Other companies offer a more specialized version of this to cover survivors of space-napping for their psychological and medical costs. Again, it seems that it would be very difficult to prove the particulars and collect on one of these policies. No evidence exists that anyone has collected but (much like the truth) the policies are out there.

Tongue

People have purchased coverage for all manner of valuable body parts over the years. Betty Grable, a popular film actress and pin-up girl in the 1940s, took out a policy on her legs for a cool million bucks. Jennifer Lopez is rumored to have her famous posterior covered for ten times that much, should disaster befall her. But the oddest body part is the infamous tongue of legendary Kiss frontman, Gene Simmons. After rumors had surfaced that he had surgery on it, Simmons got a policy to make sure that he was compensated in case some over-zealous fan bit it off. A tale that's hard to swallow, but true.

Lottery Winners

This policy might even be less likely to pay out than alien abduction insurance. In the United Kingdom, an employer can purchase a policy to cover the incidentals arising out of two employees quitting because they won the lottery. It has to be at least two people, and they can not be sharing a single ticket. The odds of a single employee winning the lotto are slim; the chance that two winning tickets will be bought by people working for any single company is virtually none. One wonders if the Camelot Group, the organization that runs the UK lottery, has purchased such an insurance policy. If two of their employees won, that would certainly raise some eyebrows!

Next time you're speaking with your insurance salesman about covering your car, see what else they offer, just for fun!

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Source by Aaliyah Arthur