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Insurance: What Coverage You Need

30 March 2017 By admin Leave a Comment

Accident or injury on the job to you or someone you might hire can do more than ruin a shoot. It could bankrupt you. Fortunately, photographers can insure themselves against accidents, injuries, theft and others types of loss. We asked Karen Stetz, who brokers insurance for APA members, what coverage she recommends for photographers. (Advice from other brokers may vary; ask your trade association about the insurance packages they offer.)

PDN: What kinds of insurance should photographers have to protect themselves and their businesses?
Karen Stetz: I usually recommend the Business Owners’ Package policy that includes the following:

$2 million to $4 million limit—General Liability coverage that protects them throughout the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada. Many building landlords, golf courses and even some churches require photographers to carry adequate limits of general liability insurance. Imagine someone tripping over one of your loose electrical cords, or colliding with one of your light stands. Medical expenses for any bodily injury resulting from accidents caused by you (or anyone working under your direction) are your legal responsibility. General liability insurance protects you against those claims, and also pays to replace property that you or someone under your direction might damage, whether the property belongs to a client, a location landlord or other member of the general public.

$1 million limit—Hired/non-owned Auto Coverage. If your business is incorporated and you use your own automobile, you have employees who use their vehicles on your behalf or you frequently rent automobiles, this coverage is vitally important. Your employee’s routine drive to the photo lab or the bank could have serious financial repercussions for you and your business if your employee causes an accident. Hired/Non-owned Automobile Liability is an easy addition to your policy, and with a standard limit of $1,000,000, it will go far in protecting you against accident victims seeking “deeper pockets.” This coverage is in addition to general liability coverage.

By David Walker

See full story at www.pdnonline.com

This Insurance Startup Wants to Cover Tomorrow’s Self-Driving Cars

28 March 2017 By admin Leave a Comment

When Joshua Brown drove his Tesla last May into a truck making a turn — or, depending on how you view it, when the Tesla drove itself into a truck while Joshua Brown was behind the wheel — the fatal accidenttriggered a crisis for Elon Musk’s electric car company. Was its hands-off Autopilot feature, despite caveats that a driver’s hands should be ready to grab control in a split second, inherently unsafe? Did its auto-braking system fail? The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) launched a seven-month investigation. Early this year, it concluded: “A safety-related defect trend has not been identified at this time and further examination of this issue does not appear to be warranted.” Though the agency cautioned that its investigation did not preclude the possibility that the system has a safety-related defect, Tesla felt vindicated.

Now an auto insurance startup called Root is taking that conclusion to the bank, so to speak. It believes that the investigation, as well as its own studies on the matter, make a strong case that Teslas with Autopilot are safer than just plain humans. So confident is Root about this that, starting today, it is charging Tesla drivers lower fees if they turn on and use the controversial Autopilot feature.

“When we believe that a car is in autonomous mode, we apply a discount to those miles,” says Root CEO Alex Timm. “It’s a pretty significant amount of premium — a little above 10 percent for now.” The discounts get higher as the percentage of highway miles driven increases.

Some people might find this discount surprising considering recent reports (including one we ran on Backchannel just last week) that Autopilot is somewhat of a work in progress. But Timm agrees with Tesla that the driving-assist system, even as Tesla keeps improving it, is superior to a plain old human driving the vehicle. “We believe that these cars are definitively safer,” says Timm.

See full story at backchannel.com

Insurers recognized as top employers for young people

2 February 2017 By admin Leave a Comment

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Six insurance companies made it to the most recent list of “Canada’s Top Employers for Young People”. The annual editorial competition was organized by the Canada’s Top 100 Employers project.

According to Canada’s Top 100 Employers, the Top Employers for Young People designation “recognizes the employers that offer the nation’s best workplaces and programs for young people just starting their careers.” The companies that made the list “are Canada’s leaders in attracting and retaining younger employees to their organizations,” a statement on the competition’s official website explained.

Learn more about employer insurance here.

Employers on the list were recognized for their progressive initiatives for younger workers. Such initiatives include education tuition subsidies, job rotation opportunities, mentorship, paid internships, as well as in-house training and development programs for career advancement.

Canada’s Top 100 Employers senior editor Kristina Leung told The Globe and Mail that recruitment initiatives for diverse or disadvantaged youth remains a primary focus for many of the companies.

The six insurers that made the list, as well as their notable initiatives, are:

Ecclesiastical Insurance Office PLC, Toronto. Insurance; 68 employees. Manages a Business Intern Program, a three-year rotational program for recent university graduates pursuing the Chartered Insurance Professional designation.

by Lyle Adriano

See full story at www.insurancebusiness.ca

Will insurance pay for these tailgate party blunders?

1 December 2016 By admin Leave a Comment

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A combustible mix of alcohol, open flames and dense traffic, to name a few factors, can make tailgates ripe for costly accidents and injuries. In many cases, the right insurance coverage can spare you from paying for these mishaps on your own.

1. You accidentally grill the car

Covered by: Auto insurance

The play by play: Like end zones and excessive-celebration penalties, grilling and tailgating just go together. But whether you get overzealous with the lighter fluid or accidentally leave hot coals in your trunk, car fires are a looming threat.

2. An opposing fan vandalizes your vehicle

Covered by: Auto insurance

The play by play: Ideally, tailgate rivalries would never escalate beyond playful barbs and spirited debates. But the risk of opposing fans, say, spray-painting their team’s name onto your bumper may be another reason to add comprehensive insurance to your auto policy. This coverage will pay to repair damage stemming from vandalism, riots and civil disturbances, among other things, minus your deductible.

3. You give your buddies food poisoning

Covered by: Homeowners, renters and condo insurance

The play by play: Without ready access to refrigeration, hand-washing stations and other kitchen conveniences, food safety is a major tailgating concern. If you happen to be helming the grill when a bad batch of chicken wings or brats circulates to the crowd, those who get sick might sue you for their medical bills.

If you have homeowners, condo or renters insurance, you may be able to avoid having to pay for others’ food poisoning treatment out of your own pocket. These policies generally provide personal liability insurance, which covers others’ bodily harm that you’re responsible for, up to your policy’s limit.

By ALEXGLENN

See full story at www.marketwatch.com

5 things only smart people know about insurance

3 November 2016 By admin Leave a Comment

Did you know that about 70% of Indians are under-insured ?

Granted, the intricacies of insurance can be hard to understand, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth the effort. For those of us who spend time to study the various terms and conditions, it is not hard to find the best deal and the most suitable policy to protect us and our loved ones. You just need to be smart about it!

Here are 5 things only smart people know about insurance:

1. Free Look Period

Thought you’re stuck with an insurance policy once you’ve bought it? Think again.

According to the IRDAI, there is a Free Look Period for all life insurance policies, and all health insurance policies that last longer than 3 years² . During this period, which usually lasts for 15 days, you can review the policy terms and conditions, and in case you any of them are not agreeable to you, you can hand the policy back and get a refund. The only ..

2. No Claim Bonus

Didn’t make an insurance claim and thought you’ve lost money on your premium? When it comes to car and health insurance, that isn’t true.

If you go an entire year without making a car insurance claim, you are rewarded for safe driving with a No Claim Bonus of up to 20%³ when you renew your premium. Every year, this percentage increases, and if you go 5 years without making a claim, your premium can reduce by 50%! This benefit is also available ..

See full story at economictimes.indiatimes.com

Could social media bump up insurance?

27 October 2016 By admin Leave a Comment

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Could that Instagram image of you bungy jumping in your 20s result in having to pay higher insurance costs in the future? One insurance expert thinks so.

Michael Naylor, a senior lecturer in finance and insurance at Massey University, says people should expect insurers to mine their social media accounts in the future to determine how much they will charge for insurance premiums and if they will pay out on claims.

“People have to be aware everything they do on social media can be effectively public.

“You can set privacy settings, but of course they can be hacked.”

He says New Zealand insurers are not set up to deal with social media at the moment but they will be.

“Some in the US are already doing it.”

Naylor says the cost of paying a person to do the research has made it prohibitive up until recently but apps that can identify a person from an image by using social media are making it cheaper and more likely.

He predicts it will be one to three years away in New Zealand and says it may not come from existing insurers but new entrants to the market who will use personal data to cut insurance premiums for less risky customers.

That could leave old-style insurers with more risky customers and the prospect of rising premiums to cover their costs.

He says the change could have implications for people who seek adventure when younger and record it all on their social media pages.

“Of course the internet doesn’t die.”

They may have to prove they no longer undertake those activities to get insurance in the future or sign exclusion agreements meaning they won’t be covered for certain activities, says Naylor.

Insurers are already warning home-owners to be careful about what they post on Facebook about going away on holiday because it could be in breach of their duty of care policy provisions for house and contents insurance.

Vero, one of the country’s largest insurers recently posted a blog, giving people tips on how to avoid making this social media faux par.

Jimmy Higgins, Vero’s head of claims says it is not telling people to stop posting their holiday snaps online but to be careful about revealing too much detail and casting that information too widely.

We are not saying don’t show those family photos of you on holiday – it is just one of those things to be cautious of.

Jimmy Higgins

It might not be your Facebook friends that act on the information but a friend of a friend, he warns.

Higgins says people can protect themselves by not being specific about the dates they are away and making sure they don’t identify where they live.

By Tamsyn Parker

See full story at m.nzherald.co.nz

5 Simple Steps That Will Tell You How Much You Need To Budget For Insurance

1 September 2016 By admin Leave a Comment

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Income & Budget vs. Insurance Expenditure – Prioritising What’s Important

A big question most Singaporeans have about insurance is this – how much insurance should I have?

To answer this question you need to look at your budget first. Because without factoring your income and expenses to find out how much you can save each month you won’t know what insurance options are available to you (or what expenses you need to cut to make sure you’ve got enough coverage).

Let’s look at how a financial planner would review your situation:

Step #1 Determine Your Priorities

Your financial planner will want to know your financial goals such as retirement, saving for a house, etc.

If you’re saving up to buy a 55’ HD TV, a 2014 BMW 316i and a down payment for a new home, your financial advisor will probably tell you that your home purchase is the financial goal you should prioritise.

For example:

If your financial goal is to save up $50,000 for the down payment to purchase a home and you currently have $10,000 saved up – your financial planner will work with you to come up with a financial plan that’ll help you come up with the other $40,000.

Step #2 Determine Your Current Financial Position

From your answers, your financial planner will review your existing insurance policies and assets to identify any existing “gaps” in your financial plan.

For example:

A father of two only has $50,000 in insurance coverage, which is grossly insufficient if he were to pass away.

Assuming that the father’s average household spending is $1,500 a month, this $50,000 death benefit would only last his family for 33 months!

That’s why your financial planner will help you identify such financial gaps so you can make budget adjustments that free up the cash to fix them.

Step #3 Analyse and Identify Areas for Improvement

From your financial goal(s), your financial planner will help determine different ways for you to reach your goals within your given timeframe.

Your financial planner will help you do a “cashflow analysis” to break down your expenses to look for areas that you can cut down on so you can free up more cash for insurance.

By Jeff Cuellar

See full story at blog.moneysmart.sg

Why are insurance companies lagging in climate risk?

18 August 2016 By admin Leave a Comment

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You would think that insurance companies would be experts in minimizing risk and reducing exposure to catastrophic natural disasters.

But a recent report suggests that the vast majority of insurance companies are not factoring in climate risk when it comes to their investment decisions.

Just one out of every eight insurance companies is taking tangible action on protecting their portfolios on climate risk, according to the Asset Owners Disclosure Project’s (AODP) annual Global Climate 500 Index, which analyzed 116 insurers with $15.3 trillion of investments.

The report also found that only 1 percent of those insurance companies assess the emerging risk of stranded assets, or the risk that carbon assets will become “stranded” in part due to future regulations on fossil fuels and growing demand for renewable energy.

Most of all, the report finds that insurance companies pale in comparison to how pension funds are evaluating climate risks such as climate change and drought.

Low-carbon investments represent on average only 0.8 percent of insurance portfolios, but 3.5 percent of pension portfolios as $30 billion of insurance assets are invested in low-carbon investments compared to $93 billion of pension assets.

Evaluating risk

Insurance companies generate revenue in two ways: collecting insurance premiums from customers and also investing those premiums in different investments.

The AODP says that while insurance companies are analyzing climate risk when offering insurance to their customers, the insurers are largely not assessing climate risk when it comes to their own investment portfolio.

“Pension funds in recent years have been driven by a small percentage of active members to review their management of climate risk,” said AODP CEO Julian Poulter. “This accountability does not exist for insurance companies who don’t have members, who are mainly listed and whose shareholders have been slow to hold them to account.”

The AODP ranks insurance companies on how well they are assessing these risks on with their own ranking system from AAA to D, and companies that have shown no signs of any action are referred to as laggards and are given the ranking of X.

Out of the 116 insurers analyzed by the AODP, 48 companies showed no evidence of doing anything to protect their portfolios from climate risk. This totaled $4.2 trillion assets under management.

By Keith Larsen

See full story at www.greenbiz.com

How Much Insurance is Needed in Singapore?

11 August 2016 By admin Leave a Comment

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Singaporeans are said to be kiasu (fearful of losing out) in almost everything. Looking around at the enrichment classes that a child attends these days for their development and other peripheral expenses that becomes priority makes one wonder if Singaporeans are also spending just as much on protection.

How much protection is enough?

Based on a gap study conducted by Tower Watson for LIA in 2012, a person should have an adequate insurance coverage of 10 times his or her annual income especially if one has dependants¹. Alternatively, a working adult requires an average protection needs of $626,000¹ ! This may just well be a guideline to the amount of insurance coverage required.

So what should I do?

Once you have a simple method to identify your insurance coverage, you may then start to work on your shortfall. With the shortfall, you may fill the gap by simply adding a term plan. Due to the fact that there is no cash value at the end of the coverage also explains why it is one of the cheapest life protection product out there.

Why do I need insurance?

Insurance is a very good tool for managing risks for you and your loved ones.

If you are earning $3,000 a month and need to cover yourself adequately for $500,000, based on a 20% savings each month, it will take you $500,000 / ($3,000*20%) = 833.33 months or 68.4 years just to accumulate that amount. This is where buying insurance to transfer the potential cost, in exchange for a fee known as the premium, for insurance company to take on the risk that you may face.

See full story at secure.fundsupermart.com

Advantage & Disadvantage of Insurance

2 August 2016 By Digital Curator Leave a Comment

advantage & disadvantage of insurance As a small-business owner, you must assess the risks of your particular enterprise to determine the advantages and disadvantages of commercial insurance. If you’re a sole proprietor, you might be fine simply setting up an automatic savings plan as a cushion against unforeseen expense; however, if you’re the owner of a larger business, you may need commercial insurance to protect against greater risk. The type of business you have also factors in; doctors, for example, are exposed to greater risks than realtors.

Types of Commercial Insurance

In America, all small businesses that employ workers are required by law to have some insurance coverage, such as workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance, and in some states, disability insurance. If your business uses a car or truck, your state may also require you to purchase commercial auto insurance. However, there are many additional types of insurance beyond this basic minimum. General liability insurance is a broad umbrella policy that covers a business against injuries, accidents and claims of negligence.

Expense

Although business insurance may offer you a hedge against disaster and help you sleep more soundly, it rarely comes cheap. The expense of business insurance is its main disadvantage for small-business owners, who seldom have a lot of cash to devote to “what ifs.” You should shop around to get the best possible commercial insurance rates, but be careful to check out an unfamiliar company to be sure it’s reputable. You may also choose a policy with a higher deductible to cut your monthly payments, but if you do, prudence demands that you set the deductible amount aside in case you suddenly have to come up with it. You must also weigh the coverage a cheaper policy affords. In some cases, the skimpy coverage may not justify the expense.

By: Mary Strain, Demand Media

See full story at smallbusiness.chron.com

Insurance Agency Singapore | Commercial Insurance and Personal Insurance