To be in business means to sign contracts – and every one of those contracts requires that you agree to provide some guarantee. A common question is “will my insurance back me up on those guarantees?”
The answer can be complicated. For one thing, it’s essential to determine if the contract is one of the types that your Liability coverage specifies as an “insured contract.” Although other policy provisions can also apply (such as exclusions and limitations), if a particular contract isn’t considered an “insured contract,” look no further – your policy won’t apply.
Standard Commercial Liability policies usually define “insured contracts” to include:
- Leases.
- Sidetrack agreements (made with a railroad if you have tracks crossing your property).
- Easement or license agreements.
- Obligations required by ordinance to indemnify a municipality.
- Elevator maintenance agreements.
Almost all Liability policies also include a broader provision that covers contracts under which your businesses assume the “tort liability” of another party for bodily injury or property damage. “Tort liability” is defined as liability that would exist in the absence of a contract or agreement. In other words, the liability you’re assuming must arise from the negligence of the other party to the contract. If the injured person can sue this other party without reference to any contract or agreement (“tort liability”), then a contract under which your business agrees to assume this liability will be considered “insured.”
Although it’s important, the definition of “insured contract” is only the starting point for determining if Liability coverage applies. Instead of assuming that your policy covers your contractual agreements, give one of our specialists a call. We can review the specific provisions of your current coverage as they might apply to your proposed contract and advise you about possible gaps.
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There are several steps you can take to ensure you are getting the best Homeowners insurance rates possible for the coverage you need:
- Before purchasing a home, it is wise to learn about its insurance loss history. If there have been past losses, be sure to inspect the home closely to determine if proper repairs were made. The CLUE and A-PLUS databases enable insurers to check the claim history of the property as well as that of the homeowner.
- Raising your deductible is a great way to reduce your premiums. Higher deductibles on your Homeowners insurance could produce savings of 25% or more.
- Consider upgrades to your home. Do you need to modernize your heating, plumbing, and electrical systems to reduce the risk of fire and water damage? Are there upgrades you could make that would reduce the risk of damage in windstorms and other natural disasters? You might be able to save on your premiums by adding storm shutters, reinforcing your roof, or buying stronger roofing materials. Older homes can be retrofitted to make them more capable of withstanding earthquakes. If you do make home improvements, be sure to make your insurer aware of the changes.
- Improve your home security. You typically can get premium discounts of at least 5% for installing a smoke detector, burglar alarm or dead-bolt locks. Some companies will cut your premium by as much as 15% or 20% if you install a sophisticated sprinkler system and a fire and burglar alarm that signals the police, fire department, and other monitoring stations. These systems are not inexpensive and not every system qualifies for a discount. Before you buy such a system, find out what kind your insurer recommends, how much the device would cost, and how much you would save on premiums.
- Buy your Home and Auto policies from the same insurer. Some companies that sell Homeowners, Auto and Liability coverage will take 5% to 15% off your premium if combine policies with them.
- Maintain a good credit rating. Most insurers use credit-based insurance scores to determine Homeowners and Auto coverage premiums. All else being equal, a person with a good credit score will pay much less for insurance than someone with a lower score.
Contact our office today for more information.
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U.S. states plagued by historic drought are bracing for an early wildfire season with a cost that may rise as high as $1.8 billion, or almost $500,000 more than what’s available to control the blazes.
Oklahomans fought seven fires in May during what is normally the state’s quietest period. Flames scorched four times as many acres in Texas from January through May as in the same period a year earlier. California is also far ahead of its usual pace and is bracing for hundreds more containment battles throughout the most populous U.S. state.
“Drought has set the stage for a very busy and very dangerous fire season,” said Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for Cal Fire, as the Sacramento-based California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection is known. “From Jan. 1 through the end of April, we responded to 1,250 wildfires. In an average year for that same time period, we would have responded to fewer than 600.”
The 2014 season is repeating a pattern of destruction established over the past decade by a combination of high temperatures, parched vegetation and more people living in wooded areas. Fires feeding on plentiful dry grass, brush and hardwood are requiring more personnel and money to bring them under control. More than twice as many acres burned across the U.S. through May 9 this year than during the same period in 2013, according to the Boise, Idaho-based National Interagency Fire Center.
“With climate change contributing to longer and more intense wildfire seasons, the dangers and costs of fighting those fires increase substantially,” Rhea Suh, assistant secretary for policy, management and budget at the U.S. Interior Department said May 1 in a statement.
Diverting Funds
Federal officials expect to spend about $470 million more than the $1.4 billion that’s been allocated, according to a congressionally-mandated report released May 1. Increasing fire costs required the U.S. Forest Service and Interior Department to divert funds from other programs in seven of the last 12 years, the study showed. Millions of additional dollars in state and local funds are spent each year on persistent and ever- increasing blazes.
In Arizona, last year’s record-setting fire season saw 19 members of the Granite Mountain Interagency Hotshot Crew — firefighters who work behind the lines to control the spread of flames — die in the Yarnell Hill fire, the biggest loss of life from a single fire in 80 years. Colorado experienced its most destructive wildfire in history. A conflagration in Yosemite National Park that threatened San Francisco’s water supply became the largest ever in the Sierra Nevada.
Snowpack Low
With snowpack that provides water for a third of California’s farms and cities at only 18 percent of average in some places after the driest year in state history, officials expect to spend $221 million in emergency funds fighting fires by June 30, said Cal Fire’s Berlant.
In a normal year, the agency would start hiring seasonal firefighters this month. Instead, Governor Jerry Brown, a Democrat running for re-election, ordered 125 firefighters hired for the northern part of the state in January and kept seasonal crews in the south on the job longer.
Cal Fire was “never able to transition out of fire season in 2013,” according to a statement. The agency returned to peak staffing in March in San Diego, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, where equipment and facilities are staffed around the clock.
Dead brush and shrubs are drying out faster than usual in conditions more typical of mid-June than May, according to an outlook for May through August compiled by the interagency fire center.
“Fuels should remain critically dry for most of the upcoming fire season,” the report said, and be “receptive to ignition and fires that are highly resistant to control efforts.”
The risk of significant blazes will also come earlier than usual over much of the U.S. northwest, particularly in Oregon and Alaska, the outlook found. Because of substantial snowpack, the fire potential in the northern Rocky Mountains will be below normal, according to the analysis.
Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, a Democrat running for re-election, said yesterday that several fire-prone areas saw below-average precipitation this winter including the southwest and the southeast, in the grip of an extreme drought.
‘Mitigate Danger’
“It’s up to everyone to make sure they are taking the right steps to mitigate the danger and be prepared,” Hickenlooper said in a statement. “With forecasts and planning, plus the addition of new resources related to wildfire response, we are doing what we can at the state level.”
After record-setting wildfire seasons back-to-back, Hickenlooper signed legislation setting aside almost $20 million to buy two fire-spotting planes and hire four helicopters and four large tankers for the effort.
Triple-digit temperatures that came early this year to the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma dried grasses on what already looked like a moonscape, said Mark Svoboda, a climatologist at the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Dust Bowl-like conditions in those areas and in southeastern Colorado and northern New Mexico, last seen during the 1930s, are increasing fire risk, he said.
“The droughts in California and Texas and Oklahoma are once-in-a-generation types of droughts with conditions we haven’t seen since the 1970s,” Svoboda said. “In California, the population has doubled since the 1970s, putting more structures at risk and increasing the potential loss due to fire.
Content provided by http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2014/05/13/328902.htm
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Monte Vista Christian School to donate portions of proceeds from event
Watsonville >> The Monte Vista Christian School performing arts department is putting on a Disney-themed concert to raise the spirits of children with cancer as well as funds for Jacob’s Heart.
The Watsonville-based private school’s show Friday at the Mello Center for the Performing Arts, 250 E. Beach St. in Watsonville, will feature a number of songs from the Disney repertoire with a strong focus on the latest animated movie, “Frozen.” Proceeds from the concert will go to Jacob’s Heart, the Watsonville-based nonprofit that helps children with cancer and their families.
“Since the concern is basically for the children (at Jacob’s Heart), we’re going to make it a Disney-themed concert,” said Tony Dehner, director of vocal arts at Monte Vista.
It’s the first time Monte Vista has organized a concert fundraiser, according to Dehner. The idea was sparked from a conversation Dehner had with Watsonville Police Chief Manny Solano. The two spoke at a dinner event in November to celebrate Solano’s 18-year-old son, who attends Monte Vista and sings in the school’s choir, making it into the California regional honor choir.
“We’re Facebook buddies so he had been following the various stories through my wife’s posting of my updates,” Solano said, referencing his own battle with cancer. Solano publicly revealed his cancer diagnosis in August and took a three-month leave of absence from the police department to focus on treatment.
During the conversation, Solano talked about his cancer battle and Jacob’s Heart, which Solano has been a strong advocate and supporter of, came up in the discussion. Eventually Dehner suggested a fundraiser for the nonprofit and, soon, the concert was conceived.
“It’s just been a great opportunity to bring people together,” Solano said.
Though the school hosts a spring concert each year, it has traditionally taken place at the high school’s auditorium. The decision to change venues to the Mello Center was prompted in part because of the expected number of attendees.
The concert will feature two sections. The first half will focus on popular and classic songs and a second half will focus on Disney songs. Songs from “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” movies are in the first part of the program as well as a song by Led Zeppelin. The Disney portion of the show will feature 20 characters from the franchise, all in costume, Dehner said.
“I’m pretty sure we’re going to sell out,” he said.
Children from Jacob’s Heart and their families are expected to attend the show, free of charge, Dehner said.
About 170 Monte Vista students will take part in the performance, including three choirs, the vocal ensemble, the jazz band, the orchestra, the high school band, the dance team and the handbell choir.
“The guests will be treated to really quality and incredible music and singing that is right here in our own backyard,” Solano said.
All tickets are $10. For details and ticket reservations, call 831-728-2711.
What: Monte Vista Christian School hosting a concert fundraiser for Jacob’s Heart
When: 7:30 p.m., Friday 5/16
Where: Mello Center for Performing Arts, 250 E. Beach St. in Watsonville
Detail: Call 831-728-2711.
Content provided by http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/watsonville/ci_25755193/watsonville-school-hosts-fundraiser-jacobs-heart
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Approximately 15 million people worldwide have a stroke every year. Of these, almost 6 million die, while a further 5 million are left permanently disabled. But although stroke is the one of the leading causes of death globally, many people remain unaware of the signs and symptoms to look out for, therefore putting their health at risk.
The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association(AHA/ASA) state that around 1 in 3 Americans are unable to recall the warning signs of stroke.
Furthermore, a recent AHA/ASA study revealed that many women in the US are unaware of stroke warning signs, even though they are at much greater risk of stroke than men.
“This lack of recognition of stroke signs and symptoms could be a significant barrier to reducing death and disability related to stroke in the US,” says Dr. Lori Mosca, who led the study. “This is critically important because delays in getting care costs lives and hinders functional recovery.”
May is National Stroke Awareness Month – an annual campaign introduced in 1989 that aims to increase public awareness of stroke in an attempt to tackle the condition once and for all.
In line with this campaign, this week’s spotlight feature looks at the signs and symptoms of stroke, the risks associated with the condition and what can be done to increase stroke awareness.
What is stroke?
A stroke occurs when an artery or blood vessel becomes blocked, restricting blood flow to the brain. This leads to brain cell death, and, subsequently, brain damage.
How a person is affected by stroke depends on where in the brain the stroke occurs and how much of the brain is disturbed. Many stroke patients experience impaired speech, movement and memory. In severe cases, patients may suffer paralysis or even death.
There are two main types of stroke – ischemic stroke and hemorrhagic stroke. Ischemic stroke is the most common, accounting for around 87% of all strokes. This occurs when the arteries are blocked by blood clots or a gradual build-up of plaque and other fatty deposits.
Hemorrhagic stroke occurs when a blood vessel in the brain splits, leaking blood into the brain. Although only 13% of all strokes are caused by this, it is responsible for more than 30% of all stroke deaths.
The risk factors
There are many risk factors for stroke, many of which are out of our control. For example, individuals over the age of 55 are at greater risk of stroke, as are African-Americans, Hispanics and Asian/Pacific Islanders. Individuals who have a family history of stroke or TIA (Transient Ischemic Attack) are also more likely to have stroke themselves.
And women are more likely to have stroke than men. In the US, around 55,000 more women than men have a stroke every year.
Individuals with high blood pressure are one and a half times more likely to have a stroke than those with normal blood pressure.
But there are also risk factors for stroke that are within our control – one of the most important being high blood pressure, or hypertension. According to the National Stroke Association, people who have high blood pressure are one and a half times more likely to have stroke than those who have normal blood pressure.
“The No. 1 stroke risk factor is high blood pressure. It’s important to check your blood pressure regularly and talk to your doctor about healthy levels for you,” says Dr. Jeffrey L. Saver, professor of Neurology at the University of California Los Angeles and a spokesperson for the ASA.
High cholesterol also increases the risk of stroke, as cholesterol can block blood flow in the arteries. Furthermore, high cholesterol can raise the risk of heart disease and atherosclerosis – risk factors for stroke in themselves.
Smoking is another risk factor. Compared with non-smokers, those who smoke are at double the risk of stroke. It reduces the amount of oxygen in the blood, meaning the heart has to work harder to pump blood around the body. This means blood clots find it easier to form in the arteries, which can cause a blockage.
Those who are overweight or obese are also at increased risk of stroke. Excessive weight can increase the risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.
Read the entire article here.
Content provided by http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/276240.php
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To be in business means to sign contracts – and every one of those contracts requires that you agree to provide some guarantee. A common question is “will my insurance back me up on those guarantees?”
