Must-Know Facts Regarding the Affordable Care Act

There have been significant challenges with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. With many different factors to consider for individuals, families and business owners, it’s no wonder people have questions and concerns.

Background

Health insurance rates began to increase in earnest during the 1990s. Since then, insurance companies have struggled to keep their premiums as low as possible. To do that, they began to offer plans with deductibles for certain services. When rates again started to climb, insurance carriers started experimenting with some novel ideas geared at keeping costs down for the employer.

3 Important Insurance Benefits You Can Offer Your Employees at Minimal Cost to Your Business

Companies looking to attract the best and the brightest need to offer incentives to increase the quality of their prospective employees. One way to do this is to offer higher salaries than competitors or propose additional benefits. Of course, many benefits, like health insurance, can be prohibitively expensive, especially for a small or medium-size business. Here are 3 benefits you can offer your employees that will give them broad and appreciated benefits at a relatively low cost to your business:

• Dental Insurance: Most dental plans will only cost an employer about 10% of a full health insurance plan. The reason for this is that these dental plans have a maximum benefit, usually between $1000-$2000 a year, as opposed to general  health insurance plans which offer unlimited benefits. Still, this is a nice bonus that will sound good to those considering joining your company.

Are You Covered for Defective Work Performed on Your Home or Business?

Don’t assume that simply because you pay for liability and property insurance every month, you’re covered in all instances of damage. Policies vary, but many have exclusions that will not allow you to receive compensation under certain circumstances.

Most people assume that when they pay for coverage under an insurance policy, they should be taken care of in the event of virtually any problem. Unfortunately, it does not work that way. Sometimes even insured individuals and businesses suffer damages which are not covered by their particular policies.

A recent example I came across involved a contractor who performs cleaning and maintenance services for homes and businesses. There was an accident in which a part of the property being worked on was damaged, and a claim was filed with the property owner’s liability insurance carrier to cover the costs of repair.

Is Your Business Covered Against Employee Theft?

Don’t assume that it can never happen to you.

As the owner of a business and an employer, you have to be careful to safeguard what you’ve worked so hard to build, not just from those members of the public that might like to take advantage, but from your own employees as well. While surely most of your workers are honest and would never steal from you, all it takes is one bad apple to potentially bankrupt your company. And it’s often the one you never suspected that proves to be the culprit.

Employee theft is on the rise and it currently costs American businesses an estimated $40 billion a year. This is why it is a good idea to consider purchasing employee dishonesty insurance.

Many companies have no protection at all against this type of harm, and of those that do, a high percentage are woefully underfunded. Many policies will only cover up to $50,000  in damages, while the average claim filed for this type of loss is almost $1 million.  A nonessential employee who steals a small amount of petty cash is unlikely to cause a claim to be filed anyway – it is the trusted higher-level managers who can loot the business that you as an owner need to be particularly worried about.

Why You Can’t Buy Commercial Insurance Online

Everyone seems to love shopping online. It’s much more convenient than having to go to an actual store. You can shop in the middle of the night, on the weekends, and some people even do it while they’re at work! Due to the surge in popularity of e-commerce, merchants are trying to sell almost everything online now, including most forms of insurance coverage. Auto insurance in particular is ripe for this type of purchase, and major carriers such as GEICO have spent lots of money advertising that you can save money by just visiting its website for 15 minutes and picking out your own automobile insurance plan.

Yet there is one type of insurance that is definitely not advisable to purchase online. In fact, most companies don’t even offer you the opportunity to purchase it this way. This is Commercial Insurance. 

When to Avoid Filing a Valid Insurance Claim

With the high price of insurance nowadays, the natural tendency of most policy owners is to file any and all claims that they can. The general attitude is “since I’m paying so much in premiums, I had better get every last dollar that I deserve out of my insurance company.” However, there are good reasons to avoid taking this approach, and in fact, it is usually smart not to file a claim for relatively minor or inexpensive damage. Here’s why:

Why Purchasing Employment Practices Liability Insurance May Be Necessary to Protect Your Business

Whether you’re a small, large or medium-sized company, the possibility of getting sued by one of your employees is always there. The most common grounds for lawsuits are sexual harassment and wrongful termination. While many of these suits lack merit, obtaining a good lawyer to defend your company can cost astronomical figures in legal fees, even if the case against you is eventually dismissed.

This is why you should consider purchasing Employment Practices Liability Insurance. This type of coverage will help pay for your legal defense, and can be a lifesaver.

How Do Insurance Companies Decide How Much to Charge You in Premiums?

Many people are growing unhappy with the rising costs of their insurance coverage. This common complaint raises an interesting question: How exactly do insurance companies decide how much to charge their customers for their individual policies?

Listed below are some of the major factors considered for disaster and accident coverage:

• Where the property is located: Businesses in flood zone areas will obviously have to pay higher premiums than those in urban settings.
• Buildings that have a sprinkler system qualify for discounted rates.  

How Cyber Liability Insurance Can Protect Your Business

Many business owners seem to be under the impression that their general liability insurance policies will cover them in the event that their websites are compromised and client/customer information is stolen. Unfortunately, they are mistaken, and the result could be crippling lawsuits against them and their businesses if confidential information is exposed to hackers.

Because most standard business liability policies do not cover this type of problem, more and more companies are stepping up and obtaining cyber liability insurance coverage. Any company that sells products on the web or keeps customer records online should seriously consider getting the protection that comes with a good cyber liability policy. 

The Panic Over Skyrocketing Premiums

For years, residents of coastal areas within the U.S. have been paying relatively little in flood insurance premiums, considering the catastrophic nature of the threat they face. The low premium rates were partly due to the federal government’s subsidizing of this type of insurance, through the National Flood Insurance Program.

Since Hurricane Sandy and the extreme financial losses it caused, there has been a reevaluation of the system. Last year, Congress passed the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act. The bill will, in incremental stages, remove government subsidies that have historically kept flood insurance premiums artificially low for over a million policyholders nationwide.